Numbers 11/12 Bible Study (People Complain/Elders Appointed/Miriam & Aaron) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Father, we thank you for this bible study, and we pray that it would be fruitful for the glory of your name. We ask for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in this place. Lord, we don't want to be distracted. We don't want this to be something in which we miss out because of our own, hardness of heart or distracted minds. So Lord, we pray for your authority to captivate us.

Lord, you know every need in this house. Every heart, Lord, you see it. We ask that you would meet those needs. And Lord, we we go beyond that. We say, would you show us what you desire from us, Lord?

That we may not just receive but give unto you. You are worthy, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Please follow me in the book of Numbers chapter 11.

If you're joining us for the first time, we are exploring the Old Testament book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and here's the real reason for that. And this was the heart behind this Bible study in the Old Testament. We want to take God at his word according to second Timothy three sixteen that all scripture is breathed by God. All scripture. Not some scripture.

Not the epistles and the Psalms. All scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable. Now listen to this. Let me read this to you. It's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete equipped for every good work.

That includes the book of Numbers, and especially the book of Numbers. Because the book of Numbers deals with what mainly? If somebody were to say, hey. I I I saw the book of Numbers in my Bible. I haven't read it yet.

How would you be able to describe the book of Numbers as a summary? What does it describe? Rebellion of Israel, that's that's perhaps the the theme of it. Absolutely. The rebellion of Israel concerning what though?

In in what state of the nation of Israel? Yes? They're exile. In their exile, on their wilderness journey. And that's especially important for us to understand because have you noticed how much the the Bible gives attention to the wilderness journey of the nation of Israel?

And you think why? Is it mainly history? Is it so we can see historically where God was in dealing with his people and how these things developed? Partly. But Paul goes beyond that inspired by the spirit according to first Corinthians 10.

He says that this wilderness journey experience is for us to be able to learn from in our own journey For us, to see that these people are mirroring, though in a different covenant in principle, they are mirroring our own journey, and we ought to take heed to every detail. And if you've been with us from the beginning of the book of Numbers, we realized that from chapter one to chapter 10, there is this beautiful, almost perfect sense of obedience coming from the people of Israel into every command that God has given. And everything turned around in chapter 11 due to one thing, who remembers? One thing changed the actual course of this nation. Yes.

Complaining of all things. Complaining. When when the people were brought to a place in which began to murmur and groan and grumble, that's where this entire thing takes a different course. And it's not just complaining about anything. Look at verse one again of chapter 11.

And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes. And what does that mean? What does that mean? They complain about something specific. What was it?

What the Lord has given them.

What the Lord has given them as expressed through the manna from heaven. And so what they did was they've come to a place, they've allowed their hearts to come to such a state in which they saw God's provision as a misfortune. And so what once was a symbol and expression of God's deliverance and salvation according to Exodus chapter 16. When they were starving, God brought this manna from heaven. God brought this bread to rain down on a daily basis.

What what they celebrated, what they fed on eventually became something that they complained about. And I think that's a that's something that's something we need to really take heed to because we can do the same in our own journey. Now we can see what God has given us in physical blessings, especially even in spiritual blessings, whatever it may be. And at first, we can respond with such gratitude and thanksgiving, and over time, it can become common, can become casual. We begin to crave something else.

That comes from a heart that is fails to give thanks to the Lord what he's given. And so this is why Thanksgiving is important. Thanksgiving serves as a shield for your heart and mind. When we choose to give thanks to the Lord and recognize his blessing specifically, especially in salvation, what we do is we reboot ourselves and we provide a shield against ingratitude because ingratitude will lead to complaining and complaining will lead us to craving things that we should not be craving. And so it all started with them seeing this manna as something that was common.

You know why people go back to their own sinful ways? Many people who are truly delivered from Egypt because they treat their manna like it's nothing. Manna is a picture of Christ. Manna is a picture of the Word of God. And when you come to a place where you fail to see that this saved you at one point and this sustains you always, you begin to flirt with different ideas, and that's where it all starts.

That's where it all starts with many people. This is what this story is teaching us right here. And so what began as a complaint to Moses now became a cry. So we read down in verse 10, because we talked about the first few verses last week or the week before rather. So now this is the scene that we're left with.

I mean, for every single week what we've been seeing is obedience, obedience, the glory of God, this and that. And now the whole scene has changed completely to what we read in verse 10. Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans. Now picture that. So you got a bunch of you got a bunch of people weeping.

Weeping before their clans. What else do we see? Everyone at the door of his tent, and the anger of the Lord blazed hotly. So we have weeping on earth. We have God and his righteous indignation burning hotly in his anger, and Moses was displeased.

That's not a pretty sight. And it's amazing because we talked about two weeks ago how complaining can be contagious. Did we not? It's amazing how your perspective on things can change when you're around a person that loves to complain. And that's what happened here.

They complained early on in this chapter, God judged them. And in the verse four, the rabble, this mixed multitude that came from Egypt with them began to complain again, and guess what? Infected the people to complain again. So we talked about how that attitude of complaining and ingratitude can really mar our understanding of God's blessings, but it not only spreads more complaining, it actually breeds discouragement. Because we see here that Moses was displeased.

And this is an important lesson because Thanksgiving stirs up praise, does it not? When you come into a room like this and there's Thanksgiving, true Thanksgiving, when you're conversing with people and there's Thanksgiving, it produces praise. And if that's true, then complaining does something else. It breeds discouragement. It it just kind of takes the air out of any desire to praise God, ambition to serve God.

And this is where Moses is at. He's deflated in his desire to lead. He's like, oh, are you kidding me? All it took was just a few verses, and now we've come to this place. And so what happens?

Look at now Moses. This is the man of God that said, Show me your glory. This is the man of God who did many miracles, empowered by God. And now he's come to such a state as this in verse 11. Moses said to the Lord, why have you dealt ill with your servant?

And why have I not found favor in your sight that you lay the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? That you should say to me, carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing child to the land that you swore to give their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give all these people?

For they weep before me and say, give us meat that we may eat. I am not able to carry all these people alone. The burden is too heavy for me. Now look what he says here. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once.

If I find favor in your sight, then I may not see my wretchedness. Question, is what Moses is doing here good or bad as you read this? Why?

Because he's testing God.

How's he testing God?

He's telling him

to do something. So he's telling him to do something? He's challenging the Lord to do something? Perhaps? This is the point of Bible study, just to explore in dialogue.

