Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: moses

You Will Not Be Led -6- Rabble & Rebellion
Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they did set out.
Numbers 9:22 NASB95

From Exodus to Obedience

Previously in You Will Not Be Led -5- Disobedience to Witness we left the rabble who had uncovered their nakedness before their enemies by their idolatry SLAIN by the sword of the Levites ordered by Moses and the LORD.

Moses once again ascends Sinai and receives detailed instructions from the LORD for completing the Tabernacle containing the ark of the testimony. (In the next book {Vayikra (Leviticus)}of five, the LORD provides many instructions for the Levite Priests for worship and application of the LAW.)

Now we journey further with the Hebrews in the wilderness.

Numbers: מִדְבָּר

9:23 At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

10: In the Second Year..

11 Now in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony..

33 Thus they set out from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord journeying in front of them..

כִּ֚י יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ אֵ֥שׁ אֹכְלָ֖ה ה֑וּא אֵ֖ל קַנָּֽא׃ פ
For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 4:24 WLC, KJV

the fire of the Lord burnt among them

Numbers 11:

Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.
- Are YOU like that?
- Do you know some of your church who tend to complain at every adversity?
  - Pastor, WHY has GOD brought this on ME?
2 The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord and the fire died out.

3 .. the fire of the Lord burned among them.

The rabble who were among them had greedy desires;
and also the sons of Israel wept again and said,
“Who will give us meat to eat?
Numbers 11:4 NASB95

5 We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.”

What is it?

We want to make our people great again, as we were before.

If you want to be our leader, give US something FREE! (for the LORD doesn’t give US anything and WE THE PEOPLE deserve more.) Sound familiar — perhaps even contemporary?

18 Say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying,

“Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat and you shall eat…

19 You shall eat, not one day, nor two days.. but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the Lord who is among you ..”

21 But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot..

(and Moses asks how he will feed them)

31 A wind sent by the Lord came up and blew quail in from the sea; it dropped them all around the camp. They were flying three feet off the ground for about a day’s journey in every direction. The people were up all that day and night and all the next day gathering the quail—the one who took the least gathered sixty bushels—and they spread them out all around the camp.

33 While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the Lord’s anger burned against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very severe plague…

More murmuring from leaders

Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married..

12:9 So the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed. But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow..

Debate on the Hill

13 וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃

2 שְׁלַח־לְךָ֣ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְיָתֻ֙רוּ֙ אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֥י נֹתֵ֖ן לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אִ֣ישׁ אֶחָד֩ אִ֨ישׁ אֶחָ֜ד לְמַטֵּ֤ה אֲבֹתָיו֙ תִּשְׁלָ֔חוּ כֹּ֖ל נָשִׂ֥יא בָהֶֽם׃

3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel..

25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation…

FOR: 2

AGAINST: 10

The plan of the LORD is defeated.

13:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel…

Numbers 14:

And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

.. 4 So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” ..

10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

נָאַץ

The LORD said to Moses,
“How long will these people despise me?
How long will they not trust in me despite all the signs I have performed among them?
Numbers 14:11 CSB
- despise (8x), provoke (5x), abhor (4x), blaspheme (4x), contemn (2x), flourish (1x), great occasion to blaspheme (1x)
- How long will this people provoke me? – KJV
- “How long will these people reject Me? – NKJV
- “How long will these people treat me with contempt? – NLT
- “How long will this people spurn Me? -NASB95
- :וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה עַד־אָ֥נָה יְנַאֲצֻ֖נִי – WLC
“Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
from the prayer of mōšê to yᵊhōvâ in the wilderness 14:19 NASB95
```
To be continued...

{Yes, in this this post on pg. 2 
we will continue with Korah's rebellion; but as you can see
Moses encountered much opposition to the LORD in a short time in the wilderness in leading a majority of rebellious people who did NOT want to obey God.}

Can you wait to hear where the Lord will lead?
```
Pages: 1 2
March 10, 2021
You Will Not Be Led -5- Disobedience to Witness
We stand daily on the precipice of loving the LORD our God or turning away toward the pit of our destruction.
Roger @ talk of Jesus {dot}.com

From Awe to Law

All the people answered together and said,
“All that the LORD has spoken we will do!”
And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.
Exodus 19:8 NASB95

AWESOME! Amazing beyond human comprehension (if you were not there); not only the Red Sea crossing but more so the appearance of the LORD at Sinai. This is were we left the Hebrews following the LORD and Moses in You Will Not Be Led -4- Death in the Wilderness.

