May 6

Numbers 14 It was a hot Oklahoma day. The sand was deep on the red dirt road. My bicycle tires were bogging down in the sand. My 8-year-old legs were worn out from our 6.5-mile-one-way trip to Yost Lake. It sounded like a great idea when my older brother suggested it. “Let’s ride out to the lake and back.” I think the temperature peaked out that day at over 100 degrees. When we were in eyesight of the lake, our dog Lucky headed straight for it and without hesitation dove in the water to cool off. The swimming beach was on the other side of the lake. At that time it cost $0.25 for non-members to enter. My brother and I did not have the quarter to pay, nor did we have our swimsuits with us. But the entrance guard was a friend of ours so he gave us some cool water to drink and let us sit in the shade of his guard shack to cool off a little while. Then we headed back home. Whenever we hit the thick sand, I did not have the momentum to keep the bike going. As a result, I had to get off and push my bike through the sand. I was exhausted and frustrated from pushing my bike. My brother was frustrated with me for not being able to keep up. He had the strength to keep going through the sand. I didn’t have it. A little ways down the country road we came across the railroad tracks. The railroad tracks formed the hypotenuse of a right triangle with the country road and highway as the legs. My brother had a great idea. “Let’s take the railroad tracks back. It’ll be a lot shorter.” He had no problem negotiating the railroad ties. I couldn’t do it. Now instead of pushing my bike through four miles of occasional deep sand, I was pushing it constantly on railroad ties. I was hot, tired, frustrated, crying and grumbling against my brother. I think, that was a day that I could identify with the Israelites. They had been almost a year and a half in the desert. The spies returned home with the news that while the land was indeed a land of milk and honey, the inhabitants were giants. Sitting camped in the southern Negev desert, they were hot, tired, dirty, and frustrated. They did more than a little grumbling against Moses. Joshua and Caleb sought to intercede for Moses and Aaron. The congregation picked up stones to kill Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb. They would have done it too, except that at the last moment God let His glory appear. He was ticked. They had not just rebelled against Moses, but against the Lord. Ever wonder what His glory looked like when it appeared? Whatever it looked like, it was scary enough to stop the mob action dead in its tracks. They learned a new form of the fear of the Lord. Do you suppose the children of Israel could hear the conversation which transpired between Moses and the Lord? When God appeared in His glory, why did He threaten to kill all the Israelites? He knows the beginning from the end. He knew that He was not going to kill them. Why did He threaten this? I think He wanted to instill a greater fear of Himself in the Israelites, and He wanted to teach us the importance of intercession for others, even those who would kill us. Jesus modeled that intercession upon the cross when uttered, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!” Stephen modeled it when he was dying and cried out, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” Moses unlike Jesus and Stephen was spared death at this point, and he was successful in interceding for them! What was his appeal? It was God’s own glory! After all, what kind of glory would it be if God took them out of Egypt only to kill them in the desert? This incident is recorded to cause us to know the importance of His glory! The Israelites also heard the delayed sentence which was pronounced upon them. Everyone except Caleb an Joshua, twenty years old and older would die in the desert never being able to enjoy what should have been theirs. So what importance do you think we should put on the glory of God today? I should put my everything upon it! Life may feel like I am bogged down in the sand. I may feel like I am pushing a bike across railroad ties. I may feel like grumbling against my brother. But remember, He wants to show His glory not only to me but also in me. So keep on pushing! He will show it! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john