You had your hand up?

Good and bad because he interceded but too he's also complaining.

Okay. So so there's a mixture of intercession and complaining. Do we see that? Yes. So do we see a cry or do we see a a complaint in disguise?

A complaint in disguise.

So if one says cry, one says complaint in disguise see, this is where yes. Go ahead.

I think it's in the good way, it's like he's telling God that he needs help, but he's doing it in a way like it like, I got to appoint either my way or I don't wanna serve you anymore instead of like, god, help me. Like, he's he's crying out for help, but in the wrong way. Like, he's almost, like, praying in the wrong way. Like, God, I'm telling you what to do, and you either do it or I don't wanna serve these people anymore.

I bring this up, and that's a great point. I bring this up because when you and I read the narratives found in the scriptures, story like things, and we face situations like this. This is where it gets challenging because the Bible doesn't explicitly say if he's what he's doing is wrong or not. It's not as clear. There's sometimes these situations where we go, I kinda see it as right.

I kinda see it as wrong. And this is where this is where it makes Bible study a little bit more interactive. We say, how do we make sense of this? Yes. Marfil.

I was just thinking. But, there are two other times that something like this happened with Jonah when he saw the people of his, Nineveh spared and Elijah when he was running from Jezebel?

Yeah. So there is this idea where righteous men have come to a state of such depression where they even ask God to take their lives. We see that with Elijah. We see that with Jonah. Now why I would lean more to where this is something where Moses is God has so much mercy on Moses in this point, really, He does.

But when you see Jonah, when he complains about that plant, God answers back and says, Do you have the right to be angry? Do you have the right to be angry about this plant? Do you have the right to react in such a way? In other words, if Moses was entirely wrong here God would have answered him in such a way. But God really does answer him favorably and does provide an answer.

But you see here there is a tone of blame in verse 11. There is this hint of protest in verse 12, and there's a sense of forgetfulness in verse 13. He goes, where am I to get the meat to give all these people? And he totally forgot that God made it rain bread every single day up to this point. And if there is one thing that we can say is right is that he brings his burden before God.

I see a man here who's so broken and so desperate, suicidal even, where he comes before God in that state and he says, God if you don't help me I'm finished. And God honored that. Question, why did Moses feel so burdened?

Because that's how you know you're doing ministry right is when you feel the burden to everybody else.

Yeah. Welcome to the world of ministry where you don't carry just your own burden, you you carry other people's burden. That's partly true. Is there a point where you can carry a burden that's too heavy for you and you shouldn't be touching that burden? Yes?

Yes? Is Moses doing that here? Is it possible to say that the reason why Moses felt so burdened was because he was trying to perform or even thinking to perform something that only God could perform. They're complaining to me. They're asking me for meat, and and Moses now is feeling the pressure of requiring to perform something that only God could actually do.

And And I think there's something so valuable to us in this scene that when you and I begin to even think that we have to do something that only God can do Himself, we are putting upon ourselves an unnecessary burden. So you have people that may say in some situations, change my son. I can't change your son. Go talk to my son and and and change him. I'm not God.

I can pray for your son. I could I could talk to your son. I can plant seeds but only God can change. Then there are some people who feel like every single week when they have to preach, they feel like they have the the responsibility to change people. And we were just talking about this last Wednesday in prayer about first Corinthians three where Paul says, hey, listen.

I planted Apollo's watered. God gives the growth. Pressure's off on us between the growth process. That's between you and God. And I think here what Moses is showing us is that sometimes we can come to a place where we allow ourselves to think that we must do something that only God can ultimately do.

And people, even to this day, genuinely hearted though. They're they're not they're not walking around, sinfully or unrighteously thinking these things. They genuinely wanna do the will of God, but they're thinking in a way in which they have to do it in their own strength, failing to realize that there are some things, there are some categories of ministry and service that simply belong to the Lord. And when you know how to decipher that and you know how to to to keep your distance from that, you will be safe and you will be able to have greater longevity in your service to God. You won't have to come to points like this where he's like, I'm finished.

Well, you're not supposed to carry that weight anyway, Moses. They're asking for meat, there's no meat to be found, and you're allowing this pressure to come upon you. Do you notice something here? That you have the people crying, weeping at their tents. It's funny that Moses mentions here about how they're like to be carried in a bosom, like a nurse carries a nursing child.

Why? Because you're surrounded by cry babies. You got everybody crying and weeping and complaining. I hear Moses crying, and you know who the only stable person is in this whole thing? God.

God is the only stable person in this whole thing. Bunch of people crying, bunch of people weeping, here's Moses, the most spiritual man in a place of such destitute, and the only person in control is the Lord. God is never overwhelmed. God is never stressed. God never looks at a situation and goes, Oh, how am I gonna figure this out?

Never. There's not one moment where the Lord is pacing the floors of heaven saying, What are we gonna do? He doesn't have a meeting with angels. No. No.

No. No. No. He always has answers. Now are we supposed to reflect the character of God?

Not in the sense where we have all the answers, but in a place of remaining still in times like this? Absolutely. We are to be imitators of God, and I see here where the Lord shows a state of total control and rest, and he has answers. So here's his answer in the next part in verse 16. Then the Lord said to Moses, gather for me 70 men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, of the officers over there, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you.

And what is he gonna do? And I will come down and talk with you there, and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you so that you may not bear it yourself alone. Here's a burden. Here's a need. Here's a cry that Moses has and God answers it.

Now notice how he answers it. How does he answer it? So he's gonna take whatever's on Moses and distribute it to other leaders. Absolutely. So so it's that second part more that the answer to Moses's problem, how God is going to provide a solution is by sending other people.

And that's how God often answers our prayers too beyond what we think sometimes. That how God wants to lift burdens off of you and me. You know what he does? He just gets other people to do it. He gets other people to come alongside you.

He gets other people to come into your life and to give you that word, to give you that service, or to give you that encouragement, whatever is needed. God uses people as means to answer to our problems. He does. We're in Old Testament and he's still he's still using that model. God could have come down and done something himself, but he says, no.

You know what? Let's get some people to come alongside with you. We've talked about this before concerning David's life in that message where he was in the cave, how you and I should not fail to realize that sometimes the answer to our cries is manifested in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Their presence and their counsel is often the exact way God wants to be able to perform his answer to our lives and situations. They come, and he says, not just these elders though, I wanna put the spirit that is on you, Moses, and place it on them.

