Moses was recounting to the children of Israel their history of stiffneckedness and disobedience while showing God's faithfulness and commandments. Time and time again, God had a path for them to take (whether it was conquering a city or going forward to the Promised Land) and time and time again, the Israelites would choose the opposite way. God said "this" so they chose "that".
Wow. That sounds strangely familiar for my own life.
I eventually came to the part of Moses' monologue where he says in 3:24-27 ~
23: "And I besought the LORD at that time, saying, 24: O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? 25: I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. 26: But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. 27: Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan."
It's recorded that Moses besought the Lord to be allowed to go into the Promised Land, but God was wroth and said NO. If you know anything about Israel's history, you'll recall the time that the children of Israel were complaining about the lack of water and God told Moses to speak to the rock so water would come out. Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses smote the rock and water came streaming out. It's interesting to note that God allowed water to even come out of the rock. I think it was for His own testimony that He allowed that miracle to happen.
Anyway, the consequence for Moses' disobedience was he was denied entry into the Promised Land. He saw it, but never went to it.
The sin of disobedience. Wow.
Then for EBA's chapel time, Bro. Ronnie preached from Mark 6:1-6. Bro. Ronnie showed us from the chapters preceding Mark 6 about all the miracles Jesus did in all the other cities around Nazareth, but when He came to Nazareth, the people of the city basically jeered and scoffed at Him. The verses that captivated my attention was 5 & 6: "And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them...because of their unbelief."
The sin of unbelief. Wow.
Then this evening we had Bro. Larry Harrison in, missionary to the Yukon in Canada and sent out from Berean Baptist Church in Missouri. He wondered aloud why some churches are on fire for missions and some are dead, dead, dead. So the Lord gave him a passage to preach from in Exodus 3:1-10 about why some churches don't have a burden for missions. His points were simple yet powerful:
- They haven't seen the calamity of the lost (verse 7 ~ "I have surely seen the affliction of my people")
- They haven't heard the cry of the lost (verse 7 ~ "I have heard their cry... for I know their sorrows")
- They haven't heard the call of God (verse 10 ~ "Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh")
But what struck me the most was when he pulled a little 6 year old girl from the congregation and said: "the reason most churches don't get a burden for missions is because they know Hell is real, but haven't put any faces in Hell." And then he walked around the auditorium with little Grace and asked, "What would you give to keep Grace from Hell? $1,000? $10,000? A boat?".
After he let Grace return to her seat, he talked about the Great White Throne Judgment and how the lost will look at those who are saved and say, "You knew! You knew! Why didn't you tell me?!?". It was at this moment as his thrust his finger out and pointed to the crowd, that I put my unsaved dear family members faces in Hell.
I saw my dad's cousin recently (whom I haven't seen in years) and as I told a friend about seeing her, my friend asked if I gave her tract. No, I didn't. For I was getting over the surprise of seeing her. Is my not giving her a tract going to put her in Hell in the not too distant future? Please Lord, NO! Give me another chance.
The sin of untaken opportunities.
The sin of blood on my hands.
The sin of disobedience and unbelief.
Please God. Just one more chance...
3 comments:
I was reading in the same book for a while and one thing that caught my attention was that on at least 3 occasions Moses said: De 1:37 Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.
Moses kept blaming the people for God being angry with him, but it was his own sin that caused God to be angry. I wonder - if Moses had seen the sin as HIS sin and not the people's fault - would God have let him into the promise land? Maybe not, but it is still interesting to see that he kept blaming others. How often do we do that?
The message last night was very good! No matter what is happening with Dillon - there are souls dying and going to Hell!! What a horrible, yet true thought. I forget to take the tracks into the doctors office with me and keep thinking "Next time..." What if God doesn't give a "next time" will those doctors look at me and cry out against me not telling them?
Great post Anne. I have often tried to place the face of a loved one in Hell. I must cofess that it is a difficut sight to behold in my minds eye because no matter how bad we picture Hell is in our minds, we can be assured that it is much worse. I almost cannot bare it. But it is necessary to keep the burden for souls.
I have also thought a great deal on the incident with Moses and why God would allow the water to pour from the rock, even through his disobedience. I agree with you that maybe it was for the sake of his own testimony, but also to show the people that sometimes, we have to wait on HIM to supply our needs and not rush Him. By not waiting on Him, He may give us what we want, which He did time and time again with the Israelites, but it will come at a great price.
~Kristi
Rachel ~ Nothing is more important than all the little "Graces" that represent souls.
Tiff ~ I just ran across a verse like that this morning in my devotions. The people were wrong for sinning against God and Moses, but Moses was responsible for his reaction to the sin around him. Good observation on taking responsibility for our decisions.
Kristi ~ You are right when you say that "no matter how bad we picture Hell in our minds, we can be assured that it is much worse". I don't want my loved ones or anybody for that matter to find out how bad Hell really is.
Kaysha ~ Hey girl! Thanks for stopping by! AND commenting! Now if I could only get some other LVBC lurkers to comment (sneeze, Melissa/anonymous, Katie, Becky, and whoever else, sneeze)!
I think we did a very good job of limiting ourselves to only 20 minutes of chatting rather than 3 hours;). I've really enjoyed it! See ya Sunday!
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