The Cancer of Craving

INTRO

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

5-Year Anniversary … Mason District Park Amphitheater (10:30 am), food, games, hanging out, etc.

We jump back into the journey through Numbers, which we’ve learned chronicles the Israelites journey through the wilderness after they’re released from captivity in Egypt and they make their way into the Promised Land.

… We have been set free from our captivity to Sin, but as we live here on this Earth, as we await for Christ’s return and for the rest of our eternity in the Kingdom of God, we are in a proverbial wilderness.

We are journeying through the world, where God is slowly, but surely preparing us to enter into His kingdom fully and eternally.

Series: Not Deserted… Although you might be in the desert, in the wilderness, you are not deserted.

This Fall is the most restorative season of your life, so far.

CAFFEINE CRAVING ILLUSTRATION:

Back in 2019 I felt a conviction that I was too reliant on caffeine. I was at a point where I did not think I could operate in my normal daily routine if I didn’t have caffeine, and that made me take a second look at my intake.

So I decided I’d try to give up caffeine for a month.

The first day was fine… I didn’t need any coffee, the second day was alright. But about four days into it, I started getting these splitting headaches. And I began to crave caffeine. Whatever was going on in me did not feel good, and I figured the only way I could get rid of that feeling was to have a Red Bull or a coffee or something.

I was going through caffeine withdrawals.

Luckily, those ended, and I did hit my goal of one month without caffeine.

This idea is true for all of us in life. As we walk through the wilderness, God is doing something in us. He is removing, slowly but surely, the toxins that have held us captive for so long in our lives. That’s the Detox in the Desert that Pastor John talked about a few weeks ago.

This detox is great thing.

But with any detox, there are withdrawals, and that’s what we’re going to look at today through the lens of the Israelites in Numbers 11.

Although Israel had left Egypt, Egypt had not left their hearts.

But every day the Israelites spent away from Egypt, they went through withdrawals for the things they once had. They were craving for what they had in Egypt.

Tonight’s message is titled, The Cancer of Craving, and we’re going to look at Craving (and sin as a whole) as a cancer that enters our hearts, spreads, transforms, and slowly kills us. We’re going to see where these cravings come from, how they can spread, and how they lead to sin our lives and the lives of others. Then we’ll address how we can combat these cravings every day.

Open your Bibles with me to Numbers 11. LETS GO!!!

And let’s learn some cool stuff about God.

Where do cravings come from?

4 The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

They have been in the wilderness for over a year now.

Rabble: a group of people - non-Israelites who happened to find passage with the Israelites, and spread to the Israelites.

This rabble likely joined the journey along the way. This means they weren’t there when the Lord took the Israelites out of Egypt. They weren’t there when the Lord split the Red Sea to save them from their pursuers. They weren’t there to witness God.

Yet they started the grumbling..

They didn’t know the Lord.

How does it spread?

Verse 4: Started with the rabble.

Then it spread to the Israelites, then it grew to the point where Moses couldn’t ignore it.

CRUSHING COMPLAINTS

Started with the rabble.

Moved to the Israelites.

Disobedience

Ingratitude

Culminated in Moses.

Distrust of God

Limiting God to our human capacities

Israel’s sin leads to Moses’ sin.

Overburdens Moses

10 Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? 13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”

Moses was overwhelmed and frustrated.

So the Lord recognizes Moses and acknowledges His concerns.

The Lord said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.

18 “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ”

God provides spiritual support to Moses. He is going to give some of the Spirit who is on Moses to 70 elders to help spread the burden.

Then God provides a solution to the issue of the Israelites complaining.

I’m going to give them quail. I’m gonna give them meat like they want.

I’m gonna give them so much, they’re gonna hate it and regret asking for it in the first place.

And how does Moses respond after God tells him that he’s going to give him some help and solve the problem?

Moses continues to grumble.

21 But Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’ 22 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?”

MOSES DOESN’T BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL DO WHAT HE SAID HE WILL DO.

Moses is stressed, he’s frustrated, and he’s taking his frustrations, which were birthed by the complaints and the grumblings of the Israelites, and he’s taking those frustrations out on God.

