2019-03-10 Numbers 11b

Numbers 11:16–20 ESV

16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17 And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”

A. We do not know what is best for us.

Illus:

Numbers 11:31–34 ESV

31 Then a wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground. 32 And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague. 34 Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving.

I. God will give you what you ask for.

English Standard Version Chapter 11

18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”

Numbers 11:18–20 ESV

18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”

A. We do not know what is best for us.

Numbers 11:18–20esv ESV

18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”

Illus: Have you heard of the freshman fifteen? It the truth that 18 year olds tend to gain weight as they leave the house for the first time.

Oh, I can remember my first year of college. I went three hours away to Howard Payne University and I had the unlimited meal plan.

It was SOOOOO good. Our college cafeteria had a burger bar where you could make a triple cheese burger if you so desired.

Oh they also had a nacho cheese dispenser… which meant cheese fries with every meal!

They had a dessert bar, unlimited cokes, bacon, an omelet bar, pasta.... all the food your belly could handle.

I not only gained my freshman fifteen, but a freshman thirty. Three months thirty pounds, I may have set a record for that first semester.

I did not know what was best for me.

Often with the buffet of life in front of us we look and believe that indulgence is the answer to happiness.

Well until we look into the mirror of truth and realize that indulgence has left us fat with sin.

Romans 7:22–24 ESV

22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

B. God’s passive wrath is giving you what you want.

Numbers 11:18–20 ESV

18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”

Illus: You have heard the phrase when God closes a door he opens a window. Sometimes God closes the door on purpose. Sometimes God closes the door for your greater good.

Yet our sinful desire is at war against God, and often will continue to pound on the door which God closed purposely for our good.

If we continue to pound on the door which God purposly closed, God will open it, not because it is good for you, but because you won’t stop beating on the door.

When God opens the door which is not good for you, it is to allow you to have the sinful desire you long for. He hands you over to that desire in order that you can feel it’s emptiness and worthlessness.

This is called the passive wrath of God. When God hands you over to you sin so that you can feel it’s emptiness and turn back to Him.

Romans 1:21–26 ESV

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

II. God is working on another level.

Numbers 11:19–20 ESV

19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”

A. Where we care about the temporal, God is working in the eternal.

Numbers 11:19–20 ESV

19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”

Illus: We spend out lives talking about food preferences, air conditioning preferences, work stress, people conflicts, and first world problems.

We live for our first world problems. Like the fact that we get calls from telemarketers, having a bad phone signal, waiting for an extra five minutes at walmart, having amazon deliver a day later than expected, having someone park in your spot at church or sit in your pew, having a baby cry while you are out eating, should I go on?

In large part our lives are spent dealing with the insignificant complaints of how we are annoyed by the world around us. We are no different than the Israelite.

When you read through scripture, God is not working for our temporal concerns, nor is he working to bring ease to our lives.

God may very well call you to embrace pain for a greater purpose, an eternal purpose. He may call you to a difficult or impoverished life for his eternal purpose.

We are called to endure far more than temporal discomfort for God’s much greater plan.

By the way, Jesus did… because Jesus’ life was not lived for the avoidance of pain, but instead to embrace pain in order to accomplish Gods eternal plan.

Matthew 16:21–23 ESV

21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

B. God will expose the emptiness of what you want to lead you to the abundance of who He is.

Numbers 11:19–20 ESV

19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’ ”

Illus: In our world today we are always looking for the next fix to make us happy. If only I had this gadget, this experience, this tattoo, this house, this boat, this car, then I will be happy...

Then we get the thing we want and we find that I is just another empty promise which did not satisfy our hearts. So we look for the next thing always wanting more.

Over and over God is exposing the emptiness of what we want so that we turn to him.

There is a reason these temporary things don’t make you happy… they are not God.

When you come to embrace God, He will satisfy you in a way that the next thing never will.

Matthew 13:44–46 ESV

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

III. Does God’s anger still burn against us?

Numbers 11:33 ESV

33 While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague.

A. You cannot understand Christ without understanding the burning anger of God.

Illus: I want to take a moment to look at the anger of God.

God is still just as angry at our selfish hearts as he was in ancient times. God is still hates sin. His anger still burns against our wickedness.

When Jesus died on the cross, God poured out the full anger he has towards our sin onto Christ.

When we follow God by repenting of our sin and trusting him by faith, our sin is placed on Jesus and He absorbs the anger we are due.

Romans 5:8–9 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.