CONSEQUENCES - 28 June 2019
BROUGHT SAFELY OUT OF EGYPT:
With Israel (the descendants of Jacob) being brought OUT of Egypt (the "SUPER-POWER of the DAY") - the Israelites just could not learn to completely TRUST IN, ADHERE TO and LEAN ON the ALMIGHTY.
Spiritually they kept on climbing and falling down the same old mountain - MURMURING and COMPLAINING.
The COMPLAINERS FORFEITED their PROMISED LAND:
40 YEARS in the DESERT:
Israel has seen the MIRACLES performed by Yahweh, but they STILL REFUSED to TRUST YAHWEH so they spent 40 years in the desert - Num. 32:13 "And Yahweh's anger was KINDLED AGAINST Israel and He made them WANDER in the WILDERNESS for FORTY YEARS, UNTIL ALL the GENERATION THAT HAD DONE EVIL in the SIGHT of YAH was CONSUMED."
NEW GENERATION:
Numbers 32:13 (above) tells us that a WHOLE NEW GENERATION of Israelites would eventually ENTER the PROMISED LAND.
OLD GENERATION had to ENDURE the CONSEQUENCES:
Although the old generation WEPT afterward, their hearts weren't right and they had to ENDURE the CONSEQUENSES of their DESCISION. In the desert Abba PROVIDED for them, wanting and longing for a people that would come to Him for ALL their NEED. But they did not.
On their journey, they MURMERED and LONGED for the EGYPT-THINGS they had left behind - continuously forfeited the blessings Yahweh had install for them FORFEITING their PROMISED LAND.
SCOUTS WERE SENT OUT:
Num. 13:25-26 "And they returned from scouting out the land after 40 days. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the Israelite congregation in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought them word, and showed them the land's fruit.
A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY:
:27 They told Moses, We came to the land to which you sent us; surely it flows with milk and honey. This is its fruit.
The NEPHILIM DESCENDANTS (GIANTS) DWELLED THERE:
The SONS OF ANAK:
:28 BUT THE PEOPLE WHO DWELL THERE ARE STRONG, and the cities are FORTIFIED and VERY LARGE; MOREOVER there we SAW the SONS of ANAK [of great STATURE and COURAGE].
... and AMALEK, HITTITE, JEBUSITE, AMORITE and CANAANITE:
:29 AMALEK DWELLS in the land of the South (the Negeb); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite DWELL in the HILL COUNTRY; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and along by the side of the Jordan River.
CALEB TRUSTED YAHWEH:
:30 CALEB quieted the people before Moses, and said, LET US GO UP AT ONCE AND POSSES IT; WE ARE WELL ABLE to CONQUER it.
Caleb's FELLOW SCOUTS were AFRAID:
:31 But his fellow scouts said, WE ARE NOT ABLE to GO UP AGAINST the PEOPLE of CANAAN, for they ARE STRONGER THAN we ARE.
The REPORT is EVIL:
:32 So they BROUGHT the Israelites an EVIL REPORT of the LAND which they had scouted out, saying, the LAND THROUGH WHICH WE WENT TO SPY IT OUT is A LAND THAT DEVOURS its INHABITANTS. AND ALL the PEOPLE THAT WE SAW IN IT ARE MEN OF GREAT STATURE.
THERE WE SAW the NEPHILIM:
:33 THERE WE SAW the NEPHILIM, the SONS OF ANAK, who COME FROM the GIANTS; and we were in our OWN SIGHT AS GRASSHOPPERS, and so we were in THEIR SIGHT."
THEY WEPT AND MOANED:
Num. 14 tells us that the Israelites CRIED OUT with a LOUD VOICE AND WEPT that night - GRUMBLED and DEPLORED their SITUATION, ACCUSING Moses and Aaron - saying that they should have rather died in Egypt than to die in the wilderness.
They MADE PLANS TO RETURN TO EGYPT:
LET US CHOOSE A CAPTAIN for OURSELVES AND RETURN to EGYPT:
They MOANED and saying WHY did Yahweh brought them out of Egypt to fall by the sword ... their wives and little ones to be prey ... so they said to one another "LET US CHOOSE A CAPTAIN and RETURN to EGYPT." (Num. 14:4).
