The Man Moses #17

The Lord said to me,.."I will test my people with a plumbline. Amos 7:8 (TLB)

The Plumbline is a blog to encourage the Body of Christ.

The Man Moses #17

God is wholly trustworthy.

A NEW AND POSITIVE BEGINNING: With Numbers 21 we begin a new and positive chapter in the history of redemption. God's people are not suddenly perfect. They still fail. But a new generation takes over from the old. The generation that would not trust or obey is dying out. In Numbers 26 we read about "those numbered by Moses and Aaron . . . in the wilderness of Sinai. For the Lord had said of them, 'They shall die in the wilderness.' There was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun" (Numbers 26:64-65).The new generation began to respond to God's voice. And they made a great discovery. When God's people live in right relationship with Him, they are fully protected!

Hope

There are two Hebrew words translated "hope" in the Old Testament. Each invites us to look ahead eagerly, with confident expectation. Each also calls for patience; the fulfillment of hope lies in the future. "Hope" in the Old Testament is based on relationship. It affirms trust in God. We are confident, not because we know the future, but because we know God is wholly trustworthy. The new generation we meet now in Numbers is confident, expecting victory, for this is a people with trust in the Lord.

The Story of Redemption: The last four books of Moses tell a single story: the story of redemption. In this unit you'll find a Chart: Understanding Redemption which traces the story of redemption, and summarizes its vital messages to you and to me. There is a definite unity to the story of redemption related in the events of the Exodus. The experiences of God's Old Testament people, in fact, parallel our individual experiences with God. The redemption they knew is ours too. And just as the new generation of Israel that we meet in Numbers 26 learned to anchor its faith in redemption history, we too need to anchor our faith in an understanding of what God has done for us.

Transition: Numbers 21-25: Lessons from the recent history of Israel provided a firm foundation for the new generation's view of God. Yet there were still struggles. The old, untrusting generation was still with the new. In these transition chapters we see struggle: a struggle in which the tendency to reject God's ways is matched against a tendency to respond. Sometimes the nation sins, sometimes it obeys. In the outcome of each course of action, the new generation is taught the results of sin—and given a taste of the fruit of obedience.

Numbers 21 shows the uncertainty and the fluctuations. First Israel vows to do battle "if You will deliver these people into our hands." Confidently they go into battle—and win (Numbers 21:1-3). Yet shortly after that the people became impatient and returned to their old habit of murmuring against Moses. In discipline God sent poisonous snakes among them. Many died. Then the Lord told Moses to erect an image of a serpent and lift it high up on a pole. Moses was to announce to all that anyone bitten could look at the bronze serpent and live (Numbers 21:4-9). There was no healing power in the image. Clearly the healing was from God—and any individual who trusted God enough to seek out what must have seemed a ridiculous remedy actually was healed. Individuals as well as the nation had the power to choose.The new generation was being taught that they had to take their destiny into their own hands!

Jesus Looks Back to O.T.: Jesus looked back on this Old Testament incident and said, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).Brainstorm with your group. How is this incident, in which deliverance from the serpent's deadly bite came through faith's look at a bronze serpent lifted up on a pole, like Christ's death on Calvary? The final incident in Numbers 21 again shows Israel in battle, and again victorious (Numbers 21:33-35). God's promise ("Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land.") was now enough.