Heart – Praying Pint

51.e. Wilderness – 15.k. “‘You shall open wide your hand”

Deu 15:9-11  Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

Proverbs 4:23   Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Jeremiah 17:10    “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Matthew 15:19    For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Mark 7:21-22    For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,  coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.

Proverbs 28:22    A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him.

Proverbs 21:13     Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.

In the heart and mind resides the vilest of thoughts and intents. The output is in the form of action or the lack of action. These souls are bound for doing what is right in their own eyes, what pleases them, what gives them satisfaction or the chase after satisfaction, what gives them purpose, how they treat people, how they speak to people, and there is no thought of honoring or glorifying Jesus Christ. You might look at these people with disdain or disgust or hate or anger, and for some of their actions, we can see it this way. God does. He sees it all. The thoughts. The intents. The actions.

Scripture tells us that God is angry and wrathful over such people. It also says that He is withholding His wrath and anger so that all might come to the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, repent, believe, trust, obey, follow, and rely upon Him for the salvation of their souls. God’s grace, mercy, and love are showered down because that is His plan to offer redemption and salvation to every person ever born.

We see people who are worldly and follow the lusts of their hearts. We see boastfulness, anger, hate, arrogance, theft, jealousy, lying, unkindness, greed, immorality, etc…… God sees them much more clearly than we do. He sees their thoughts and intents before any action has been taken. And yet, He offers the gift of eternal life.

How should we view these people to whom we want to justly hate? With love. Everything we say about an evil and lost person above applies to us but by the grace and mercy of God. We do well to remember that and the needs of others. It can be some need, physical, material, monetary, or spiritual. If our eyes are open and our ears attentive we will hear and be led by the Holy Spirit with the right spirit within us to help this in need.

50.w. Wilderness – 15.b. “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse”

Deu 11:16 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you. “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the LORD your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. No one shall be able to stand against you. The LORD your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you. “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.

God had to warn Israel against the deceptions of prosperity. The person who turns from God in prosperity is simply deceived. They believe they are somehow responsible for the blessings received and become proud and self-reliant. It is good for us to have things that keep us in constant dependence on the LORD. We should never despise those things and long for the day when we will no longer need to depend on God as much.

God called Israel to not only read the Word of God and to know the Word of God, but to treasure it. In the same way, we should love God’s word and miss it when we are separated from the Word of God. We should call it to mind with longing, having laid it up in our heart and soul. God’s Word was to be the topic of their conversation. We can fairly measure our love for God’s word by how much we will talk about it with others. God doesn’t want us to have a secret love relationship with His word. To love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him: All the commandments are summarized in these three phrases. Each of these speaks of more than a bare and compelled obedience; they speak of a real relationship of love between God and His people, with obedience flowing naturally from that relationship.

Many desire God to fight their battles but have little interest in obeying Him – or cultivating the deep relationship of love which obedience grows from. When Israel walked in love with the LORD and was obedient to Him, they were unbeatable. No man could defeat them. Greater was God who was with them than he who was in the world!

The three great elements to the Old Covenant were the law, the sacrifice, and the choice. Israel had a choice – to obey and be blessed, or to disobey and be cursed. It was a cause and effect relationship with God. It is important to recognize that we, in Jesus Christ, do not have an Old Covenant relationship with God. We expect to be blessed, not because of our obedience, but because of our position in Jesus. The curse we deserved was laid upon Him (Galatians 3:10-14). Though there may be an inherent curse of consequences in our disobedience or even in the correcting hand of God, under the New Covenant, He does not punish us or curse us – because all that we deserved, past, present, and future, was poured out upon Jesus.

It was up to Israel. If they wanted to be blessed, then they should walk in obedience (as they were in the days of David and Solomon), but if they disobeyed, they would be cursed (as they were in most of the days of the later kings). A choice was required. There was no neutral ground. God wouldn’t just “leave them alone.” It would either be blessing or cursing. A choice was required. There was no neutral ground. God wouldn’t just “leave them alone.” It would either be blessing or cursing. (Guzik)

50.v. Wilderness – 15.a. ” Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside”

Deu 11:16-21  Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you. “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.

