Saturday 10/6 Blog: God made creation for His Glory

Note to the reader: This blog will cover Saturday October 6th.  You are more than welcome to read this today or wait until tomorrow.  I'll be at a conference and will not be able to post this on Saturday October 6th, however there will be a new blog on Sunday October 7th.  May the Lord use these blogs for His glory and thanks for reading!

 

God Made Creation for His glory

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The title of today's blog may sound very self-evident and simple,  however in light of our culture's rejection of a Biblical worldview in favor of advocating a universe having popped into being by chance, it is vital for Christians to refocus their attention on the biblical doctrine of creation.

Yesterday we consider how God planned the universe.  We discovered that the Triune God planned the universe by way of a Covenant that the Bible calls - "the Covenant of day and night".  We pointed out that the entire creation is covenantal, in that God has pledged His faithfulness to complete it, that He created a moral & physical universe that reveals Hisglory.  We also saw that His will cannot be thwarted.   By understanding creation as having been pre-planned by God, His covenant of day and night also reveals that there is ultimate meaning and purpose.  

Jeremiah 31:35 tells us: "thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name".  It is on the physical order that I want to blog about today as we consider a handful of thoughts about what exactly God made. 

What were some of the things God made?
Obviously I'm not going to cover everything the Bible teaches about all that God made (there are some sixty passages on creation in the Bible!)  Rather I just want to prime the pump for our thoughts, demonstrating that what God planned is deeply connected to what He made.  Below are just a few:

1. He made the sun for the earth. The text of Jeremiah 31:35 tells us He gave the sun to be a light by day. Just as in the Genesis 1 text, where we see the earth made before the Sun, so we see that priority being reiterrated here. God pre-determined the sun's size and place in its stellar development. He determined where it was to be located in relationship to the Milky Way Galaxy.   If we were closer to the Galactic Center, we would be bumbarded by the intense radiation of the higher concentration of stars.  We are also located in an area that in comparison to the rest of the Galaxy does not have as much of the "Gaseous Dusts of Hydrogen" that pervades throughout the rest of the Galaxy.  That location, some two-thirds of the way out from the Milky Way's center, puts us in a "just-right" spot to see a 360 degree view of our universe.

2. He fixed the order of the moon. The Bible goes onto tell us He fixed the laws governing the moon. The size (400 times smaller than the sun), the distance from the earth (240,000 miles), and its use in regulating the tides. During solar eclipses, the moon's size relative the the sun has it perfectly fit over the sun in the sky, making it the only moon of the nearly 200 moons we know of the Solar System that happens to be able to perform that phenomenon.  We understand that the moon functions to act as a stabilizer brake, as well as push and pull on the magma deep inside the earth's core. If God had not made the moon, life on this planet would not remain long.

The moon's push and pull on earth's core is part of what regulates the magnetic field surrounding the earth, which in turns shields us from the harmful effects of solar storms coming off of the sun.  If God had not put that in place, you would not just merely get a sun burn, the earth itself would be a lifeless, sunbaked globe! 

3. He made the stars. This is one of the best understatements in the Bible. To realize the sheer enormity of one star in comparison to our planet is mind boggling. Our Sun is a million miles in diameter, with other known stars hundreds of times larger than it. According to the Hertzsprung-Russel chart of the categories of star temperatures and sizes, our sun is almost mid-sized star, making it "just-right", not too hot nor too cool. Between each star on average lies tens of trillions of miles. There are an estimated 100 billion stars in our galaxy, and over 100 billion galaxies in our universe. The Lord indeed has made a big universe!

4. He determined how much water would be on earth. God pre-planned how much water would be on our planet. He uses the moon to regulate the tides, thus giving the ocean the opportunity to "roar" with its waves. He had created sub-terranean vaults that held as much as five-times as much water as are in our present-day oceans.  During the flood of Genesis 6-9, those vaults were let loose and flood our globe.  Some of that water was shot out into space, while the rest receeded either back underground or became out present day oceans. 