Now this is not to be mistaken, like, he's gonna take he's gonna leave 70% of the spirit on Moses, and he's gonna distribute the rest of that 30% to these other 70 elders. That's not the understanding. The understanding is that the grace and the empowerment to perform whatever he needed to perform as a leader, a spiritual leader, would now be given to other people to be able to help him, which is an interesting thing. You read that and you go, There's a sound of exclusivity, there's a sound of reservation, there's sounds of this, almost like this privilege to have the Spirit. Have you ever wondered what's the difference between the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Testament?

If that was a question brought up to you, how would you answer that? What's the difference between the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Testament? Yes?

When the Old Testament, the spirit would come to me, but in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit would say

So the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament would kind of come upon and depart as he wills? Yes. Absolutely. Other ways of the Holy Spirit? Is there a difference between these covenants?

Yes.

The the main thing I think is in the new covenant, it's available for everyone.

It's available to everyone?

You ask and you shall receive. It's not like

So it's not exclusive to certain leaders or or special offices in the Old Testament? I think that's something that we can agree on as well. There is really not much difference between these two testaments except one. There's one main difference, and you had already mentioned it. It's it's found in a theological term.

It's one main difference that we see in the New Testament always emphasizing always emphasizing as a privilege of being in the new covenant. What is that ministry of the Holy Spirit? Indwelling. The permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the main distinctive factor between the Old and the New Testament and how God dealt with his people. That the Holy Spirit would be a seal that would never leave, that he would have his home with us.

That's an awesome promise that we have in the new covenant because everything else seems to be the same. You see in the New Testament how there are even believers who have a special endowment of power from on high. A special grace to minister in a specific way by the power of the Holy Spirit. So many things are similar if you just do the parallel, but there's one thing that's different that the epistles talk about, that Christ even talks about, and that is the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the one who calls upon the name of Christ. And so he's gonna answer this way.

He's gonna say, listen. I'm gonna get you some you're gonna get those people. I'm gonna put that spirit on you, on them, and you're gonna be able to do this, which I find fascinating because although there's a difference between the old and the new covenant, there's something that's so similar, in fact, consistent with how God wants His people and how He wants to serve. What's that? He could have said, Just get elders that know people and the people know them and just go with that.

But no, he says, Get them and let me do something to them. Let me put my spirit upon them. Why? Because God's heart, God's heart always, whether they were building the tabernacle, whether they were prophets, whether they were elders, or even in the new New Testament, whether they're waiting on tables in Acts chapter six, no matter what the service is, God wants it to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Always.

Any service that we do for God, we must seek His power. We must seek His clothing. We must seek that charge that only comes from the spirit of God or else it's futile. It's vain. It's empty.

It's powerless. Doesn't matter what it is. And it makes all the difference no matter what ministry you serve in. This is what I see in this text that God wants us to be clothed with his power. And how much more in the new covenant that it's available to all men?

And so I challenge you, whatever ministry that you're doing, whether it's worship, whether it's ushering, whether it's evangelism, whether it's teaching Bible study, whether you're in charge of a prayer meeting, no matter what you're doing, can I ask you a question? How much of the Holy Spirit are you asking to bless that ministry? It makes all the difference and the people can tell the difference between a person who is clothed with power from on high and a person that's just doing it based on their own strength and their own width. It's so obvious but it's so available to us. That should be, I believe, a daily prayer from every I I just met an older gentleman the other day in Windsor and he had told me and he's older in age and you could tell he loves God.

It's shining through his eyes. He was just telling me how he daily just in conversation, I daily seek the help of the Holy Spirit in my ministry. That's a good prayer to pray because it's it's the desire of God that anything we do that it would be led by his spirit, empowered by his spirit, charged by his spirit. So God answers Moses's cry, but he still has to deal with the people's cry and complaint. And that's what he's about to do in the next verse.

Look at verse 18. And say to the people, consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat For you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, 'Who will give us meat to eat?' Now look, this is this is what else the Lord heard. We didn't see that early on, but look what else the people said, which makes us all the more offensive. Give us meat to eat, for it was better for us in Egypt. Therefore, the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.

And he goes, you want it? I'll give it. You really want me to eat? I'll do abundantly more than you can ask or imagine to some degree. What does he say?

You shall not just eat one day or two days or five days or ten days or twenty days, but a whole month. Now let's just let's just stop here for a second. Is this an answer packaged in blessing or is this an answer packaged in discipline? Because up to that point you hear that, you go, That sounds really good. Not just one day, a whole month of me?

That sounds like an abundance of blessings. Until you read the next part. Until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you. Because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him saying, why did we come out of Egypt? This whole cry for meat was way beyond diet and a preferred menu.

The whole idea here is that they were desiring Egypt more than the will of God. They were craving the flesh more than God's prescribed will for them. And ultimately what they were saying was, why did you bring us out here? It was way better for me before I met you. Why why am I here in this place in life?

It was actually far greater when I was living in bondage under pharaoh. You see, why is the Lord burning so hotly in his anger? Because that's what they're saying to him. They're not craving something different in terms of physical desire in the sense of appetite. No, they're making a statement, God, it was better for us when we were slaves than you now bringing us to this place.

And they had these cravings, they had these desires, and it was selfish, and it was sinful. You know how God can do this is where it gets really scary concerning how the Lord disciplines. The Lord can discipline in two ways when a person has such an intense craving for something that's not according to the will of God. He could because we're talking about the people of God here. We're not talking about the world.

He could, in his discipline and his love, not give it to you. No. No. No. No.

No. That's not for you. That's not according to my will. Here's another way he can do it. He can give it to you.

He can give it to you. If it's that much of a desire, if it's that much of a complaint, if it's that much of a cry for something outside of his purpose, outside of his will, if it's clearly a sin, you really want it, I'll give it to you. I think that's scarier than the first one, obviously. But what's his mindset by giving it? Well, we have to just read it again.

Until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, that's his desire. You want this meat so badly. I'll give it to you to such a degree, and I'll let you have it in such a way where you will hate the very thing you once wanted. That's what He wants them to come to. The very thing they crave would be the very thing that would make them puke afterwards.

You know, God will do the same today. God will allow in His wisdom, in His wisdom will allow someone to go to the place where they feast on what they're craving outside of the will of God only to realize how disappointing and dissatisfying it really is. So the nation of Israel later on, their mature state, they wanted to be like the nations around them. They wanted to be like the nations around them. They wanted to be like the nations around them.

