Nu 14: Enough is Enough (Part 1 of a few)

Nu 14 Yikes! Enough is enough.

       The weeping, moaning, faithless congregation has finally provoked the LORD enough to incur a final judgment against them.

·      1-4: the congregation complains

·      5-9: Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb urge the people to get a grip

·      10: The people want to stone them and the LORD appears

·      11-19: the LORD tells Moses He’ll wipe them out and make a mighty nation of Moses; Moses talks the LORD out of it

·      20-38: only Caleb and Joshua will see the promised land; they will wander 40 years and all the people over 20 years old will die in the wilderness

·      39-40: the people think they can make right and go to fight the Amalekites; the Amalekites and Canaanites soundly beat them back.

       Desperate for the people to understand, Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before the congregation. Joshua and Caleb tear their clothes.

       It’s an exceedingly good [bwj towb] land. Towb is a good Hebrew word to know. It means “good.” It’s used 559 times.

       Joshua and Caleb say to the people:

       8 If the LORD delight [Upx chaphets] in us, then he will bring [awb bow'] us into this land, and give [Ntn nathan] it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

o  Chaphets = to delight in, take pleasure in, desire, be pleased with, favor

o  Bow ’= lead in, carry in, bring in, bring to pass

o  Nathan = give, put, set, cause (a primitive root, used 2008 times); multiple layers of meaning.

       9 Only rebel [drm marad] not ye against the LORD, neither fear [ary yare'] ye the people of the land; for they are bread [Mxl lechem] for us: their defence [lu tsel] is departed [rwo cuwr] from them, and the LORD is with us: fear [ary yare'] them not.

o  Marad = rebel, revolt, be rebellious

o  Yare’ = fear, revere, be afraid

o  Lechem = bread, food, grain

o  Tsel = shadow, shade, defense

o  Cuwr = depart, turn aside (primitive root used 301 times

       [Yare’ and cuwr appeared in chapter 12. Then, the LORD asked why Miriam and Aaron weren’t yare’ to speak against Moses. It is good to yare’ speaking against God’s man. It is not good to yare’ God’s enemies. As the cloud cuwr-d from the tabernacle, so the defense of the people of the land has cuwr-d.]

       Joshua and Caleb’s words of faith didn’t help. The congregation wants to stone (kill!) them. The dwbk kabowd, the glory of the LORD, appears before all the children of Israel.

       If this is all happening in rapid succession, Moses and Aaron are either still on their faces, or perhaps the mob has grabbed all four of them.

       When the kabod appears, did everyone stand motionless? Did they run away? Maybe they let go of the four men and Moses enters the tabernacle. In verse 39, it says Moses tells the children of Israel what the LORD said.

       I muse about this moment because it seems that the children of Israel have no clue what Moses has just done for them. He saves their skins, he declines an amazing offer for his own life and reminds the LORD of His character, all the while talking the LORD into preserving His own reputation.

       In a way, it really doesn’t matter if they heard what Moses just did for them, since even witnessing miracles didn’t change their hearts. It’s mighty hard to shake some sense into someone who won’t change. That does little for my urge to grab someone and holler, “Don’t you see what he has just done? Don’t you get it?”

       There’s a William Wyler film (besides Ben Hur), called The Big Country. It’s a little violent and harsh although the violence pales in comparison to today’s films. James McKay (Gregory Peck) quietly proves his manhood while his fiancée Patricia Terrill (Carroll Baker) wants him to show it. In one scene, Patricia argues with Julie Maragon (Jean Simmons), saying if he loved her, he’d prove himself. Julie says if she loved him, he shouldn’t have to. Sadly, Patricia never gets it.

       Shameless promo: Atticus Finch on horseback. Can't go wrong with that. Oh yeah, Charlton Heston is in it too. Watch it on your next “oldies” night.  

Numbers 1: On Repetition.

       I love how God reveals Himself in the Old Testament. In Numbers, God is BIG and HOLY. Not only that, but you will read of the big and holy things people did out of zeal for God’s holiness and out of zeal for God’s people. Sometimes the accounts seem harsh. Sometimes you will see great mercy.

       True, in Numbers you will find genealogies, and lots of them. Some are phenomenally repetitive. In our bible study class, we discussed reasons for this. The bible scenes and accounts were first an oral tradition. Repetition helps the listener to remember the story. Also, there were literary devices familiar to the Hebrew tongue, devices that don’t always translate well. These are often in patterns of repetition.

       “But repetition is boring,” you say? Hmm, how do I say this lovingly? Get over it. God wants you to be able to read Numbers. If He wants you to do something, He'll help you. See what He says in Deuteronomy 30:11-14.

         For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

       In the days before blu-ray, DVD, VHS and even television or radio, children everywhere loved stories. They still do. Anyone who has had a child or cared for one knows that sometimes there was one story, a favorite, that you had to read over and over and over and over. Talk about boring.

       But then, something happens. There comes a point when that story becomes so familiar that you move past the boring to actually enjoying it with the child.

       I have favorite songs that never get old, some albums, too. I can watch Ben Hur over and over and over. Sure, I know Messala comes to the same nasty end, but his dying words to Judah are still just as horrific: “Look for them in the valley of the lepers.” Messala has won. (Or has he?)

       Many of us, if we're really honest, look forward to A Christmas Story, that crazy retro celebration of blue-collar Christmases. For several years now, a television station has been playing it for 24 hours straight at Christmastime. And we complain because the bible is repetitious. Ouch!

       Look at that: a whole page and I haven’t even started a study on Numbers. Let me remedy that:

       Numbers 1 gives a census of every Israelite who could go to war. The total number was 603,550. For the detail lover, the census numbers wax and wane through the course of Israel's history. (I've never tracked them.) The Levites were not counted in this census. Their principle duty was to the tabernacle. They were to pitch round about the tabernacle that there be no wrath [Puq qetseph] upon the congregation of Israel.

         Selah.