Becoming the Very Thing We Despise

It’s not always easy working and living life with a community of people. It’s even more difficult when you lead such a group. As a parent, supervisor, or team member, there are times when ungrateful attitudes, unreasonable expectations, sense of entitlement or complaints can really frustrate us.

Moses experienced this frustration multiple times during his journey with the children of Israel.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Have you ever wanted something so badly but didn’t feel like God cared enough to provide? Jesus reminded us to ask God “give us this day our daily bread,” but what I want and what I need are not always the same thing. When I am discontented with the “daily bread” that God supplies it becomes easier for me to believe that God doesn’t want what’s best for me.

In this story, the Israelites again complained about their lack of meat.

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen published her famous novel “Pride and Prejudice” in 1813. Among other things, it explored the elaborate code of morals and manners upheld by the British landed gentry of the day. Austen’s world seems overly concerned about appearances and class distinctions to many of us today. But pride and prejudice are exhibited in every culture, in every age, and our story today illustrates this well.

Right Observations, Wrong Conclusions

Have you ever obediently embarked on a mission for God and then had it turn out badly? In this story the Israelites obediently send out twelve leaders on a reconnaissance mission to the Promised Land to find out about the residents (how strong they and their defenses are) and how good the land is.

The spies return from their mission and they have made all the right observations.

Irrational Unbelief and Rebellion

The twelve leaders have reported – they have drawn divergent conclusions from their mission observations. The community must now choose, and they give into fear. They cry “all night” and then complain against Moses and Aaron, wishing they had died in Egypt or the desert, fully convinced that God is leading them into Canaan “just to have us killed and our women and children captured”.

Appropriate Consequences, Presumptuous Response

The people have reached the edge of the Promised Land only to be told that they must turn around and head back into the wilderness. They are facing the consequences of their unbelief and rebellion. God tells the people that they have complained “against me too many times” and every person who “ganged up against me” will die “here in the desert”. Their children will wander in the desert for forty years—one year for each day the land was explored.

Disorganized Thinking, Organized Rebellion

In this story, Korah a Levite, along with three friends, recruits 250 respected leaders who challenge Moses’ and Aaron’s right to lead. They accuse Moses and company of thinking they are “better than anyone else,” declaring that they are all part of God’s holy people. Moses views Korah’s rebellion as against God, (not Aaron); the result of an ungrateful spirit that doesn’t recognize the honor God has bestowed upon Levites who serve God in the tabernacle (vv 4-11).

Old Ruts and Old Solutions

I don’t know about you, but in high stress times, it’s easy to slip into old patterns, isn’t it? In this story Miriam, Moses’ sister dies in the desert. Moses and the Israelites are approaching the end of their wandering in the wilderness. In the midst of their mourning, the next generation of Israelites come to Moses and Aaron and complain (like their parents) about the lack of water, how Egypt had been so much better than this place and how they are going to all die – oh how our kids learn from us parents!

Obstacles and Endings

The Edomites were cousins to the Israelites, descendants of Esau. Esau and Jacob had been brothers, and the Israelites reminded the King of Edom that they were family. He recounted their time of slavery in Egypt and promised that they would stay on the highway and not cause their cousins any trouble as they journeyed to the Promised Land. The King of Edom wasn’t feeling any familial love for the Israelites and sent a large force to deny them access through his territory.

Mobilizing for Mission

Years of aimless wandering are drawing to a close and now the Israelites move toward taking the Promised Land. They learn quickly that they will not enter without opposition. The King of Arad attacks a generation of Israelites with little to no experience in warfare, taking some hostage. The Israelites must have been so afraid! Yet they do well: they ask God to help them defeat the Canaanites and promise to completely destroy their towns.