Before Balaam uttered his third prophecy, he surveyed the camp of Israel and “This time he noticed how orderly and clean their camp was and that each tribe had its own designated area around the Sanctuary. As he admired the scene, the Holy Spirit took control of him and Balaam began to prophesy.” (Numbers 24: 2, The Clear Word) All the directives God gave to Moses regarding how Israel was to live in the desert probably seemed tedious and nit-picky, but those guidelines set Israel apart as a blessed, well-ordered group. Likewise, the principles that govern our lives as Seventh-day Adventists may appear restrictive to some, but they set us apart as a peculiar people (not peculiar as in weird, but peculiar as in distinguishedly different) who are healthy, joyful, and productive!

“God is not a man, the He would lie…Does He promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23: 19, The Clear Word)

As the story of Balaam and his donkey demonstrates, there are unseen dangers from which we have been or will be protected under the guise of setbacks and challenges.

In life, we can always find something about which to fuss and fret but remember that we have absolutely no idea of the horrors from which we’re protected through God’s providence. Do not despise your blessing!

Church folk are simply human beings in church, so sometimes they will get on your last good nerve and take you places you do NOT want to go. This happened with Moses in the Wilderness of Zin. The take away? Do not let other people’s stuff – including other Christians’ stuff – get in the way of your blessing!

It is a serious, and potentially dangerous matter to rebel against those whom the Lord has ordained to lead. Maybe because we are so far removed from the days when judgement was swiftly delivered, we take God’s mercy for granted, but the story of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram should remind us of the seriousness of presumption. As the Clear Word puts Moses’ response to the dissidents, “When you complain about Aaron and his sons, you’re really rebelling against the way the Lord has set things up.” (Numbers 16:11)

There are certain discordant elements – and by elements, I mean people – that God has to remove from the corporate body before He can pour out the blessings He has in store for us.

God had had it with Israel! Even as they stood poised to inherit the land He promised them, based on the erroneous report of the ten spies, they ganged up on Moses, Joshua, and Caleb and decided to choose a new leader and head back to Egypt. Allow me to digress here a moment. What was it with these people and Egypt? Every time they faced a challenge their tired song, like a broken record, was, “Let’s go back to Egypt. It would have been better to die in Egypt.” I cannot fathom the desire to return to slavery; to inhumane, demoralizing conditions, but that was the common refrain. I can so understand God’s displeasure and Moses’ frustration over these people who were like dogs wanting to return to their vomit. And now, on the verge of realizing God’s plan for them, they snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. So, what did God do? He said, “Have it your way; your will be done. You think it’s better for you to die in the desert? That’s what’s going to happen.” The Clear Word says that God’s instruction at that point was, “So, tomorrow morning, break camp, turn and go into the wilderness toward the Red Sea.” (Num. 14: 25b) The had just come from the wilderness and they had to turn around and go back there. From the dust they were taken, and to the dust they were being returned. Let’s not let this happen to us. When we stand on the verge of our breakthroughs, our blessings, our victories, let’s not let what appear to be insurmountable odds to discourage us and result in forfeit of the good things God has planned.

Numbers 13 is one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible! Twelve spies are sent to survey the land of Canaan and report back to Moses so that strategic plans can be made about how best to move forward. As proof of how “rich and fertile” the land was, the spies returned with a cluster of grapes that was so heavy it had to be carried hanging from a pole between two men. Great! God would lead His people into this fertile place, right? Well, not quite. Ten of the spies saw only the challenges that lay ahead, focusing on how big the inhabitants were; claiming that Israel could never prevail against such giants. Wait. This was the generation that had seen God strike Egypt with plagues, part the Red Sea, and defeat Pharaoh’s army. Why would they not think that this same God would do something similar in a land He promised to give to them? Unlike Joshua and Caleb, who said, “Look at what God can do! Look at what He’s already done! With His help we can do it!” (verse 30, The Clear Word) these ten started the original fake news, even contradicting what they had previously claimed. Initially, they reported that the land was “rich and fertile, with an abundance of fruit,” but that changed to, “The land can’t produce enough food to feed the people who are there now, so what would happen if we went there?” (verse 32, The Clear Word) They added that the inhabitants of Canaan were so big that they – the spies – felt like grasshoppers and claimed that the Canaanites thought of them that way too. How did they know what the Canaanites thought of them? They felt small and assumed that others felt the same about them. They made a royal mess by inserting themselves into a situation that God had already taken care of and we need to be careful that we don’t do the same because we all know how this story ended. Things did not go well.

