Understanding Numbers: Lessons from Moses and the Israelites

RE: Numbers 15:17-16:40 

Hey friend, 

I’m starting to get a little uncomfortable here. Have you seen the acronym “GYAITMFHRNBIBYA” and knew exactly what it meant? Ya, same. I can imagine Moses biting his tongue because he’s on the verge of screaming this. It honestly makes me smile. Can you imagine Moses yelling that? I’ll bet he wanted to. That, right along with, “Wipe that smile off of your face!” The children of Israel were an interesting bunch. But once again, they remind me of myself. 

One day, I’m like, “Yes, Lord, anything you say!” I’ll even bust out with the ever-so-popular verse from Isaiah, “Here I am Lord, Send me!” And then, just like the Children of Israel in verse 14, I’m right back to being the 2-year-old that kicks and screams over bath time. “We will not come up! Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should keep acting like a prince over us?” (Numbers 16:14, NKJV). In essence, “You’re not the boss of me!” But yet I swear up and down that he is. Am I the only one squirming in my seat a little? As a three-year-old once said about the Children of Israel, “They don’t listen, they need a time out.” Yeah, kid, they most certainly do! And I would be right there with them, trying not to make eye contact so as not to get in further trouble.Because I am just like them. I don’t always listen, either. 

In verse 15, it says, “Then Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD, ‘Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them'” (Numbers 16:17, NKJV). Eeek, imagine that? I imagine myself trying to apologize. “Hey Moses, when I said, you’re not the prince of me, about that, I was just kidding.” I’m suddenly grateful because, fortunately for us, we can decide to start listening. Is he calling you to do something? And are you shouting back, “I will not come up! Stop acting like prince over me!” If you are, you’re not alone. I’ve been yelling the same for a very long time. But what if we stop? What if we all suddenly started listening? My spirit leaps, “I’ll do it if you do it!” Do it with me, ya? 

Thank you for walking with me, friend. 

All my love, 

iK

P.S. If you want to follow along with me, below is an affiliate link to the bible I am using. https://amzn.to/4iIpr4O