And God says, You really want to be like the nations around you? Let them take you into captivity and let them move into your land. Go ahead. And the very thing that they craved became the very thing that kept them in bondage. It's so true today.

And so he does do that until it becomes loathsome to you. Now this is where it gets a little bit interesting. You go to Psalms one zero six verse 15, and this describes again this wilderness journey, and we get little insights. And look what the psalmist says about this particular scene in Psalms one zero six fifteen, commentating on Numbers of chapter 11 here. Psalms one zero six verse 15.

He gave them what they asked. Now this is in the ESV. He gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them. In the King James and the New King version, it gives even a more frightening description. Who has the King James or New King?

What does it say the New King James, King James? Paul, King James? It says, set leanness into their soul. Leanness into their soul. He gave them what they asked, and he sent leanness to their soul.

When people go back to their sinful desires and their sinful ways, when they step outside of the will of God, you know what happens to their soul? It shrivels. It shrivels up and they become anorexic, spiritually speaking. They lose all sense of discernment, all sense of the presence of God, all sense of the blessings of God, and they come to a place in which they are sick internally, spiritually speaking. God says, oh, yeah.

I'll let you have what you want, but I'm gonna send leanness to your soul as a result. You can't have both. You can't have your way and my blessing on your life. And so he lets them come to a place in which they are gonna eat it to the point where they're gonna hate it. They're gonna hate it.

And like that chapter in Hosea chapter two verse seven, those people will come to the place where they'll say, it was better off when I was with my first husband. That's an act of discipline. This is an act of discipline here. This is not God's favor. This is God's judgment.

And so what happens here in verse 24? Actually, look at verse 23. Moses asked even Moses, this man of faith goes, how are you gonna do it? Are we gonna kill all these animals? Are we gonna get all the fish out of the sea?

And the Lord says and the Lord said to Moses, is the Lord's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not. Because, did you forget who I was? Again, I love being placed in impossible situations. I was just talking to somebody who's going through transition in their life.

They lost their job. They're figuring out what the next step is, and this person says something that I thought, man, if everybody had that kind of heart, they would live their lives differently. He says, I'm so excited. I said, how are you excited? Because I can't wait to see what God's gonna do now.

I was thinking to myself, that's amazing. Lord says, there's a need and and you're wondering how I'm gonna do it. You don't have to figure out how I'm gonna do it and just watch. And watch how my hand is not shortened. Watch how I can reach to limits where you never thought I can reach, go into depths where you thought I can never go, bring things in that you never thought I can bring in, push things out that you never thought I can push.

That's not just true for bringing quail into your life, that's true for anything that you need in your life or anything you need removed from your life, like pain and hurt. Is the is the Lord's hand shortened? He can reach down and do the impossible. So Moses in verse 24 went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered 70 men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seven elders.

And as soon as the spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not continue doing it. So the Lord brings this thing to pass and a way to validate that these men were actually chosen elders and were to be set apart for this service was that they prophesied. There was an external manifestation of the fact that the spirit had come upon them, but it says they did not continue doing it lest the people be confused that they had come to the same level as Moses of giving revelation. That makes sense? So I'm gonna place my spirit upon them.

They prophesied as an external evidence that, yes, the spirit of God has set us apart for this, but it stopped so that people would not think, oh, they're on the same level as Moses. No. Moses was still a top leader that would receive revelation and ultimately be the main prophet for the people. But something interesting happens, which reveals something about Moses again. I guess a couple guys slept in that day or some reason doesn't tell us why they didn't go to the meeting.

Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other named Midad, and the spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. So it wasn't outside the camp. They are now being given the power to prophesy in a public space. And so all these people are seeing that, and they are ministering by the spirit, and there's a certain reaction to that.

Verse 27. And a young man ran and told Moses, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. And Joshua, the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth said, my lord Moses, stop them. So they're ministering to the public. The public is seeing this, receiving this, and one of the people freak out and say, no.

No. No. This is

supposed to happen. This is this

is Moses' job. This is

not supposed to happen in this sphere.

This is not supposed to happen the way the people would receive it in this manner. So he runs to Moses and says, Moses, they're prophesying. And then Joshua comes in. Some would say it's the same person. Joshua comes in and says, Stop them and let them continue doing this.

So you have one reaction, and I would categorize that reaction as threatened. Then you have a second reaction and that's from Moses. And how does Moses react? But Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them, and Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

What do you receive from that? Yeah. When they pointed to the people casting out demons, they said, hey, stop them, Jesus. What's going on? They shouldn't be doing that.

He goes, listen. They're on the same team. If they're not against you, they're for you. That's one point. So what do we get out of this?

We have this one incident where people are being used by the Holy Spirit, And you have two different reactions to that. You have one who feels threatened, and you have one who is absolutely thrilled. And really those are the only two reactions that you and I have when we see God using somebody else. So which one do you feel? When you realize that the Holy Spirit is using somebody in a public way like these men were in public sphere being recognized by others, Where does the heart go?

What does it feel in that moment? Is it threatened or does it rejoice? Joshua needed to learn some things before he would become the ultimate leader here. And Moses had it in his state of maturity. Moses, as a leader, rejoiced at the empowerment of other people in the service of God.

In fact, that was his desire. He says, I want other people to have the Holy Spirit to such a degree where they're like prophets. We have to think about that same way. If you and I are called to be disciple makers remember it's not just pastor's jobs. Every person here is called to be disciple maker.

Do we rejoice in God using other people more than He would use us? Do we celebrate the call of God on other people where they might receive more of a public attention and public platform than you and I? That's a humbling question to ask because it will determine how much the Kingdom of God will advance, especially in a community setting. And I pray reading a text like this that we would be able to see God use other people like Eldad and Me Dads and be able to look at that and say praise God. They've allowed the Holy Spirit to so use them to a degree where other people are being blessed by it.

It's scary. Often in our pursuit of greater empowerment and greater spirituality, it is sometimes covered up with a deeper desire to be known as the spiritual one, the chosen one, the anointed one, the next John Wesley, the next Charles Spurgeon, the next deliverer of our generation. Nah. We could use five John Wesleys. Ten, twenty, a whole church full of men and women of God who have yielded themselves to the power of the Holy Spirit.

That's what Moses' mindset was. And Moses' desire here is almost a prophetic utterance. Why? Because Joel two twenty eight says, in the last days, that's how Peter recorded it. In the time afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on what?

