This week in our journey through The Story, we came to chapter 6 Wandering. And we saw how while it might have taken just one night to get Israel out of Egypt it would take 40 years to get the Egypt out of Israel. And we see this detox in the desert take place...granted they had a lot to detox from. But we see immediately emerging on their journey this selfish, entitled spirit coming through in this Holy Nation, evidenced through their incessant complaining. And we saw where it began, in the outskirts, the Message paraphrase says, "in the Riffraff." That's where complaining starts but over time it spreads quickly like an infectious disease. And as it spreads what is complained about intensifies, it starts with water and food, but by the time it spreads into Moses' own family it is racial prejudice they complain about, and to God that is completely over the line. Numbers 12:1 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife...
Now Moses was a Jew, his skin tone would have likely been tanned out in the desert, but for all intents and purposes he was white; his wife Zipphorah was a Cushite which meant she would have been dark skinned or black. Moses and his wife were an interracial couple and his own family members spoke out against this. Isn't it interesting how some things never change, here we are 3500 years later with the problem of racism still existing. Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life said he has preached in 164 nations and in his own church pastors members who speak 72 different languages and he said the most common sin he has encountered around the world, in every culture...is racism.
And you just need to know that God has no stomach for it!
Now some people disguise their racism by saying well in the Bible God forbids intermarrying of His people with other nations. And that is true, but when you dig deeper and begin to study you discover that it had nothing to do with skin color but instead the pagan religious practices of the people of the other nations, knowing that intermarrying would draw their hearts off sides and lead them away from Him. And so intermarrying with God was a faith-based issue not a raced based issue; it had nothing to do with ethnicity.
And even to this day this is still God's same standard. The Bible says that as believers we are not to be yoked together with non-believers. (2 Corinthians 6:14) A follower of Christ shouldn't date a Muslim or a Jew, a Christian business man shouldn't partner up with an atheist or an agnostic. Really if Christ is the foundation of your life, you really shouldn't want too. Because without Him at the center you really have nothing in common any way, and any attempts to build a relationship or a business together would be dubious, like two people trying to build the same house with completely different sets of blue prints...it just wouldn't work out, its designed to fail from the start.
So just so we are clear: dating or marrying a person who doesn't share your faith in Christ, God objects too; two believers coming together from another race...with God, no objections at all! Remember this is the God who said in Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Someone said simply, where there's grace there is no race.
And so these racist siblings of Moses arouse God's anger and so look at how He responds to their prejudice and complaining...{9}The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them. When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam's skin was leprous—it became as white as snow. It's as if God is saying, "Here Miriam you have a problem with Zipphorahs black skin, let me show you what real white skin looks like, I mean really white!" Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, and he said to Moses, "Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed...So Moses cried out to the Lord, "Please, God, heal her! " The Lord replied to Moses...Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back." So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
Notice that the complaining stalled progress, because she complained she was disciplined, and that discipline made the entire nation wait another week before any advancement could happen. And that's what complaining does it always hinders progress. That's why in the New Testament God simply commands, "Do everything without complaining or arguing..." (Phil. 2:14) Difficult command to keep, but when you obey, when you let go of your opinions and release your spirit of entitlement the liberation is incredible. I read a tweet the other day that said, "Freedom is slavery to a perfect master." When you realize that God is in control and that He alone is perfect and perfectly qualified to run the universe, you rest easy and enjoy your freedom realizing, "What is there really to complain about?"
No comments:
Post a Comment