The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States "How quickly the Israelites forgot" for Thursday, 22 September 2016
Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moshe was taking a long time to come down from the mountain, they gathered around Aharon and said to him, “Get busy; and make us gods to go ahead of us; because this Moshe, the man that brought us up from the land of Egypt — we don’t know what has become of him.” 2 Aharon said to them, “Have your wives, sons and daughters strip off their gold earrings; and bring them to me.” 3 The people stripped off their gold earrings and brought them to Aharon. 4 He received what they gave him, melted it down, and made it into the shape of a calf. They said, “Isra’el! Here is your god, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 5 On seeing this, Aharon built an altar in front of it and proclaimed, “Tomorrow is to be a feast for Adonai.” 6 Early the next morning they got up and offered burnt offerings and presented peace offerings. Afterwards, the people sat down to eat and drink; then they got up to indulge in revelry.
7 Adonai said to Moshe, “Go down! Hurry! Your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have become corrupt! 8 So quickly they have turned aside from the way I ordered them to follow! They have cast a metal statue of a calf, worshipped it, sacrificed to it and said, ‘Isra’el! Here is your god, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9 Adonai continued speaking to Moshe: “I have been watching these people; and you can see how stiffnecked they are. 10 Now leave me alone, so that my anger can blaze against them, and I can put an end to them! I will make a great nation out of you instead.”
11 Moshe pleaded with Adonai his God. He said, “Adonai, why must your anger blaze against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? 12 Why let the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intentions that he led them out, to slaughter them in the hills and wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger! Relent! Don’t bring such disaster on your people! 13 Remember Avraham, Yitz’chak and Isra’el, your servants, to whom you swore by your very self. You promised them, ‘I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky; and I will give all this land I have spoken about to your descendants; and they will possess it forever.’” 14 Adonai then changed his mind about the disaster he had planned for his people.
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Reflection Questions:
Moses went up Mount Sinai to meet with God (cf. Exodus 24:12). According to Exodus 25-31, God had a lot to tell him. But while he was gone, the Israelites relapsed into their Egyptian ways, demanding, “Give us a visible ‘god.’” (Unspoken, but very much a part of their demand: “Ignore the second commandment”). Moses’ brother Aaron gave in to their pleas, sculpted a golden bull, and identified the statue as “the LORD” (verse 5).
• As we read this, it is haunting to recall the Israelites saying, ““Everything that the LORD has said we will do, and we will obey,” (Exodus 24:7) just before Moses sprinkled them with the blood of the covenant. Did you ever make a promise (to someone else, yourself or God) fully intending to keep it—and then crash into the reality that you’d forgotten or ignored your promise? How important does God’s grace, God’s willingness to give you a fresh start, become at those times?
• Taken alone, verses 10-14 of this reading sounded as though God was set on wiping out
faithless Israel, and Moses had to talk God out of it. But we cannot take them alone. Two
chapters later, God revealed himself to Moses, saying, “The LORD! The LORD! a God who
is compassionate and merciful, very patient, full of great loyalty and faithfulness… forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion” (Exodus 34:6-7). And Jesus (the supreme revelation of God) said that in him we see God’s heart most clearly (cf. John 14:9, Hebrews 13:8).1 What can help you trust in God’s goodness as Jesus revealed it to us?
Prayer: Loving God, you call me to be faithful. I really want to be. But I thank you that the psalmist wrote that you remember that we are just dust (Psalm 103:14). Thank you that I can trust your grace more than you can trust my faithfulness. Amen.
1 For a more complete study than space allows in the GPS, see Pastor Hamilton’s book Making Sense of the
Bible, especially chapters 14-18 and 22.
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Insights from Janelle Gregory
Janelle Gregory serves on the Resurrection staff as a Human Resources Specialist.
In reading the story of the golden calf, it’s easy to focus our attention on the wayward Israelites, looking for a new god. Shame on them. Shame on all of us when we search for idols, whether it be food, television, sports teams, alcohol, work, family, the list goes on forever. Just enter your vice of choice.
But I think there also needs to be a focus on Aaron. There wouldn’t have been a golden calf if he hadn’t built it. You have to wonder how long it took for him to be worn down by the people’s begging. I imagine that it started with one Israelite coming to him in a side conversation, “Aaron, I’ve heard rumblings from the crowd. I really think an idol would take care of this and we could nip it in the bud.” Certainly at that point, Aaron was able to quickly dismiss the person by pointing back to what the Lord had done for them.
