FROM THE PREACHER'S LENSES

Sam AwedaTuesday, September 2, 2014
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USA

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WHY DOES THE RIGHTEOUS SUFFER (57) TEMPTING GOD
ARE THERE WAYS BY WHICH CHRISTIANS TEMPT GOD? (4)


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(continued from 56)

n chapter 11 of the book of Numbers was recorded another time when the people complained about all their frustrations. The Lord heard it, and His anger flared out against them. So the fire of the Lord began destroying those at the end of the camp. The plea of Moses again stopped the fire.

Soon they got tired of the 'manna' and started to long for the 'delicious fish' of Egypt, "the wonderful cucumbers, melons, leaks, onions and garlic" of Egypt (Numb 11:4-6). Can anyone see how easily man can become so ungrateful? So, the Lord sent them quail by a wind from the sea and the people caught and killed quail all that day and throughout the night and all the next day too. "But as everyone began eating the meat, the anger of the Lord rose against the people and He killed large numbers of them with a plaque" (Numb 11:31-33).

Still on the journey, despite all the successes they had had in battle, despite all the miracles they had witnessed, journeying from Mount Hor, "they began to murmur against God and to complain against Moses". Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness", they whined. "There is nothing here to eat and nothing to drink, and we hate this insipid manna". So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among them to punish them, and many of them were bitten and died (Numb 21:4-9).

Paul writing to the Corinthians, reminded them of these records in Num. 21; Ex 17; Ex 16; and Num. 14 with a warning "Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer" (1 Cor. 10:9-10).

But I wonder whether we (generation of Christians of today) are in anyway different from the Israelites whose stories of incessant betrayal of God, we have been reading.

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