Some flesh, all flesh. Jesus says in John seven thirty eight and thirty nine, concerning these rivers of living water flowing out of the bellies of people, this he spoke of the spirit. He would give to those who what? Believe. Believe.

But it did not happen yet until he was glorified. And so we see here that there's this prophetic utterance to some degree that the spirit would be given to all people to be empowered by him and it came to pass. That's why we're living in a better covenant. There's one instance right there. What Moses wished were living as a reality.

And so Moses's cry was answered. Moses's cry was answered. And now here are the people's cry and their complaint about to be answered, and this is how the chapter is gonna end. Then a wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp about a day's journey on the side, and a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground. Picture that, please.

So here they are in their camp, he brings a wind, quail, these little birds, in such a way where on one side, it was a day's journey and it was 18 inches tall filled with birds. So think about that, I don't know, 18 inches maybe like that. A day's journey on one side and a day's journey on the other side. That's how much was there. And what happened?

The people rose, verse 32, all that day and all night and all the next day and gathered the quail. There's an emphasis here that should break our hearts. When it came to the desires of the flesh, look how much they gave themselves to it all that day, all that night, all the next day. The commitment that they made to fulfilling the flesh was so great, was it not? And you think about all the energy, all the time given to satisfy self.

And I I read that and I go, many people as believers today were way more radical when they were living in the world than they are living for Christ now. When it came to the world, when it came to self, they would stay up as late as possible. When it came to giving and service, when it came to the devil, all in for the devil. When it came to serving Christ, I'm just gonna I think, how much more does the Lord deserve for the advancement of his kingdom? Not satisfying me, not satisfying my flesh, not satisfying my desires, but doing it for God's glory.

How much more does he require and desire from me? And so what happens here? As they're eating it, God sends a plague and that plague destroys many. Now think about it in verse 33. While the meat was in between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague.

Now we read that, we go, That's that's that's heartbreaking, but it gets even more heartbreaking when you turn your Bibles to Psalm 78 and you see the type of people that were actually disciplined in light of this scene. There was a specific group of people that were inflicted with God's judgment. Psalm 78 verse 26. Let's read this together. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he let out the south wind.

That's what we just read. He rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas. He let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings, and they ate and were filled, for he gave them what they craved. Now look what it says. But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them.

And who were the main people that were touched by this judgment? And he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young men of Israel. That was the main group that had this craving. The strongest of them and the young men. That says something.

That says something as a warning. Remember, we're going through this wilderness journey, and the strongest of them, the most useful, the most effective, the most resourceful to the community, the young men, the one that had the most energy, the ones that had a great future, the ones that had something to offer as a transitional time in their life, these were the victims to this judgment and not victims. They were the the ones who positioned themselves for this judgment. Why? Because it shows that the strongest, even the strongest perhaps this is speaking of the the warriors of the group, the actual soldiers of this group, the strongest.

And the young men, so much potential, so much greatness before them forfeited because they could not control their cravings. They could not exercise self control over the desires of the flesh, which is so interesting because when God sent this plague, there was a name given to this place. In verse 34, therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth Hatava. You know what that means? It means the graves of craving.

The graves of craving. What a terrifying name. In other words, the very thing that they crave for became the very thing that they were buried in. Our cravings can become our graveyards. If not held under control by the power of the Spirit, how much more?

By the power of the Holy Spirit, if we do not control these cravings, they could become the very reason why our callings are buried early. Great opportunities are buried early. Even our own lives, our actual physical lives, cut off early because we've allowed our cravings to take control, cause us to complain, to cause us to desire, to cause us to walk in to a place in which we indulge ourselves in the flesh, and it became a graveyard. Their cravings became a graveyard. You're probably thinking like me the first 10 chapters were way more exciting and way more uplifting than this, but we're not ending there.

We're gonna end in chapter 12. The complaining continues, but you would think it was it was over then. No. Verse one of chapter 12. Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.

And they said, has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also? I love these words. And the Lord heard it. What do you take from those two verses?

It's a very popular chapter. Yes?

They found a way to judge him. Like, they were, like, waiting for it. The minute he married a shy woman. They started like judging him in a wide way.

So some would right. I'm glad you brought that up. So some would say that this was Zipporah and they were criticizing her skin color like it was like an ethio. It was dark in complexion. Some would say, no, this is another woman that Moses had married.

Perhaps Zipporah had died up to this point. Regardless, they're criticizing the man's wife. They're criticizing the man's wife. But is that really what they're doing? Barrett?

They weren't content with their own ministry. They were looking to Moses. So this is really just kind of like a nibbling and kind of a flirting with this idea of trying to complain really because the next verse is more what their hearts are burdened with and infected by. Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not only has has he not also spoken through us?

Who who who are these people? Miriam and Aaron. I read that and go, so this is a warning to even spiritual leaders. Spiritual leaders who can, as Bara said, who can fall into the trap of losing grip on their own identity and lose grip on their tongues and begin to attack to their own detriment. This is a powerful chapter.

What are they doing here? They criticize him by elevating themselves. What do we see here? They're infected by something. They're infected by envy.

There's a sense of envy here. They saw Moses, they saw their sibling, they saw their brother, and he was in an elevated place of leadership, and they did not like it. For some reason, they just they were not pleased with it. They were not happy about it. They did not celebrate it.

What an opposite attitude to Moses with El Dad and Midad. When Moses saw Eldad and Medad, he rejoiced in it. He was like, Praise God that he's using these men. When it came to Moses and his own family, they're like, Who does this guy think he is? Completely contrasting heart postures.

And so their attempt now was to criticize the man. And here's the thing, they they try to cloak it initially. They try to make it about his wife, you know, but you can only hide envy for so long before it just blurts out. It will manifest eventually. It is so cancerous.

It is so ugly. It is so horrendous. It is so vicious that for a person to try to tame it is not possible unless he nails it to the cross. And so they're like, oh, yeah. You know, his wife, like, why did he marry her?

Why her? She's not she's not part of our people. And they begin to talk and then like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Who does he think he is? They begin to attack his ministry. They begin to attack his calling. They begin to criticize his role as a leader. And really, it was not just because of envy.

It was because of pride. Look at the language here. They said, has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us all also? So so what's going on here?

This is pride mingled with envy, And they wanted the recognition. They wanted some praise. They wanted to be in that same place as Moses. Here's the thing. As they were lashing on his character, on his leadership, you know what it ultimately was?