Luke 21:8    And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them.

Luke 21:36   But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Hebrews 2:1    Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

Hebrews 3:12    Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Hebrews 4:1    Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

Hebrews 12:15     See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

James 1:26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

Deuteronomy 30:17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,

God had to warn Israel against the deceptions of prosperity. The person who turns from God in prosperity is simply deceived. They believe they are somehow responsible for the blessings received and become proud and self-reliant. The constant need for rain kept Israel in constant dependence on the LORD. It is good for us to have things that keep us in constant dependence on the LORD. We should never despise those things and long for the day when we will no longer need to depend on God as much.

But if, on the other hand, their heart was foolish to turn away from the Lord and serve other gods, the wrath of the Lord would burn against them, and God would shut up the heaven, that no rain should fall and the earth should yield no produce, and they would speedily perish. Let them therefore impress the words now set before them very deeply upon themselves and their children. “The promise to give the land to Israel for ever was not made unconditionally.” (Keil)

There are many things that can draw us away from God, doing things for God, studying God’s Word, trusting and relying upon God, and seeking and following after God. Nothing more so than that which pulled Sodom away. (Ezekiel 16:49) “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” In prosperity and ease of life, they abandoned God and followed after the lusts of the flesh. They no longer saw the need for God or a reason to worship Him. They had a good life. Their land prospered, they had plenty of food, and they had money. In this they became arrogant, greedy, and lovers of the lusts of the flesh.

We live in such a time as this and must study God’s Word, examine our hearts and minds, and seek wisdom from God to discern right from wrong and good from bad to ensure that we are not pulled into it. Pornography is called and defended as “Adult entertainment” and this world calls it the right of an individual to gaze upon it. Abortion is called and defended as “Women’s Right to Choose” and this world calls it an inherent right of all women. LGBQT is called and defended as an “Alternative lifestyle” and proclaims it “hate speech” to address it as sin. Divorce is deemed a fact of life for at least 25% of marriages. Sex outside of marriage is deemed a natural occurrence and accepted. What Celebrities from sports and movies say and do are given more credence than the Word of God. The “Rich” are deemed a “self-made” man/woman. They are sought after to find their secrets to success. Elected officials are followed after and every word is trusted or rejected depending on the party affiliation. Social and News Media outlets are followed and trusted as truth on any given subject. YouTube influencers make a living off of trying to influence you to do or buy something or think some way. Sports are supported and followed more than the Word of God and things of God. People know team and player stats, and what politicians say and promise more than they know the Word of God. Physicians treat symptoms rather than finding the source of the problem. Obesity is rampant. Drug use is a problem. Assault crimes are common. Confusion, anxiousness, fear, anger, pride, arrogance, boastfulness, greed, etc…… are common.

We are to live in this world and all it has to offer without being influenced by it or joining in it. How long will God’s wrath against such depravity be withheld? Far too many Christians, I fear, have already chosen to live as close to this world as they can. They talk sports, news, politics, and weather more than they speak the Word of God. What would happen to their thinking if they shut off the TV, Sports, and Social Media in their homes?

Think about it. What life change or decision today is made from spending time in these areas of worldly influence? Where do you think confusion, anxiousness, fear, anger, pride, arrogance, boastfulness, greed, etc…… come from? Can you even discern they’re the source of these in your lives? Do you care? Is your heart sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading? Can you even discern the Holy Spirit’s conviction, encouragement, or teaching? It is never too late to repent and turn away from the influences of this world in your lives.

The hymn “Turn your eyes upon Jesus”

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conqu’rors we are!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

50.l. Wilderness – 14.r. “You must not imitate their way of life”

Deu 9:4-6 “Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.

Leviticus 18:3. So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life.

Romans 3:27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.