But then I bet that same Israelite came back the next day with a few friends. “Aaron, he’s right. You have to be the leader. Moses is nowhere to be seen. People are getting restless, and who knows what they’ll do? There could be mass chaos and violent rebellion if we don’t get a god soon.” “Just wait!” Aaron would reply. “You’ll see. Moses will be back. God has not forgotten us.”
Yet maybe in the back of his mind, Aaron considered their pleas. What if the crowd got out of control? What if they turned on each other? Would that blood be on his hands?
He probably quieted the internal voices of justification for a while, but then day after day more and more people came and the voices grew louder until one day an entire crowd erupted with, “Make us a god who can lead us!”
That was it. He couldn’t take it any longer. What if they were right? What if that is what the people needed? They were looking to him for an answer, so he gave them what they wanted – a god they could see, a golden calf.
In my own life, I recognize how I can be the Israelite looking for an idol, but how many times in my life have I been Aaron, going along with the crowd rather than standing up for God? How many voices does it take before I turn away from my beliefs? Maybe not from my entire faith, but I know that there have been times when I have been the one building the golden calf for others, telling them what they want to hear rather than pointing them to truth. Each reluctant “I don’t blame you” or “Go ahead if it will make you happy” is a piece of golden jewelry that I’m using to build that person an idol.
We have to watch ourselves when we’re acting like the Israelites, searching for answers from the idols in our lives. But beyond that, we have to watch ourselves when we’re acting like Aaron. Don’t be the one melting down the jewelry just to appease those around you. God has not forgotten you, and God has not forgotten the people in your life. Be the kind of leader who lovingly encourages them and guides them to this truth.
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"A frightening report from 10 of 12 spies"
Friday, 23 September 201616
Numbers 13:1 Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Send men on your behalf to reconnoiter the land of Kena‘an, which I am giving to the people of Isra’el. From each ancestral tribe send someone who is a leader in his tribe.” 3 Moshe dispatched them from the Pa’ran Desert as Adonai had ordered; all of them were leading men among the people of Isra’el.
17 Moshe sent them to reconnoiter the land of Kena‘an, instructing them, “Go on up to the Negev and into the hills, 18 and see what the land is like. Notice the people living there, whether they are strong or weak, few or many; 19 and what kind of country they live in, whether it is good or bad; and what kind of cities they live in, open or fortified. 20 See whether the land is fertile or unproductive and whether there is wood in it or not. Finally, be bold enough to bring back some of the fruit of the land.”
When they left it was the season for the first grapes to ripen.
25 Forty days later, they returned from reconnoitering the land 26 and went to Moshe, Aharon and the entire community of the people of Isra’el at Kadesh in the Pa’ran Desert, where they brought back word to them and to the entire community and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 What they told him was this: “We entered the land where you sent us, and indeed it does flow with milk and honey — here is its fruit! 28 However the people living in the land are fierce, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the ‘Anakim there. 29 ‘Amalek lives in the area of the Negev; the Hitti, the Y’vusi and the Emori live in the hills; and the Kena‘ani live by the sea and alongside the Yarden.”
30 Kalev silenced the people around Moshe and said, “We ought to go up immediately and take possession of it; there is no question that we can conquer it.” 31 But the men who had gone with him said, “We can’t attack those people, because they are stronger than we are”; 32 and they spread a negative report about the land they had reconnoitered for the people of Isra’el by saying, “The land we passed through in order to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there were giant! 33 We saw the N’filim, the descendants of ‘Anak, who was from the N’filim; to ourselves we looked like grasshoppers by comparison, and we looked that way to them too!”
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Reflection Questions"
With the law given (and re-given) at Sinai, God instructed Moses to lead the people toward the Promised Land. As they got close, Moses sent out 12 spies, one from each tribe, to scout the land. After all, none of them had ever been there. They reported that yes, it was a good, fruitful land. But 10 of the 12 spies were also gripped by fear, and said they didn’t dare try to take the land. They seemed to utterly forget that God’s power, not their own, had brought them this far.
• Notice how the report of the 10 changed as their fears deepened. At first they said they saw “the descendants of the Anakites”—tall people (maybe 6’4”) who were supposed to be
descended from “the Nephilim” (a legendary angel/human hybrid people). The second time
through, they’d seen “huge men,” and the Nephilim themselves, in the land! Have you ever been in the grip of a fear that kept magnifying the danger of a situation beyond what it actually was?
