Believe it or not, Numbers inspires again.<\/p>\n
The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians,<\/span> who were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord<\/span> had struck down among them; for the Lord<\/span> had brought judgment on their gods<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n
Numbers 33:3-4<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
This makes me reflect: what or who do I revere? Where do I place my trust? What makes my jaw drop or brings me up short? Am I impressed because they reflect the glory of God and draw me closer to him? Am I beholden to things or people that really only puffing me up or in it for their own self fulfillment.<\/p>\n
You see, “gods” are ideas. They are an elevation in our mind of some thought or tangible thing to a status above other things, so that we devote ourselves to them. They are replacements for God in our minds, substitutes for where we choose not to trust Him or believe His promises or just don’t like what He has to say.<\/p>\n
The problem is that a timeless, holy, just and loving God can put off eliminating these competitors<\/em> for our affections for a time, at most while there still is a thing called time. Nevertheless, the false must be disproved. The empty must be put aside to make room for His filling. The dead must be buried so that the living may live.<\/p>\n
Judgement for the unrepentant is terrible. I’m sorry, I can’t sugarcoat it. It’s really bad. The plagues in Egypt were horrific. Just read Exodus 7-11 and see. The plagues were also exactly what was needed in that situation and no more. In fact, the plagues were not quite enough! Can you believe that? Exodus 14 tells us it was so. The Egyptian army had to be wiped out in the Red Sea before finally they were done and understood the reality of one true God.<\/p>\n
(There is not time to discuss it here, but some might object having read these passages saying that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart – he had no choice, no free will; God Himself is responsible for all the mess; we’ll have to look into that thought another time)<\/em><\/p>\n
For you to elevate an idea in your mind or a person or thing is as deadly to it\/him\/him as it is to you. Every “god” must be set aside to the glory of the one true God.<\/p>\n
The end of the chapter is, in a way, very much like the beginning.<\/p>\n
\n“‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.<\/span>‘”<\/p>\n
Numbers 33:55<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Why is it the inhabitants are so bad? “Barbs in your eyes”! That sounds pretty bad. Elsewhere it is very clear. It is because of their devotion to false “gods” that causes their self- and other-destructive lifestyles and that wholehearted devotion that requires them to be completely removed from the picture.<\/p>\n
God has not called for this kind of activity again, since the nation of Israel was established. Jesus Christ came and the Holy Spirit. There is no time to go on about all the implications of what comes after Christ’s first appearing. Instead the lesson to take away is the new, very old idea that – under God’s guidance and in His strength – we just drive out of our lives all ideas of glory apart fro God. Everything that impresses you or interests you and takes your time needs to be something in which you see His glory reflected or that inspires you to see Him as more than you do now or that draws others alongside you to that greater devotion.<\/p>\n
There is one true God who cannot share His glory. He radiates it through us as we allow Him. He proclaims it across the universe in His creation. He brings it to perfection at the end of time when all who glory in Him are lifted up and all who refuse Him must live with only their own meager “glory” that is no glory at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Believe it or not, Numbers inspires again. The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians, who were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them; for the Lord had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":199,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198\/revisions\/199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}