5. He planned to include the cross in history. Acts 2:23 tells us that Jesus Christ was delivered up by the predetermined and foreordained will of God. The cross was central not only to God's purposes of redemption by also creation. This last point is a reminder to the reader that in scripture, we cannot seperate the doctrines of creation from redemption, since in redemption God revealed that His plans for creation have not been thwarted. 

If we had more time, we could speak a little bit further on the Angelic realm, the unseen realm that we often read of in the Bible. At the end of Jeremiah 33:35 we read that God is the "Lord of hosts". That term "Hosts" refers to large groupings of things or armies. What all does God govern or "Lord over"? He is Lord over every creature and the billions of human beings living on our world. He governs the "hosts" of stars in our Galaxies. He governs the incalculable hosts of angels that serve Him and not on demon or even satan himself can do anything apart from His will of permission.

To say God made all things is truly glorifying to Him when we consider the testimonies of scripture and the discoveries of science.  God planned creation for one purpose - to put on display His glory. (Psalm 19:1-6)

The significance of God's planning of creation

Jeremiah 31:35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name:

All of Creation was planned by God by way of covenant
What a remarkable text is our opening verse in today's blog.  We are interested in considering the significance of God planning creation.  As we saw in yesterday's blog, the Triune God planned creation by way of what Jeremiah 33:19-20 describes as the "Covenant with day and Night".  This tells us that all of creation is essentially a "Covenantal arrangement".  What do we mean by that?  Below are several thoughts that may help us understand God's planning of creation by way of covenant:

1. God finishes what He begins.  In those texts of Jeremiah 33 we see God's commitment to finish what He began in creation as being comparable to the covenants he has made with Abraham and David.  Once God promises to begin something, He does so from the stand point of already seeing it completed. 

2. God will not forsake what He has declared to be good.  Seven times in Genesis 1 we see God declaring His creation "good".  When God makes a covenant with any of His created things, He pledges to remain until His purposes for it are completed.  As it stands in creation, this promise to not leave nor forsake is also true of salvation. (Hebrews 13:5)

3. God created a morally based universe.  In all covenants there are blessings and cursings, boundaries and consequences.  In creation we understand that God has written his law on the human heart - what the Bible terms the "conscience". (Romans 2:15)  We also understand that absolute morality is the same whether here on earth, the farthest galaxy or among the angelic hosts.  The Law of God judges sinners and points the way to grace whereby they can be saved.  Thoughts such as these flow from understanding God's planning of creation by way of covenant. 


4. God's creation is centered around revelation  Passages such as Psalm 19 and Romans 1 speak of God revealing truths about Himself in the creation.  Bible teachers call this "General Revelation", meaning that what can be known about God: His Power and Creative activity, is accessible to everybody.  There is no corner of creation that is not telling us something about God creating us and our obligation to Him.  General revelation is non-saving revelation, and needs the saving revelation of the Bible, or what is termed "special revelation".  In Covenants, we know information is spelled out defining and revealing the terms of any relationship.  Therefore this notion of "revelation" is why creation was made by God in His covenant planning.    




5. God's will cannot be thwarted.  Job 42:2 tells us that God can't be frustrated.  In Romans 8:18-25 we see the clearest explanation of why God in His Sovereignty permitted the fall of man.  Though the creation is being held in subjection, subject to decay, the Bible says in Romans 8 that it is being subjected in "hope".  Hope of what? The Hope of all that will take place at Christ's return when every child of God will be raptured or resurrected and completed.  The beginning truly was and always has been regulated by the end. 