Speak not thou in thine heart,…. Never once think within thyself, or give way to such a vain imagination, and please thyself with it: after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee; to make way for the Israelites, and put them into the possession of their land; which is to be ascribed not to them, but to the Lord: saying, for my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land; such a thought as this was not to be secretly cherished in their hearts, and much less expressed with their lips; nothing being more foreign from truth than this, and yet a notion they were prone to entertain. They were always a people, more or less, from first to last, tainted with a conceit of their own righteousness, and goodness, which they laboured to establish, and were ready to attribute all the good things to it they enjoyed, and nothing is more natural to men, than to fancy they shall be brought to the heavenly Canaan by and for their own righteousness; which is contrary to the perfections of God, his purity, holiness, and justice, which can never admit of an imperfect righteousness in the room of a perfect one; to justify anyone thereby, is contrary to the Gospel scheme of salvation; which is not by works of righteousness men have done, but by the grace and mercy of God through Christ; it would make useless, null, and void, the righteousness of Christ, which only can justify men in the sight of God, give a title to heaven and happiness, and an abundant entrance into it; and would occasion boasting, not only in the present state, but even in heaven itself; whereas the scheme of salvation is so framed and fixed, that there may be no room for boasting, here or hereafter, but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee; namely, their idolatry, incest, and other notorious crimes; which sufficiently justifies God in all his dealings with these nations. (Gill)

When therefore Jehovah thrust out these nations before them, the Israelites were not to say within themselves, “By (for, on account of) my righteousness Jehovah hath brought me (led me hither) to possess this land” – “but because of the wickedness of these nations,” etc. – To impress this truth deeply upon the people, Moses repeats the thought once more. At the same time he mentions, in addition to righteousness, straightness or uprightness of heart, to indicate briefly that outward works do not constitute true righteousness, but that an upright state of heart is indispensable, and then enters more fully into the positive reasons. The wickedness of the Canaanites was no doubt a sufficient reason for destroying them, but not for giving their land to the people of Israel, since they could lay no claim to it on account of their own righteousness. The reason for giving Canaan to the Israelites was simply the promise of God, the word which the Lord had spoken to the patriarchs on oath and therefore nothing but the free grace of God, – not any merit on the part of the Israelites who were then living, for they were a people “of a hard neck,” i.e., a stubborn, untractable generation. With these words, which the Lord Himself had applied to Israel. Moses prepares the way for passing to the reasons for his warning against self-righteous pride, namely, the grievous sins of the Israelites against the Lord. (Keil)

We will never find joy, satisfaction, or heavenly peace when we look to our “Good Works” as a means or reason for Eternal life, Forgiveness, Blessings, or being made right in the eyes of God. Our “Good Works” are only good when done for the sole purpose of honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ. When we live close to sin and entertain and tolerate it in our lives, when we neglect God’s Word and become complacent in our thinking about sin, and when we do not seek and desire to know more and more of God and His grace, mercy, and love, our thinking becomes like that of a dull foolish child. We go about our lives day after day in a state of self-acceptance and self-reliance and the sinfulness of our sin and the holiness of God escape our minds. There is no growth in this understanding when the Word of God is neglected or not studied with the intent of knowing and understanding God and the things of God. I fear that far too often the Word of God is neglected and in its place is what the world tolerates and accepts. How is the Holy Spirit to speak into our lives and lead, convict, encourage, give us peace, and grow our understanding when our hearts and minds are not purposed to honor and glorify Jesus Christ?

