Shade Tree Wisdom 9/18/09

“To obey is better than sacrifice,
And to hearken is better than the fat of rams,
For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry”. 1 Samuel 15,22.23.

That’s the lesson King Saul learned when he did not carry out the command of God to the letter, but saved the king of the Amalekites and fat cattle and sheep. V.21. Because Saul had a better idea, And for this, God tore the kingdom from Saul.

A friend spent 24 years as a chaplain, and, speaking of Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness, says, “I don’t envy him, moving such a large group of people.” How did he do it? By following God’s plans and orders to the letter, “exactly like the pattern the Lord had shown Moses.” Numbers 8,4b.

Read Numbers chapter 2, for instance. The Lord laid out the plan for their camp around the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron camped to the east of the tabernacle. The plan included who was to do what when they took the tabernacle down and moved it, and who carried out and in what order, and even how. 7,9. The plan also laid out who would lead off when they left the camp, and how they knew when to move. See Numbers chapter 10.

But then, Numbers is one of those boring sections of the bible nobody reads much. As a matter of fact, Numbers chapter 7 is regarded by many as the most boring chapter of the Bible. Have you ever read all 89 verses and asked, “Why is this here?”

I think one lesson we draw is that of obedience. They did exactly what God directed and in the order He laid out. AND, the chapter tells me very clearly, “Before God we are all equal”. The largest tribe brought exactly what the very smallest tribe offered. That’s rather comforting to know, that you and I, gifted differently with different lives and pursuits and abilities, are equal before God.

AND, I can approach God, you can approach God, just as Moses did, and be heard. Moses did have problems. Once we hear him cry, “Here I am, among the six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for the whole month?’” (11,21).

Hear yourself cry in prayer, “Lord, I have this problem, I have this care, I have this worry, and it’s too much”. Then hear the same answer Moses got. “Is the Lord’s arm too short?” 11,23. It wasn’t, was it, for God did supply them with meat.

That brings me to the point about obedience. This is the very God who supplies all our needs. When Paul moaned about his cross, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”, 2 Cor. 12,9. And this is the God who sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for My sins, as well as yours, and says, “I have called thee by name, Thou art mine” and washed made clean in Holy Baptism to become His righteous child. “He saved us. Not because of righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Ghost.” Titus 3,5

That is the God whose Word we obey, ever and always. And that is why it is so important to obey His Word.

GPS 9/18/09