Moses was also in Egypt. Moses also experienced the things that the Israelites craved (probably to a deeper extent too, he was adopted by Pharaoh)

Although Moses was no longer in Egypt, Egypt was still in Moses too.

Deep down, he suffers from a lack of trust in God.

23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”

This is what I love about Moses. There’s humility there. He was just rebuked by God, and instead of arguing more, he realizes that God’s arm isn’t too short. So what does Moses do?...

24 So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.

26 However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”

29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake?

So now Joshua is in sin. He has an unrighteous jealousy that Moses rebukes, we’ll get to that soon.

But do you see how quickly the sin spread? Sin is corporate. My sin affects you, and your sin affects me.

The sin of the rabble affected Israel. The sin of Israel affected Moses and Joshua.

And ultimately, the sin leads to death to those who were unduly greedy.

31 Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. 32 All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp.

Google maps: 24 hours of walking would get you from CityLight Church to Hagerstown, MD. So that distance, in all directions, 3 ft of quail.

10 homers is over 550 gallons of quail. 13 oil barrels. That was the minimum that EVERY PERSON gathered. God provided abundantly, but he did so to their dismay, They didn’t realize it, but their cravings were about to lead to sickness and death.

33 But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. 34 Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food.

Because of the sin of a few, many suffered the consequences.

35 From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth and stayed there.

THREE WAYS TO AVOID CRAVINGS.

Remember the Word of God

Sin often starts small.

Who are you listening to?

Do you surround yourself with people who are constantly complaining? Are you that person who constantly complains?

Are the words you hear each day words that draw you thanksgiving to God or discontentment with where God currently has you?

How do we avoid growing in discontentment?

“Preventive medicine is the best kind of medicine.”

Cravings are a Cancer.

Cancer (Oxford Dictionary)

1. a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body. (AN UNCONTROLLED GROWTH, SPREAD OF ABNORMAL CELLS)

What we see here in Numbers 11 is that the cravings are cancerous.

They start with a small group, and they grow and grow and grow until all of Israel is groaning against the Lord.

It fights the disease before you even contract it.

What are the preventative measures in your life that keeps the grumbling out and the thanksgiving in?

The best preventative measure you can take is to proactively study and learn the word of God.

You want to avoid discontentment? REMEMBER THE WORD OF GOD!

— Turn your ear away from the rabble, those that are pulling you away from the word of God.

Turn your ear away form those who haven’t seen God’s faithfulness...

Ever one of us friends who think they know what’s best.

Don’t you miss fish? Don’t you miss this, don’t you miss that?

Don’t you miss getting drunk? Don’t you miss sleeping around? Don’t you miss all the money you had when you were working yourself to death?

Moses was quick to remember the Word of God.

The Lord rebuked him, and Moses’ response was to relay the word of God to the people.

Moses remembered who the Lord was.

He remembered what God has said, what God has promised. He remembered that the Lord’s arm is not too short to do what He said He would do.

This leads us to the second preventative method.

So … REMEMBER THE WORD OF GOD.

Remember the Faithfulness of God

God hasn’t led us astray yet; God hasn’t failed us yet.

Moses realizes that the Lord’s arm isn’t too short because he can remember demonstration after demonstration of God’s arm being long enough!

When faced by the Red Sea on one side and an army who seeks to kill every single one of you on the other, what happened?

God extended His arm, and He split the Red Sea open.

When the heat of the desert sun was beating down on the Israelites day in and day out, what happened?

God extended His arm, and He provided them with a cloud that not only led them through the wilderness on the path they were to take, but also blocked the heat of the sun, so that not a single piece of clothing, not even a sandal would wear away.

When the cold air of the desert night was seeping into their bones, what happened?

God extended His arm, and He provided a pillar of fire to light the way and keep them warm.

Moses remembered these things, and that caused him to brush off the temptation to sin any further and trust the Lord instead.

That’s why the Lord commanded Israel time after time to mark these moments with Ebenezers, like placing 12 boulders in a particular place to signify that “This is where God did an amazing work.” Something physical that will last beyond generations.