50.i. Wilderness – 14.o. “Today you shall be careful to do”

Deu 8:1-10 “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

Obedience must be, 1. Careful, observe to do; 2. Universal, to do all the commandments; and 3. From a good principle, with a regard to God as the Lord, and their God, and with a holy fear of him. To engage them to this obedience. Moses directs them to look back. It is good to remember all the ways, both of God’s providence and grace, by which he has led us through this wilderness, that we may cheerfully serve him and trust in him. They must remember the straits they were sometimes brought into, for mortifying their pride, and manifesting their perverseness; to prove them, that they and others might know all that was in their heart, and that all might see that God chose them, not for any thing in them which might recommend them to his favour. They must remember the miraculous supplies of food and raiment granted them. Let none of God’s children distrust their Father, nor take any sinful course for the supply of their necessities. Some way or other, God will provide for them in the way of duty and honest diligence, and verily they shall be fed. It may be applied spiritually; the word of God is the food of the soul. Christ is the word of God; by him we live. They must also remember the rebukes they had been under, and not without need. This use we should make of all our afflictions; by them let us be quickened to our duty. Moses also directs them to look forward to Canaan. Look which way we will, both to look back and to look forward, to Canaan. Look which way we will, both to look back and to look forward will furnish us with arguments for obedience. Moses saw in that land a type of the better country. The gospel church is the New Testament Canaan, watered with the Spirit in his gifts and graces, planted with trees of righteousness, bearing fruits of righteousness. Heaven is the good land, in which nothing is wanting, and where is fulness of joy. (Henry)

Henry, Barnes, Poole, Keil, Ellicott, Gill, Brown, Benson, Guzik, Ryles, Tozer, Piper, Spurgeon, and many more span from the 1600s to the present day. I love to read their thoughts about how people were living too close to the world they lived in. If they could only step into our day and witness what a Christian life has become, what is tolerated by society, and how it is finding way into congregations. Wouldn’t it be glorious to have discernment and know right from wrong, good from bad, and holiness from sinfulness? I fear our prosperity, technology, and comfort have yielded fruits that only serve this world and much of the time do not honor and glorify Jesus Christ.

50.g. Wilderness – 14.m. “But you shall remember what the LORD your God did”

Deu 7:17-21. “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. Moreover, the LORD your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. You shall not be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.

Yet sin is never totally destroyed in this world; and it actually prevails in us much more than it would do, if we were watchful and diligent. In all this the Lord acts according to the counsel of his own will; but that counsel being hid from us, forms no excuse for our sloth and negligence, of which it is in no degree the cause. We must not think, that because the deliverance of the church, and the destruction of the enemies of the soul, are not done immediately, therefore they will never be done. God will do his own work in his own method and time; and we may be sure that they are always the best. Thus corruption is driven out of the hearts of believers by little and little. The work of sanctification is carried on gradually; but at length there will be a complete victory. Pride, security, and other sins that are common effects of prosperity, are enemies more dangerous than beasts of the field, and more apt to increase upon us. (Gill)

It is hard for us to remember all that God has done for us, how and when He led us, how and when He healed us, how and when He prospered us, how and when He forgave us, how and when He opened and closed doors, how and when He comforted and encouraged us, how and when He filled us with peace in trying and troubling times, how and when He blessed us, how and when He ………

Do you ever wonder why it is that we so easily forget? Or, why it is we are strong sometimes and weak other times? Or, why we are affected by what is before us to the point of being fearful and hesitant? Do we know who God is? Do we trust in, cling to, and rely on He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present? Do we trust in, cling to, and rely upon His steadfast love, purpose, mercy, grace, and love? Do we actually purpose to live every moment of every day to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all we say, think, and do? Are we in a state of thankfulness and looking for reasons to praise and worship Him?

The answer to these questions reveals the reason why we fail to remember – because much of what happens we attribute to; “good luck”, “fate”, “our own hard work and determination”, “someone else’s good or bad toward us”, “being in the right place at the right time”, etc…..

We have grown weak in knowing who God is. We have become complacent. We are neglectful. We are tossed to and fro. We are forgetful. We are proud. We are jealous. We are hateful. We are fearful. We are greedy. We are self-serving. We are self-reliant. We think we are self-worthy. We think we are deserving. We have a hard time discerning right from wrong and good from bad. We tolerate sins of the flesh. We purpose to do without seeking God’s leading. Our ears have become dull to the Holy Spirit leading. God’s Word is void from our thinking most of the day. We like to be fed baby food from scripture and not solid food for maturity. We see the sins of others and are critical of them. We are blind to our own sins. We are…….