• One of the spies, Caleb, refused to join in the others’ fear-driven report. “We are more
than able to do it,” was his resolute, courageous report to the people. What kind of inner spiritual/psychological compass does it take to speak out with courage and hope when
everyone around you is gripped by fear? Have you ever had the privilege of knowing
a Caleb?
Prayer: Lord God, this is such a sad story. Everything you’d promised was right there in
reach—but their fear blocked the way. Help my faith and courage to keep growing, so that I do not let fear block me from whatever you call me to. Amen.
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“'Don’t rebel against the LORD'—but they did"
Saturday, 24 September 2-16
Numbers 14:1 At this all the people of Isra’el cried out in dismay and wept all night long. 2 Moreover, all the people of Isra’el began grumbling against Moshe and Aharon; the whole community told them, “We wish we had died in the land of Egypt! or that we had died here in the desert! 3 Why is Adonai bringing us to this land, where we will die by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be taken as booty! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”
5 Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces before the entire assembled community of the people of Isra’el. 6 Y’hoshua the son of Nun and Kalev the son of Y’funeh, from the detachment that had reconnoitered the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the whole community of Isra’el, “The land we passed through in order to spy it out is an outstandingly good land! (iii) 8 If Adonai is pleased with us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us — a land flowing with milk and honey. 9 Just don’t rebel against Adonai. And don’t be afraid of the people living in the land — we’ll eat them up! Their defense has been taken away from them, and Adonai is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
10 But just as the whole community were saying they should be stoned to death, the glory of Adonai appeared in the tent of meeting to all the people of Isra’el.
20 Adonai answered, “I have forgiven, as you have asked. 21 But as sure as I live, and that the whole earth is filled with the glory of Adonai, 22 none of the people who saw my glory and the signs I did in Egypt and in the desert, yet tested me these ten times and did not listen to my voice, 23 will see the land I swore to their ancestors! None of those who treated me with contempt will see it. 24 But my servant Kalev, because he had a different Spirit with him and has fully followed me — him I will bring into the land he entered, and it will belong to his descendants.
25 “Now, since the ‘Amaleki and the Kena‘ani are living in the valley, tomorrow turn around and get yourselves into the desert along the way to the Sea of Suf.”
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Reflection Questions:
The Israelites, panicked by the negative report of ten of the twelve men who’d “spied out” the Promised Land, were ready to mutiny. Two of the spies—Caleb and Joshua—begged Israel to trust God, and not refuse to go into the Promised Land. But the people were ready to stone them (and Moses) to death, and choose another leader to take them back to Egypt—until God’s glory intervened. Fear would not win out to that absurd extent. But God did honor their negative choice. Except for Caleb and Joshua, God said, Israel would stay in the wilderness until all of those who didn’t want to go into the Promised Land reached the end of their lives.
• Read verses 6-9 again, aloud if you can. Feel the pathos, the desperation, in Caleb and Joshua’s plead to the people. Imagine their feelings the next day as they packed up their tents and marched, not toward the “exceptionally good land” they had seen briefly on their scouting trip, but away from it, into the desolate Sinai landscape. God offers you an exceptionally good life, full of purpose, challenge and meaning, leading to eternity in a world made new with all the good things God has always intended for human life. Yet it can be scary to choose that life. How can you keep fear from making you turn your back on God’s exceptionally good life? How can you set your life’s course firmly in the direction of God’s promised land?
Prayer: O God, lead me ever onward. Guard my heart and mind from the lure of nostalgia for
the “Egypt” from which you have set me free. Keep my path steady all the way to an eternity with you. Amen.
Family Activity: In all families, we can say words that give courage and strength, or words that tear down and discourage. Read Ephesians 4:29[Ephesians 4:29 Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them.]. Create a family jar of encouragement and faith. Cut out 30-40 slips of paper. On each slip, write a word or phrase of love, support, care or hope. Think about what words lift you up and include those as a blessing to others. Place all of the slips in a jar. Any time a family member has spoken words that hurt, he or she can then pull out a slip of paper, apologize, then (from the heart) say something encouraging. Better yet, work toward not speaking hurtful words at all. When you need help, go to the jar for ideas and inspiration! Ask God to help you use your words for good.
