King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Saturday, March 04, 2023
Chapters: NUMBERS 20-21
Study: Look And Live
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
There is a song that praises God for unanswered prayers, there is a song that praises God for answers to specific prayers, and there is even a song that praises God for when He answers “No, with the hope of something better coming”. The true test of faith is when the thing we hope for the most from God gets the stern, “No! And do not ask me again!” answer. Do we trust Him? Do we distance ourselves from Him? Or do we walk away from Him all together? I would like to say that I have never asked God why He said “No.” or that I have always accepted His answers, but I would be lying if I did. I will say that God sure is merciful, even when we do not make the wisest decisions because we do not like His answer, [Deuteronomy 4:30-31 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.]
I can sort of understand how the Israelites as well as those who walked with them, were discouraged when God told them that anyone over the age of twenty could not go into the promised land. I would imagine that if some kind of repentance came into play that perhaps God would have let others go in. Instead of repenting they got worse, and I tell you what, God, does not have to lift a finger to send judgment on the disgruntled reprobates, they bring all upon themselves. The sad thing is that they can cause some of God’s faithful to do things that could bring trouble for them. As we continue in the reading of Numbers we learn that Miriam died and where they buried her there was no water.
[Numbers 20:2-3,6-8 And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them. 7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.]
[and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes;] We do not always need to use force to see God work, quite often all we need to do is speak God’s Word as it is more powerful than any weapon. Well, this would definitely prove true with Moses as he would actually use force to bring water out of the rock, which is a mountain by the way. Remember, Moses’ temper? It resurfaced. Instead if speaking to the rock, he hit it.
[Numbers 20:10-13 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. 13 This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.]
[and the water came out abundantly,] We all know that this was only made possible by God as no one else could have made water come out of a +dry rock, and the rod certainly had nothing to do with it. So, why did God let the water come out in the first place? Do you see what Moses did here? [and with his rod he smote the rock twice:] He hit the rock twice, and even though it is not mentioned, perhaps it was Aaron who told him to hit the rock the second time, which may be the explanation as to why Aaron was also denied entrance. Rules are rules, and if we are going to go against the rules, even if influenced by someone else, then we only have ourselves to blame when God is displeased and takes something from us, [James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.]
[to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel,] Remember, the word sanctify means, [To separate, set apart or appoint to a holy, sacred or religious use.] So, God had intended to use this rock to show the congregation that He is the one giving them the water. All Moses had to do was speak to the rock in their presence and they would have seen it was God, but by him hitting it, it made it look like Moses and Aaron were the ones who made water come out of the rock. God will not share His glory with anyone, it does not matter who they are. Even Jesus, although He is God in the flesh, would not allow Himself to be given glory to Him over His Father, [Matthew 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.]
I can definitely understand how Moses got distracted from what he was supposed to do and hit the rock instead. Anger and a temper to go along with it can cause us to make some unwise decisions, but some of those unwise decisions will cause us to forfeit some of the promises that God has promised us. And here comes the true test of our faith, will we continue to follow God knowing that we are not getting what we were promised? Now, with Moses and Aaron both being denied entrance into the promised land, another test of their faith would be if they would continue to lead the rest of them to the promised land. Now, the nearest way to Canaan from the place where they were was through the country of Edom. They could not just walk through, they had to get permission, Moses sends some men to the king to get permission, but were denied.
[Numbers 20:4,17,20-21 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: 17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders. 20 And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.]
[And Edom came out against him with much people,] You know, there is much to learn here, first of all, repentance does go a long way, secondly, the repercussions of sin do not just affect one party, it affects an entire nation, and third, there is no wide gate to the promised land, it is strait, and it is narrow, and if we are going to attempt to get in through the wide gate we can forget about it, [Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.]
