The Real Meaning of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/numbers/19.htm

Chapter 19 deals with the articles of purification and the consequences of touching them. And again, the Tabernacle is a Holy place that must always remain consecrated. Anyone who is unclean because of anything, and in this chapter it specifically addresses touching the water of purification and the ashes of the sacrifices, that person will be unclean until evening.

Why is a person unclean until evening? Evening is the start of the day. The story of creation starts with darkness, followed by light, “the first day” as it reads. And all the other days of creation start with evening, followed by daylight. The Jews, Adventists, and other Sabbath keeping denominations still observe a Sabbath from Friday evening until Saturday evening.

Chapter 20 is interesting. It is the chapter that talks about the death of Moses’ siblings, Miriam and Aaron, but it also talks about Moses sin.

The people of Israel still haven’t learned their lesson. And I shouldn’t put it that way because it’s not just the children of Israel, it’s everyone. Still today, we Gentiles haven’t learned out lesson either, and we still sin on a daily basis. We still gripe and complain about life without giving recognition to our countless blessings. Each and every day, God blesses you in ways you do not notice.

I’ll tell this story again, because I’m an old man and I’m entitled to repeat myself, but one day I had a doctor’s appointment, nothing serious, just something routine, and when I went to my car to leave, I had a flat tire. I’m tired and retired, and having retired from public safety, I’ve felt my share of “rushing” to fix problems. I’m not rushing anymore. Yes, I could have changed the tire, but that would have been stressful, trying to get it back into a round shape, then I would have had the stress of not having a spare, and even though I’m retired, I still have some pretty great responsibilities. I must have a reliable car, and while I have faith in God, I fail and sometimes my mustard seed is much smaller than normal. I’m working on that, but it’s a daily battle.

Long story short, I went back inside the house, called the doctors office, and asked to postpone my appointment. Then, later at my own leisure, I fixed the tire, or rather had the tire shop fix it.

I didn’t get angry. I wasn’t made at the flat tire and I wasn’t mad that I didn’t make it to my appointment. Instead, I looked at it as a blessing. What if my tire hadn’t been flat, and I was involved in a critical vehicle accident on the way to my appointment? Wouldn’t it have been a blessing of God to stall me from going? We’ve all heard about the guy that was angry because the airline company overbooked, and he was bumped from First Class to Coach. And while he was in Coach stewing about how he was wronged, the airplane crashed, and he was one of the survivors because he was at the back of the plane instead of being seated up front; how do I know that flat tire wasn’t God’s way of saving my life.

We truly do not know whether or not if the problems we face on a daily basis are a blessing in disguise, a way God uses to prevent us from doing something where we end up hurt, or even killed.

And if we remain faithful to God, having a personal relationship with him, praying and thanking Him for our blessings, I have no doubt He will continue to bless us.

So, don’t be like the people of Israel who complain all of the time. Don’t be like the people of the USA who complain all of the time. Be happy that God has given you another breath, another day of life, and just know there are blessing we do not know about.

Now the children of Israel started complaining that they had no water. So Moses prayed to God, and God showed him a rock, and told him to speak to the rock and that water would come out of it.

But Moses didn’t follow God’s command. He was angry with the people because of their constant complaining.

First, he asked the children of Israel, “Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”, referring to him and Aaron. If Moses had the ability to produce water, why did he have to pray to God? Moses should have given credit to God, for it was Him that brought water out of the rock.

I care for a special needs adopted daughter who has Type 1 diabetes. Her pediatrician often told my wife that her condition was so bad, she wouldn’t outlive her teen years, that she would never reach the age of 20. This year, she turns 31. People sometimes compliment me on how well I’ve taken care of her and have kept her alive all these years. And I don’t hesitate to inform them that it is not me who has kept her alive, but rather it is God who has done all of the work. To be honest, I have no clue as to what I’m doing, my care for her is completely reactionary. To me it is a guessing game, but in reality, I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit is leading me to make these health care decisions.

So, if God is angry with Moses for taking credit for bringing water out of the rock, how pleased would He be with me if I took credit for keeping my daughter alive?

Here was Moses’ second sin. Instead of “calling for the rock” to produce water, as God instructed, he instead took his rod and struck the rock twice. The rock split open, and water came out.

Was that how God instructed him to do it? So God was angry with Moses. And you know what happens when God is angry and vengeful. He kills. So He sent fire down from Heaven and consumed Moses in a second!

Oops, not really. But that’s what interpreters of the Old Testament would lead you to believe. Yes, God was angry with Moses because he didn’t follow His command. But he didn’t send fire down to consume Moses. He didn’t cause Moses to die from a massive heart attack. He didn’t send a flood to kill Moses, because we all know God sends floods to kill people, right? He didn’t send a tornado, or an earthquake, or a hurricane.

He simply told Moses that he would not be able to enter the promised land. And being a Man of God as Moses was, I’m sure that was punishment enough.

In fact, we’ll discover that God gets so tired of the children of Israel, that he prevented the current generation from entering the promised land, and instead made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Except for the next generation, and except for Joshua and Caleb who he allowed to enter because they were faithful and they were willing to fight for God’s Will.

I’ve showed this before, but I’ll show it again. Could this be the rock God split to bring water out of it? It would have to be big, remember there are over a million men, women, and children that have thirst. And this rock is in Saudi Arabia in the land where the children of Israel wondered.

And while I’m not a geologist, I don’t even play one on TV, I would say this is a pretty strange rock formation. There are no higher hills or mountains behind it where years of water drainage would have carved it in half. I don’t know for certain, but I have faith that this is a pretty good candidate.

Have a blessed day, friends.