The PEOPLE DID NOT UNDERSTAND that YAHWEH will be their PROTECTION:
By hearing the people's grumbling, their fear and their plans to return to Egypt, Moses and Aaron fell on their faces (Num. 14:5) and Joshua and Caleb who were among the scouts, rent their clothes then they spoke to the Israelites (Num. 14:6) ... saying:
IT'S A GOOD LAND:
Num. 14:7 "... the land through which we passed as scouts is an exceedingly good land ...
YAHWEH WILL BRING US INTO THIS LAND and GIVE IT TO US - IF - HE DELIGHTS IN US:
... IF YAHWEH DELIGHTS IN us, then HE WILL BRING us INTO this land and GIVE it to us, a LAND FLOWING with MILK and HONEY ...
ONLY do NOT REBEL AGAINST YAHWEH:
Only DO NOT REBEL AGAINST YAHWEH ... (Num. 14:9a)
NEITHER DO NOT FEAR the PEOPLE of the land:
... neither FEAR the PEOPLE of the land ... (Num. 14:9b)
YAHWEH WILL GIVE US VICTORY for He has REMOVED the ENEMY'S "PROTECTION" from over them:
... their DEFENSE and the SHADOW OF PROTECTION is REMOVED FROM OVER THEM, but YAHWEH IS WITH US. FEAR THEM NOT. (Num. 14:9c)
WANTING TO STONE JOSHUA AND CALEB:
But by hearing this, all the congregation said to STONE JOSHUA AND CALEB. (Num. 14:10a)
YAHWEH SPOKE - HOW LONG WILL THIS PEOPLE PROVOKE and DESPISE Me? How LONG will it TAKE for My people to TRUST Me, to RELY on Me and to CLING to Me?
The Bible tells us that when this happened, the GLORY of YAHWEH APPEARED at the TENT of MEETING before all the Israelites and Yahweh said to Moses:
Num. 14:11 "... HOW LONG WILL THIS PEOPLE PROVOKE (SPURN, DESPISE) Me? And how long will it be before they BELIEVE Me [TRUSTING IN, RELYING ON, CLINGING to Me], for ALL the SIGNS which I have PERFOMED AMONG THEM?
YAHWEH'S ANGER AGAINST His people:
WANTED to SMITE them with PESTILENCE and DISINHERIT them:
I will SMITE THEM with the PESTILENCE and DISINHERIT THEM, and will make YOU [MOSES] a NATION GREATER and MIGHTIER THAN THEY." (Num. 14:10b -12)
MOSES INTERCEDE for the PEOPLE:
From verse 13 Moses interceded for them ... saying ... :17-19 "And now, I PRAY You, LET THE POWER of my YAHWEH be GREAT, as YOU have promised saying, YAHWEH is LONG-SUFFERING and SLOW to ANGER, and ABUNDANT in MERCY and LOVING KIND-NESS, FORGIVING INIQUITIES and TRANSGRESSIONS, but He will by NO MEANS CLEAR THE GUILTY, visiting the INIQUITIES of the fathers upon the children upon the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I pray You, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your mercy and loving-kindness just as You have forgiven them from Egypt until now."
YAHWEH PARDONED THEM - but there are CONSEQUENCES:
:20 And YAHWEH said, I HAVE PARDONED according to your word.
:21 But truly as I live and as all the earth shall be FILLED with the GLORY of YAHWEH.
They HAVE TESTED AND PROVED ABBA TEN TIMES - they HAVE NOT OBEYED HIS VOICE:
:22 Because all these people who have SEEN My GLORY and My MIRACULOUS SIGNS which I PERFORMED in Egypt and in the WILDERNESS, yet have TESTED AND PROVED Me THESE TEN TIMES and HAVE NOT HEEDED My voice,
NOW, THEY SHALL NOT GO INTO THEIR PROMISED LAND:
:23 Surely they SHALL NOT SEE the LAND WHICH I SWORE to their FATHER, NOR SHALL ANY WHO PROVOKED (SPURNED, DESPISED) Me see it.
A NEW GENERATION - I WILL BRING INTO the LAND:
and CALEB who has a DIFFERENT, SET-APART SPIRIT:
:24 But My SERVANT CALEB, because HE HAS A DIFFERENT SPIRIT and has FOLLOWED Me FULLY, I WILL BRING INTO THE LAND INTO WHICH he WENT, and HIS DESCENDANTS WILL POSSESS it.
TOMORROW TURN AND GO INTO THE WILDERNESS:
:25 Now because the Amalakites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley, TOMORROW TURN AND GO INTO THE WILDERNESS by way of the Red Sea.