God is also displeased with those who cause divisions among His people. This is evidenced by what happened to Miriam. We ought to take this as a serious warning about starting or spreading discontent, particularly where our leaders are concerned. It is one thing to speak truth to power spurred by a spirit of love. It is quite another thing to stir up strife by complaining (It rears its ugly head again!) and churning up discontent. Sometimes, this is the result of jealousy; at other times it is because we don’t get what we want. Either way, we need to be careful, examine our motives, and guard against what, in The Clear Word, is described as “seditious whispering” (Num. 12:9), because if God intervenes it may not bode well for us.

We tend to think of complaining as innocuous. We don’t see it as sin, or certainly not up there with, say, murder, theft, or adultery, but complaining is sin, and it is displeasing to God. It basically suggests that God is not who He claims to be – that He is not good, or kind; loving, or fair. God finds complaining so repugnant that He rained fire down from Heaven (accompanied by thunder and lightning) and “struck down those on the fringes of the camp who were the most guilty.” (verse 1 The Clear Word)

God continues to direct the journey of Israel in the form of a pillar of cloud by day, and fire by night. His presence lets them know when to move ahead and when to stay put. Sometimes the cloud hovered for a day or two; sometimes for a week, a month, or even an entire year. No matter the duration, Israel journeyed or camped as dictated by the cloud. Let’s pray that God develops in us that degree of discernment and obedience so that we, too, will stay or move at His command.

Isn't it amazing that even as we rebel against God, He is still behind the scenes making all things work together for our good, unbeknownst to us. What grace!

In The Inspirational Study Bible (NKJV), Max Lucado pens the following in his introduction to the book of Numbers: “The trip from Egypt to the Promised Land can be made in nine days. It took the Israelites thirty-eight years…God decided they needed some time to rethink a few things…Maybe God is wanting to teach you a few things. Pay attention. You don’t want to spend thirty-eight years missing the point.”

There are those who vehemently oppose social programs like welfare, maintaining that those who have little should not be helped by those who have more. This attitude – often by those who call themselves religious – is an anathema to God. In verses nine and ten of Leviticus 19, He specifically instructs landowners to leave grain and produce behind, after harvesting, for the “poor and stranger,” people who did not plant, harvest, or own these crops. His seriousness about this act of kindness is followed by the pronouncement: "I am the Lord." Many of these folks also assume a very punitive posture towards immigrants, but God has another word for them in verses 33 and 34: “Do not mistreat foreigners who live in your land. Treat them as you do your own. Love them as you love yourself. You, too, were once foreigners in a strange land and you know what it was like to be mistreated. I am the Lord your God.” (The Clear Word)

What a cool video!

“Is the Lord happier with the right ritual or with the right attitude?” (Leviticus 10:19, The Clear Word)

As humans, our memories are short. How quickly we forget! Such was the ongoing case with Israel whenever they faced a challenge. When they became hungry they had the nerve to say, “Why didn’t God let us die in comfort in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat?” (The Message) Die in comfort?! Did they really say, in comfort?! Not to mention, were slaves really allowed to have all the bread they could eat? This whining and longing for the good old days (which really were anything but good) was a recurring theme with the Israelites. No wonder they irritated Moses to no end…and God too! Now, that’s a whole lot of irritation! But how different are we today? We have the Bible to inform our attitudes and behavior, and still we allow challenges to avert our focus from who God is, what He’s already done, and what He promised He would do. So, let’s ponder the degree of irritation we, as spiritual Israel, cause God and the leaders He has ordained to shepherd us.

I wonder if on some level Pharaoh knew that the work of God through Moses was more powerful than that of his magicians, but he had to save face and was probably upset because his sorcerers could not match the strength of the One True God. When the battle of the rods/snakes took place, Aaron's snake devoured the snakes the magicians had conjured, and although the magicians replicated the first two plagues, that's as far as their enchantments could go. So much so that Pharaoh appealed to Moses and Aaron to "Entreat the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people..." (NKJV)

Sometimes we have to be reminded of what God has already done for us in order to shore us up for the challenges ahead.