Repent of being slothful and negligent. Doubts and worries will come – talk to God about them and REMEMBER who He is. Purpose to be ever diligent in the study of God’s Word and living with a single purpose to drive every thought, word, and action – Honor and Glorify Jesus Christ every single moment of every day.

49.w. Wilderness – 14.b. “Oh that they had such a heart as this always”

Deu 5:23-29 And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. And you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’ “And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!

Moses refers to the consternation caused by the terror with which the law was given. God’s appearances have always been terrible to man, ever since the fall; but Christ, having taken away sin, invites us to come boldly to the throne of grace. They were in a good mind, under the strong convictions of the word they heard. Many have their consciences startled by the law who have them not purified; fair promises are extorted from them, but no good principles are fixed and rooted in them. God commended what they said. He desires the welfare and salvation of poor sinners. He has given abundant proof that he does so; he gives us time and space to repent. He has sent his Son to redeem us, promised his Spirit to those who pray for him, and has declared that he has no pleasure in the ruin of sinners. It would be well with many, if there were always such a heart in them, as there seems to be sometimes; when they are under conviction of sin, or the rebukes of providence, or when they come to look death in the face. The only way to be happy, is to be holy. Say to the righteous, It shall be well with them. Let believers make it more and more their study and delight, to do as the Lord God hath commanded. (Henry)

Here it is important to call attention to the fact that it was on the entreaties of the people that Moses had taken on him to be the channel of communication between God and them. God approved the request of the people, because it showed a feeling of their own unworthiness to enter into direct communion with God. The terrors of Sinai had done their work; they had awakened the consciousness of sin. (Barnes)

Note how the people heard God speak the 10 commandments, and after hearing they did not want to directly hear it again. Why was this? Was it because they were convicted of sin? Were they convinced of God’s power and might? Did they want to know what God was telling them?

From the time of the giving of the Ten Commandments, the temple construction, the priestly order of worship and sacrifice, to the time the 12 spies went into the promised land to spy it out was 14-18 months. At the time the commandments were given to the people, seeing the power of God in their exodus from Egypt, seeing His power in supply for their needs in the wilderness, seeing His leading by fire and smoke, they said “If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.”

How can they fall away so quickly (14-18 months) to the point of doubting God’s promises, power, and love for them? We can read this from the Bible and think, surely we would not have thought or acted this way, but in reality, the same unbelief demonstrated in the wilderness is common to all mankind. When we speak of belief there is a thought that this is only about believing in God, “that there is a supreme God”, but not taking to heart His holiness and our sinfulness. Believing has so much more to it than this. Believing is trusting in, relying on, and clinging to God, God’s Word, and Things of God.

It was because of their unbelief they were left wondering in the wilderness and that generation was never allowed into the promised land.

John 3:16-21. 16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

48.s. Wilderness – 12.y. “Do not take us across the Jordan.”

Num 32:1-18 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land that the LORD struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.” But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the LORD has given them? Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the LORD had given them. And the LORD’s anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’ And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. And behold, you have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel! For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.” Then they came near to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance.

Num 32:23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.

Here is a proposal made by the Reubenites and Gadites, that the land lately conquered might be allotted to them. Two things common in the world might lead these tribes to make this choice; the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. There was much amiss in the principle they went upon; they consulted their own private convenience more than the public good. Thus to the present time, many seek their own things more than the things of Jesus Christ; and are led by worldly interests and advantages to take up short of the heavenly Canaan. The proposal showed disregard to the land of Canaan, distrust of the Lord’s promise, and unwillingness to encounter the difficulties and dangers of conquering and driving out the inhabitants of that land. Moses is wroth with them. It will becomes any of God’s Israel to sit down unconcerned about the difficult and perilous concerns of their brethren, whether public or personal. He reminds them of the fatal consequences of the unbelief and faint-heartedness of their fathers, when they were, as themselves, just ready to enter Canaan. If men considered as they ought what would be the end of sin, they would be afraid of the beginning of it.