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Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
•Scott Bayles and family on the death of his mother Glady Bayles, 9/10
• Meredith Bell and family on the death of her grandmother Glady Bayles, 9/10
• Jon Bevan and family on the death of his mother Sally Bevan, 9/9
• Loretta Graham and family on the death of her mother Evangeline Sins, 9/9
•BJ Martin and family on the death of her mother Marcie Osborn, 9/8
•Brian Wilson and family on the death of his stepfather Gene Schwulst, 9/2
7 Adonai said to Moshe, “Go down! Hurry! Your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have become corrupt! 8 So quickly they have turned aside from the way I ordered them to follow! They have cast a metal statue of a calf, worshipped it, sacrificed to it and said, ‘Isra’el! Here is your god, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9 Adonai continued speaking to Moshe: “I have been watching these people; and you can see how stiffnecked they are. 10 Now leave me alone, so that my anger can blaze against them, and I can put an end to them! I will make a great nation out of you instead.”
11 Moshe pleaded with Adonai his God. He said, “Adonai, why must your anger blaze against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? 12 Why let the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intentions that he led them out, to slaughter them in the hills and wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger! Relent! Don’t bring such disaster on your people! 13 Remember Avraham, Yitz’chak and Isra’el, your servants, to whom you swore by your very self. You promised them, ‘I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky; and I will give all this land I have spoken about to your descendants; and they will possess it forever.’” 14 Adonai then changed his mind about the disaster he had planned for his people.
-------
Reflection Questions:
Moses went up Mount Sinai to meet with God (cf. Exodus 24:12). According to Exodus 25-31, God had a lot to tell him. But while he was gone, the Israelites relapsed into their Egyptian ways, demanding, “Give us a visible ‘god.’” (Unspoken, but very much a part of their demand: “Ignore the second commandment”). Moses’ brother Aaron gave in to their pleas, sculpted a golden bull, and identified the statue as “the LORD” (verse 5).
• As we read this, it is haunting to recall the Israelites saying, ““Everything that the LORD has said we will do, and we will obey,” (Exodus 24:7) just before Moses sprinkled them with the blood of the covenant. Did you ever make a promise (to someone else, yourself or God) fully intending to keep it—and then crash into the reality that you’d forgotten or ignored your promise? How important does God’s grace, God’s willingness to give you a fresh start, become at those times?
• Taken alone, verses 10-14 of this reading sounded as though God was set on wiping out
faithless Israel, and Moses had to talk God out of it. But we cannot take them alone. Two
chapters later, God revealed himself to Moses, saying, “The LORD! The LORD! a God who
is compassionate and merciful, very patient, full of great loyalty and faithfulness… forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion” (Exodus 34:6-7). And Jesus (the supreme revelation of God) said that in him we see God’s heart most clearly (cf. John 14:9, Hebrews 13:8).1 What can help you trust in God’s goodness as Jesus revealed it to us?
Prayer: Loving God, you call me to be faithful. I really want to be. But I thank you that the psalmist wrote that you remember that we are just dust (Psalm 103:14). Thank you that I can trust your grace more than you can trust my faithfulness. Amen.
1 For a more complete study than space allows in the GPS, see Pastor Hamilton’s book Making Sense of the
Bible, especially chapters 14-18 and 22.
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Insights from Janelle Gregory
Janelle Gregory serves on the Resurrection staff as a Human Resources Specialist.In reading the story of the golden calf, it’s easy to focus our attention on the wayward Israelites, looking for a new god. Shame on them. Shame on all of us when we search for idols, whether it be food, television, sports teams, alcohol, work, family, the list goes on forever. Just enter your vice of choice.
But I think there also needs to be a focus on Aaron. There wouldn’t have been a golden calf if he hadn’t built it. You have to wonder how long it took for him to be worn down by the people’s begging. I imagine that it started with one Israelite coming to him in a side conversation, “Aaron, I’ve heard rumblings from the crowd. I really think an idol would take care of this and we could nip it in the bud.” Certainly at that point, Aaron was able to quickly dismiss the person by pointing back to what the Lord had done for them.
But then I bet that same Israelite came back the next day with a few friends. “Aaron, he’s right. You have to be the leader. Moses is nowhere to be seen. People are getting restless, and who knows what they’ll do? There could be mass chaos and violent rebellion if we don’t get a god soon.” “Just wait!” Aaron would reply. “You’ll see. Moses will be back. God has not forgotten us.”