YOU ARE AN EVIL GENERATION - MURMERING AGAINST Me:
:26-27 And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, HOW LONG WILL THIS EVIL CONGREGATION MURMUR AGAINST Me? I have HEARD the COMPLAINTS the Israelites MURMUR AGAINST Me.
YOU SHALL DIE IN THE WILDERNESS - all who have MURMURED AGAINST Me - from 20 YEARS OLD AND UPWARD:
:28-30 TELL THEM, As I LIVE, says YAHWEH, WHAT YOU HAVE SAID IN MY HEARING I WILL DO to YOU. :29 YOUR DEAD BODIES SHALL FALL in THIS WILDERNESS - of ALL WHO WERE NUMBERED OF YOU, from TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD, WHO HAVE MURMURED AGAINST Me,
EXCEPT CALEB and JOSHUA:
:30 SURELY NONE SHALL COME INTO THE LAND IN WHICH I SWORE TO MAKE YOU DWELL, EXCEPT CALEB ... and JOSHUA.
A NEW GENERATION shall KNOW the LAND:
:31 But your LITTLE ONES WHOM you SAID would be a PREY, THEM WILL I BRING in and THEY SHALL KNOW the LAND WHICH YOU HAVE DESPISED AND REJECTED.
:32 But as for you, YOUR DEAD BODIES SHALL FALL IN THIS WILDERNESS.
Your CHILDREN shall SUFFER for YOUR SIN:
:33 And YOUR CHILDREN SHALL BE WANDERERS and SHEPHERD IN THE WILDERNESS for 40 YEARS and SHALL SUFFER FOR YOUR WHOREDOMS, your INFEDILITY to YOUR ESPOUSED YAH (God), UNTIL YOUR CORPSES ARE CONSUMED in the WILDERNESS.
YAHWEH REVOKED His PROMISE:
:34 After the NUMBER of the DAYS in which you SPIED OUT THE LAND of Canaan, even FORTY DAYS, FOR EACH DAY A YEAR you BEAR AND SUFFER for YOUR INIQUITIES, even for FORTY YEARS, and YOU SHALL KNOW My DISPLEASURE, the REVOKING OF My PROMISE and My ESTRANGEMENT.
In THIS WILDERNESS, they shall be CONSUMED by WAR, DISEASE and PLAGUES and DIE:
:35 I, YAHWEH HAS SPOKEN, SURELY THIS WILL I DO to ALL THIS EVIL CONGREGATION WHO IS GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST Me. In THIS WILDERNESS THEY SHALL BE CONSUMED by WAR, DISEASE, PLAGUES and there they SHALL DIE." [1 Cor. 10:10; 11].
THE SCOUTS except JOSHUA AND CALEB DIED BEFORE YAHWEH:
The scouts that Moses sent to search the land who returned and made the evil report making all the congregation to grumble and complain died by a PLAGUE before Yahweh. (Num. 14:36-37) (Heb. 3:17-19; Jude 5-7)
MOSES TOLD the ISRAELITES what YAHWEH had SAID:
When Moses told the Israelites the words of Yahweh, they MOURNED GREATLY.
TOMORROW you must TURN and go INTO THE WILDERNESS by the way of the Red Sea:
He told them that Yahweh had said, Num. 14:25 "Now because the Amalakites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley, TOMORROW TURN and go into the WILDERNESS by the way of the RED SEA."
They DISOBEYED AGAIN:
Early the next morning Israel DISOBEYED the WORD of YAH - ROSE EARLY and went up to the top of the mountain saying that they are there intending to go up to the place which Yahweh has promised, for they have sinned. (Num. 14:10a)
Although Moses told them to not go back for Yahweh is not with them, they went anyway, where the Amalakites and the Canaanites smote them and beat them back as far as Hormah. (Num. 14:40b)
REBELLION - DISOBEDIENCE - MURMURING - COMPLAINING:
The Israelites' rebellion and disobedience and murmuring and complaining had huge consequences:
They were never to see the promise land;
Death was at their doorstep;
They were consumed by fire;
They were consumed by plagues ...
HARDSHIP FOLLOWED them until all of them perished.
It all STARTED with rebellion - rather than PRESSING FORWARD - leaning on, trusting in and relying on Yahweh - they wanted to TURN BACK LONGING for THINGS of the PAST.
