Day 060 (Numbers 14-15, Psalm 90) - Year 7
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Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today we got to read a psalm. I bet you love that. Since we're working through the Bible chronologically, we'll mostly have the psalms sprinkled throughout our reading where they've been written as a response to what's happening at the time. You may have noticed that Moses was the author of this particular psalm. This is the only psalm he wrote. But before we get to that, let's talk about the situation he wrote it about.

Today in Numbers, the people are responding to the reports of the 10 spies who argued that they couldn't take the land of Canaan. This was a mess, you guys. Because these 10 leaders were fearful, the whole camp is thrown into chaos. The people tried to usurp God's authority by choosing a leader other than the one God had appointed and by going where God wasn't leading, back to Egypt. This idea of going back to Egypt isn't just a theme for them. It becomes a biblical metaphor for doubting God, turning away from Him, and living unto ourselves.

As for the Israelites, their doubt has turned to fear, which prompted rebellion. If you don't bring your doubt to God, like we've seen Moses do repeatedly, your doubt will drive you from God. So Moses and Aaron fall on their faces, Joshua and Caleb tear their clothes in grief, and then they try to rally the people to trust God, but their speech is far from effective. The people wanted to stone them. Fortunately, in the midst of the riot, God shows up.

But he does not have good news. He wants to kill all the people and start over with Moses. This is the same thing he proposed back in Exodus 32 when the people worshiped their own jewelry. But Moses intervenes just like he did back then. He pleads with God to protect his own name in front of the Egyptians, even arguing on behalf of the people at his own expense. Don't you think he might have been happy to get rid of those people and just wing it on his own with God?

But he doesn't. He stands on the promises and character of God. He quotes God back to God. God relents, but not without consequence. The ten spies who doubted him and worked up a panic in his people so that they rebelled against him, they died of the plague. And all of the men of fighting age who refused to fight and enter Canaan, who said they'd rather die in the wilderness, God says he'll give them what they asked for. They'll die in the desert.

And in fact, they're going to stay in the desert until everyone over the age of 20, except for Caleb and Joshua and their descendants, were dead. None of those whose hearts rebelled against God would see the promised land of Canaan. God says this process will take 40 years. Then he warns them that some of their enemies are nearby, so they should pack up camp and head south. But the people don't like the consequence God deals out to them, so they try to retract their response. They don't want to wait 40 years. They decide they'll try to take the land after all.

They go north instead of south, ignoring God's directions, and as expected, they lose the battle. They were attempting to claim God's promises without His power or His presence. Their hearts are revealed in that they wanted His gifts more than they wanted Him. They were willing to disobey Him to get what they wanted. It's interesting to me that they didn't initially believe His promise to give them the land, but they did believe His promise to kill them in the wilderness.

For many of us, it's so much easier to trust his wrath than his grace. Then we move on to chapter 15, which is a chapter of laws. Whenever they set up camp at one place for a while, God usually fills them in on a few more laws, letting them absorb things bit by bit so it's not all dumped on them at once. Some of these laws are for unintentional sin, which still requires an offering. All sin must be atoned for.

But the laws for intentional, defiant sins—sins committed with a high hand, as the text says—shows that it requires a more severe punishment. You may have heard it said that all sins are equal, but we don't really see that idea in Scripture. Yes, all sins are equal in their ability to separate us from God because they're all unrighteous. And all sins are equal in that, for those who are God's children, their sins are equally paid for in full by Christ's death.

But other than that, what we've been seeing over and over again in these laws is that some sins are far more offensive and wicked than others. And God even weighs motives. I don't say that so we can compare our sin to someone else's and feel better about ourselves. That would be sinful. I say it to point out the truth of Scripture. Then, as He often does, God reminds the people of the importance of keeping the Sabbath.

Breaking the Sabbath may seem like a small thing in today's society, but those little steps away from trusting God build on themselves. By letting things like the Sabbath slide, that's how they ended up with golden calves and believing the spies. My dad says the way you turn a battleship to go in a completely different direction is one degree at a time. If we don't preach the gospel to our hearts and remind ourselves of the truth of who God is when we doubt His character, we're not going to be able to do it.

We risk becoming the people who die in the wilderness, being near Him but missing out on the joy and peace that comes from honoring and trusting Him. God wants the people to be reminded of Him and His ways since they seem to struggle with that, so He tells them to wear blue tassels on their clothes. Side note: It's easy to forget that Jesus was a law-abiding Jew and that He perfectly kept all these laws we're reading. That means He would have had these same blue tassels on His clothes.

And the word used to describe these here is the same word used in Matthew 9 and 14 when people touched the fringe or tassel of his garment in order to be healed. Then we move to the psalm written by Moses in response to all this tragedy. As a result of the people's sin, he would suffer too for 40 years. He had no idea what he was getting into when he went to rescue the people. He probably imagined the two-week trek, not this.

So he entreats God's favor. He asks God to bless them. He says, Moses knows he has a long road ahead of him, and he's asking God for mercy. What was your God shot today? Mine was after the rebellion when God started listing laws again. He could have come across as harsh, but he didn't take it any further than their consequences demanded.

But like any kid who has been punished, they need reminders of their parents' love afterward. So he starts out with, "'When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving to you, despite all their sin and its consequences, the ten spies dying, the failed attempt to take the land, the promise that the adults would die off and only their children would enter the land, God reminds the people that He hasn't changed His mind. He hasn't disowned Him. This family is still His people.'"

He's still going to be faithful to his promise to them. What mercy, what integrity, what forgiveness. I know they were probably kicking themselves, but I hope they at least felt encouraged by his tenderness toward them. Even in the desert for 40 years, still, he's where the joy is. ♪

Are you struggling in the reading plan? This might be a good time to hit the reset button by going back and listening to our six prep episodes, either again or for the first time. They're super helpful, even if you've been with us for months. You can listen to them all in about an hour. Swipe up for a link to prep episode one in today's show notes or search for it in your app. Hopefully that will be just the refresher you need to keep showing up every day. I believe God has some incredible things for you in those episodes.