Ministry given through Brother Stephen Kaung.
And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments, or not.
And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
And thou shalt consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.
And thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker:
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
To-day, oh that ye would hear His voice!
Harden not your heart, as at Meribah,
As in the day of Massah in the wilderness;
When your fathers tempted Me,
Proved Me, and saw My work.
Forty years long was I grieved with that generation,
And said, It is a people that do err in their heart,
And they have not known My ways:
Wherefore I sware in My wrath,
That they should not enter into My rest.
For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
And did all eat the same spiritual food;
And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ.
Howbeit with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
Neither let us tempt the Lord, as some of them tempted, and perished by the serpents.
Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer.
Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it.
I have not read the Scriptures that we will be considering together this afternoon because they are too long. We will cover ten chapters in the book of Numbers this afternoon, from Numbers 11 through Numbers 20. So just bear this in mind: we do not have time to read these chapters.
After God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them to Himself at Mount Sinai. There He gave them the Ten Words, the law.
In other words, God not only delivered His people, but God brought His people to Himself. He committed His testimony to them. Because He had committed His testimony to these people, these people had to be tested, proved, and purged.
That tells us of the ways of God, and that is the experience of the children of Israel in the wilderness. Their wilderness experience was connected with the testimony of God. They were tested on that basis. God wanted to bring them up to that testimony. God had to bring out all that was in their hearts.
As we read the wilderness story, it is rather depressing, because we find that what was revealed was really very pathetic. But, dear brothers and sisters, we do not know ourselves.
Even though we are redeemed by the precious blood, even though we belong to the Lord, yet we do not know ourselves. We do not know that in us—that is, in our flesh—there is no good thing.
This is a knowledge that we must have, not naturally, but through experience. If we do not have such knowledge, we are not able to enjoy the promised land. We are not able to dislodge the enemy. We are not able to possess our possessions.
So, put it another way: unless we have a real knowledge of ourselves, we will never be able to appreciate and appropriate Christ as we should.
The greatest problem with God’s people today is the lack of knowledge of themselves. The wilderness experience, even though it is very painful, is very essential.
The flesh within us has to be exposed and dealt with, chastened and disciplined. Otherwise, we will not be able to glorify God in the promised land.
The children of Israel did not know themselves. When the law was given, they repeatedly answered, “All that God says, shall we do. We will do everything that God says.” And they meant it. They thought that they could do it.
So God led them through the wilderness to humble them, to prove them, and to reveal what was in their hearts—whether they really would keep the commandments of God or not.
God led them through a place that was new to them, that had no supply, no way, and no path. God, as it were, shut them in that wilderness: on the one hand, to reveal what was within them; and on the other hand, to bring them to see that they depended upon the Lord for everything.
God allowed their food to be exhausted in order that they might receive the manna from heaven. God proved to them that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
It was a difficult life, but a life that would lead them to understand God and know themselves.
Brothers and sisters, do we know ourselves? Do we really know what is within us? Do we know our flesh? Do we know the utter impossibility of our flesh to please God and to do the will of God?
Even though sometimes mentally we may give our consent to it, is it real? The Lord has to bring us through the wilderness in order to reveal what is within us.
We would like to be hidden. How we like to put up some kind of a front and hide ourselves behind it. How we would like to present a very pleasing and good appearance.
Oh, we would like our life to be so smooth that there is no testing, no trial, that we are not brought to the end of our natural food, our natural strength—the end of something.
If only God would give us a very easy way, a very easy life, nothing to prove us, nothing to humble us, nothing to expose us, I think we would be very happy.
But God knows better. Do not be afraid to be led to a place where your flesh is exposed. Do not try to hide, because if we try to hide, God is never able to reach us. He will never be able to deliver us from our flesh. He will never be able to be increased in us.
So, in the ten chapters that we would like to consider this afternoon, remember: on the one hand, it is very depressing; yet, on the other hand, it is very essential. It is the exposing of the flesh that is in God’s people.