Despite the entry of sin, all five of the above observations can never be defeated by it
When we consider the above observation about God's plan for our world, we understand them to have been planned before time began.  We also understand that they were in operation pre-fall.  But what about after the fall?  Did the entry of sin jeopardize God's ultimate plan and covenantal arrangement for creation?  Below demonstrates that the significance of God's planning before creation was shapped by His end purposes for it:

1. When God created the Heavens and the earth in Genesis 1, He did so with the view of it as being transformed and becoming the New Heavens and New Earth of Revelation 21-22 following Christ's return and millennial reign of Revelation 19-20.  So sin has not derailed God's plan to finish what He began.

2. Despite mankind forsaking God and the creation being subject to decay and decline - God is still committed to seeing His creation through.  He ever extends His grace in this current age, calling forth sinners unto Himself.  His whole purpose in creating all things was to display His glory.  For those who persist in rejection of Him - they will ever observe His justice - sadly but truly getting what His Justice meets out to them - eternal judgment in the lake of fire.  For those who by grace through faith believe on Christ, they will ever observe the Glory of His grace.  So sin does not negate God's efforts in seeing His purpose for creation - display of His glory.

3. The entry of sin and its judgment serves to confirm that we are living in a moral, as well as a physical universe.  There are consequences -both temporal and eternal.  God's moral character is ever the same.

4. Despite mankind's rebellion and separation from God, general revelation tells man that there is a creator to whom he is obliged.  God's Just and Holy Character is known by all.  No one has any excuse to say they didn't know God existed nor that they were guilty in His sight.  We pray that by His grace the Lord would open their eyes to believe on Jesus Christ as revealed by special revelation, the Bible.   

5. God's will is not thwarted despite the presence of evil and suffering.  His sending the Son to take on human flesh and die on the cross is proof positive He did something about it.  Christ's return to earth will demonstrate the final defeat of evil and suffering, revealing that God's will and aims for all He has made are never thwarted. 

To God be the glory!

God and Creation

1 Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

If we were to summarize all that there is to be known or can be known, it would be this: God and creation.  The three major headings under which all of God's activites fit are these: Creation, Redemption and Completion.  The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 states under its article entitled "God" - "There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe." Today I want us to consider the significance of the Biblical teaching of creation, and how it is the Bible unfolds it under the following three headings 

1. God Planned Creation
2. God made Creation
3. God Preserves Creation

God Planned Creation.
Before Genesis 1:1, what was God doing? As we have seen in other blogs, we know God is revealed in scripture as the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  As the Trinity, redemption or salvation was planned before the creation of the world by them entering into what the Bible describes as "the counsel of God". (Ephesians 1:11)  With the Bible revealing that truth, we understand that creation and history were also pre-planned by God.  Jeremiah 33:20-21 states - “Thus says the LORD, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers."  Similarly Jeremiah writes a few verses later: “Thus says the LORD, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established".Creation and all of history were planned by the Triune God. 

God made Creation.
We would run out of space in today's blog if we were to list every passage that speaks on this subject of creation.  Some sixty passages exist that speak on the subject of creation.  Genesis 1:1 and Job 38 are but a few of the major passages that tells us that God made all things.  As the Triune Creator, we see the Biblical testimony telling us about how the Triune God went about creating all things:

God the Father Sanctioned creation.  Genesis 1:1; Psalm 33:6.
That is He had creation on His mind and with the Son spoke everything into being.

God the Son structures creation.  John 1:1; Colossians 1:16-17
"By Him and through Him all things consist" is the language of scripture pertaining to the creative activity of the Son.  He with the Father brought into reality what had been on the Father's mind.  Without the Son, nothing would be made that had been made. (John 1:3).

God the Holy Spirit sustains creation.  After the creation week, the creative activity of God ceased. (Genesis 2:1-3).  From thereon God interjected the Laws that He uses to regulate and maintain the created order.  Through the four fundamental forces of gravity; the strong force (holding together the nuclei of atoms); the weak force (what brings about radioactive decay) and electromagnetism (spectrum that includes radio waves, visible light and other forms of radiation, as well as what binds together elements into molecules) the Spirit of God sustains and gives life to all things. (Psalm 104).   

