There is an old saw that says, “When we talk to God, we call it prayer; when God talks to us, we call it schizophrenia.” I believe that God communicates with us in any number of ways—through scripture (of course), circumstances, experiences and and even inner intuition (If Satan somehow prompts me to do wrong, it’s only fair the Spirit prompts me to do right, right?) All of those ways that God speaks must be correctly interpreted. The person who hears the clear, audible face-to-face voice of God speaking directly in their ear may be closer to the schizophrenic than the prophetic. Even in the Old Testament, God speaking directly and clearly to people was very rare (see Numbers 12:6-8).
But then that is tomorrow’s reading. Today’s reading in Numbers 10 reminds me of something about God’s direct leadership. As Israel left Sinai to claim their Promised Land, God lead them dramatically and miraculously. The cloud that represented his presence (and burn like fire at night) would rise from above the Tabernacle and Israel would follow it wherever it led. God was leading his people directly and powerfully. So the text says in Numbers 9:22,23—
22 Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. 23 At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.
Moses reinforced the leadership of God each time they would leave and stop. Whenever the ark would set out to follow the cloud, Moses should shout, “Rise up, O Lord! May your enemies be scattered; may your foes flee before you.” (Num 10:35). And when the ark came to rest, Moses would say, “Return, O Lord, to the countless thousands of Israel.” (Num 10:36). If one really wanted to follow God, then how much EASIER could it possibly be?
And therein lies the run. That generation simply did not want to follow God. Time after time, when the going got tough, the non-tough among them began to complain. God was very patient with them at first, but after Sinai and the giving of the covenant, that patience wears pretty thin pretty quickly. Hesent fire to punish them because of their complaining ( Num 11:1-3), and the very next verse has them complaining about being tired of their food supply! So God killed a bunch of them (Num 11:33)... and the very next paragraph has Aaron and Miriam complained about Moses’ wife and leadership! Come on! God was doing His pillar of cloud, fire and destruction, miraculous supply of food routine and the people were COMPLAINING rather than being driven to their knees in PRAISE?
What’s up with that? That, unfortunately, is human nature being human nature. It is a whole lot easier for us to complain about the things that are going wrong in our lives than to praise God for all the ways he has blessed us. And when we complain, we are blinded to all the things He is doing. Moral of the story... even if God sent fire (or quail) from heaven again, we wouldn;t get the point if we were not listening. So... are we listening now?
5 comments:
A man told me that he prayed and fasted asking, "God what do you want me to do!" "I'll do anything!" just talk to me and tell me what I should do." and that person claims that God said, 'in a calm voice', "I don't want you to do anything... I just wanted to hear you say that." The voice that person heard was not the voice of the Bible. God requires the right attitude and He requires action, He requires that we do as He says. and that rquires work and study to know what that is.
People seem very content to listen and do what God says when they are hearing Him say exactly what they want to hear. It is true that God does speak to people (by the words written by the Holy Spirit and His son) but often, like immature rebellious children, with selective hearing, people make up their mind what they want to hear and that is what they write and rationalize as if of God. Let’s study the words that are of the Holy Bible, that are in perfect harmony, generation after generation, preserved and passed down to us from those who saw the value, greater than any earthly treasure is the truth found in the heart of Gods word.
I know I have been guilty of complaining. And I do not always praise God for all the positive things in my and my families life. I also believe as does Tuck, God does communicates with us in a number of ways—through scripture, circumstances, experiences and yes even inner intuition and sometimes that is ones first line of defense against evil. (If Satan somehow prompts me to do wrong, it is right that I remember the scriptures (I have heard and remembered much of the scriptures and how to apply it (thanks to Tuck) the spirit prompts me to do what is write.) All of those ways that God speaks must be correctly interpreted, that takes a lot of work..We must follow and have faith that God will supply what we need and we will be able to lift one another as needed on the road of life. It is not always where we want to go that we must go, it is not always what we want to do that we must do.
If we are with the Lord no person or force will stand against us. Let us trust that the Lord who lead his children out of Egypt with a pillar of fire and smoke. Will lead us by His spirit and through His only begotten son.
Early in the morning I have been listening to a well known, “preacher” and watched him talking from the old testament and quoting Isaiah as if it is predicting things that have not yet passed. He tells me that the earth will once again be surrounded with water in the firmament of the air. The earth will be beautifully protected from the damaging rays of the sun and it will be very nice here when all that stuff (that has already happened) happens. He is an old peddler working with other old peddlers. And. . . He knows scripture but is misapplying it. He really likes his elbow room, noone dares to challenge him. He is in need of correction!
I am looking toward to hearing Tuck’s sermons online. It will be nice to hear from someone who preaches from the word without twisting it. I am tired of all the trash preached on TV and other places. So I will wait.
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