When we read these chapters, we may think, “How could the children of Israel be so bad?” We will blame them. We will think, “This is the people redeemed of the Lord. They have seen the mighty works of the Lord, and yet they proved God.”
God proved them, and they proved God too. It was a time of mutual proving. God brought them through the wilderness to prove them, to expose them, and to show them what they really were.
But at the same time, when they were traveling through the wilderness, they proved God: whether God was real, whether God really loved them, whether God really would provide for them, and whether God was in their midst.
Ten times they proved God, and God was proven to them to be faithful; yet they still did not believe. The whole story was unbelievable. But that unbelievable story is ours. We will be surprised that we are no better than the children of Israel.
After God had numbered them and set them in order, the pillar of cloud and fire began to move. The ark of the Lord went before them to seek out a place of rest for them.
Think of that. Even though there was no path or highway in the wilderness, the pillar of cloud and fire and the ark of the covenant of God led the way. In other words, God Himself was leading His people through the wilderness. God Himself led the way. God Himself was finding a place for them to rest.
So they traveled forth for three days, and the ark was leading. Yet after three days, something happened. There was murmuring in the camp. That was the first thing: murmuring.
Evidently, this murmuring came from the extremity of the camp, because later, when God disciplined them, the fire began at the extremity.
Murmuring was the first manifest work of the flesh. Now, why did they murmur? They murmured because they were not happy with God’s ways. God was leading them for three days, and probably they thought they should rest earlier. They were not satisfied with God’s way, and they complained and murmured.
You know, the first problem in church history was murmuring. When you read Acts 6, you find that this was the first problem the early church met.
The Hellenistic Jews murmured because, in the supply for their widows, there was an oversight. In the church in Jerusalem, they were all Jews; yet there were two different kinds of Jews.
There were Hebrew Jews, born and reared in Palestine, and there were Hellenistic Jews, born and reared in Gentile cities. The Hellenistic Jews had received the influence of Greek culture, whereas the Hebrew Jews were very orthodox and very strict in keeping the law of Moses.
God brought these Hellenistic Jews and Hebrew Jews out of Judaism and brought them together. Those were the elements of the church in Jerusalem.
During that time, everything was done by the twelve apostles. These twelve apostles really worked themselves to death. With all the ten thousand believers at that time, only twelve apostles did everything. They did the so-called spiritual work, and they also did the so-called secular work. They not only preached, but they also served tables.
No matter how spiritual or capable they were, of course they could not do everything. Somehow they neglected both prayer and the preaching of the Word because they had to serve tables, and they also did not serve tables well because they had to pray and preach the Word.
So very soon the supply for the widows of the Hellenistic Jewish believers was neglected—not intentionally, because the twelve apostles were all Hebrew Jews. Naturally, they knew more of the conditions among the Hebrew Jews. They were not so familiar with the conditions of the Hellenistic Jews, so naturally there was an oversight.
And there was murmuring. Why could not the Hellenistic Jewish believers simply go to the apostles and speak out openly, frankly, humbly, and with love? Certainly the apostles would listen to them.
But somehow they did not feel like speaking out. Somehow the flesh took over. They had no confidence in the apostles. They were suspicious of something. Because they were not confident and were suspicious, they did not come out in the open in love. They spoke behind the back. This is murmuring.
Brothers and sisters, do you think murmuring is a small thing? In murmuring, a great deal is involved. Why, as brothers and sisters, can we not speak openly? Why, as members of the body of Christ, can we not trust each other? Why can we not speak in love?
As the Scripture says, “speaking truth in love”—not arguing, but in love. There is a lack of confidence. There is suspicion. Because of that, instead of fellowshipping openly and bringing out the need, people murmur behind the back.
The murmur begins to increase like the waves of the sea, and very soon it reaches the ears of the apostles. Fortunately, the apostles heard the murmuring early enough, before there was a split.
Immediately they took action to put a stop to the murmuring. In that action, the love of Christ prevailed. The apostles confessed their lack. They could not do everything.