That’s why they named, in verse 34, Kibroth Hattaavah, which means the Burial Place of the Greedy, and it’s a reminder of God’s faithfulness to do what He said He would do and the necessity of our obedience to Him.

REMEMBER THE WORD OF GOD, AND REMEMBER THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.

Remember the Presence of God

18 “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ”

They rejected the Lord, who is among them. (GOD WITH THEM)

They view God as someone who led them out in the wilderness and abandoned them.

What they fail to realize is that God is among them.

When they were in Egypt, God wasn’t physically with them.

Moses wasn’t in Egypt when he met God in the burning bush. He fled Egypt because he murdered an Egyptian.

Now, they are carrying the presence of God everywhere they go.

They have the tabernacle, which houses the Spirit of God. They have Moses, upon whom is the Spirit of God.

God is among them.

Interesting side bar:

Commentary: The Spirit of the Lord was distributed to the 70 elders at the court of the tabernacle, but the quail fell outside of the camp. The Israelites would need to leave camp, and wander into an area of uncleanness and death. Whereas the gift of the spirit drew them into the temple courts. The Spirit drew the Israelites toward God, while the quail led them away from God. Both spiritually and literally.

Instead of going toward the God who is among them focusing on the things He regularly gives them, they’d rather look outwardly at the things they do not have and reject the Lord who is with them.

This is one of the biggest issues we as Christians face today.

We forget the biggest blessing of all, that God is with us.

God is with us.

Matthew 4: When Christ went into the wilderness to be tempted, He was tempted by Satan, “If you’re the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” And Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3

Deuteronomy 8:3 NIV

3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Why was God bringing Israel through the wilderness, allowing them to feel hunger? So that they might understand that they were to live on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Israel failed. But Christ didn’t.

- The point wasn’t to be filled with food, but to be filled with trust in the Lord.

Christ resisted the temptation of Satan, He did not reject the word of God. What Israel was unable to do, Christ did. Jesus is the fulfillment.

Now, because Jesus was able to resist every temptation and live a perfect life, when He died, He did something on our behalf. He tore away the barrier that separated us from God. Jesus conquered sin and death.

and when Jesus ascended back into heaven He left each and every one of us who trusts in Him a gift that will never leave us.

Numbers 11:28–29 NIV

28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” 29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”

When Christ returned to sit at the right hand of the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers.

The Holy Spirit came down and now lives in us. We, the church, are living temples, we are the tabernacle where God dwells.

God is among us. He is with us. And there is nothing that can ever change that truth.

When we are anxious, God is with us.

When we are stressed, God is with us.

When we are angry, God is with us.

When we are tempted, God is with us.

When we are rejoicing, God is with us.

When we are persecuted, God is with us.

When we are misunderstood, God is with us.

When we feel alone, God is with us.

When we are grieving, God is with us.

When we are confused, God is with us.

When we are in need, God is with us.

When we feel unworthy, God is with us.

When we are weak, God is with us.

When we are facing uncertainty, God is with us.

When we are sick, God is with us.

When we are exhausted, God is with us.

When we are serving others, God is with us.

When we are celebrating victories, God is with us.

When we are worried about the future, God is with us.

When we are forgiving others, God is with us.

When we are seeking guidance, God is with us.

When we are learning and growing, God is with us.

When we are seeking peace, God is with us.

When we feel forgotten, God is with us.

GOD IS WITH US.

Closing

Who knows another name for Jesus?

Emmanuel (God with us).

This story in Numbers 11 isn’t just an instance of Israel rejecting God who was with them then. It’s also a picture of what Israel would do in the future, when God came to Earth and dwelt among them in Jesus Christ.

They rejected the God among them then too.

As we go through Numbers, really if you go through the whole Old Testament, you’ll see time and time again how Israel forgets.

Israel forgets the word of God.

Israel forgets the faithfulness of God.

Israel forgets the presence of God.

My prayer is that this would not be the case for you; that your remembrance of these three things in your lives will prevent the Cancer of Craving from drawing you away from experience the fullness of God.