God Preserves Creation
It is the Holy Spirit who is sustaining and directing all of history and the universe to its intended end as the Son holds together the structure of all things with the Father's continuing sanction.  Romans 8:19-21 tells us - "19For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God."

This is but a quick thumbnail sketch of the Biblical doctrine of God and creation.  As we can see in many of these passages, creation functions as both an environment and illustration of God's purposes for redemption.  Furthermore, the Trinity's involvement with the created order is set to bring to completion the Father's will at Christ's return as revealed by the Spirit in the scriptures.  May our thoughts be made more Christ-centered as we think on God and creation. 

The Eternal Basis for Eternal Security

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

Yesterday I wrote about the relevance of the Bible's teaching on God's eternal covenant of redemption. The Covenant of redemption is God's eternally agreed upon plan of salvation. In today's blog we want to consider a second reason why this truth is so important for Christians: namely the believer's eternal security.

The Covenant of Redemption is the Basis for Eternal Security
Jude 24-25 reads - "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." When you see this text, you see the Triune God active throughout the whole of Eternal Security. Notice the underlined words in the text:

1). The Spirit is the applier of redemption. We see that in the phrase "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling". From the preceeding verses in Jude, we understand the "Him" to be in reference to God the Holy Spirit. Whenever we speak of One of the Members of the Trinity, we can also include the other two, since all Three share the same undivided life and fellowship as One God. With that said, the Holy Spirit has been sent to insure that every true believer in Jesus Christ will endure to the end. A True Christian will not only endure, but they will want to endure.

2). The Father is the planner of redemption. We see that in Jude's use of the phrase: "to the Only God our Savior". The fact He distingishes "God" from "Jesus Christ" tells us that Jude is specifying God the Father, in whose nature the Son shares. It is the Father who initiated, planned and put forth the effort to send forth the Son and the Spirit to execute His plan of redemption. (Galatians 4:4; 1 Peter 1:20)

3). The Son is the purchaser of redemption. Jude rounds out this final verse of His epistle by referring to this plan of redemption being accomplished "through Jesus Christ our Lord". It was the Son who came into time, assumed humanity through the virgin birth, lived 33 years and died on the cross. He raised from the dead and ascended into Heaven. While never ceasing to be God, He became man. Now that He has ascended into Heaven, he has never ceased being man, demonstrating that He is God in human flesh. Ephesians 1:7 states -
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace."

The Eternal security of the believer is based upon what God planned in eternity, what Christ payed for in history and what the Spirit is applying presently. Jude 25 closes out with a doxology: "be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." Notice the text does not say "glories" but "glory", reminding us that all Three Persons equally share infinitely and equally as the One God of glory.

Praise be to the Triune God for all that has been done in providing the basis for missions and eternal security.

The Eternal Basis for Missions

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

In last week's post, dated Tuesday September 24th, I wrote on the topic: "The Eternal Covenant of Redemption".  Today I would like to follow up on that post, demonstrating why it is extremely relevant to Christians today.

The Covenant of Redemption is the Biblical truth of God's eternally agreed upon plan of salvation.  In passages such as 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 13:20, we understand that the members of the Trinity entered into Covenant with another before time began, resulting in the following:

1). The Father planned redemption or salvation
2). The Son agreed to come and purchase salvation
3). The Spirit agreed to come and apply salvation to all whom He calls, convicts and believes

I would invite the reader to refer back to my previous post to gain more detail.  My aim today is to consider that the Covenant of Redemption is valuable to the Christian because it is the basis for missions.

The Covenant of Redemption is the basis for Missions
If we take God's eternal plan or covenant of redemption: (God the Father planned, The Son purchased and the Spirit applies) and consider passages that speak specifically about missions and sharing the Gospel, we immediately see the richness of salvation.

