Testing God

You’re probably familiar with the story of Moses leading the nation of Israel out of Egypt. They crossed the Red Sea, but had to wait 40 years before they could move into the land God had promised them. The Israelites believed the 10 men who talked fearfully of giants in the land, rather than the 2 who believed they could be victorious. I’ve often thought that the reason the Israelites were not allowed to enter the Promised Land was because of disobedience.

While disobedience and a lack of faith were certainly part of the reason they had to wander in the desert, I find God talking with them about other issues as well. And knowing that the things written in the Old Testament are there for us to learn from (I Corinthians 10:11), I want to pay particular attention to those things that can keep us from missing out on all that God has for us.

In Numbers 14:22 and 23, God spoke to the Israelites who were now prohibited from entering the Promised Land. He told them that they had disobeyed him and tested him 10 times. Those 10 times of testing came in 5 categories, with one of them being much more prevalent than the others. Let’s take a look at these for our own benefit:

Category #1 – Lack of faith

·         Going out - At the edge of the Red Sea they did not believe that God would help them leave Egypt behind-Exodus 14:11, 12

·         Coming in - At the edge of the Promised Land they did not believe that God would give them the victory to move forward-Numbers 14:1-4

Victory Verse: The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. Psalm 121:8

Category #2 – Selfishness

·         Self-Provision – The Israelites tried to collect extra manna to store up in case God didn’t come through the next day. Exodus 16:20

Victory Verse: …do not worry about tomorrow…each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

Category #3 – Disobedience

·         Disregard for God’s Authority – Searching for manna on the Sabbath day after being told not to. Exodus 16:27-29

Victory Verse: Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. I Samuel 15:22,23

Category #4 – Idolatry

·         Exalting Something Above God – In wanting something tangible to worship, they fashion a golden calf from the treasures of Egypt. Exodus 32:7-10

Victory Verse: You shall have no other Gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol… Exodus 20:3,4

Category #5 – Complaining

·         Bitter water at Marah – Exodus 15:24

·         Desert environment – Exodus 16:3

·         No water at Rephidim – Exodus 17:2,3

·         Hardships – Numbers 11:1,2

·         Lack of Variety in Food – Numbers 11:4

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Victory Verse: And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

An interesting list indeed. I’m asking myself which of these areas I’m having the greatest difficulty with and am bringing that to the Lord in prayer. What about you? What’s your greatest challenge? Is it a lack of faith, selfishness, disobedience, idolatry or complaining that trips you up?

Join with me in committing to identify the single most difficult one on the list and zero in on its complete and total removal from our lives!

Comments

[Karl Long]

Great message Dave. I am going to share this one with the family. Suggest we print and distribute this to the small group as well....