The apostles suggested that they choose seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit, to serve tables. The Hellenistic Jews were the minority, and the Hebrew Jews were the majority. Yet when they chose seven men to serve tables, all seven were Hellenistic Jews, except perhaps one, who may have been a Hebrew Jew.
In other words, the brothers and sisters rose above what the flesh would naturally suggest. They could trust their brothers that their widows would not be overlooked. There was no revenge. There was no fear. There was perfect love among the brothers and sisters.
That was the first problem in the early church. If it had not been solved, you would find, at the beginning of church history, God’s people divided into two camps according to culture.
So here you find that, when they began their journey, the first thing that came out was murmuring—complaining. Brothers and sisters, do we complain?
Is there anyone who has never complained? When something does not suit us, when something does not please us, when we are not happy with God’s way with us, we begin to murmur. We murmur against man. We murmur against God.
We think that murmuring is nothing. We are not taking any action. We are not hurting anybody. We are not doing any damage. But, brothers and sisters, that is the beginning. If the murmuring is not stopped, you do not know where it will end. It is serious—very serious.
Because such murmuring was contradictory to the testimony of God in them, God had to discipline them. God had committed Himself to them, and murmuring certainly was not of God. It was contradictory to the testimony they carried with them. It would bring shame and disgrace to the name of God.
What would the world say, seeing God’s people as a murmuring people? Therefore, God’s discipline came down. God did not allow them to murmur any longer.
Before they arrived at Mount Sinai, after they came out of Egypt, they murmured repeatedly. When God brought them to the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army chased them, they immediately started to murmur. But God opened the Red Sea. God did not discipline them; God simply supplied their need.
After they crossed the Red Sea and sang the song of victory, they traveled on and had no water. When they came to water, the water was bitter, so they murmured again, and God healed the water.
Then they had nothing to eat. The food they brought out was exhausted, and they murmured. God gave them manna and supplied them. There was no discipline. God gave in to their murmurings every time.
They thought they had the right to murmur. They would just murmur, and God would give in to them. So they started to murmur again. You know, murmuring can become a habit—a very bad habit.
But this time, when they murmured, God did not give in. Not only did God not give in to them, but God chastened them. Why? Because the testimony of God was with them. That was the difference.
God had to vindicate Himself in His people. So fire broke out from the extremity of the camp and consumed some of them. They cried to the Lord, repented, and the fire subsided.
Do you know there is murmuring in us? Do you know that murmuring is one of the manifest works of the flesh? When we murmur, we know that is the flesh.
Our Lord Jesus did not murmur. He labored much in Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and all these places, and they refused to receive Him. They refused to believe Him. What a discouragement that must have been.
But instead of murmuring, our Lord Jesus looked to heaven and said, “Father, I thank Thee. This is Thy will. This is Thy will, and I thank Thee.”
If this is Thy will, that is all that matters. It does not matter if they do not believe Me. It does not matter if My labor seems to be all in vain. It does not matter, because it is Thy good pleasure to reveal unto babes and to hide from the prudent and wise.
Brothers and sisters, the best way to combat murmuring is to give thanks. The life of Christ in us always gives thanks to the Father. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God.
As they continued on, you find the second incident. There was a mixed multitude in the camp. Who were these mixed multitudes?
When the children of Israel came out of Egypt at the Passover, people who were not Israelites came out with them. They had not eaten the Passover lamb. They were either Egyptians or other people living in the land of Egypt.
They saw the mighty hand of God and heard the promises of God to the children of Israel. They were attracted by these things, so they came out with them.
Remember, they had no experience of the Passover or the Paschal Lamb. Putting it in New Testament terms, they did not know the salvation of the Lord individually, in their personal lives. They did not know the Lord Jesus as their personal Saviour.
They had heard of the mighty works of God, seen the mighty works of God, and heard the promises of God. They were attracted by power and attracted by promise. Therefore, they followed.
