Help us to remember others in everything we do.
After their refusal to enter the land God had promised, the children of Israel were forced to wander around the wilderness for 40 years. Those who tried to leave Moses and enter themselves were attacked and driven back.
Only Moses, Joshua and Caleb were worthy of entering the land as they were the only ones who had faith to do so. It's not recorded but perhaps they could have left the others behind and gone in themselves.
But I doubt that they would have wanted to even if they could. They knew what God had promised; that they had to drive out the inhabitants of the land. But more importantly, they knew they had a responsibility to the people. Their attitude was the opposite to those who we read about last week. Instead of wanting power and riches for themselves, they knew it was only right to stay and help the people.
Often we see on war memorials the biblical quote “No greater love has any man than to lay down his life for his friends”. Laying down your life once may be difficult, but laying it down every day for 40 years is a lot harder. Jesus give his life, every day of his ministry, as well.
We're back to what we were talking about a few weeks ago; being humble. Simply, it means putting others first.
So instead of enjoying a quiet, peaceful life in a land of plenty, they wandered the wilderness with the Children of Israel. They were hot when the others were hot, they were tired when the others were tired and they were tempted when the others were tempted.
The Children of Israel continued to grumble and complain, even though God was looking after them. They didn't have to work to get food, God gave it.
It's interesting to note that they are still referred to as 'children'. This is exactly what they were. Maturity is not defined in terms of age, but in terms of accepting responsibility. Wanting to fend for ourselves is the mark of an adult. You don't expect your parents to tie your shoe laces every morning or get you dressed. Parents expect their children to grow up and start to do things for themselves. The Children of Israel weren't even at this stage.
One thing I find really annoying as a parent is when children deliberately won't try to do something for themselves. There's times when I ask one of the children to pick something up and they walk round it looking the other way saying that they can't see it. That's when I get annoyed. It's a simple task but they won't make the effort.
The same applies to the Children of Israel. All they were told to do was believe. They didn't have to tidy their bedrooms, or wash their faces before going to bed, they just had to believe. All children 'believe' in their parents, that they will look after them. But in this instance they were so stubborn that they wouldn't. Basically they were deliberately looking the other way saying “where?”.
Moses was so angry that he lost his temper. Loosing your temper is a dangerous thing. Basically we re-direct our thinking, our brain focuses on emotions. (I attended a conflict management course a few years ago led by the Police force. It was very interesting. One of the things I learned was that very few people fight in the ways that are shown on films. That's because films are acted to make it dramatic. When people have lost their temper they flail around with their arms. It actually causes a lot less pain to the opponent than you would expect, and it's fairly easy to defend against. It's mainly people who have studied fighting (martial arts) that cause problems.)
Moses lost his temper. He stopped thinking and instead of following God's instructions he hit the rock and didn't give God the glory. For this one act he was told that he would not enter the promised land at that time.
However we know he will enter the land at the resurrection. Again this was all God's plan. It fulfilled prophesy that he would enter into his rest. This is mentioned in the book of Hebrews. Moses, like everyone, is still waiting for that period of rest.
What do we mean by 'laying down his life'?
Why is loosing your temper dangerous?
What can we do to stop us loosing our temper?
When will the period of rest start?
Why would Moses not have had a period of rest, even if he did enter the land with Joshua and the others?