God Is More Than Man

"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"

Numbers 23:19

As Good Friday and Easter draws near, I remain in awe of the incarnation.  It is an amazing, miraculous demonstration of love Jesus would die on the cross to redeem sinners from death, yet it is remarkable God humbled Himself to put on human flesh at all.  Unless God was willing to become a man, He could not have died and provided atonement for us on the cross.  While God became the man Jesus Christ, God is not a man.  That's one reason the incarnation is so marvellous.

To humans with a natural mind, it is not humbling in itself to be a human being.  We can discern the difference between an honourable, respectable person and one who is treated with contempt, but we cannot know what it is like to be something other than human.  The God who created the world and all that is in it, every living plant, creature and all human beings in His own image, is completely separate and distinct from us.  He is not the "man in the sky:"  He is the almighty and eternal God, a spirit Being of infinite wisdom, knowledge and power who dwells outside the universe and apart from time.  God is not a man, and thus He does not have our limitations, weaknesses, short-sightedness, and folly--like saying something we have no intention or ability to do.  We can make the error of reducing God to our image and strip Him of His glory by our idolatry.

God chastised His people who assumed He was like them in Psalm 50:21-23:  "These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes. ²² "Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: ²³ whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God."  While the Bible attributes human characteristics to God as a frame of reference--like God figuratively having an outstretched arm.  In theology, this is called an anthropomorphism.  There is also zoomorphism, attributing characteristics of animals to God, like where God is described as sheltering people under His wings.  God does not have wings, nor does He have arms.  When God came in the person of Jesus Christ, however, God had physical hands and feet.  Jesus used these hands and feet to do good as He lived, and these were all pierced when He died on Calvary for lost sinners.

We may assume God is altogether like us, but He is actually nothing like us:  He is righteous, glorious and good.  While we may not keep our word and forget what we said, when God spoke He brought the heavens, earth and all creatures into being.  The apostle John said concerning Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh in John 1:1-3:  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."  As people observed and interacted with Jesus, they realised no one spoke like Him; Jesus did miraculous things no one else had ever or could ever do continually.  No one had humbled themselves like Jesus did as it says in Philippians 2:8:  "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."  Jesus took on the appearance of a man but He was and remains more than a man, raised from death to eternal glory.

Worship the LORD, you His saints!  Bow before Him in reverence, and sing songs to exalt His holy name!  For our LORD is good and glorious, not a man that He should lie, one who speaks and does not fulfill His word.  At times God was silent before people who imagined He was like them, but now He speaks through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ--the Man ordained by God to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31).  Having been redeemed by His blood and forgiven of sins, how blessed we are to know and be known by our LORD Jesus.  Psalm 34:8-9 reads, "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! ⁹ Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him."  Because Jesus Christ is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Drink God's Grace

We can presumptuously imagine the work of God depends upon our best efforts.  While we ought to take responsibility before God to do His will and walk in the way that fully pleases Him, God is required for any of our service and ministry to be fruitful.  If God can redeem our lives from destruction, He can also accomplish His work through our failures.  We should guard ourselves against the error that says since God is all powerful and sovereign, He can do whatever He wants without us and seek to justify our indolence.

When the Hebrews murmured in the wilderness for lack of water, God commanded Moses and Aaron to take the rod of God and speak to the rock, and God would cause water to flow from it.  Instead, Moses and Aaron spoke harshly to the people and struck the rock.  God made water spring from the rock, and the people and all their flocks were well-watered.  Yet there was a severe consequence for the sin of Moses and Aaron:  they would not be permitted to accompany the children of Israel into Canaan.  Numbers 20:12-13 tells us, "Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." ¹³ This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed among them."

The terrible judgment against Moses and Aaron can be a source of great encouragement for all Christians today.  God identified the sin of Moses and Aaron as unbelief that led to them not hallowing or sanctifying God in the eyes of the children of Israel.  It is possible Moses and Aaron hearkened back to the previous time water flowed from the rock in Horeb and the rock was struck (Ex. 17:6).  They also could have attributed some faith to the fact they carried Aaron's rod that budded which had been laid up in the tabernacle as a memorial of their authority from God.  Rather than crediting God as the life-giving source of their water, they spoke of this miracle as if it was their own doing:  "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?"  If the availability of pure water was dependant upon the righteousness of Moses and Aaron, the people would have died of thirst!  God gave the water freely so everyone could drink and be satisfied--Moses and Aaron included.

But a most wondrous truth is contained at the end of verse 13:  Moses and Aaron were judged for not hallowing God in the eyes of the people, yet the verse concludes plainly:  "...He was hallowed among them."  How awesome is that?  All the people drank water by God's grace even though they had flawed leadership.  Though Moses and Aaron failed to sanctify God among the people, He was sanctified among the people anyway.  This is the miracle hidden in the miracle:  water flowed from the rock despite unbelief, and God was hallowed among people who failed to hallow Him.  Let us do our part to walk uprightly as God's faithful servants, living lives above reproach, but let us never think any success has come by our uprightness:  it is all of God's grace.  Drink deep of the grace of God, for in Him all our needs will be met--even through His imperfect vessels.

Our Exceedingly Great Reward

"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward."

Psalm 127:3

Rewarding means to give in return, and this occurs according to the generosity of the one offering the reward.  I have seen posters offering monetary rewards to anyone who finds a lost pet and notifies the owner.  A reward in such circumstances is compensation given to the deserving, even as wages might be given to an employee.  But there is a notable difference with God's rewards, for they are given all of God's grace to the underserving out of His goodness.  We might think on the basis of the forgoing verse that those with many children have received a greater reward from God based on their merit, yet it is by God's merit, wisdom and goodness every living soul enters this world.