There are always such mixed multitudes. Because they had no experience of God, they were attracted only by the power and promises of God. Therefore, these mixed multitudes became a real problem in the camp.
Very soon, they began to lust after the food in Egypt. They were tired of the manna from heaven. They lusted after the food of Egypt—the garlic, the onions, all the smelly things. They desired fish and all those things in Egypt.
They began to lust and to cry, “Our soul is dried up. We are dried up with manna.” And when they started to lust, they soon influenced the children of Israel.
The children of Israel began to cry and to lust too. Everyone came out and sat at the door of his tent, crying and lusting for meat. No wonder Moses was miserable. They lusted for the food of Egypt.
Oh, brothers and sisters, do we not sometimes feel that Christ does not satisfy? Do we not sometimes feel that He is not sufficient? Do we sometimes feel that He is a little bit tasteless, and our hearts long for something of the world because it seems very tasty?
When we live very close to the Lord, we find He is so sweet, like honey. We find that He is so satisfying. But when our life with the Lord begins to drift a little bit, immediately we begin to feel that the Lord is not enough.
“I need something else. I need the world. I need something of the world to satisfy the lust of my soul.”
Moses was very unhappy. He went to the Lord and said, “Lord, this is miserable. Where can I get food for all these people? Why dost Thou entrust this tremendous responsibility to me? Let me die. I do not want to see this. I do not want to hear their cry.”
Sometimes it is just like parents: when the children cry and there is no way to supply their need, the parents are so frustrated that they would rather die than hear or see it. Moses was like that. With two million people crying, you could not stand it.
But God said, “Is My hand waxed short? If they want meat, I will give them meat—not just for one day, not just for a week, but for a full month.”
Moses said, “Lord, how can You do that? Do You want us to kill all the sheep and all the herds? Even if You gather all the fish in the sea—” God said, “You forget. I will do it.”
But as the Bible says, God granted them their request, but sent leanness into their soul. God gave them what they wanted, but He sent leanness to their soul. A plague also came upon them.
What is lust? Lust is desiring something over and beyond that which is necessary. That is lust.
Godliness with contentment is great gain. If we desire something over and beyond the real need, that is lust. It is not wrong to ask for food: “Give us this day our daily bread.” The Lord teaches us to pray in this manner.
But if we want to eat this and that, and this and that, that is lusting—especially lusting for the things of the world. Then the love of the Father is not in us.
If we insist, God will give in, but there will be leanness in the soul.
That is why I always like what Miss Margaret E. Barber said. She was a very strong person. Sometimes God had His will for her, but she had her own will. There was conflict. Yet her prayer was always, “Lord, do not give in to me. Wait awhile; I will come around to You.”
Brothers and sisters, never insist. Learn to give in to the Lord, and do not let the Lord give in to you. He will if you insist. So God gave them their request, but sent leanness to their soul. Lust is another manifest work of the flesh.
When this happened, Moses was tested. Moses forgot that God was able. Moses took too much upon himself.
If God puts you in a position of leadership, you tend, on the one hand, to take it too seriously. Of course, you should take it seriously, but sometimes you take it too seriously, as if everything were upon your shoulders and, without you, the whole house would collapse.
There is a temptation to go to the other extreme and not want any responsibility. “Why did God give me such responsibility? I did not ask for it. I want to get out of it.” The flesh in Moses was exposed.
The flesh of the people provoked the flesh of Moses. Flesh will bring out flesh. If I am in the flesh and speak in the flesh, your flesh is aroused too. The flesh of the children of Israel somehow brought out the flesh of Moses.
He went to God to complain: “Lord, why? I did not ask for the job. Why did You do it to me? I cannot stand it anymore. Let me die. I do not want it anymore.”
How gentle was God to Moses. God did not say, “I am also giving in to some of this.” God said, “All right. If you think your responsibility is too hard, call the seventy elders. Let the seventy elders share the responsibility with you, so that you will not be alone.”
