Deciding to Follow

August 30, 2009

Background Scripture: Deuteronomy 30
Lesson Passage: Deuteronomy 30:1 – 10

How do we get back on track after we have strayed away? The instructions Moses provided for Israel prior to them possessing the land of Canaan gives clear instructions on how to do just that.
Once a child of God has strayed away from Him and found himself in a difficult situation, there is a three step process spelled out in our lesson today that will get him back on track. Step one is to repent. Repentance must involve an acknowledgment that trespass has occurred against God. There should be a sense of remorse or sorrow for having committed the offense against God. Sorrow should come from having committed the offense not in having to endure the punishment or consequences of it. After repentance, step two is to obey God’s voice. Sometimes we act as though we don’t know what this means. When we are convicted by the word of God then we can be assured that the word is speaking directly to us. This could come by way of study, teaching, preaching, or just simply being reminded of the word that is already in us by the Holy Ghost. However the word comes to us, we must make up our minds to be obedient to it because we know that it is of God. To feel remorse or sorrow and not take God-directed action will only invite withdrawal and depression and further attacks by demonic spirits. The actions taken must be directed by God. Remember, we usually get off track by following our own mind. We are not likely to get back on track through the same behavior. God is the one who must restore us. Only after we have repented and obeyed God can we embrace the final step in the restoration process. Step three is to have faith in God that no matter what state or condition you have been driven to, the Lord can and will deliver you even from there. When we are indeed listening to God’s voice, we have the assurance that God is the one directing us. Since God loves us, he will take care of us. God has demonstrated this through his son Jesus and throughout the lives of Christians everywhere. These three steps will get us back on track. Although the steps are few in number, our flesh or sinful disposition can make them seem like giant leaps to take. From the very first step, our flesh and minds will conspire against us to fight us every inch of the way. We will attempt to convince ourselves that we were somehow justified in our actions. We will desire to compare ourselves to others and conclude that we are okay because we believe that we are better than most. We must resist all of these tendencies and distractions and decide to follow God. When we do that, then the lesson tells us three things that God will do for us. First, God will bless us above those that have come before us. Secondly, God will give us a change of heart to make our walk with him and before him easier for us. And finally, God will fight our enemy for us. The one who tried to destroy us will be dealt with by God. God will cause curses to come upon our enemies.

After we have gotten back on track, then God will rejoice over us once again. He will make our hearts rejoice and we will make his heart to rejoice when we decide to follow him.

Robert C. Hudson
August 22, 2009

Obeying the Commands

August 23, 2009

Background Scripture: Deuteronomy 6
Lesson Passage: Deuteronomy 6:1 – 9, 20 – 24

Why are there so many rules for every facet of life? Rules govern both private and public affairs of life; but why? These are not the questions of those with a testimony but of the yet unborn generations that must be taught the hard learned lessons of older generations. This is how civilization has advanced whether it was moral and ethical advancement or immoral and unethical. Rules were reminders of previously discovered pitfalls to prevent future generations from repeating the same mistakes as past generations. With each injury or death, a new safety regulation sprung up to prevent others. An inevitable part of an evolving society is a fabric of rules, ordinances, and laws. These are physical things that man comes up with of his own accord. Man is also a spiritual being. Just like there are physical laws that should be heeded for man’s physical well-being, there are also moral laws that must be heeded. Who defines these moral laws and can as a result of personal experience declare them to be necessary for the moral evolution of a society? The answer to this question is not self-evident and as a result has led to man’s development of many systems of religion in a vain attempt to reform society. But man need not grope in the dark in search of the unknown and the unattainable. God, the moral architect of the universe, has delivered to man what man could not have obtained on his own.

In our lesson today, we have Israel on the verge of becoming an independent nation with its own territory and all of this has come about due solely to the work of God. Their independence provided freedom from other nations but it did not make them independent of God. It was God who had created them as a nation of people and now was about to fulfill a promise he made to their progenitor, Abraham. They would not be just another nation in the world. They would be a peculiar people among all people. They were to be a God-centered and God-governed nation. They were to be the moral examples for the entire world. Their morality or righteousness would derive from the system of commandments, statutes, and judgments delivered to them by God. Many of them had witnessed the devastating effect of not following God’s commandments. They were now reminded that it was their duty to pass these instructions on to future generations so that they would prosper and remain in the land. Many of them were witnesses as children to God’s mighty acts from Egypt throughout the forty years of desert wandering. Their testimony formed a basis for their obedience. I often refer to this group as the greatest group of faith presented in the bible as a group. They had grown up understanding the importance of following God’s commands even if they did not seem logical. God had proven himself to be faithful over and over again. They had witnessed the devastation brought upon their fore-parents for their lack of trust and faith in God. Where their fore-parents were afraid at the edge of a calm sea, this group would obey God’s voice to walk out into a flooded running river. Where their fore-parents grumbled practically every step of the way, this group would quietly march around a military stronghold for days until God said it was now time to shout. This group did not remember Egypt but instead remembered the benefits of obeying God’s commands.