An attack on God's choice. It was ultimately a criticism of God's wisdom and God's plan to choose Moses to be in that place. And God heard it. The Lord heard it. So many things will be filtered in our lives if we really believe that truth.

I believe with all my heart, one on one conversation, group conversations, lunch over coffee, whatever, if I really believe that the Lord hears me. And how does Moses respond to all of this? Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all the people who were on the face of the earth. And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, come out you three to the tent of meeting, and the three of them came out. I always read this story and thought, and perhaps that was the case, but this is a possibility as well, That Moses and Aaron were in the tent, and they were, like, in this one little compartment, and they were talking about, excuse me, Miriam and Aaron talking about Moses going back and forth, and Aaron's agreeing.

We're gonna find out that Miriam was the one who instigated it. And Aaron's like, mhmm. Mhmm. And she's like, what

about this? What about that? What about this?

I was like, mhmm. Yeah. I agree with you. And I always thought that Moses didn't hear it, but it's quite possible that Moses was in the very same room or at least next door or something. He was genuinely in the same area perhaps, which tells me something about Moses.

He heard it. He knew about it at least. At one point he heard about it. Maybe right there and then or maybe later on when the Lord exposed it, but he heard it. And look at his response.

There isn't one. He doesn't even respond to it. Why? Because verse three, he was very meek. He was humble.

He knew himself, and he knew who his God was. And this is so important for you and I to understand, whether you hear things, whether you receive criticism or attack, know this. Know this. That God hears it and God will do something about it. Always.

Always. Leave it to him. Leave it to the Lord to defend you and leave it to the Lord to honor you. Don't try to defend yourself and don't try to elevate yourself. Let God do both because that's what God does for Moses right here.

He's about to defend him and he's about to elevate him He does a much better job at defending you than you defending you. And you, especially if you're coming to any place of ministry you want to serve and you're serving public people, you're serving an an audience, you're serving a congregation, you're serving the people of God, you are subject to criticism. How much godlier can you be than Moses? How much more of a spirit of excellence can you have than this man? Yes, he had his faults, but think about his track record, and still he was subject to criticism.

It's bound to happen. It's bound to come that if you want to be fruitful and effective for God that somebody will say something. And it's amazing about our human nature. You can receive 99 praises and compliments from people and all you need is one criticism. And you focus on that one criticism and ignore the 99 praises.

Isn't that true true? You have so many people pat you on the back. You're so encouraging. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for your God.

You can have one person be, I don't like the way you do this. Oh, and you think about that all day. It's our human nature. Moses is still. Moses is trusting.

Moses is meek. And what happens here? It's one thing for a stranger to speak against you, it's a whole another thing when your brother and sister are doing it. And it's true that sometimes the closest people to us can do the most damage to us. Moses did not retaliate.

He gets the final word because God gets the final word even if you're being misjudged. And look how the Lord responds as we close in a moment. It says here in verse four, And suddenly the Lord said notice the suddenly, like right away. So imagine Miriam saying those words and while that last word is even on her tongue, the Lord shows up. I find that amazing.

That's a great thing to take note of because it speaks something of the nature of what this tongue can do. I believe the reason why the Lord showed up suddenly is because this tongue can start a fire very quickly. This thing can can cause a ripple effect and a domino effect in a very, very, very rapid rate. And the Lord knows the nature of that according to James chapter three, and he steps in immediately to step on that fire. It becomes a forest thing.

Let's read three verses just for us to read and hear this. I need three volunteers to read three verses. One is Proverbs sixteen twenty six, Proverbs sixteen twenty eight rather, the next person Proverbs twenty six twenty, and the last person Proverbs twenty nineteen. One per person, Proverbs sixteen twenty eight. The second person, Proverbs twenty six twenty, and the last person, Proverbs twenty nineteen.

Again, sixteen twenty eight, twenty six twenty, twenty nineteen. Whoever has sixteen twenty eight, please read it.

The first man shall strike, and a whisper separates the best of friends.

A whisper separates the best of friends. A whisper separates close friends. It's amazing what a whisper can do to a relationship. A whisper can actually divide something as precious as a friendship that's been there for years. Just from saying the wrong thing about somebody.

Twenty six twenty, whoever has it.

When you run out of wood, the fire goes out. When the gossip ends, the coral dies down.

So there's a parallel here. At the same way, when there's a lack of wood, the fire will eventually go out. In like manner, if you wanna see quarreling cease in the community, just get rid of the gossiper. And the more gossipers there are, it's like there's more wood added to a fire. It's just gonna only increase and grow and get hotter and more destructive.

So in wisdom, the Lord says, Many problems can end in a community setting if you just get rid of that person that keeps talking behind people's backs. What's the last verse here? Who has twenty nineteen? Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with a simple babbler. Don't even associate with a simple babbler.

Now this is not even speaking about a malicious person who wants to use his tongue in a way in which he intentionally brings destruction. This is about a person that doesn't have any discretion in the way they speak. They open their mouths and they talk about everybody's information and talk about this and and there is an aspect of lack of wisdom here but it's a person that just doesn't know how to talk. Be careful with such a person. Evaluate such a person.

Distance yourself from such a person because there's an there's an aspect in which it will affect you personally and affect your perception of others. Develop this discipline brothers and sisters, please, because this will happen in your life. Well, you will hear something about somebody else unfortunately. You will just get caught up in that conversation even if you don't want to. Develop the discipline to be able to not make a judgment based on what you hear from someone else until it's further investigated or further observed by yourself.

That make sense? When you hear something about somebody else from someone, the power of that suggestion, if not filtered with wisdom and discipline, can ultimately taint the way you see someone, and that person might not even be guilty of such an accusation. So it requires you and me to be able to wisely know what to receive and what and sometimes it's legitimate, but even if it's legitimate, you just have to know to not let that affect the way you treat others and see others and greet others. Be careful. I know this, you've heard it before, but it's good to be reminded of this.

If there is somebody in your life that when you meet with them, talk about others, it's most likely true that before others they're talking about you. If that person is revealing secrets about others to you, guarantee that they're revealing your secrets to others. Never forget that. Because there's another proverb that talks about how a person who is wise knows how to keep a secret. He knows how to take something to the grave.

Be that kind of person, even the failures of others. Be a person where you know how to keep things to yourself even to your dying breath. That is a person that God smiles on. Love covers a multitude of sins. It doesn't expose the sins of others.

