Just a Bunch of Sticks?

In my reading through the Bible this morning I came to Numbers 15:32–36 which says:

While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. And the Lord said to Moses, "The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp." And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the Lord commanded Moses. ESV

I read something like this and there is this reaction in me that says, "Wow! He was just picking up sticks! It wasn't even something bad!" And . . . that reaction tells me more about my view of God than I like to admit.

As much as I can teach about God's holiness, and how He breathes out stars, and how amazing and worthy of our awe and worship He is, etc., a reaction like that reveals to me how much of that knowledge of God is in my head and hasn't captivated my heart.

Why not, instead, would I have had the reaction, "Oh, man! This man has such a wicked heart to rebel against God! To do things His way and not God's!" A failure to react that way gives me insight into the heart of why I can, at times, be so casual with the "little" sins. I am seeing it as an issue of degrees and about the action, and not about the rebellion—not about the incredible pride and arrogance of thinking I can do what I want when God—the holy Creator of all—has said something different about it. In reality, I think I can judge what is truly OK and what isn't. I may not say that is my reality, but my actions reveal it is.

It is similar to Adam and Eve—"so you're telling me that they and all mankind to follow got a death sentence and cut off from God for eating fruit!?" No. That isn't the reason. It is for the pride and rebellion of the heart that thinks it can do things its own way and that it is OK to do so. It is for the heart that thinks it, better then God, can define what is OK and what isn't. It is about a trust—a faith!—that is greater in myself then it is in Him.

We must never forget, God loves our faith and without it Hebrews tells us it is impossible to please Him. When the Israelites came to the promised land it was GOD that told them to send in the spies! He didn't sucker them into the land and then have them realize what they were surrounded by so they had no choice to rely on Him. He had them spy it out and see exactly what they were up against so then they could choose—sight (what they saw in front of them), or faith in God who had promised them both the land and His presence. They didn't trust Him and He says of them (in different places throughout the Bible) that they were in unbelief, not following Him, disobedient, stiff-necked, hardened hearts, not mindful of the works He had performed among them, faithless. And, though they would have been the first to say they believed in God's existence, HE said of them that they didn't believe in Him.

God is looking for so much more than simply our acknowledgement that He exists (even the demons believe, and tremble the Bible says). He is looking for us to believe in Him in the way that commits our life to Him, to trust in Him, to follow Him.

Eve's sin is similar. Before she ever saw the tree as good for food, pleasing to the eye, or desirable to make one wise she first had doubt about God and His love and His Word and His trustworthiness. Then, after entertaining those doubts about God, she came to the place where she believed she could better take care of her needs, pleasure, and wisdom apart from God and His ways then doing it God's way. She walked out of trust of God, and trusted more in herself. She walked out of faith in God.

When we assess sin by the action ("he was just picking up sticks!), instead of realize it is a heart of rebellion and disobedience to God, we can tend to water down what sin really is and lose the reverence of the the holiness of God. I am reminded of when David was bringing the ark back to Jerusalem. It is found in 2 Sam 6:5–7

And David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. ESV

Did Uzzah die because he steadied himself or the ark when the oxen stumbled. Is that really worthy of a death sentence? No. Uzzah died because, first and foremost, David decided to do something his way and blew off a holy God's commands about how the ark would be handled (even "religious" things can be sin). Then Uzzah died because a holy God said the ark would not be touched and he touched it. As long as we say he died simply for touching the ark we have missed the point. He died for the rebellion and haughtiness that said, "Even though God said one thing I can do it my way" (sorry Frank Sinatra).


It is an important lesson for us to learn (and relearn, and relearn . . .). Whenever we assess sin by the action instead of seeing it as rebellion we have lost our grip on God's holiness and who He is. We do things "our way" because we are looking left and right, instead of up. Left and right we can always find some reason, or someone else's life, that will justify us. Looking up into His holiness, and across the gap to the blood-stained cross, will remind us of what sin really is. It is not an action, it is a heart.

May I never lose sight of the fact that my sin, my "casual choices," are rebellion against God no matter how insignificant they seem. May I fear my heart, and may I embrace faith—a complete trusting of my life to Him and His ways because I have complete trust of Him and His Word and His love and His faithfulness.

Perceived Truths are Dangerous

In the Bible Satan is identified as, among many things, the deceiver of the world, the father of lies, and the accuser of the brethren. It is clear by these names, and his tactics going back to the Garden, that he works in lies, deception, and accusation. Jesus, on the other hand, is truth.

The dangerous thing about Satan's tactics are that we usually react to what we perceive to be true, which isn't always what is true. So, if he can get us to believe an untruth we will likely live and think in response to that, thinking we are reacting to truth. I, for one, can be stunned (and discouraged) by the number of things I can think, believe, etc., that are inconsistent with what I believe in regards to my faith. Somewhere in all of that I have often believed a lie, though I think I it is truth. Unless we stop and take our actions and thoughts captive to our Christian faith we can continue in wrong and destructive and often negative patterns and thoughts for long periods of time.

A key to turning this around is to start to identify the lies we believe. A good way to start is to evaluate, with the Holy Spirit's help,
1) the things we do,
2) the priorities we hold,
3) the fears and concerns we have, and
4) the way we think about ourselves and others and life.
The object of this is to identify those areas that are not consistent with the professions of our faith about God, His love, His power, what He says about us, etc. Chances are, the areas we find where we are inconsistent with our faith statements may well be areas we have unwittingly somewhere believed a lie (which we perceive to be truth, so we act in response to it).

My guess is that the first two areas to identify inconsistency in (things we do, and priorities we hold) will be pretty easy. It is often easy to see the things we do and priorities we hold that are inconsistent with what we believe. The last two (fears and concerns we have, and the way we think about ourselves and others and life) will be harder—but what we believe in these areas are probably drivers for many of our external actions. The goal in this is to disarm the enemy's devices (which we are not to be ignorant of) and to replace lies with truths.