But now after receiving the Law their troubles continue.

Exodus 20:

18 All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the ram’s horn, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it they trembled and stood at a distance.

19 “You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”

20-21 Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear him and will not sin.” And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the total darkness where God was.

24:3 וַיָּבֹא מֹשֶׁה וַיְסַפֵּר לָעָם אֵת כָּל־דִּבְרֵי יְהוָה וְאֵת כָּל־הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים וַיַּעַן כָּל־הָעָם קוֹל אֶחָד וַיֹּאמְרוּ כָּל־הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר יְהוָה נַעֲשֶֽׂה׃
Masoretic Text

3 Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice,

“We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.”

The Covenant Cermony

8 Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said,

“This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.”

An Agreement Carved in Stone

12 The Lord said to Moses,

“Come up to me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.” .. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days..

18 Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

The Testing in WAITING for the Promised Land

Moses disappears for more than a month.

Can you wait thirty or forty days or even forty years for God’s answer?
```
To be continued...  .. {for now just think how the Hebrews waited
 and turn the page.. it's a test}
```
Pages: 1 2 3
March 8, 2021
You Will Not Be Led -4- Death in the Wilderness
The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go up from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt..
.. But I will not go up with you because you are a stiff-necked people..
Exodus 33::1a,3b CSB

Sojourning through the Shifting Sands of a Wilderness Encounter

What happened? Did the LORD GOD change His mind?

That’s what we might think when our journey following the Lord becomes difficult. But we know and neglect some of the warnings to this chosen people.

Yes, they are still chosen; but who will follow the Lord and Moses, obeying Commands of the Lord? Will we obey leaders chosen by the LORD who command us in our journey?

How did we arrive in this wilderness?

The Hebrews were slaves in Egypt. The Lord sends 10 plagues which finally convince Pharaoh to allow Moses to lead them away. (Most of us know this part.)

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said,

“The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.” So he led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation. –Exodus 13:17-18 CSB

Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

“Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you must camp in front of Baal-zephon, facing it by the sea..

.. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this. – Exodus 14:1-2,4b

GOOD so far .. and most everyone knows of their escape by crossing the Red Sea.

BUT, now the trouble begins. (You probably know about the 40 years thing, too.)

Exodus 17:

17 וַ֠יִּסְעוּ כָּל־עֲדַ֨ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֧ל מִמִּדְבַּר־סִ֛ין לְמַסְעֵיהֶ֖ם עַל־פִּ֣י יְהוָ֑ה וַֽיַּחֲנוּ֙ בִּרְפִידִ֔ים וְאֵ֥ין מַ֖יִם לִשְׁתֹּ֥ת הָעָֽם׃

2 So the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink!”

We can hardly take time to detail all the complaints and all the rebellion, but a selective look after the triumph of crossing the Red Sea will set the scene of their 40 year punishment as our warning to obey to the Lord our God.

4 .. “Why did you ever bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

Scene at Mount Sinai

19 בַּחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י לְצֵ֥את בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם בַּיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה בָּ֖אוּ מִדְבַּ֥ר סִינָֽי׃

16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.

And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Exodus 19:17 NASB

It is not a mere burning bush not consumed.

A PILLAR of FIRE from Heaven to earth!

NOT an insignificant spewing of fire and brimstone from within the bowels of the earth through the peak of a volcano. Sinai has neither exploded nor been consumed, but the Presence of the LORD IS AWESOME to behold!

LOUD TRUMPETS from above warning a consecrated people of God NOT to come near the place of the LORD as they have been warned and prepared.

18 Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the entire mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.

Then the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

And now what?

“Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt ..
And I will send an angel before you .. for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.”
Exodus 33: 1-3 excerpt NASB

This is what the LORD would tell Moses later. Now, after seeing the awe of the Lord our God on Sinai, the faithful chosen of God must wait — the consecrated people of the LORD must wait for Moses to give them HIS WORD which must be obeyed.
```
To be continued...
```
March 5, 2021