For instance, Jesus told Nicodemas in John 3:8 - “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Unless the Spirit comes, extending the gifting grace of faith and repentance, whereby sinners can believe, repent and be saved, salvation will not occur.  The Spirit comes to apply redemption.  Jesus teaches about this further in John 16:8  “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment."  The Bible reveals that the faith and repentance required to receive the benefits of forgiveness, reconcilation and justification must have the Spirit of God present.  Unless He is present and working in the sinner's heart,  faith and repentance won't occur.  The Spirit of God is the applier of redemption.

John 3:16 quoted above shows us the other elements of the Covenant of redemption.  The Father, the Planner of salvation, sent the Son, to purchase redemption, so that whosoever believes can be saved from the wrath to come.  The Spirit's work of conviction and the newbirth is implied from the context.  God is the great missionary.  He planned, purchased and pursues after sinners.  The Father planned to give a redeemed humanity to the Son who agreed to pay the purchase price.  The Spirit is out searching after and calling the whosoevers, bidding them to believe and repent and be saved.  Without ever negating human responsibility to believe on Jesus Christ, salvation is a work of God from beginning to end. 

The Spirit does all this through Christians who proclaim the scriptures.  Though it is the efforts of other Christians that goes and does the work, yet it is the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in Jesus' name, who brings about the results of the work.  It is God who ordains the means as well as the ends of salvation - hence why salvation is a work of God from beginning to end.  Missions is the first reason why we need to be more familiar with the Covenant of Redemption.  More tomorrow....

A Poem: The Broken Heart Healed

Romans 5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

A Poem: The Broken Heart Healed

 

Lord, Broken and dead you found my heart

 

God's Law could not save and we were apart

 

I was dead in sin, undesiring to come

 

Blinded were my eyes and my ears were dumb

 

My desires were my gods and the world my friend

 

Rebellion inherited from Adam and hell my end

 

Darkened was the sky of my soul overhead

 

Lest your grace shine in I would remain spiritually dead

 

But then the ground trembled and the stone rolled away

 

Your voice had come by your Word that day

 

You called my name:  "come forth you said"

 

"Forsake yourself and arise from the dead"

 

In faith I came, faith had arrived

 

Rescued from wrath, I was now alive

 

I came forth, "unwrap Him" you said

 

"For this One is alive and no longer dead"

 

My broken heart you healed, my life you transformed

 

Why put on those grave clothes? Why to this world conform?

 

The Great Physician called me

 

Prescibed me His Word

 

Faith did I express, His voice I had heard

 

Daily I need the pages of His prescriptions for me

 

To follow the Master whose touch set me free

 

Your Spirit indwells me and your hope is my sail

 

In this life for you I walk until I pass through the vale

 

By grace you called, through faith I did receive

 

In Grace you will keep me, your will to achieve

 

When I am gathered at your coming, this body will be changed

 

Corruption for glory will have been exchanged

 

The heart you healed, is looking to you

 

The Master who takes the old and makes all things new

 

 



The Words of Life - A Poem

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 

The Words of Life - A Poem

 

I see an old Bible, wrinkled and worn

 

When it is preached, faith can be born

 

The Sinner's heart melts, the work is done

 

Faith grabs hold, the faith-walk has begun

 

Hearing is granted, obedience resides

 

To Christ flees the saint, in His presence He abides

 

The Bible is alive, its words are breathing force

 

In its hearing weak faith is strengthened

 

Resolve resumes its course

 

The saint faces trials, the Bible in his hand

 

Eyes raised heavenward, on God's word He does stand

 

Pages stained with tears, the Bible is a friend

 

Its truth unchanged, broken hearts it can mend

 

The Spirit speaks forth, pointing the way

 

See the Living Savior, become His today

 

Worn it may be, the words are timeless and true

 

Open your Bible and take in what God speaks to you

 

 

 

 



The Lordship of Jesus Christ

Romans 10:9 "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

What is meant when the New Testament refers to Jesus Christ as Lord? Today's blog aims to answer that question by offering a three-fold definition of Christ's Lordship from scripture:

1. He is God.

When the New Testament refers to Jesus as Lord, it is another way of saying he is God.  Matthew 12:28; Mark 2:28 and Luke 6:5 refer to Jesus Christ as Lord of the Sabbath.  Lordship refers to excercising dominion over a realm or Kingdom.  In Genesis 2:3 we read that God "rested from His work" after creating all things, meaning He was establishing Himself as the Sovereign, uncontested Lord over all things.  In fact, Genesis 2:4 tells us that it was indeed the "LORD God" who made the heavens and the earth, giving us the first appearance of the term "LORD" in the Bible.  By noting the Old Testament background, Jesus' remarks in John 5:18 make clearer sense, since in healing a man on the sabbath He makes a declaration of Himself as being equal with God.  The reason He could do that was because He was there, in co-equal power and being with the Father on the day of the first Sabbath back in Genesis!  In fact in Matthew 12:8 Jesus plainly states: "The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath".  Thus Jesus Christ's declaration of Lordship was His way of saying He is God. 

2. He is Sovereign.

When we speak of Christ's Lordship, we also are referring to His Sovereignty.  The term "Sovereign" means God's comprehensive reign over all peoples, places and times.  Sovereignty refers to God's right to reign.  Matthew 28:18 has Jesus saying: "All power has been given to me on Heaven and on Earth".  Other passages such as John 10:17-18 and 5:22 speak to this end.  As Lord He is Sovereign enough to both rise from the dead and excercise judgment.  He is Lord.  He is Sovereign.

3. He is Savior

The Lordship of Jesus Christ speaks to His role as the Saving Redeemer.  Passages such as Philippians 2:7; 1 Timothy 3:16 and Hebrews 4:15 refer to His function as the Savior who excercises His Lordship in salvation.  Romans 10:9 is the plainest verse:  "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."  Despite the attempts of some today, scripture's testimony is that you cannot divorce Christ's role as Savior from His role as Lord.  The latter term is what gives Him the power and authority to be the Savior.  As God, He is powerful enough to save and as Sovereign He has the Authority to save all who by grace through faith believe on Him for the forgiveness of their sins.  (Romans 10:8-10)

To confess Jesus Christ as Lord means I am trusting Him to be the Savior who leads me, sustains me and Shepherds me.  As my Sovereign, I am His Subject, and He my King.  As my God, He is the One who I worship and adore. 

Prescriptions for Stronger Faith

Numbers 11:23 "The LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’S power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.”

The Disease of unbelief needed a Powerful Prescription
In this section of Numbers 11-12 we see the situation in the nation of Israel drastically plummet.  Numbers 11:1-3  tells us: "1 Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD and the fire died out. 3So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them."

For over 12 months since their deliverance out of Egypt, the people had been camped around the base of Mount Sinai.  They had every means of grace available. Yet as Hebrews 3-4 reveals, they ended up not entering into the land which God was calling them due to unbelief.  These two chapters of Numbers 11-12 are chapters about the complaining people of God. 

1. We see the Children of Israel compaining in Numbers 11:1-9
2. We see Moses companing about the people Number 11:10-15
3. We see Miraim and Aaron complaining about Moses 12:1-2

No faith, struggling faith and weakening faith
No one was happy.  These three groups of people were in a miserable condition.  The Nation of Israel camped around Sinai were operating with no faith.  Hebrews 3:19 describes the generation of Israelites coming out of Egypt being incapable of entering into the promised land due to unbelief. 

Moses was operating with struggling faith.  According to Hebrews 3:5, Moses was indeed faithful, a "faith-filled man", yet in this particular episode he was overwhelmed.  Then we see Aaron and Miriam dealing with weakening faith.  They had genuine faith, however jealousy and envy over Moses had sapped their spiritual energy. What these people needed was the same thing we need as God's people living in the 21st century: Stronger faith.