This is a reminder that our time on earth is not very long, and we do tend to waste so much of it living in so much doubt and fear that we lose focus on why we are here to begin with, and that is to leave a godly legacy for our children (whether they be biologically or spiritually connected) to follow. Now, Aaron’s time on earth was up, God, commanded that Moses take Aaron back to where he was born, which was Hor.
[Numbers 20:23-26 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, 24 Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: 26 And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.]
[because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.] How would you like to be told that someone you love could not go into the promised land because of something that you have done? We will all stand before Jesus and give an account of all that we have done after we are saved. Nevertheless, we will never be denied heaven unless we believed in vain, [2 Corinthians 13:5-8 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. 7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. 8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.]
[And strip Aaron of his garments,] God, was talking about his high priestly garments here, he would take them off hand them over to his son, Eleazar, and then he would become the next high priest. We are not promised tomorrow, we are given today, we cannot put off for tomorrow what we need to be doing today. If God has called us to lead someone to Christ, then we are required to do so. Why? We are the one who knows the truth, [Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.]
As you can imagine, the Israelites were rather discouraged after such a long march round the land of Edom on top of Aaron being gone. They became angry, and this time not only took their anger out on Moses, they were angry at God. Out out His own anger, God sent fiery serpents among them and many died at the result of their unbelief, [Numbers 21:4-6 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.]
[the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.] Did you ever have a discouraged soul? You feel like everything you do is for nothing. That is when I say, God has to take a bite out of us, well, not literally, but you never know. Let me tell you, it is a discouraged soul that brings us to sin in the first place, and I know this to be true because that was the case when I had fallen. I am so thankful for God’s faithful promise to forgive all unrighteousness when we confess our sin and repent of it also, which is the key here, [1 John 1:8-9 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.]
[And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people,] I do not know why, but I have read these chapters dozens of times and for some reason they have me in tears more than normal. My soul feels as though I can feel Moses’ pain, the shame he must have felt in that Aaron may have lived longer had he not made that one decision. The heartache he must have felt over these fools who caused him to get so angry in the first place and are dying because they could not be grateful about anything. Are we guilty of this? Do we need God to send fiery serpents upon us? Well, thankfully, God has mercy, and when He does send them, He also sends a cure. God, commanded Moses to make a rod with a brass serpent.
[Numbers 21:7-9 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.]
[And Moses prayed for the people.] The very first and really the only thing that saved the ones who looked at the serpent was not their looking upon it, it was that Moses prayed for them and made the intercession. Jesus, is the one who prays for us well before we even ask Him to save us, He makes the intercession for us. Then when we pray by faith, and that is when we look to Jesus and live, [John 17:9-10,23 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.]
[when he looketh upon it, shall live.] Why was it made of brass (bronze)? It resembled the color of the fiery serpents. They had to look up to the serpent by faith, and when they did, they were cured. The fiery serpent actually represents Satan and sin, and how it kills us by its disease. The brass serpent represents Christ, and just like anyone who looked to the brass serpent was cured, we are cured when we look to Jesus. The only appropriate way to end this devotion is with the hymn, Look and Live, [I’ve a message from the Lord, Hallelujah! This message unto you I’ll give, ’Tis recorded in His word, Hallelujah! It is only that you “look and live.” “Look and live,” my brother, live. Look to Jesus now, and live; ’Tis recorded in His word, Hallelujah! It is only that you “look and live.”]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your Word that teaches us everything about You. We do not need a special degree to understand You, we just need to have faith in You. Even through we live by faith in Your Son saving us, at times our faith does lack, and when that does You can deny us earthly things that You promised us. We can become discouraged, frustrated, and even angry as we think about what we have lost. Lord, Let us be reminded that even though Your deny us some earthly things, we are still granted access into Your Kingdom, because we have believed in Your Son, and received Him as our Saviour. You are truly the One who meets all our needs. There is nothing we lack when we commit our faith and trust in You and obey Your commands. Keep our hearts open so that we may follow Your will, and receive all that You have for us, and let us not get deceived by those who encourage us to go against Your will. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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