Here is the good effect of plain dealing. Moses, by showing their sin, and the danger of it, brought them to their duty, without murmuring or disputing. All men ought to consider the interests of others as well as their own; the law of love requires us to labour, venture, or suffer for each other as there may be occasion. They propose that their men of war should go ready armed before the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, and that they should not return till the conquest of Canaan was ended. Moses grants their request, but he warns them of the danger of breaking their word. If you fail, you sin against the Lord, and not against your brethren only; God will certainly reckon with you for it. Be sure your sin will find you out. Sin will surely find out the sinner sooner or later. It concerns us now to find our sins out, that we may repent of them, and forsake them, lest they find us out to our ruin. (Henry)

47.o. “Wilderness” – 11.u. “I am your portion and your inheritance”

Num 18:20-24  And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel.”

Deuteronomy 10:9    Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God said to him.

Deuteronomy 14:29    And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your

Joshua 14:3    but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them.

Joshua 13:14     To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him.

Psalms 73:26   My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

You shall not have a distinct and separate portion of land, as the other tribes shall. The reason of this law was, partly, because God would have them wholly devoted to and employed in his service, and therefore; free from worldly encumbrances and businesses; partly, because God had abundantly provided for them otherwise by tithes and first-fruits and oblations of all sorts; partly, because God would have their worldly comfort and happiness depend singly upon him and his service, and so would; oblige them to use more zeal and diligence in the advancement of piety, even for their own interest, which was either better or worse as true religion flourished or decayed; see Judges 17:9,10 19:18 2 Chronicles 13:9 30:22 31:4; partly, that this might be a firm bond of hearty love and affection between the people and their teachers, the Levites, who, as they performed religious services for the people, so they received their subsistence from them; and partly, that by this means being dispersed among the several tribes, they might have the better opportunity for teaching and watching over the people, which was their duty, Deu 33:10 2 Chronicles 30:22 Malachi 2:4-7. (Poole)

God was necessarily to be regarded as the greatest possession of all, beyond which nothing greater is conceivable, and in comparison with which every other possession is to be regarded as nothing. Hence it was evidently the greatest privilege and highest honour to have Him for a portion and possession, “he who possesses God possesses all things; and the worship (cultus) of Him is infinitely fuller of delight, and far more productive. (Keil)

46.x. “Wilderness” – 11.c. “Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

Num 12:3-9  Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all 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. And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. 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 them, and he departed.

Psalms 147:6    The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.

Psalms 149:4    For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

Matthew 5:5   “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 21:5   “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

James 3:13    Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

1 Peter 3:4    but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

Opposition from our near relations, and from religious friends, is most painful. But this is to be looked for, and it will be well if in such circumstances we can preserve the gentleness and meekness of Moses. Moses was thus fitted to the work he was called to. God not only cleared Moses, but praised him. Moses had the spirit of prophecy in a way which set him far above all other prophets. (Henry)

Moses, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth; being seldom angry, and when he was, it was generally, if not always, when the honour of God was concerned, and not on account of his own person and character; though it must not be said of him that he was perfect in this respect, or free from passion, or from blame at any time on account of it, but, when compared with others, he was the meekest man that ever lived; whereby he became the fittest person to have to do with such a peevish, perverse, and rebellious people as the Israelites were, whom no other man could well have bore with. (Gill)

The basis of the complaint of Miriam and Aaron was essentially, “What’s so special about Moses?” God here explained exactly what was so special about him. Most prophets receive revelation through a dream or in a vision, but God spoke with Moses face to face. As much as Miriam and Aaron did not want to recognize it, Moses did have a unique calling and equipping from the LORD. They did not speak against Moses as the leader of Israel as much as they spoke against Moses the servant of God. Miriam and Aaron should have been afraid to speak against Moses because their criticism was prompted by their own self-interest; they were jealous of all the attention Moses was receiving and wanted some of it for themselves. (Guzik)