The people of Israel needed saving faith, Moses needed victorious faith and Aaron and Miriam needed greater faith.  In the middle of these two chapters we see Moses' raise further doubts to God's ability to provide.  It is in Numbers 11:23 that we see God says these words: "The LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’S power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.” 

It is from this text that I see the Lord giving us a set of prescriptions for stronger faith.  If someone is in need of saving faith, this prescription from Numbers 11:23 will guarantee salvation.  Perhaps you are reading this and are a believer in Christ already, however you are needing victorious faith or stronger faith.  May I urge you to consider the following prescriptions for greater faith from Numbers 11:23. 

1. Consider the Lord. Numbers 11:23a "The LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’S power limited?"
This was Moses' problem: He had considered his circumstance more than the Lord.  The question posed by Jehovah God can only yield one answer - of course the Lord's arm, ability, strength, is not too short.  The people needed to place their faith and trust in the saving power of the one who had rescued them out of Egypt.  Miriam and Aaron needed to be reminded that the Lord called Moses to do one thing, and they another.  The Lord's power is unlimited (Psalm 90:1). 

2. Consider the Lord's word.  Numbers 11:23b "Now you shall see whether My word will come true" 
Moses, the man of struggling faith, needed to hear the Word of the Lord.  The prophet of God, who had already composed Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus at this stage of redemptive history, was at a low point in his ministry.  He wanted to die. 

The nation of Israel had no faith.  Their failure to believe was not God's fault, but theirs.  Only the preaching of God's word can bring about the faith needed for the person to embrace Christ. (Romans 10:17).  That generation of people needed to be saved. (again compare Hebrews 3 and 4)  Miriam and Aaron had weak faith.  They needed to heed the Word they had received and consider their words carefully.  Dear friend, you and I need to consider the Lord's words more than our thoughts, our impressions and our opinions.  God was telling Moses that no doubt, He  was going to do as he had said.

3. Consider your heart. Number 11:23 "Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.” 
What was the Lord trying to get Moses to consider.  He was trying to get him to consider the Lord, and the Lord's word.  But He was also appealing to the court of Moses' heart.  That word "you" takes what is impersonal and distant and suddenly brings it to bear personally and near.  Somewhere along the way, Moses' let the circumstance change his understanding about the Lord, rather than let His understanding of the Lord change His circumstance.

He who had seen the Lord split the Red Sea and rain fire on the Mountain was begging God to let him die.  I do not hold Moses in contempt, for I too have had those times, and I'm sure you have as well.  It is in those times of trouble that God has had me take stock of my heart. 

Proverbs 4:23 tells us - "Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life." Whenever my heart is out of tune with the Lord, it is because I have not considered Him nor His words.  This three-fold prescription of considering the Lord, His Word and your heart will lead to stronger faith.  Take it in daily, and watch your faith grow. 

Using Cross-referencing and repeated words together

Numbers 11:1 Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

Two days ago we looked at Hebrews 3 and noted how we can use cross referencing, as well as a couple other Bible-study related tools.  In that chapter we noted that the author cross-referenced Numbers 12 and Psalm 95.  It was for the reason of Psalm 95 that we looked yesterday at the Bible Study tool of "repeated words".  Today I want to consider Numbers 11-12, the other text referred to in Hebrews 3, and explore it through the two tools we have learned in the past two blogs: namely "cross-referencing" and "repeated words".

1. Finding repeated ideas or words in Numbers 11-12
The immediate tone one finds in studying Numbers 11-12 is that of "complaining" or "murmuring":

a. The people are complaining. Numbers11:1,4,5,6
b. Moses is complaining. Numbers 11;10,11-15,21-22
c. Miriam and Aaron are complaining. Numbers 12:1-2

We also see God granting undeserved provisions of grace:

a. The manna. Numbers 11:7-9
b. His Spirit upon the seventy elders to advise Moses 11:24-26
c. Communication of His Word 11:23; 12:6-8, 14
d. His sparing of Miraim 12:15-16

So we see God's grace.  We see murmuring. 