One example I used with our youth group was a fear they might hold deep inside. I asked them to see if that fear was consistent with what they know to be true about God—that He is powerful (creates a universe), that He is present (will never leave them), and that He loves them (died for them). Is their fear consistent with those things they believe to be true about God? It was easy to see it wasn't. Somewhere in there they had started to replace truth with lies which they perceived to be truth, and then started living in response to that perceived truth.

We can find the same thing in many areas. For example, many youth (and adults) are insecure, or feel little worth, etc. Is that inconsistent with a God who promises to never leave them, who loves them so much He considers them worth dying for, who made them in His image, who knew their mistakes and sin before the foundation of the earth and still gave them life? Usually, a lie has been believed about themselves or their relationship with God, and that lie is what they are living and thinking in response to.

If we can identify the areas our actions, priorities, thoughts, fears, etc. are not consistent with what we profess about God we can start to look for areas we may be living and thinking in response to lies and not truth. Then we can begin to use God's Word and the tenets of our faith to replace those lies with truth, and to stand in faith on truth instead of on lies. God did this with Sarah's unbelief when He asked if anything was too hard for God. He identified the lie she was believing and confronted her with it. Or the father Jesus confronted who had asked if Jesus can heal his child and Jesus responded by identifying the lie, replying basically, "If I can?! All things are possible (with God)! Believe!"

Somewhere the Israelites believed a lie (or lies) when they refused to enter the promised land. Joshua and Caleb tried to bring them back to truth (we can do this if God is with us), but they chose to live by sight and in fear, neglecting God's promises (which God took as rejection of Him). Over and over in the Bible we see this pattern—thoughts based on lies or half truths, God confronting them with the truth about Himself, and then a choice being before them of which they will believe and act on.

Christian, what lies have you unwittingly believed, that you are now living in response to? Is the enemy whispering accusations at you, reminding you of your failures and shortcomings? So what does God have to say about that? Do you remember that, despite your shortcomings, if you have faith in Christ's death for you they have been paid for and forgiven, and you are redeemed and adopted by God and He lives in you and He'll never leave you? Do you realize that He did that because He loves you and considers you worth it?

Christian, how are you acting? Is it in response to a lie? Have somewhere you believed a lie about yourself, or God's love for you, or His power, or His faithfulness and are you now acting out in response to that lie? What is the truth of the situation? Which will you believe and live in response to?

From the beginning this has been Satan's way. He first cast doubt on God's love, Word, and trustworthiness ("Did God really say?" and "You won't die" and "God knows that you will be like Him"). AFTER Eve doubted God's Word, His trustworthiness, His good intentions and love for her, THEN she entertained temptation—THEN she bought the lie that she could find pleasure (pleasing to the eye), provision (good for food), and wisdom (desirable to make one wise) apart from God. My guess is that, for all of us, we are seeking pleasure, provision, and wisdom in some ways inconsistent with our faith, because somewhere we have first allowed ourselves to believe lies about God's Word, trustworthiness, and love.

May the Holy Spirit lead you and guide you into all truth, that we may disarm the weapons of the enemy of lies, deception and accusation. God bless you, and thanks for reading.   —Erick

In the Beginning . . .

God is really working in me through Genesis. I never expected the study of it to be so rich (I fell in to the "that is Old Testament" trap!). I am teaching in it at church (up to Abraham and Isaac), Mary Ann is teaching in it at Children's Church (her curriculum chose it, not her!), and I am teaching our history class to Bethany for homeschool and find myself starting in, surprise!, Genesis.

Two things have really struck me there which I wanted to share. I am teaching them both to Bethany as the "eyes" to weigh and see history through.

First: The value of our free choice in God's eyes.
God didn't have to put the forbidden tree in the Garden. If He hadn't, all things would have been permissible. There wouldn't have been a "choice" of disobedience. But, He chose to give us a choice. He so valued our free will choice that He gave it to us, knowing in advance it would cause Him to later have to lay His own Son on the altar for us. This free choice in man, which God valued so much, is one of the driving forces of history. Since God didn't make us love Him, history becomes driven by His pursuit of us wooing us back until we CHOOSE Him. Evil runs rampant in the world because we CHOOSE against Him.

Second: The temptation of Adam and Eve.
This event first reminds us that there is a real enemy and a real war and this, in itself, drives much of history. Then, it show us the enemy's tactics (and these haven't really changed!). First, before tempting Eve, he placed doubt in Eve about God. He caused her to doubt God's Word ("Did God really say..."), God's trustworthiness ("You won't die..."), and God's love for her—planting doubt in her about it by implying God was holding something back from her for selfish reasons ("He knows you will become like Him...").

Then, (and I believe ONLY then—I don't believe Eve would have entertained the temptation if she wasn't first doubting God), from a place of now doubting God, Satan tempted Eve. Because she now doubted God she entertained the idea that she could find provision ("When she saw it was good for food"), pleasure ("she saw it was a delight to the eyes"), and wisdom ("she saw it was desirable to make one wise") apart from God. Isn't that the core of our battles today? The temptation to believe that we can find either provision, pleasure, or wisdom apart from God. Unfortunately, it is only counterfeit provision, pleasure, and wisdom. So, maybe the way to battle that is also seen in this story. To not counter the temptation as much as going after the root of doubts about God that even allow us to entertain the temptation in the first place.

From the Fall comes the explanation for the history we see and the situation today. Man became afraid of God, hid from God, evil entered man's heart (just look at the first two children—Cain and Abel!), the ground became cursed and labor (work and childbearing) became hard, death came upon man, sickness entered, etc.

Just some thoughts to share. Love you all!