Readings for today: Numbers 33-36
I read a news report this morning out of St. Louis about a family who ignored a quarantine to go shopping, hit the gym, and get their nails done. It seems their daughter had recently returned from Italy where she was exposed to the coronavirus. But instead of following the directions of the CDC, this particular family believed they had the right to go where they pleased. The result is a potential outbreak that could result suffering and death for certain, immunocompromised members of their community.
Sounds about right, doesn’t it? Americans as a general rule believe we have been given certain freedoms. Inalienable rights. Guaranteed us by our Constitution. Among those are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The freedom of speech, assembly, press, and religion. In short, we believe no one has a right to tell us what to do or where to go or how to act. If we ever feel those rights are being threatened, we take action. We fight back. We sue. Nothing, it seems, will stop us from pursuing our own self-interest.
Can you imagine what would happen if God chose to do the same? After all, His rights were violated the moment Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. His rights are violated every time a human being engages in sin and breaks His law. His rights are violated when we worship idols and images of our own making. Ascribing to created things the glory due our Creator.
One of the real challenges in reading Scripture is to keep in mind the rights of God. God has the right to literally wipe out the entire universe and start over. God has the right to kill every man, woman, and child on the earth for their sin. God has the right to judge the nations and destroy them for their greed and lust for power. God has the right to do all this and more. So what stays God’s hand? His endless mercy. His amazing grace. His unconditional love. His great faithfulness.
We are nearing the end of the Torah. The great story of the formation of God’s people. The birth of a nation. God has rescued them from slavery in Egypt. He has exposed the emptiness of the idols of the greatest empire on earth. God has utterly broken Pharaoh who set himself up as a god. God is demonstrating His power and authority over all He has made and He is about to do the same as Israel enters the Promised Land. God is faithful. He will not let this world go. He will have His way among us. He will have the glory He deserves. He will make Himself known to the pagan nations of the earth. This is why God commands Israel to “drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.” (Numbers 33:52-53)
God has a right to our worship. God has a right to our total allegiance. God has a right to our faithful obedience. He wants nothing more than our whole hearts. Nothing less than our full devotion. Nothing else but our very souls. Turn and embrace the God who loves you so much, friends! Give Him the glory He is due! Humble yourself before His throne! Submit yourself to His sovereign authority over your life! Trust Him with all that you are and all that you have! He is faithful. He is true. And He loves you with an everlasting love.
Readings for tomorrow: Deuteronomy 1-3