Numbers – Chapter 14

Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word.” Numbers 14:20 – Today’s chapter was a pivotal one in the history of Israel. After hearing the ten spies report that the Promised Land was filled with giants and was unable to be taken, Israel mourned and sought to return to Egypt. They completely forsook the God that had rescued them from Egypt and daily provided for them along their journey, and instead wanted to return to slavery and kill any God-appointed leader that tried to stop them. This was a dark day for Israel and God’s words that followed made it even darker. God was going to complete destroy this nation. He was going to disinherit them as His people and restart the nation after He destroyed all the people. We must also understand this wasn’t a bluff, God truly would have done this and the story of scripture would have been far different…but Moses prayed. In the middle of the chaos and condemnation Moses prayed for the people’s forgiveness and God forgave. Because Moses prayed God’s punishment of immediate death was set aside and the people remained His children. It’s passages like these we who are believers must read for they remind us of a powerful truth. Our prayers matter. I’ll be honest, I don’t understand exactly how our prayers fit into God’s divine, sovereign will. How we can pray and it “changes” things in the plans of the Lord is something beyond our comprehension, but scripture reveals to us it does somehow. For God wasn’t playing around or being deceptive, He truly would have carried out His word, but instead pardoned Israel because Moses prayed for them. Know then your prayers matter. Lives can be changed, nations can be saved, families can be restored, and healing can come when we pray. We also will see the effects of our lack of prayer too. While we may not understand completely how our prayers work in the sovereignty of God, know they do matter and God is inviting us to pray to Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3364

And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed?” Numbers 14:40-41 – Faithfulness is not following God in the ways He was directing you before He gave you new directions. The old directions may be easier and better, but following them now doesn’t mean anything if the directions have changed. Of course going into the promise land now sounded better than dying in the wilderness, but they refused to follow the easier, better directions when it was still an option for them. Know God is giving us a chance to follow Him today in a unique way. While it may not seem appealing at first, the new directions we get as a result of not following the first ones may be even less appealing. Let’s follow God’s lead then regardless of the appeal factor to us. His plans for us are always purposeful and have good that is created through them. Rather than determining our faithfulness to God on the parts of the plans we can see and understand, choose now to either follow Him or to not. Wherever He leads I’ll go. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1430

Numbers 14 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. ²And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Numbers 14:1-2 – After hearing the report of the land being filled with strong peoples and cities, and after hearing the persuading from 10 of the spies, this was the nation’s response. This led to the people trying to find a new leader to take them back to Egypt, they sought to stone Joshua and Caleb, and the nation even after hearing God’s judgment on them are now trying themselves to walk into the promise land without Him. This body of “followers” of God sure weren’t following very well. What’s shocking to me too is that this all took place AFTER the 70 elders were selected to help lead the people. Meaning, at the end of the day, the faithfulness of a people is dependent on the faithful walk of each individual, not all on the leaders. We can clearly see the leaders were seeking to live and lead faithfully, but the people weren’t following such a lead. Am I saying then that spiritual leaders are pointless? Not at all, just that they aren’t everything. Of course we need strong, faithful leaders, but we also need strong, faithful followers. If we don’t have both, the story of our church bodies today will mirror much of what we see happening in Numbers 14. So hold your leaders accountable, hold your fellow followers accountable, and hold yourself accountable. If we want to be known as a people after God’s heart, then we need to be a people that truly is going after God’s heart. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2295