Whoa! God is MAD! Moses sends twelve guys to go and check out the land God is giving them and they come back and say, "No way are we going to conquer them! They are giants! We are like little grasshoppers compared to them!"
There are just 2 out of the 12 that try to encourage the people to move on into the land that God is handing over to them - Joshua and Caleb.
What surprises me is that these ten guys were able to convince 600,000 soldiers that they will be swallowed up if they go there! God has already promised them!!! It's their word versus God's! ....and yet they believed the men.
How often do I listen to my friends advise or lies from the enemy over God's promises? Imagine the victory I would have conquering the "giants" in my life if I would just learn to turn to God and trust what He has to say.
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Like Joyce Meyer says, "Instead of turning to the phone, we need to turn to the throne." *smile* I like that one.
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But, really now...how many more miracles do they need to witness first hand before they will finally trust that what God says is truth?
So, they start weeping and wailing, complaining and making rash decisions - like going back to Egypt!
...and God was MAD! He asked Moses, "How long will they reject me? I've done so many miracles for them!"
Imagine how God must have felt. When I read statements like that - God feeling regected, or God is grieved, or He's please -it makes me feel that much closer to knowing who He is.
I love it. Although, it makes me sad that He
I can relate. I'm the mother of a teenager.
At any rate, He's had enough and so He decides to destroy them...
...and Moses changed His mind.
Moses reminded God that he made a promise. He pleads with God to show His power once again so that generations to come will not be able to say, "The Lord was not able to bring them into the land He swore to give them." (14:16)
He even went so far as to quote God's very own words, saying, "Remember God?? You even said, 'The Lord is slow to anger and rich in unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion.'"(14:18)
However, he also recognized that He does not leave sin unpunished and told God as much.
So, God pardons them. But...(as a result of their rejection), He goes on to say, "Those living today, will NEVER see the promised land." It is the next generation that He will lead into the promised land.
He declares the people of Israel, 20 years or older, will wander in the wilderness for 40 years and die there. He also strikes dead the ten leaders that didn't have faith in the first place and convinced Israel to feel the same.
Another lesson in this passage - My actions shouldn't be based on my feelings! I need to learn, understand and live by God's promises and not my feelings! Because my feelings and emotions change every minute of every day - as opposed to God's promises. They stand true. Day after day.
You know, this is is the 3rd time I recall someone convincing God to change His mind which brings me to my third lesson in this passage of scripture - prayer.
I think I have a lot to learn about my prayer life, and the manner in which I can and should approach God, from Moses in chapter 14: 5:19)
- Have faith - "...he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us! ...They (the giants) have no protection, but the Lord is with US! Don't be afraid of them!"
- Obey - "Do not rebel against the Lord..."
- Know His promises and what He's already done - "...the power you displayed in rescuing these people from Egypt."
- Acknowledge His power - "Please, Lord prove that you power is as great as you have claimed it to be."
- Quote scripture - "For you have said...".
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