Tag: earnestly

47.v. “Wilderness” – 12.a. “When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly”

 

Num 21:7-9  And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

 Psalms 78:34    When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.

 1 Samuel 12:19    And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”

 Exodus 32:30   The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

 John 3:14-15    And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

 John 12:32    And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

 Isaiah 45:22    “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

“Their quick recognition of its source and purpose, and their swift repentance, are to be put to their credit. It is well for us when we interpret for ourselves God’s judgments, and need no Moses to urge us to humble ourselves before Him.” (Maclaren)

Even among miracles, this was unusual. There was no immediate logical connection between merely looking at a serpent on a pole and living, or refusing to look and dying. But God commanded that such an unusual thing – even a foolish thing – be used to bring salvation to Israel. Jesus referred to this remarkable event in John 3:14-15: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Jesus clearly said there is a similarity between what Moses did here and what Jesus did on the cross. The people were saved not by doing anything, but by simply looking to the bronze serpent. They had to trust that something that seemed to be as foolish as looking at a serpent on a pole was enough to save them. It is likely that some in Israel perished because they thought it was too simple, too foolish to simply look and live. The saving power represented by the serpent could not be exhausted. There was no limit to the number of those who could look and live. Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. We might be willing to do a hundred things to earn our salvation, but God commands us to only trust in Him – to look to Him. (Guzik)

Without seeing a need to repent – people don’t. There is a growing blindness in the world that sees no need for repentance. Sin is just a word religious people use to believe in a fake god that does not exist. Being bitten by a snake with death a certain outcome might give motivation to repent as you see others dying from their lack of repentance and trust in looking at the bronze snake on the pole to save them. Those who did not repent died because of their hardened heart. Though they could see others dying and others living, they gave no thought to belief in what Moses had said to them and they perished for this stubbornness.

Oh that we would see the sinfulness of our sin and the greatness of God’s holiness that would cause us to live out our days with eagerness to know our sin and repent from it for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ

16.b. “To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.”

John 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Psalms 143:6     I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Psalms 63:1   O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Isaiah 12:3     With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

Isaiah 44:3     For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

Amos 8:11-13    “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.

Revelation 21:6    And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

The celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles emphasized how God provided water to Israel in the wilderness on their way to Canaan. Jesus boldly called people to Himself to drink and satisfy their deepest thirst, their spiritual thirst. The invitation was broad because it said, if anyone. Intelligence, race, class, nationality, or political party don’t limit it. The invitation was narrow because it said, if anyone thirsts. One must see their need. Thirst is not anything in itself; it is a lack of something. It is an emptiness, a crying need. Jesus explained what He meant by the metaphor of drinking. To come to Jesus and to drink was essentially to put one’s faith into Him; to trust in, rely on, and cling to Jesus for both time and eternity. Jesus did not only speak of something coming into a person, but something flowing out of them as well. It was not only a blessing received, but also becoming a source of blessing to others.  This outflowing life and abundance comes in and through the presence of the Spirit in the life of the believer. This speaks of an experience that belongs to those believing in Him. The nature of that experience may differ among believers, but there is some aspect of it that is promised to all who will receive it by faith.

So many signs

“because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.”

Psalms 78:31  But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths,  But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them, and he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young men of Israel.  In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.   So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror.   When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.   So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror.   When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.

Numbers 11:33    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.

John 12:37    Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,

Proverbs 1:32    For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;

Numbers 14:35   I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”

Judges 3:9     But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel

Judges 10:10   And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.”

Hosea 5:15    I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Hosea 7:14    They do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds; for grain and wine they gash themselves; they rebel against me.

It is our tendency to live for self and deny God access to leading our daily lives.  History is full of examples where man, in the midst of God’s hand at work, turns away from God and doing what seems right in their own eyes.  We so easily follow that which is not of God.  Do we think God has somehow changed and no longer requires our whole heart, mind and soul?  Do we think we are different and God’s commands to humbly serve, trust in, rely on, cling to, honor, follow and obey Him do not apply?  Do we think He has watered down what a dedicated life to Him should look like?  I can remember when you were thought to be a Jesus follower if you went to Sunday School, Sunday morning church, Sunday evening church, Wednesday evening bible study, another bible study during the week, and spoke frequently about God in your life.  Now it seems you are considered a Jesus follower if you attend Sunday morning church once per week.  It seems as though the church has adopted this lower expectation and I fear it is at the cost of many souls forever lost.  Now is the time to repent, return and follow God with an earnest desire to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him.

No Time

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

“ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

“and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things,  so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”

Psalms 63:1   O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

Psalms 42:8    By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalms 77:4  You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.  I consider the days of old, the years long ago.  I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search:

Psalms 119:55   I remember your name in the night, O LORD, and keep your law.

Psalms 139:17  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!  If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

Psalms 149:5   Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds.

Lamentations 2:19   “Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.”

Psalms 31:19    Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!

Psalms 36:7   How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

To desire God is to long after Him with a want to know Him more. To know Him and long for Him is to be at the well of living water. To remember Him at night while laying on our bed brings rest to our soul. To meditate on Him in the night is to have hope for the morning. In the shadow of His wings there is absolute safety, peace, joy, hope and rest.  How many days go by where God is but a second thought if a thought at all?  How are we to find rest for our soul if we spend no time desiring/seeking the only one who is able to give true rest?  It is hard to find something that you are not looking for.  It is hard to walk by faith in the promises God speaks in and through His word you do know. It is hard to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God when there is no time spent with Him.  It is hard to proclaim praise to God for something you give hardly a second thought. Neglecting God’s word has many detrimental affects – all of which seem to compound over time to a place where your heart, mind, and soul do not hear whispers of God. If your heart, mind, and soul are void of His word do you ever wonder what fills that void?  I can tell you – SELF, PRIDE, COMPLACENCY, WORRY, ANGER, ANXIOUSNESS, UN-REPENTANCE, SHORT TEMPER, LACK OF KINDNESS, LACK OF GIVING and SACRIFICIAL GIVING, UNCERTAINTY, UNFULFILLED, UNFORGIVING, NO PRAISE, NO DISCERNMENT, LACK OF DISCIPLE MAKING, UNABLE TO SEE THE LOST, UNABLE TO GIVE THE REASON FOR THE HOPE IN YOU, WEAK OR NO FAITH, and NO DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE COMPARED TO THOSE WHO ARE LOST.  God’s word does not magically fill your heart, mind and soul.  Nor does it find solid ground if it is only thought about once per week for an hour while at church.  Commit to place Him and His word first in your live each day.  Do not let the busyness of the life and what it has to offer over shadow and void your life of knowing God and humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying Him.