| | Numbers 14
This has got to be the most absurd chapter in the Bible.Let's take this slow, so as to properly marvel and the inane thought process of the Israelites through this chapter. But first, let's continue our discussion of trust from chapter 13.
God is omniscient, God is Omnipotent, God is Omnipresent, God is concerned for us and wants us to live the best life possible. This is, the best life according to Him, not a life where we get good parking spots at the mall and drive fancy cars and make a lot of money. (Prior to a certain book coming out, I didn't really need to explain that, but popular bad theology is ever-present.) You see, God knows what satisfies us deep down at our core, what our soul was designed for, and he knows how to fill that need. If all of this is true, if it really is, then why would we ever choose to reject any part of God's plan for how to live?
The problem is, we don't believe that. Its not that we don't know it, I know it, I know other people who know it, its that somewhere inside of us, we don't believe it. I sympathize with Paul in his struggle to understand why he sinned. The truth is so clear. But still I find myself believing that I know better than God what will bring me joy and satisfaction. It sounds silly when you say it out loud. Try it. Say out loud, "I know better than God what will bring be joy and satisfaction." Doesn't that sound silly? But the thing is, there's a part of us, in all of us, that really believes that. Meanwhile, God is patiently waiting for us, saying "Just trust me." You see, sin is not, doing something that is what we think is wrong. That is the by-product. God's concern is not that we lie, but rather that we don't believe Him when He says that not lying ultimately leads to greater joy and fulfillment.
This leaves us with the question of how do we fix this problem of sin in our lives. The answer is not to train ourselves to stop doing these acts of disobedience. The acts are merely the by-product of the problem. I might even go so far as to say that the acts are irrelevant. What is "good"? What is "bad"? The problem of sin is solved for Christians the same way as it was the first time that they dealt with sin, though trust. This means that the question of spiritual growth in a persons life is not, "How much do you do the right things and how little do you do the wrong things?' but rather is, "How much do you trust God?" If you trust him more today than yesterday, then the fruit of your life will show it, you won't be able to hide it. Discipleship then ultimately moves past behavior modification, to growing your faith.
As I talked about this with a friend of mine, he asked me a great question. "If that's true, then what do we do about the sin in our lives? How do we learn to trust more?" I hadn't really worked all this out yet when I was talking to him, but that question led me to this. We learn to trust God more the same way that we learn to trust anybody. Testing and time. We need to test what God says. We need to test his plan. I'd like to take the pentetuch, "The Law" and rename it. While "Law" is technically correct, and even rather applicable for the state of Israel, I'd like to give God's rules for life a different name. I want to rename it, "The Plan." You see, this list of do's and don'ts is not just a random list that God came up with. He didn't arbitrarily decide that is was a bad idea to lie in court. God knows that society breaks down, and life becomes pretty crappy when people can't be trusted. And in fact, as we exorcise not lying, as we practice trusting God in this part of His plan, we gain more trust for Him in other parts of our lives. But ultimately, its not lying that is the problem, its this idea that we know better than God, that God doesn't understand the situation, that God can't come through on His promise to protect us, that God isn't there, that God doesn't care about my life. Every time we commit a sinful act, it is because somewhere in us, we believe one of these statements. Though we know the opposite to be true, there is something, something in our core, that believes that God is not trustworthy.
So we need to learn to trust him. Do we test what he says to see if its true. And we watch Him over time, work in our lives, and learn that He is indeed trustworthy. He is the God who delivered Israel out of Egypt. He is the God who has delivered us out of slavery to a life of doubt and despair. He does have all authority on Heaven and on earth. He does so love the world that He would give His own Son. He does have plans to prosper us, to keep us, and to change us to the likeness of Jesus.
This is the problem with the people of Israel. Upon hearing the report of the spies, they immediately despair and believe that God is not trustworthy. They're not going to go into the Promised Land. So, after Israel again not trusting God, He again presents to Moses a plan to start over with only him. Moses again pleads for the life of His people, and God again holds His wrath. Though, He does tell Moses that these people will now not enter the Promised Land. And then, and this is what really astounds me about this chapter, when Moses relays the message that the people won't be going into the Promised Land, the next morning they try to go into the Promised Land. Of course, they are soundly defeated and expelled by the first two groups of people they come across and return to the wilderness.
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| | Posted 2/3/2007 11:21 PM - 5 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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