Clearly we see examples to avoid.  We also see the need for God's grace to hang onto.

Which leads us to see the repetition of God and/or His attributes in these chapters:

a. God's provision of Manna, hence His Grace, unmerited favor
b. His Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of God gifting selected people was taught in the Old Testament.
c. God's Special Revelation by His Word
b. God's mercy, or not giving that which is deserved, as in the case of Miraim
e. God's judgment, which is seen in giving the people what they want, the quail.  In scripture the worse form of judgment is when God gives the sinner what he or she wants, since the sinner has in their heart exchanged God for created things. (Romans 1:20-25)

2. Cross referencing in Numbers 11-12
Cross referencing to previous passages can provide fascinating insights and surprises in one's study of God's Word.  A prime example of this is in the people's murmuring over not having meat, and hating the manna that God gave to them in Numbers 11:1-9. 

Have we seen this type of complaining before? We have.1   Some 12-14 months before, the people had just been redeemed out of Egypt and were camped at the wilderness of Sin in Exodus 16.  There the people complained about not having any food.  God responds in Exodus 16 by doing the following:

a. He first supplies them quail in Exodus 16:13 on the evening of the day they had murmured against Him.
b. The next morning he then supplies them with manna to eat in Exodus 16:14-20, with the text stating in Exodus 16:21 that every man had as much as he could eat.
c. They were not judged to death.  God showed mercy.

Thus we see the pattern: Complaining--->The word spoken---> they looked and saw the glory of the Lord-->Quail provided-->Manna provided-->Mercy

Not hardly over a year later the people are complaining in Numbers 11 about the manna they had been receiving.  They were accusing God of short changing them.  They chose to forget that He had supplied them quail, then manna. Notice the reverse response in this second incident:

a. God kept supplying them manna.  It is described again and mentioned first in the Numbers 11 text. 
b. The provision of quail is given by the Lord in Numbers 11:31-35.  The text tells us that while the meat was in their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord had kindled. (Numbers 11:33).  They could had spit it out.  They should have remembered how He first supplied them quail, and then bread in Exodus 16.  But alas, they spurned the grace of God, revealing they had never received it to begin.
c. Therefore God struck the people with a very severe plague. (Numbers 11:33)

Thus we see the opposite pattern: They complained--->Mention of Manna--->the word spoken--->they did not look at the Lord's glory--->Quail--->Plague--->Death

From these two incidents we see the crazy but true nature of repeating sin.  In cross referencing, we can note similarities, and also stark contrasts.  Most noteably I find that the people did not look to the Lord's glory in the second incident like they had in the first.  Their rebellion was more willful and deep than the first.2

It is from these patterns in Numbers 11 that we find the murmuring continuing in Numbers 12.  No doubt the Psalmist in Psalm 95 and the author in Hebrews 3 draws from these patterns. 

Conclusion from  cross referencing and repeated thoughts in Numbers 11-12
Thus from cross referencing and repeated thoughts in Numbers 11-12 we can draw a general conclusion about the text:
Namely, The Holy Ghost in all three texts is weaving together the pattern of prescriptions needed to strengthen one's faith and to avoid the peril that comes from murmuring against the Lord. 

End Notes______________

1. Numbers 33 gives an overview of all the journeyings of the Israelites from Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab some 40 years later.  In Numbers 33:12 we see the record of the people encamped at the wilderness of Sin, the location of the first quail and manna incident of Exodus 16.  Then in Numbers 33:17 we see the people camped at Kibroth-hattaavah, the scene of the second manna/quail incident in Numbers 11-12. 

2. The Preacher's Homiletical Commentary on Numbers gives this insight: "They had murmured aforetime, and the Lord gave them quails, and did not punish them (Exodus 16:2-13).  But now, after additional proofs of His power and goodness, they murmur again and more wickedly, and He sends them quails and smites them in anger."