Yet maybe in the back of his mind, Aaron considered their pleas. What if the crowd got out of control? What if they turned on each other? Would that blood be on his hands?
He probably quieted the internal voices of justification for a while, but then day after day more and more people came and the voices grew louder until one day an entire crowd erupted with, “Make us a god who can lead us!”
That was it. He couldn’t take it any longer. What if they were right? What if that is what the people needed? They were looking to him for an answer, so he gave them what they wanted – a god they could see, a golden calf.
In my own life, I recognize how I can be the Israelite looking for an idol, but how many times in my life have I been Aaron, going along with the crowd rather than standing up for God? How many voices does it take before I turn away from my beliefs? Maybe not from my entire faith, but I know that there have been times when I have been the one building the golden calf for others, telling them what they want to hear rather than pointing them to truth. Each reluctant “I don’t blame you” or “Go ahead if it will make you happy” is a piece of golden jewelry that I’m using to build that person an idol.
We have to watch ourselves when we’re acting like the Israelites, searching for answers from the idols in our lives. But beyond that, we have to watch ourselves when we’re acting like Aaron. Don’t be the one melting down the jewelry just to appease those around you. God has not forgotten you, and God has not forgotten the people in your life. Be the kind of leader who lovingly encourages them and guides them to this truth.
-------
"A frightening report from 10 of 12 spies"
Friday, 23 September 201616
Numbers 13:1 Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Send men on your behalf to reconnoiter the land of Kena‘an, which I am giving to the people of Isra’el. From each ancestral tribe send someone who is a leader in his tribe.” 3 Moshe dispatched them from the Pa’ran Desert as Adonai had ordered; all of them were leading men among the people of Isra’el.
17 Moshe sent them to reconnoiter the land of Kena‘an, instructing them, “Go on up to the Negev and into the hills, 18 and see what the land is like. Notice the people living there, whether they are strong or weak, few or many; 19 and what kind of country they live in, whether it is good or bad; and what kind of cities they live in, open or fortified. 20 See whether the land is fertile or unproductive and whether there is wood in it or not. Finally, be bold enough to bring back some of the fruit of the land.”
When they left it was the season for the first grapes to ripen.
25 Forty days later, they returned from reconnoitering the land 26 and went to Moshe, Aharon and the entire community of the people of Isra’el at Kadesh in the Pa’ran Desert, where they brought back word to them and to the entire community and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 What they told him was this: “We entered the land where you sent us, and indeed it does flow with milk and honey — here is its fruit! 28 However the people living in the land are fierce, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the ‘Anakim there. 29 ‘Amalek lives in the area of the Negev; the Hitti, the Y’vusi and the Emori live in the hills; and the Kena‘ani live by the sea and alongside the Yarden.”
30 Kalev silenced the people around Moshe and said, “We ought to go up immediately and take possession of it; there is no question that we can conquer it.” 31 But the men who had gone with him said, “We can’t attack those people, because they are stronger than we are”; 32 and they spread a negative report about the land they had reconnoitered for the people of Isra’el by saying, “The land we passed through in order to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there were giant! 33 We saw the N’filim, the descendants of ‘Anak, who was from the N’filim; to ourselves we looked like grasshoppers by comparison, and we looked that way to them too!”
-------
Reflection Questions"
With the law given (and re-given) at Sinai, God instructed Moses to lead the people toward the Promised Land. As they got close, Moses sent out 12 spies, one from each tribe, to scout the land. After all, none of them had ever been there. They reported that yes, it was a good, fruitful land. But 10 of the 12 spies were also gripped by fear, and said they didn’t dare try to take the land. They seemed to utterly forget that God’s power, not their own, had brought them this far.
• Notice how the report of the 10 changed as their fears deepened. At first they said they saw “the descendants of the Anakites”—tall people (maybe 6’4”) who were supposed to be
descended from “the Nephilim” (a legendary angel/human hybrid people). The second time
through, they’d seen “huge men,” and the Nephilim themselves, in the land! Have you ever been in the grip of a fear that kept magnifying the danger of a situation beyond what it actually was?
• One of the spies, Caleb, refused to join in the others’ fear-driven report. “We are more
than able to do it,” was his resolute, courageous report to the people. What kind of inner spiritual/psychological compass does it take to speak out with courage and hope when
everyone around you is gripped by fear? Have you ever had the privilege of knowing
a Caleb?
