Grumbling With The Rabble and Getting What We Want

Totally surprised. That's how I feel this morning. The Chronological Study Bible reading today was from Numbers 11-13. Four verses in, I found a surprise.

"And the rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, 'Who will give us meat to eat?'" Numbers 11:4 nasb

Somehow, I had missed the fact that "rabble" traveled along, although Exodus 12:38 makes it clear that they did. How did the rabble become part of the journey? It appears (to me) that, when the children of Israel went to their neighbors and asked for treasures (gold, jewels), the "rabble" saw the exchange. They wanted to be where the riches were, so they joined in.

The word "rabble" in Hebrew is a word that can be translated "a promiscuous assemblage". They weren't godly. They didn't care about obeying God's laws or celebrating His provision. They didn't go by the standards of the Israelites, but they wanted what being a part of the group offered.

Moses let them come along.

Maybe Moses allowed them because he knew the One he followed. He was in no danger of being led astray by the rabble. The children of Israel were.

Problems developed when the rabble began to grumble. Pretty soon, the children of Israel joined in. They whined, wept, and basically threw a fit because God had given them manna, the food from heaven, when they wanted fish, cucumbers, and onions.

For a moment, let's review what God had done. He had taken slaves who had nothing, made them wealthy overnight, provided food from heaven, led them on a prolonged outing, and given them everything they needed. He demonstrated His great power at the Red Sea, and many times afterward, and had gone before them and with them. It was like nothing ever experienced before.

Much like what He's done for this country. 

All the blessings didn't matter to them, because they wanted what they had in Egypt, when they were slaves. 

I like fish, cucumbers, and onions, too, but really.

The fish, cucumbers, and onions did not represent a healthy meal on the Mediterranean diet. They represented the lifestyle of slavery. The life before God liberated them.

I remember my lifestyle of slavery. You couldn't pay me good money to go back to that life. When God set me free, I fixed my eyes on Him. I'm not saying it was easy or instantaneous. I'm saying it was worth it to leave the old ways behind.

If I had kept my eyes fixed on my past, however, it might have been a different thing. If I had rehearsed the transient pleasures of a life of sin, I would have missed the joys of a life of obedience.

The trouble-making-rabble people were allowed to join the group. When that happened, one of two things were sure to follow. The Israelites could have held to their godly standards and helped the rabble to change or they could listen to the rabble and follow along.

They followed the rabble.

We, too, are blessed beyond measure. When we take our eyes off God and His blessings and put them on what we don't have or what we used to have in our lifestyle of slavery, however, we can quickly become just like the rabble. Complaining. Whining. Angry. Rebellious.

The rabble-followers incited God to anger and experienced a discipline they couldn't believe. He gave them what they wanted, and it nearly destroyed them.

I am deeply concerned for our country. We have longed for the pleasures of slavery, and I fear God is going to give us exactly what we've wanted. 

As the people of God, we can follow one of two paths. Obedience or the rabble. Gratitude or grumbling. We can't follow both, so we much choose. Which will it be?

The discipline of a nation rests on our decision. Choose well.