We all need to UNDERSTAND and HAVE KNOWLEDGE of the PAST to UNDERSTAND the PRESENT and to PRESS FORWARD. The PAST is of the utmost IMPORTANCE for us to LEARN from. Without KNOWLEDGE of the PAST and LEARNING LESSONS from the PAST - we will repeat the wrongs -time and again. We need to LEARN to PRESS FORWARD in FAITH ...
Num. 20:1 "And the Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month. And the people dwelt in Kadesh. MIRIAM DIED and WAS BURIED there.
:2 Now THERE WAS NO WATER for the congregation, and they ASSEMBLED TOGETHER AGAINST Moses and Aaron.
COMPLAINING AGAIN:
:3 And the people CONTENDED with Moses and said, WOULD THAT WE HAD DIED when our BREHTREN DID in the PLAGUE before Yahweh! [Num. 16:49)
WHY ... WHY ... WHY ...
:4 And WHY have you brought up the congregation of Yahweh into this wilderness, that we should DIE here, we and our livestock?
:5 And WHY have you made us come up out of Egypt to BRING US INTO THIS EVIL PLACE? It is NO PLACE of GRAIN or of FIGS or of VINES or of POMEGRANATES. AND THERE IS NO WATER TO DRINK.
:6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the DOOR of the TENT of MEETING and FELL on their FACES. Then the GLORY of Yahweh appeared to them.
ASSEMBLE the Israelites:
:7 And Yahweh said to Moses, :8 Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you AND Aaron your brother ...
TELL the ROCK to GIVE FORTH ITS WATER:
... and TELL the ROCK BEFORE THEIR EYES to GIVE FORTH ITS WATER and you shall BRING FORTH to THEM WATER OUT of the ROCK; so you shall GIVE the CONGREGATION and their livestock DRINK.
:9-10 So Moses took the rod from before Yahweh as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation before the rock and Moses said to them ...
Anger took over:
... HEAR NOW, YOU REBELS; must WE bring you WATER OUT OF THIS ROCK?
Moses DISOBEYED YAHWEH - and in anger STRUCK the ROCK TWICE:
:11 And Moses lifted up his hand and with his rod he SMOTE the ROCK TWICE. And the WATER CAME OUT ABUNDANTLY, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
Consequences - There would be a NEW LEADER and a NEW PRIEST:
Num. 20:12 "And Yahweh said to MOSES AND AARON, BECAUSE you DID NOT BELIEVE in (RELY ON, CLING TO) Me to SANCTIFY Me in the EYES of the Israelites, YOU THEREFORE shall NOT BRING this CONGREGATION INTO the LAND which I HAVE GIVEN THEM. :13 These are the waters of MERIBAH (STRIFE), where the Israelites contended with Yahweh ..."
So Moses sent out messengers to the king of Edom saying, asking permission to pass through Edom - The Edomites their family (Esau's descendants) - but Edom refused and Israel turned away. Then they journeyed to the border of the land of Edom - a place named MOUNT HOR. There Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron,
Num. 20:24 "Aaron shall be GATHERED to his people, For HE SHALL NOT ENTER the LAND WHICH I HAVE GIVEN to the Israelites; because you BOTH REBELLED AGAINST My INSTRUCTIONS at the waters of MERIBAH.
:25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor.
:26 STRIP Aaron of his VESTMENTS and PUT IT ON Eleazar his son, and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and SHALL DIE there.
:27 And Moses did as Yahweh commanded; and they went up Mount Hor IN THE SIGHT of all the congregation.
:28 And Moses STRIPPED Aaron of his PRIESTLY GARMENTS and PUT THEM ON Eleazar his son. And AARON DIED there on the MOUNTAIN TOP; and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
:29 When ALL the CONGREGATION SAW that Aaron was DEAD, they WEPT and MOURNED for him THIRTY DAYS, all the house of Israel.
ABBA - Thank You for YOUR SON that MADE the WAY - BACK to YOU - O please help us to PRESS FORWARD in FAITH - to KNOW that YOUR ARE ALWAYS WITH US - ALWAYS IN CONTROL - NO MATTER WHAT. Help us to STAND - our EYES FIXED ON YOU - let the DIFFERENT SPIRIT that was in JOSHUA AND CALEB - YOUR SPIRIT - CONSUME us - and FILL us - LEADING the WAY. In Yahshua Messiah's name. Amen.