But how did God do it? God took of the Spirit that was upon Moses and distributed it upon the seventy.
What does it mean? It means that God was trying to tell Moses, “You thought you were bearing the whole responsibility. It is My Spirit. My Spirit upon you is taking all the responsibility, and My Spirit is sufficient for all the work.”
“I will not increase My Spirit. I will simply take what is already upon you and distribute it among the seventy.” That was the lesson.
Moses was, as it were, downgraded. God was telling Moses, “It is not you who bear the responsibility. It is My Spirit. If only you trust Me, My Spirit is sufficient—sufficient for everything.”
Among the seventy elders, Eldad and Medad did not even come when they were called to come to Moses. Probably they despised Moses. Yet the Spirit was distributed upon them too, and they began to prophesy in the camp.
A young man ran and told Moses that this had happened irregularly. Joshua, who loved Moses very much, said, “My lord Moses, forbid them.”
When a person is under discipline, the only way is to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and He will exalt you in due time.
Moses knew that he was under discipline. It was a shame and disgrace to him. He had failed in his flesh. He knew that God had dealt with him. But how humble he was.
Instead of trying to vindicate himself or hold on to his position, he said, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” Not only the seventy, but all the people might receive His Spirit.
What a humble spirit he had. No wonder God said that Moses was the meekest of all men. There was no one meeker than Moses. He humbled himself under the mighty hand of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, when our flesh is exposed and we are chastened, do not fight. Do not try to save face. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and in due time He will exalt you. That is the only way.
But one thing led to another. Probably because Moses was disciplined and his weakness was exposed, Miriam and Aaron began to speak against him.
God had called three members of the family into significant positions: Moses as ruler in Israel, Aaron as priest and high priest of Israel, and Miriam as a prophetess of Israel. She led the women in singing the song of victory. God used the three members of the family, and they worked together as one.
But when they saw Moses being humbled by God, something happened. Miriam and Aaron began to judge Moses because he had married a Cushite woman.
Historically, Moses’ wife was a Midianite, not a Cushite. We do not know whether Moses’ wife had died and he had married a Cushite woman, or whether it was still Zipporah and Miriam and Aaron were simply using a nickname because they were unhappy with her. We do not know.
But you find that, outwardly, for a long time, the sister and the two brothers seemed to work together quite well. Yet inwardly, something was going on.
Miriam, Moses’ elder sister, was a very strong woman. Even when Moses was a little baby, she was the one who watched the little ark in which he was placed in the river. She had the courage to run up to Pharaoh’s daughter and make a suggestion.
She was a tremendous woman, a strong woman. She saved the life of Moses. She loved her brother dearly. But Zipporah was also a strong woman.
How do we know? You remember when Moses was called by God, and he, Zipporah, and their two sons were going back to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel. On the way, the angel of the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him.
When Zipporah saw it, she immediately took a knife and circumcised her two sons. Moses had to send her back.
Moses was a Levite, and according to the covenant God made with the children of Israel, every male child had to be circumcised on the eighth day. Evidently Moses wanted to circumcise his two sons when they were born, but Zipporah, not being an Israelite, resisted it.
She was such a strong woman that she overruled Moses. Moses could not do it. His two sons were not circumcised. Now God called Moses to do the work of deliverance, but his family was not in order before God.
In other words, you have to set your house in order before God can use you. Zipporah immediately knew, and immediately she did it. But because of this, she was sent back. She came back afterward, into the wilderness, after the children of Israel came out.
So you find that Zipporah was also a very strong woman. The elder sister loved the younger brother dearly, and the wife loved the husband dearly. Two women in the same house—there must have been conflict going on all the time. Each wanted to possess Moses.
But it was hidden. Now Moses’ weakness was exposed, and Miriam raised her head. She took Aaron with her to criticize Moses. “Did not God speak through us too? Do you think you are higher than we are? You are finished. You had better step down and let us take over.”
In criticizing Moses, they used this as a means to downgrade Moses further and try to uplift their own positions. That is always the case.