Prayer: Lord God, this is such a sad story. Everything you’d promised was right there in
reach—but their fear blocked the way. Help my faith and courage to keep growing, so that I do not let fear block me from whatever you call me to. Amen.
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“'Don’t rebel against the LORD'—but they did"
Saturday, 24 September 2-16
Numbers 14:1 At this all the people of Isra’el cried out in dismay and wept all night long. 2 Moreover, all the people of Isra’el began grumbling against Moshe and Aharon; the whole community told them, “We wish we had died in the land of Egypt! or that we had died here in the desert! 3 Why is Adonai bringing us to this land, where we will die by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be taken as booty! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”
5 Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces before the entire assembled community of the people of Isra’el. 6 Y’hoshua the son of Nun and Kalev the son of Y’funeh, from the detachment that had reconnoitered the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the whole community of Isra’el, “The land we passed through in order to spy it out is an outstandingly good land! (iii) 8 If Adonai is pleased with us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us — a land flowing with milk and honey. 9 Just don’t rebel against Adonai. And don’t be afraid of the people living in the land — we’ll eat them up! Their defense has been taken away from them, and Adonai is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
10 But just as the whole community were saying they should be stoned to death, the glory of Adonai appeared in the tent of meeting to all the people of Isra’el.
20 Adonai answered, “I have forgiven, as you have asked. 21 But as sure as I live, and that the whole earth is filled with the glory of Adonai, 22 none of the people who saw my glory and the signs I did in Egypt and in the desert, yet tested me these ten times and did not listen to my voice, 23 will see the land I swore to their ancestors! None of those who treated me with contempt will see it. 24 But my servant Kalev, because he had a different Spirit with him and has fully followed me — him I will bring into the land he entered, and it will belong to his descendants.
25 “Now, since the ‘Amaleki and the Kena‘ani are living in the valley, tomorrow turn around and get yourselves into the desert along the way to the Sea of Suf.”
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Reflection Questions:
The Israelites, panicked by the negative report of ten of the twelve men who’d “spied out” the Promised Land, were ready to mutiny. Two of the spies—Caleb and Joshua—begged Israel to trust God, and not refuse to go into the Promised Land. But the people were ready to stone them (and Moses) to death, and choose another leader to take them back to Egypt—until God’s glory intervened. Fear would not win out to that absurd extent. But God did honor their negative choice. Except for Caleb and Joshua, God said, Israel would stay in the wilderness until all of those who didn’t want to go into the Promised Land reached the end of their lives.
• Read verses 6-9 again, aloud if you can. Feel the pathos, the desperation, in Caleb and Joshua’s plead to the people. Imagine their feelings the next day as they packed up their tents and marched, not toward the “exceptionally good land” they had seen briefly on their scouting trip, but away from it, into the desolate Sinai landscape. God offers you an exceptionally good life, full of purpose, challenge and meaning, leading to eternity in a world made new with all the good things God has always intended for human life. Yet it can be scary to choose that life. How can you keep fear from making you turn your back on God’s exceptionally good life? How can you set your life’s course firmly in the direction of God’s promised land?
Prayer: O God, lead me ever onward. Guard my heart and mind from the lure of nostalgia for
the “Egypt” from which you have set me free. Keep my path steady all the way to an eternity with you. Amen.
Family Activity: In all families, we can say words that give courage and strength, or words that tear down and discourage. Read Ephesians 4:29[Ephesians 4:29 Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them.]. Create a family jar of encouragement and faith. Cut out 30-40 slips of paper. On each slip, write a word or phrase of love, support, care or hope. Think about what words lift you up and include those as a blessing to others. Place all of the slips in a jar. Any time a family member has spoken words that hurt, he or she can then pull out a slip of paper, apologize, then (from the heart) say something encouraging. Better yet, work toward not speaking hurtful words at all. When you need help, go to the jar for ideas and inspiration! Ask God to help you use your words for good.
-------
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
•Scott Bayles and family on the death of his mother Glady Bayles, 9/10
• Meredith Bell and family on the death of her grandmother Glady Bayles, 9/10
• Jon Bevan and family on the death of his mother Sally Bevan, 9/9
• Loretta Graham and family on the death of her mother Evangeline Sins, 9/9
•BJ Martin and family on the death of her mother Marcie Osborn, 9/8
•Brian Wilson and family on the death of his stepfather Gene Schwulst, 9/2
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
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