While I was reading the book of Numbers, I was blessed to read the section at the end of Numbers 18.  To those under the Law of Moses, God commanded people bring a tithe of the best of their increase and dedicated things to the priests and Levites, and this was their portion.  They too were to present a tithe to God, a heave offering of all they received.  Numbers 18:30-32 says, "Therefore you shall say to them: 'When you have lifted up the best of it, then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and as the produce of the winepress. ³¹ You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward for your work in the tabernacle of meeting. ³² And you shall bear no sin because of it, when you have lifted up the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy gifts of the children of Israel, lest you die."  Giving God the first and best sanctified the remaining grain, wine and oil for consumption by the families of the Levites.  The tithe of the people resulted in food for the Levites and their families that could be eaten in every place without being a sin.  This food was their reward they could freely share with others.

The priests and Levites did not enter into the service of the LORD in the tabernacle because it provided a stable or steady career:  it was a calling by God as children of Levi.  God had said to Abraham their father in Genesis 15:1:  "After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."  When God was given His rightful due (a tenth) by the priests and Levites, He graciously gave them a reward in their service to Him. This was not because God owed them anything, for their lives, roles and service was all of His bountiful grace.  Those who were called, anointed and instructed by God were also rewarded generously so their needs were met from His own portion that became theirs.  They had done nothing worthy of receiving gifts from God's hand, but could gladly receive them as a reward from God who gives all things.

This bears a resemblance to compensation in pastoral or paid ministry, for it is a calling by God--not a career.  It is God who anoints and ordains men rather than people being appointed by men.  Our wages are not a right we ought to claim but should be seen as a gift and reward we can receive according to His grace.  Whether our rewards from God be children, food or money, these are all provided us out of God's grace and generosity.  We ought to be thankful to God and those He has prompted to give, and God loves the cheerful giver.  Praise the LORD He is our reward who gives righteousness, the opportunity for fellowship, the resources to give, and fellowship He provides daily that is greater than gold:  food from His word, comfort in His presence, wisdom for living, peace that passes understanding, and all necessities we enjoy by His grace.  As new creations in Christ, we are given the reward to live worthy of being God's reward by His grace:  for of Him, and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.  Amen!

Peace by Faith in God

Unbelief is a killer of rest and peace.  When harboured in our hearts, it prevents our healing and restoration to fellowship with God and other believers.  The writer of Hebrews explained it was due to unbelief the children of Israel would not and could not enter the land God promised to give them, and their dead carcasses in the wilderness are a warning to all who follow them in unbelief.  God was grieved by their unbelief, and they weren't pleased with the prospects of 40 years in the wilderness when they were on the cusp of entering in and receiving their inheritance (Hebrews 3:17-19).

After 10 spies gave a bad report of the land of Canaan, the people felt hopeless and wept--though God remained good, faithful and sovereign.  God would defeat the people of Canaan as surely as He delivered them from slavery in Egypt with a mighty hand, but the reports of giants put the people in fear.  Unbelief in God and His promise prevented the people from trusting Him.  The people decided their best course of action was to choose a new leader and return to Egypt where they were previously enslaved!  While they discussed stoning Moses and Aaron, the glory of God appeared in the tabernacle and God spoke.  God pronounced a judgment that all of those 20 years and older would die in the wilderness over the next 40 years, and the 10 spies who gave a bad report were struck dead by a plague.  You can read about this in Numbers 14.

One would think the people would be humbled before God after His appearance and plagues, but not so.  Early the next morning the people presumed to go into the land of Canaan to defeat the inhabitants of the land, even though God was not with them, and they were routed by their enemies.  It was not long after this debacle when Korah, Dathan and Abiram in Numbers 16 murmured against Moses and Aaron, and God executed them for their sin by causing the ground to open up and swallow them and all they possessed in the sight of Israel.  The 250 men who put incense in their censers also died when fire from the LORD consumed them for their trespass.  The following day all the people came against Moses again and accused him of killing "the people of the LORD."  God caused a plague to smite the people, and when Aaron made atonement for the sake of the people the plague ceased.

In Numbers 17 God directed Aaron and the leaders of each tribe to present a marked stick and to place them in the tabernacle overnight.  God said in Numbers 17:5, "And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against you."  It was indeed Aaron's rod that budded and bore almonds overnight, and thus God confirmed Aaron's line of the house of Levi was God's choice to do the service of the LORD.  While God's purpose in doing this was to cause the murmuring of the people to cease so they would not die in rebellion, their complaints due to unbelief continued in Numbers 17:12-13:  "So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, "Surely we die, we perish, we all perish! ¹³ Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD must die. Shall we all utterly die?"  Though they saw God's presence and He made Himself known to them, they misunderstood Him entirely.  God aimed to preserve their lives, and they accused Him of killing them for coming near the tabernacle--a falsehood steeped in self-pity and pride.

I'm not sure what is worse:  dying in battle by Canaanites in a foolish attempt to deliver oneself from living in the wilderness for years, or to live in the wilderness for years with a heart filled with unbelief in God.  How can it be that God's chosen people could imagine He was against them and unworthy of trust?  But this clearly can be the case.  God said in Isaiah 57:19-21:  "I create the fruit of the lips: peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near," says the LORD, "and I will heal him." ²⁰ But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. ²¹ "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."  The writer of Hebrews sets forth the children of Israel in the wilderness as a cautionary tale for Christians, that there is rest God has for us we can stop short of entering by unbelief.  Faith in God leads to peace with God and healing for broken hearts.  If our hearts resemble a troubled sea that kicks up filth of murmuring and complaining, there remains peace and rest for us in Jesus Christ--a rest that is only entered by faith in Him.