Now if there's a matter of discipline and going to somebody to because that person's unrepentant, that's a whole different process. I'm talking about just tarnishing somebody for the sake of tarnishing them and love does the opposite. It cloaks it. And this is where in our desire to be like Christ and Godly where it gets a little bit difficult but the Spirit's willing to help us because it feels good to exchange information and receive information. But God has a completely different reaction to this.

We're about to find out that when even Moses intercedes for his sister, you know what God says? God says I was shocked. I kept reading it. He goes, If only her father would have spat on her face. Take me to John about how Jesus and all those loving words have read.

No, that's the same God. And God was not sinful in saying that. So then what happens here? And he said, hear my words. If there's a prophet among you, this is the Lord speaking, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision.

I speak to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. What's happening here? God is defending Moses. See Moses could have said that.

He goes, do you realize that other prophets, he speaks visions and he speaks in dreams, but God speaks to me face to face? He doesn't do that. He lets God do it. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth clearly and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against him, and he departed. This is a principle throughout all scripture. Again, let me say this, let God defend you. Whether somebody criticizes a family member, criticizes your wife, criticizes your ministry, just know that God hears it and God will step in at the right time to say something.

And if not in this time, at the judgment seat of Christ. So that's what Paul says in first Corinthians four. He goes, Don't judge before the time in verse five of chapter four. He goes, Don't judge before the time. There's gonna be one day where everything's gonna be exposed to light and each person will receive his commendation from God.

Each person will. Can I read to you another example of how God steps in to speak on your behalf when you choose not to? Just read this. Listen to this. In Matthew twenty six eight and ten, this is when Mary of Bethany anoints Jesus from head to toe.

And what does she receive? Criticism. And what happens here? And when the disciples saw it in Matthew twenty six eight, they were indignant saying, why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.

This is true in every gospel account except Luke. That in every time she did this to the Lord, what you see is the people criticize. The disciples and Judas instigated it, criticize this act. And you would think that Mary would have gone up and says, don't you think that this is you know how much this cost me? This is an act of worship.

I'm sincere in heart. God knows my heart. You know my heart. Right, Jesus? No.

None of that. What happens? Jesus steps in. In verse 11 and verse 10 rather, but Jesus, aware of this, Jesus, aware of this, said to them, why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me.

Let the Lord handle it. Your reputation is not in your hands if you're walking in obedience. If you're walking in obedience, even if you're being misjudged, even if you're being criticized for something that's not true, let the Lord be your vindicator. He's way better at it. So we come back to Numbers chapter 12 as we close.

When the cloud removed in verse 10 from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses, oh my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let there not be one as dead whose flesh and half eaten away, and when he comes out of his mother's womb. And when Moses cried to the Lord, oh God, please heal her.

Please. That's the only response you get from Moses in this whole ordeal. The only thing Moses does in this whole situation is he prays for the very ones that criticized. He intercedes for the very one that intended to hurt him, and defame him, and shame him and bring him down. So again, I take that second Timothy three sixteen.

Here's some instruction for righteousness and to be equipped in every good work. And I say, oh, Lord, When I know that somebody spoke against me behind my back, criticized me, whether personally, whether in ministry, and how I serve, what's my initial reaction? Is it to try to defend myself, or is it to hit my knees and to pray for them? And there's some desperation here. Oh, God.

Please heal her. Please. Please heal her. Whether it's a nation that's dancing around a golden calf or sibling that's speaking against you, this man just knew how to immediately go to God and say, just forgive them. Heal them.

You can come to a place believe this. You and I could come to a place where this isn't just something that we we force ourselves to do where our heart is actually in it. We can come to that place where Jesus was on the cross where he says, father forgive them for they do not know what they do. And really mean do you think Jesus didn't mean that when he said that? He meant it.

And you and I can come to a place where we we look at somebody, look at sin like a disease that has infected people. And and although, yes, we have a choice to make and we are called to live in a certain manner, when people fall, when people slip, and when people even hurt you, think of it as somebody who was infected with a disease. And let that cause you to have empathy and sympathy over them. Father, heal them. Heal them.

She can't control her tongue. Heal him. He can't control his anger. Have mercy him. He can't control his anxiety or his jealousy or his envy.

They're infected. Lord, heal them. And what happens if he gets struck with leprosy? It's amazing how God took the seemingly light thing as speaking against somebody and chastise her with such a heavy thing because she would have to be now outside of the camp for at least several days. And perhaps he intended to do this for a long time.

If it had not been for the intercession of Moses, maybe it wouldn't have been limited to seven days. She goes outside of the camp, and I think to myself, what a link between gossip and slander and leprosy, that if you and I have a reputation of speaking against someone, eventually we will isolate ourselves. Eventually we will drive ourselves out of a loving community because we will develop that reputation of tearing people down. Those kind of people can't have true friends in the long run. Those type of people can't be in a place in which they have fruitful, godly, Christ like relationships.

This person is driven out of the camp and becomes, in a sense, isolated. But there's another reason why he's doing this because Miriam's criticism and Aaron's criticism was rooted in pride. You remember King Uzziah? King Uzziah in two Chronicles 26 says that he would seek the Lord and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. Then you scroll down in that chapter and it says Uzziah became strong.

And when he became strong, he grew proud to his downfall. And what does he do? He was a king, but he thought he can now act like a priest. So he goes into the temple and burns incense. And you have 80 something priests come and say, what are you doing?

You're not called to be a priest. You're called to be a king. You're not you're stepping out of bounds if you're calling man. What are you doing? And Uzziah says, Uzziah was angry with him.

And because he was angry with him, what happened? Who knows about Uzziah? What happens to Uzziah? Does anybody remember? Leprosy breaks out, but it breaks out on his forehead.

It starts here because he had elevated himself in his mind. And what happens? He gets consumed with leprosy, and according to the law he had to be driven out of the temple and not only that, he was left in some kind of shed outside of the kingdom. What's the point? That in certain contexts regarding certain individuals, oftentimes God uses leprosy to humble someone.

She was criticizing an attitude of pride, and so he says, I think somebody needs a little bit dosage of humility. Let's disform your figure a little bit. Let all these elements about you be brought to such a state in which you would have to walk around saying unclean, unclean. From prophetess to leper in a moment. Oh, guys.