Oftentimes we criticize other people. Maybe they are wrong, but why do you search them out? Why do you criticize them? Is it in order to show that you are better? Ambition and jealousy—these are manifest works of the flesh.
Moses’ flesh was exposed and dealt with. Here you find Miriam and Aaron’s jealousy coming to the surface.
But thank God, Moses was humble. It is much easier to stand the judgment, criticism, and despising of strangers or people outside. But to have criticism and despising from your own home—that is difficult.
Moses was the meekest man. He did not say a word. He let the words come and go. He did not try to defend himself.
So God came to vindicate Moses. Oftentimes, brothers and sisters, our flesh rises up and says, “Well, I am not that bad, and you are no better than I.” We try to defend ourselves, and in doing that, the whole flesh comes forth.
But Moses had learned a lesson. He was able to leave it with the Lord. Oftentimes the Lord is not able to come out because we are already there. We do not leave the Lord time to vindicate us.
God called Moses, Aaron, and Miriam together, and God said, “Moses is different. If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly.”
“Who are you, that you should speak against My servant?” God was angry. When He departed, Miriam was leprous.
Aaron cried to Moses, and Moses cried to God. There was no revenge in Moses’ spirit or life. He cried to God, and God said Miriam had to be kept outside the camp for seven days, and then come in again.
Because of Miriam, the journey of the children of Israel was delayed seven days. Here you find the whole thing: not only were the people tested and proved wanting; even the leadership was tested and proved wanting.
The flesh has to be exposed in order to be dealt with. If it is always hidden, there is no chance for it to be dealt with.
Brothers and sisters, if we look at it in that direction, how we thank God. Even though it is a painful experience, it is necessary—necessary.
Finally, they came to Kadesh-barnea, to the border. God said, “Now you go in and possess it.” But they were not ready.
They came to Moses and said, “Let us send spies to spy out the land, to see whether the land is really good, who the people are, whether they live in cities or villages, and to find out how to get in.”
Really, they did not trust God. After God had proven Himself faithful to them so many times, they still did not trust God. They wanted to spy out the land, and God gave in to them and let spies be sent.
You know the result. They came back, on the one hand reporting that the land was good, as God had said. But on the other hand, they gave a bad report: “The people are so big and so tall. We are like grasshoppers in their sight. We cannot go in. We will all be eaten up.”
Only Joshua and Caleb followed the Lord with an excellent spirit. In other words, unbelief—the sin of unbelief—is the root of all sins.
Therefore, in Hebrews we are exhorted, “To-day if ye shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Do not harden your hearts like the children of Israel. Their carcasses fell in the wilderness. They were not allowed to enter into the promised land.
The sin of unbelief—unbelief. Watch it. How often we have the same problem. The flesh just cannot believe. It just cannot believe God, because the carnal mind does not understand and is not subject to the law of God.
But when God said, “All right, if you think you will die, you will die, as you said, in the wilderness. Go back into the wilderness,” the next day they rose up early and said, “We want to go in now. We are wrong. We want to go in.”
Moses said, “Do not do that, because God is not with you.” This was the sin of presumption.
On the one hand, they committed the sin of unbelief. They did not believe what God said. Now they committed the sin of presumption. They wanted to do what God had not commanded them to do.
Sometimes, brothers and sisters, we commit the sin of unbelief. God has told us, but we will not do it. At the time God has not said, yet we presume that we want to do it.
In Psalm 19, you find David’s prayer:
Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me:
Then shall I be upright,
And I shall be clear from great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Thy sight,
O Lord, my rock, and my redeemer.
How we need to ask God to keep us from the sin of presumption. Please do not just presume things. Without God’s word, without God’s command, we offer to do it.
When the children of Israel did that, it was as if they were finally going to obey God. But in doing that, they were actually disobeying God. They committed presumption.
Oh God, that the Lord will keep us from presumptuous sin. Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from great transgression.
