our words
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Do we need to be careful of what we say?
Do we need to be careful of what we say?
of what you say.....
of what you say.....
Words.....God spoke and it was. right from the beginning. He created the universe with His word.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
And God said. that does it. His word. He has spoken to us in the scriptures and taught us who He is, want He has done, and what He expects......oh, and what He will do.
So, how about us. Our words. Are they powerful? Are they important? Good words and the bad ones. they are powerful. scripture describes them as....well, let’s read the word.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits.
and does it ever get even more serious with the N.T.
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Our words we use......well, they mean something to God, don’t they. we see it right there in scripture. this isn’t saying that words are the cause of the condemnation or being justified....but they are the effect, the cause is our hearts..
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Luke 6:
so, how are we doing with that? tell you what..... let’s look at an example of words being used. these words don’t seem so bad, just speaking about someone else in a negative way because they did something against the rules. lets see what happens in this scene.
turn with me to .
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.
we have Miriam, Aaron, and Moses in this scene. Miriam and Aaron are talking about Moses. Moses had done something that he should not have by marrying a woman from a different ethnic background. So, the natural thing to do is to talk about it with others, right? errrr, not good.
talking about people behind their backs about negative things is not good in itself, it is sin, but doing it in a way that they justify it, well, it is double wrong, 2 sins. and we see something behind what they say as well....they were having trouble with the authority of Moses.....confession and repentance is needed by Miriam and Aaron.
tell me, is there consequence for sin? yes there is..... so, let’s read on and see what happens in this case.....
And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it.
what do you hear in their words? maybe jealousy? coveting? wanting equal authority here? Both Miriam and Aaron were considered prophets, and were older siblings to Moses..... in the worlds eyes, they should of had at least equal authority, or maybe more!
the Lord was listening to their conversation...... as always. He is listening right now. He is always listening....
verse 3 describes the character of Moses....
Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
Numbers 12:
look how scripture describes Moses..... what a description, eh? he was not a perfect man, no one is, but the humility is quite a trait. what a humble person knows is that their is one greater than themselves....
quite a title. more meek than all on the earth! the meekest! and this was the leader of the Israelites in which he had just led them out of the land of Egypt and away from a tyrant. How could he do that and also stay meek??
verse 4 we see God on the move....
And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out.
the Lord shows up! He is speaking audibly to them.
was He not there before? He was always there, now He is making Himself physically known so they realize who they are around.
God calls all three before Him. God is going to deal with this situation. Sometimes we see this, where God does the work. Moses didn’t have to deal with Miriam or Aaron......Moses probably didn’t even know that they were talking about him..... but like we talked about last week, sin, our sin has a ripple effect on everyone else. our sin affects more than just ourselves.
And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.
Imagine with me.....being called before the Living God knowing you were just in sin. your sin…see, this is their sin, they were talking bad about Moses,
but what about your sin? what is the sin you are conscious of right now that you do? and imagine God calling you out and manifesting Himself before you after you have just done that sin? feel it? not comfortable, is it?
And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.
:
God is setting the stage to explain Himself and the difference with His servant Moses, from the prophets....
this is something that is a very powerful statement from God. Does God need to say anything to them? does He need to explain Himself to them?
He could just smite them off the earth and He would be completely just to do it.
we always need to remember, sin equals death, or in other words, any sin, just one sin deserves death. so, this one is no different. So, does God kill them here?
verse 7,8 really explain God’s relationship with Moses, and the two get to hear it for themselves.
Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.
With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
:
First, look at the relationship between God and Moses. God spoke direct to Moses.....vs the prophets among them that God spoke through visions and dreams.
What a special closeness Moses had with God. So, how do we think God will act toward someone that is bad talking His servant?
you know....any person that is a protector will fight for who they are protecting. think about a parent that protects their child.... they will fight and die for their child. what about a mother bear with her cubs? we were always told, never get between a mother bear and her cubs, right?
and we are talking about God being in the position of protector over Moses.....God had called Moses to a special position to lead His people out of bondage.....out of slavery.... and Moses was doing it. He was doing the will of God, yes?
you might say, but the woman! Moses was not to marry the woman, right?
at this point, we must remember the order of God. God will deal with Moses. Miriam and Aaron did not have the position to discipline or correct Moses. He was their leader and He was accountable to God. and we see when Moses went against God with the rock and water, who disciplined Moses? God told Moses, because you hit the rock twice, and disobeyed God, Moses was not allowed to go into the promised land! what a punishment for a leader to not bring the people to the reward! to the place flowing with milk and honey, a place of abundance. where Moses would have been exalted as the greatest leader taking a people from slavery to freedom and abundance! that is how the Hollywood movies end, but Moses was stopped short. His sin was the cause, and God gave the effect.
back to verse 9, God is very unhappy with the two.....
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.
so, all God did was explain His position with Moses..... then leaves angry.
but not without dealing a punishment though.....
When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.
is this a severe punishment? for just talking bad about someone. talking bad about their leader? what does the punishment produce? because God knows everything, He knows what will come of it.
We see Aaron talk to Moses after seeing His sister being leprous.
And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned.
Aaron quickly acknowledges Moses as lord, or his leader, and begs to not be punished for their sin.... he confessed.
hmm. sometimes punishment can do that. It can bring us to a place of great revelation of what we have been doing. we certainly do not want to be punished. no one likes punishment, do they?
So, confession and repentance is the exact place to turn.
Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”
And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.”
what a glimpse of how God can come in....He can deal with issues. He can protect His leader.....
let’s just talk about their sin for a minute..... gossip. or talking bad about a person when they are not around. there are reasons why we do it, but ultimately we are in sin. and when we know we are in sin, there is but one thing to do, and that is not to justify it, but to confess and repent. it is us that has to change if we are doing this.....
I will close with this....
what a great lesson to learn. it is a smart man that learns from his mistakes, but a wise man that learns from others.