Robert C. Hudson
July 31, 2009

Dishonoring God

August 16, 2009

Background Scripture: Numbers 20:1 – 13
Lesson Passage: Numbers 20:1 – 13

Chapter twenty of Numbers records some of the darkest days in the life of Israel in the wilderness. According to chapter thirty three of Numbers, the events of chapter twenty occur during the last year (the fortieth year) of wilderness wandering for the people of Israel. At the beginning of the chapter, Miriam, the prophetess and sister of Moses, died and was buried. At the end of the chapter, Aaron, Israel’s first high priest and brother of Moses died on mount Hor. Before the death of Aaron, Moses tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with their kindred, the descendants of Esau, for safe passage through their territory and offered to pay for whatever provisions they might use along the way. The fortieth year of Israel’s desert wandering was a dark and troubling time. This year marked the death of the remainder of the generation of adults 20 years of age and older who had come out of Egypt. Only Joshua and Caleb from that generation would be spared death in the desert. At the beginning of that troublesome year, the Egypt generation of adults that remained continuously displayed an absolute lack of trust or faith in God who had provided for them time and time again for the pass thirty nine years.

Our lesson today provides some details of one of the last rebellious acts; it was actually led by Moses and Aaron. Once again the people found themselves without water and rather than remember the faithfulness of God in times pass when this was the case, they instead made accusations that they were purposely led out there to die of thirst. Moses and Aaron followed protocol and presented themselves before God at the door of the tabernacle on behalf of Israel. The situation was very similar to one forty years earlier during their first year in the wilderness. God’s instructions to Moses were also similar to before except there was a distinctly different set of instructions given by God for this situation. The first time, Moses was asked to take the rod and strike the rock that water would flow from it. This time, God instructed Moses to take the rod but only to speak to the rock before the people. This would require a tremendous act of faith on Moses’ behalf. He would have to trust God that if he simply speaks to the rock in the sight of Israel that God would cause water to flow from the rock. Forty years earlier Moses’ instructions were to take the rod and hit the rock and it gave forth water. We don’t need as much faith when we have active participation in the blessing. The danger, however, exists that we will in effect receive some of the credit or glory for the results because the people will witness our active participation. Did the water flow because Moses hit the rock with the rod? No doubt, some of the people would have believed this to be the case. However, when we simply speak, then God gets all of the glory because we haven’t demonstrated anything except our reliance upon God for the results. When we dare to participate when God instructs us to only speak and rely on him, then our participation dishonors God and claims some of the glory for ourselves.

Robert C. Hudson
July 31, 2009

Doubting and Rebelling

August 9, 2009

Background Scripture: Numbers 14:1 – 25
Lesson Passage: Numbers 14:1 – 12

Anyone who doubts the patience and mercy of God towards his children need only to read the history of God’s dealing with Israel in the wilderness to quickly vanquish such doubts. In our lesson today, God declares that this is the tenth time that the congregation of Israel has been faithless and rebelled against him. In spite of all of the miracles—including the nine times of previous rebellion—the majority of the congregation is still not completely sold out to following God. This time is more reprehensible than the others because the group wants to undo all that God has done and set up a leader over them of their choosing who will lead them back into slavery in Egypt. This is not a possible outcome of their plans; this is the stated intent of their plan! They have voiced their desire to forget about everything that God has done in Egypt and beyond and return to Egypt and submit themselves to the Egyptians as willing slaves. They preferred to serve the Egyptians than to serve God. What happened that was so awful as to bring forth such an attitude? Let’s review what brought about this latest act of rebellion by Israel.

God has now led Israel to the edge of Canaan. Canaan is the land of promise. This is the land that God promised Abraham that he would give to him and his descendants as an everlasting possession. God has delivered these offspring of Abraham out of Egyptian slavery and led them to the edge of the promise land. A committee of twelve men, one from each tribe, was chosen and appointed to go into Canaan and inspect it to see that it is all that God said it is. After touring the land for forty days and bringing back some of the abundant fruit from the land, the committee gave their report. Ten of the members declared that the land was all that God said that it was, however, they believed that there was a problem in that the current inhabitants of the land were to be feared for they would surely be too strong for Israel to fight. The other two committee members, Joshua and Caleb, concurred that the land was indeed all that God promised it to be, however, they expressed complete confidence that God would give the land to Israel in spite of the current occupants. Furthermore, the dissenting two believed that the current occupants would not be able to defend themselves against God’s people. The congregation received two contrasting reports from the committee and chose to believe the majority. After those seeds of doubt had been sown into the hearts of the Israelites, the congregation rebelled against Moses and God. They expressed no confidence in Moses’ leadership and suggested that he be replaced with someone that would do their bidding. Joshua and Caleb were grouped with Moses and it was suggested that those two be stoned to death. Israel’s rebellion was in full bloom when the glory of the Lord illuminated the tent of the tabernacle. God expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the lack of faith of Israel and declared that the faithless generation would die in the wilderness and their children would inherent what they rebelled against. In his mercy, he spared the rebellious an instant death and extended their wilderness journey up to forty years so that they would die natural deaths in the wilderness because of their doubting and rebellion. Their children, whom they claimed would be a prey for the Canaanites, would inherit what they rejected.

Robert C. Hudson
July 29, 2009