"If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and heal their land."  2 Chronicles 7:14 nasb 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Be sure to check the updated Prayer List 

~~~~~~~~~~

In case you missed one of the past week's posts, here are the links: Death is Swallowed Up in Victory,  The Turning Point: A Grateful Heart, You are Greatly Loved, A Little Taste of Heaven: Body of Christ, Friday Night with Friends: Food and Faith, The Priest Job, Telling the Good News,  When Good People Run Things: Considering the Presidential Candidates and Deciding How to Vote, and Sharing the Blessings of God.

#grumblingwiththerabble #discipline #JesusChrist #linesfromleanna #LeannaHollis 

Teach Us to Pray, part 32: The Keys to the Kingdom of God

And He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 'Give us each day our daily bread. 'And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.'" (Luke 11:2-4 NASB)

We are currently studying the Model Prayer of Jesus and parsing the phrase "Your Kingdom come". Yesterday, we looked at how we receive the Kingdom of God in the form of His word and the effect it has on our lives. Today, we are exploring the "keys of the Kingdom". There are two passages of particular note and I have included them here.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19 NASB)

And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. [ But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." ] (Matthew 17:20-21 NASB)

In the passage in Matthew 16, Jesus had just asked the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" and Peter had responded with that declaration of faith and truth, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus commended his faith and promised Peter the "keys of the kingdom". That promise has made its way into the vernacular with the image of the apostle Peter standing at the pearly gates with a huge set of keys, deciding who can enter and who cannot, but that was not what Jesus intended at all. 

Instead, the word used here is kleis and is used metaphorically to indicate power and authority, specifically the power and authority to help people gain knowledge. On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood and spoke in such a way that thousands came to faith in Christ. He metaphorically opened the door to faith for them. What we forget about that day is that, after the ascension of Christ, Peter and the other disciples, along with quite a few believers, had spent weeks together in continuous prayer and worship. His power and authority flowed out of the time he had spent in prayer and fasting. His spiritual knowledge was the expected outcome of his discipline.

The passage in Matthew 17 followed the transfiguration. Jesus and the disciples who had accompanied Him to the mount of transfiguration returned to find the other disciples unsuccessfully trying to heal/cast out a demon from a boy. After Jesus healed the child, He told them that they could not heal him because of the "littleness of your faith" and also said that some things could only come out by prayer and fasting. 

How does all this relate to the keys of heaven? Matthew Henry says that the keys of the kingdom of heaven are knowledge and discipline. He related this discipline to the admitting of people into the church and disciplining sinners, and he may be absolutely correct, but I am inclined to believe that, because of his faith, Peter received the keys of knowledge and discipline so that he was able to share the gospel in a clear and concise way (knowledge), with the result that many people came to Christ through his preaching. 

Peter also had knowledge from the Holy Spirit that allowed him to know what God would have him do in healing those who were sick and performing miracles. That knowledge came from the discipline of time spent in prayer and fasting. He "loosed" people from disease and the bondage of sin and did incredible miracles in the name of Christ. His preaching and teaching "bound" them to Christ. (Of course it was the Holy Spirit working through Peter and not Peter himself doing the loosing and binding.)

The amazing thing is that you and I have been granted this same Holy Spirit that Christ gave to Peter and the other disciples. We, too, can have the faith of a mustard seed. We, too, can have the keys of knowledge and discipline, if we will. 

This binding and loosing, then, comes about only because of the permission of Jesus and the knowledge that His Spirit gives. When we spend time in prayer and when we fast, we gain insight and power. We gain important keys that help us to "lock and unlock", to "loose and bind". What does that mean to the way that we pray? I generally think that those for whom I pray (and I myself) need to be loosed from the power of Satan and that they (and I) need to be bound to the mind, heart, and will of Christ. Jesus told Peter that he would give him that authority and implied that the church would be built on the same faith that Peter had. We, too, can have power and authority, if we will. 

I don't have the power and authority of Peter, though, and you probably don't either. It grieves me to say that, but grieves me even more to realize that the reason I don't have it is not that Christ is not willing to grant me power and authority, but that I am not willing to sacrifice as Peter sacrificed to have it. Peter walked away from his business and spent his life preaching and teaching for Christ. He endured physical hardship, beatings, imprisonment, the scorn of his fellow man, and persecution that ended in a martyr's death. He did it all willingly and counted it as joy to suffer for his Lord. Peter held tight to Jesus and kept a very light hold on the things of this world.

If I lack the power of Peter, it is because I want the things of this world more than the power and authority, the knowledge and discipline that Jesus promised. I read those words, shudder at the truth of them, and recognize that it is truly pathetic. Why would I prefer comfort over the incredible delight of following Christ, even when it is hard, knowing that my eternal reward in heaven will be more than adequate recompense? This should not be.

I know that my Redeemer lives and reigns and is returning. I know that there will be a day of accountability for all the choices I have made, including my choices for or against faithfulness, boldness, and obedience. I know, yet my life often says different. My choices suggest that I doubt that I will answer for doing nothing while my brothers and sisters in Christ suffer severe persecution and death. My life implies that I do not expect to answer for doing nothing when the people Christ loves are hungry, cold, and losing their homes, their children, their way of life, all because of their faith. 

While I sit idly by and do so little, people suffer, die, enter eternity without Christ. One day, I will answer for it. One day, we will all answer for it. Time is short, and we must decide. Will we live for Christ or not? If, then, we choose to live for Christ, let us really do it. Let us embrace the Cross, embrace the discipline so that we might receive the power, the authority, the knowledge that brings transformation - first to us, and then to those whom Christ would call to Himself. 

We have a choice to make, so let's make it. Let us live like we believe. 

Start now, and keep on until Jesus calls us home. 

Excitement in the Boat: The Wind of Judgment (part 5, Luke. 8:23)

But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. (Luke 8:23 NASB)

We saw yesterday that the word translated as "fierce gale" literally means a whirlwind or hurricane. The word translated as "wind" is a bit of a surprise. anemos does mean a violent, whirling wind, but is used in Jeremiah and Daniel to indicate the four compass points, or corners of the earth, and (in those passages) symbolizes the judgment of God. 

What a perfect word to describe our human condition! When we are trapped in the whirlwind that sin always brings, facing the consequences that always follow, as well as the discipline of God, our Lord is ever near and ready to come to our aid. Instead of calling out to Jesus in our need, what do we do?  We manage the whirlwind as best we can, bailing like crazy, and putting ourselves in unnecessary danger. 

There is a tendency to think, "Well, I got myself into this, and I can get myself out," but that is flawed thinking. If we could "get ourselves out" of the whirlwind resulting from sin, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross would not have been necessary. 

Dear ones, there is no better way to handle the whirlwinds we face, whether they be as a result of our own choices or the unfolding of life, than to cry out to the One who can still the storm. Are you facing a whirlwind? Whatever the source of the wind, Jesus can handle it. Cry out to Him in your need and on behalf of those you love. He is near and will not fail you. He can help, and He will. 

-------

The link to last night's Friday Night with Friends is here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/07/friday-night-with-friends-difference.html

-------

Our terrorist prayer focus this week is Abubakar Shekau. He is the leader of Boku Haram, a radical terrorist organization operating in northeastern Nigeria. He is particularly fond of kidnapping and murder, having kidnapped nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls (many who are still in captivity). Earlier this week, his forces captured a civilian-controlled town, murdered at least 100 people, and made the town his new headquarters. More than 22,000 have been killed in battle between his forces and the Nigerian military in the last few years. Earlier this week, two bombs in Abuja killed dozen more. Boku Haram is suspected. Please pray for an end to his reign of terror and for salvation for him and his men.