The flesh, on the one hand, does not believe God. On the other hand, the flesh has much confidence in itself. Therefore, we act presumptuously because we trust in our flesh.
The whole camp of the children of Israel was put under discipline. God said, “Go back. Go back.”
Before they started to move, something happened. In Numbers 16, Korah, a Levite, together with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Reuben, and two hundred and fifty leaders of the children of Israel, joined hands and rebelled against God, against Moses, and against Aaron.
The manifest work of the flesh begins with murmuring, and now it ends in rebellion—open rebellion. We rebel against the discipline of God.
Korah’s attack upon Moses was religious. He said, “The whole nation of Israel is holy. God is with us. Why do you lift yourself up above the others, as if you are holier?”
It was a religious rebellion. Was the nation of Israel holy? They were not. They sinned against God. In mercy, God remained with them, but not because they were holy.
Actually, God remained with them because of the intercession of Moses. Yet they accused Moses of lifting himself up above the others because all the others were holy.
The attack of Dathan and Abiram was civil. They said to Moses, “You led us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey.” They described Egypt as a land flowing with milk and honey. They had forgotten their bondage.
“You took us out of a land flowing with milk and honey, and you did not lead us into a land flowing with milk and honey. You want to kill us in the wilderness.” They did not enter into the promised land because of their unbelief, and yet they accused Moses.
Rebellion. The Bible says rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. We rebel against God and bring this into the church. We go against the authorities that God has set above us. Self-will.
Because of that, God dealt with them. But look at Moses. Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces three times in Numbers 16. They did not answer their accusers. They simply fell upon their faces—once before the accusers, twice before God for their accusers.
That is the attitude when there is rebellion, when people will not accept God’s authority. Do not fight for it. Fall upon your face before the Lord. Humble yourself, and God will vindicate you.
The problem is that if God sets someone in leadership and he is misunderstood, we tend to come out and try to defend ourselves. When you defend yourself, the authority is gone. Fall upon your face. Humble yourself before God, and then God will speak.
Korah and the two hundred and fifty were burned as they offered incense. Dathan and Abiram and their families—the earth opened, and they were swallowed alive into Sheol, into Hades.
But Moses said, “I do not do it. It is not me; it is God.” In other words, authority has to be exercised in love. How Moses pleaded with Korah, tried to persuade them not to rebel against God.
It was not against Moses; it was against God. But they would not repent, and therefore discipline came upon them in rebellion.
God settled the question of who was qualified to serve by asking every tribe to prepare a rod, with the name of its leader upon it, and with the name of Aaron upon the rod of Levi.
The twelve rods were put overnight before the ark of the testimony. The next morning, when Moses went in, Aaron’s rod had budded, blossomed, and borne almonds.
Thus, the matter of who is called to serve God was settled. That almond rod represents the power of resurrection.
It is in the power of His resurrection that we can minister to God and to man. It is not a position to seek; it is the power of His resurrection.
Of course, to know the power of His resurrection, you have to go through death too. That is the way ministry is settled.
Dear brothers and sisters, in these ten chapters we have incident after incident telling us how the flesh comes out in various ways. It is ugly, but thank God.
These things were there before, but nobody knew. The whole nation of Israel was under deception. They thought they were holy. They thought they were good. They thought they could inherit the land.
But it was there. God had to allow it to come out, to be exposed, and to be dealt with. Because of that, thank God, a new generation was raised up to enter into the promised land.
So, spiritually speaking, brothers and sisters, do not be afraid if the Lord exposes your flesh. What you need to be afraid of is hardening your heart.
Humble yourself before the Lord. Accept the discipline of the Lord, because He disciplines us as a father chastens his sons, that we may be partakers of His divine nature.
Our heavenly Father, do allow us to see Thy good hand.
Oh, Father, if it is necessary to have our flesh exposed, then, Lord, teach us how to humble ourselves before Thee and accept Thy chastening, that we may be a people able to possess our inheritance—our Christ.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.