The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/numbers/10.htm

In this chapter, the children of Israel finally leave the camp at Sinai and begin to move. God instructs Moses to make trumpets which will be used to call the congregation together, then sets forth the rules of who will move and carry the Tabernacle and who will carry the Holy things.

In Chapter 11, the people beginning complaining once again that they have no meat to eat. It kind of reminds me today; are we thankful for our blessings, or do we often grumble that we don’t have the things we want? Here the children of Israel had been slaves in Egypt, for to stomp straw into the mud to make clay for bricks. They weren’t allowed to worship, they were forced to perform hard labor, they were whipped if they didn’t. And God was their Savior, he brought them out of their bondage, free them of their slavery. They are now free, able to worship at will, God has given them manna to eat, yet they still complain, thinking they were better off in Egypt.

So God gave them quail to eat, and the Bible doesn’t specifically say, but it says God sent a plague upon them and they became ill from eating the quail. Now, I don’t believe that. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t believe that. What I believe happened was what happened to Job; God removed his hedge of protection and allowed Satan to do what he wished.

If your child rebels against you over, and over, and over, despite how well you treat them, despite the amount of love you bestow upon them, eventually you have to allow them to learn their lessons the hard way. And that is how I perceive God to be. He doesn’t cause harm to us, but if we rebel against Him, He let’s us “sleep in our own beds” if you will. He removes His protection from the temptation of Satan, and let’s us suffer from out own choices. God has always given us free will, just like Eve. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Life, but he didn’t take the tree away, nor did He rule with a heavy hand to prevent them. He gave them free will to make their own decisions. He hoped for the best, He hoped they wouldn’t fall into the lies of Satan, but they did.

The same holds true for the children of Israel. God had done so much for them, rescuing them, leading them to the promised land, and they still complained. They were, as it was said, “stiff-necked” and “hard hearted”. So He gave them the free will to be thankful, or to grumble. And if they chose to grumble, He let them reap what they sewed, and Satan led them to a bad place.

Doe you keep your eyes on God? Are you thankful for your blessings, giving thanks to God at every turn of our lives so He protects us from Satan? And if we don’t, isn’t it our own fault when Satan does bad things to us?

And in Chapter 12, even Moses’ siblings, Aaron and Miriam begin to grumble against Moses, and God allowed Satan to inflict Mirriam with leprosy. Of course, just like we are today, once we sin and things turn south, we pray to God telling Him how sorry we are and we plead that He makes everything alright.

And while the Bible makes it sound as if God was vengeful against Miriam, I think it was just the opposite. Miriam could have been a leper for life, and while God allowed her to “reap” for seven days, He was merciful and ended up healing her.

And that is what a loving God does. We can screw things up royally, and while God may allow Satan to have his way with us to teach us a lesson, if we turn back to God,, admit our mistakes, and pray for forgiveness, God always relents and saves us from ourselves.

God is love.