Pride is scary. King Uzziah from well known famous king, the leper. Herod, which is probably one of the most frightening examples of pride. When Herod killed James in Acts chapter 12, no immediate judgment. When he received praise as being a god, immediate judgment when he didn't reject it and worms ate him up.

The Lord, his thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. So what does he do? He comes to a place where Moses now intercedes, he prays for his sister, and the Lord says something as I said earlier, if her father had but spit in her face. That is serious.

That's a picture of disgrace if her father only shamed her for such an act. You think to yourself, She just said something. She she just attacked the guy with her words. But the Lord sees these things differently than we do. He he evaluates and recognizes certain matters in which we kind of don't comprehend because his his holiness is far beyond yours and mine.

And he said, you know what? Seven days. Because God could have healed her immediately, but he wanted her to go through a process of humility to realize that she, whatever she is, is by the grace of God. That he can elevate and he can bring down anyone he wishes. And look at verse 15 as we close.

I said that three times before, but we'll try to do it this time. So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. You've heard it before. Let's hear it again together. Your sin never only affects you.

It always affects the community. It affects the camp. And so Miriam spoke against Moses. She was chastised in discipline and because of such a thing, what happened to the group? The group was halted and hindered from moving forward in their progression towards the promised land.

If we really believe that about what we think to be personal sins, we would really fight temptation in a different way. Because even if people are not directly involved in our sinful actions, ultimately, we are a body. And if this hand hurts, the whole body will feel it. If something is wounded in this body, even a toe, everything else will feel it. And it's so true about our own lives that when we live in a certain way, whether in speech or deed or action or plan, whatever it may be, if we do it in a way in which it hurts God and maybe it doesn't directly involve anybody, somebody will feel the pain.

The body will feel the hurt. Somebody will be bruised. Church discipline is never a fun thing. It's needed, it's commanded, but it's never a great experience. If we really want to fight sin in a specific way, let's look at it this way.

I don't want I don't want to allow my specific habit or my unrepentant sin be the reason why as a group we can't move forward in God. And so they didn't for a while until she came back. And she was a leader too so that played a big role into it. I close with a verse just for us to ponder on. Ecclesiastes nine eighteen says, Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

One sinner destroys much good. Everything about what we read in chapter 11 and chapter 12, about the turning point into the direction of these people, had to really do with their lips. Complaining, blaming, protesting, which is the manifestation of the heart, gossiping, slander, and all it did was invoke judgment and discipline and ultimate hindrance to progression in the will of God for their lives. And I read something like that and there's a precious verse in Psalms 140 one:three, Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord. Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord.

Lord, I pray that you would bring me into a place in which my lips, if I'm going to speak about anybody, would always be to build them up in the eyes of others. Lord, I want to come to a place like Moses where I see Eldad and Medad being anointed by the Holy Spirit to do something for the kingdom of God. I want to look at that and say, I celebrate that. Oh, that guy's on our team. Think of it that way when you see somebody gifted by God.

See that? I'm glad that that guy's on our team. I'm glad that that gal is on our team. Look how she's using her gifts for the glory of God. Look how he's using his talent for the glory of God.

He's glorifying Christ. I rejoice in that. Really, we see a contrast in this whole story here. Then you have guys like Joshua that might feel threatened, or Miriam and Aaron who who have this envy and they begin to tear down. See see that's the manifestation of pride and envy.

It ultimately has to bring down others so that we can look better in the eyes of others and feel better about ourselves. And Moses, he's just meek, probably hearing this. God, you're my defender. You called me to this. I didn't ask to be this.

I was fine with the sheep, but you called me. This is your ministry. I get my commendation from you. And the Lord sweeps in and goes, Did you talk about my servant Moses? There is so much freedom in that.

Oh Lord, you're my vindicator. Oh Lord, you hear and see everything. You know my heart. Keep it pure. May it continually be set to glorify you.

Whatever people say, let them say this is for your name alone. Can we ask God to do that in our hearts tonight? And even before you ask that, would you in your own heart give thanks to the Lord that in every scripture there's something for us? As you bow your head and you're speaking to the Lord, I wanna just say a quick word to those in here that may not know Jesus Christ. You're sitting in your chair tonight and you're hearing these things, and there's one part I wanna focus on that we lightly brushed over.

And it was this: that there was this great need and the Lord, this God that is true and living, the God of this book, he said, Is the Lord's hand shortened? Is the Lord's hand shortened? In other words, do you think that it is impossible for me to do what you need? If you're in this place and you've come to a point in life where you don't see hope and you don't see love and you don't see answers to questions and your heart is broken, it's almost numb. It's almost to a place of just I'm just going through the motions and waiting for this thing to go by called life.

And there's a pain so deep. There's a regret so great. You've done things in the past that you can't even imagine being forgiven for. God has provided everything needed for you to not only know forgiveness but for you to know joy and peace and purpose. And that's all found in Jesus Christ.

He died on a cross. He shed his blood, not just to wipe away the sins of your record, but to so put you in a place of approval before God that he now can fill you with his Holy Spirit. And all that junk in your life, he reaches down and removes it. All that pain, all that hardness, all that depression, all that anxiety, he reaches down and he provides and replaces it with joy, life, hope. And there's a God who loves you, and he showed his love by sending his son to die for you so that you can have eternal life if you call upon his name in repentance and faith.

Meaning, you just look to God and say, I know I've sinned. I know I'm a guilty sinner before you, God. I know I've done wrong. I don't deserve your mercy. When you come like that, God is willing to forgive you, give you eternal life, and give you life now.

Father, we come before you tonight because we want to live like Jesus. We thank you for the instructions of your word that it sobers us. It reminds us of certain things that we maybe have missed or have allowed to come into our lives. And God, in this moment as we examine the lives of Moses, Miriam, and Aaron, and the Israelites, we say, oh God, change my heart. Change me from the inside out, Lord.

Perhaps I begin to feel callous towards the men of heaven. I'm feeling in gratitude. I'm feeling casual towards something that was once a blessing in my life. The very thing that once saved me, delivered me, and sustained me is now something that I choose to ignore for the pursuit of other things. God, forgive us, realign us.

Lord, help us rejoice when you use other people. Lord, help us believe that you are our vindicator. Help us leave the final word to you. Let us know the freedom of that saying, Oh God, you're in control. Help us know that even in our rawest form, we can lay our burdens before you, and you will not chastise us.

You'll accept us and even answer us. Lord, we give you praise, and we continue to pray into these things. In Jesus' name.