WHEN GOD SAYS ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Deut. 1:43

Morning Meditation 10/27/16

Verse 43 says, “So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.”

There are so many marvelous stories associated with God’s dealings with Israel His people. Each one of these stories illustrates a truth taught in the New Testament and His dealings with us. Though we are under grace and not under law as Israel was, disobedience is still sin, and we either repent, confess, and receive forgiveness, or He chastens as He did in Israel’s time.

God had brought Israel out of Egypt. They had seen miracle after miracle associated with their exodus. They had seen Pharaoh and his armies drowned in the Red Sea. If God ever defeated an enemy for Israel without their help, it was at the Red Sea. And this had to be fresh on their minds when it came time for them to cross the River Jordan and enter the land promised them by the Lord. However, you know the story of the ten spies who brought back an evil report, put fear into Israel as they described the giants in the land, and so discouraged the nation that they VOTED against entering the land. The reason they did is because they thought everything depended on them. And if it did, they had a legitimate excuse! However, for a long time now God had been preparing them to walk by faith in His power to deliver. They were unteachable! They refused to hear God’s Word. They had to rationalize. They wanted a God that they could trust in emergencies. They did not want a God who asked them to fly by instruments when it was so foggy they could not see. They had no confidence in the instruments (His Word). They had to see and it had to make sense.

So our verse brings us to the punishment phase of the story. They said that there are giants in the land, and we are not going into battle against these giants. This made God mad. After all, nothing in the past had depended on them, God had personally won every victory for them, why do they now believe everything depends on them? This is the way of the Adamic man. He only trusts in himself. This is the reason self-help book’s fill the shelves’ in secular book stores. I am also ashamed to say they also take up a lot of room in Christian bookstores. The reason? Christian psychologists are telling us that we need a better self image. Because everything depends on us! So Christian book writers are responding to the need created by the so-called Christian psychologists. And they are getting rich off the false need (of self help). God nowhere tells you, you need a better self image. God says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Even after we are saved He says through Paul, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” This is Paul’s statement about himself after his salvation, his filling with the Holy Spirit, his appointment to the apostleship and years of sacrificial service to Jesus. We do not need a better self image. We need a clearer view of Jesus, the Lamb. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). We do not need to be self-oriented but Jesus oriented.

So God says, “So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear . . .” The word “spake” translates “dabar” which means to speak, to converse, to command, to promise, to warn, to threaten.” This verb in the Hebrew is in what is called the piel stem. The piel stem refers to intensive action. It is imperfect tense. The imperfect tense in the Hebrew “expresses an action, a process or a condition which is incomplete.” Now lets apply the grammar to this statement. God says, “I spoke to you over and over. I didn’t just say it once. I conversed with you, I didn’t just converse once. I promised, I warned you, I even threatened you over and over again.” Is that a little too much by way of explanation? Please read the definition which is taken from Strong’s dictionary of the Hebrew. Has God ever done this to you? I must confess, I learn slow.. My faith is weak. When God says, “You can trust me. I will get you through this situation,” it is hard for me not to attempt to help Him.. If God wants my help He will tell me. Israel did not help God push the waters of the Red Sea into walls on each side. They did not run to the walls and say, “You men come and put your hands on these walls of water and let’s help hold them in place while our wives and children walk through on dry ground.” Can’t you just hear the Jews as they praise themselves for turning the walls of water loose just at the right time, and the waters came in to drown the whole Egyptian army? How foolish to even think such a thought. God is reminding Israel that He had thoroughly dealt with them with His Words concerning this matter.

The Lord said, “I spake unto you.” This will prevent anyone from saying, “He didn’t tell me!” Or, “I didn’t know.” The Jew had to admit that God was telling the truth when He said, “I spake unto you,” or, tell Him He is a liar. I believe they knew God’s anger well enough at this point not to make that kind of mistake. No one argued, “We did not know.” They said something like, “there are giants in that land and we can’t handle them.” And they were certainly right about that. They had a proper self image. They knew they couldn’t! They just did not have the faith to believe God would. And this was the problem. God wants us to believe Him when He speaks. God never orders us to go forward without being the power with and in us to carry out the order.

The next thing God says in our text is, “and ye would not hear . . .” That is a sad statement. Thank God it did not refer to all. Caleb and Joshua did choose to hear. They knew God would give the victory. They trusted Him to bring them into the land. But the nation by popular vote chose the route of unbelief. The words “ye would not” translates “shama” and means “to hear, to listen to, to hearken, to hear with attention or interest” This is a verb and is what is called the Qal perfect. Qal is the most frequently used verb pattern in the Hebrew. It expresses the “simple” or “casual” action of the root in the active voice. The Perfect tense expresses a completed action.” —Strong. God is charging them with not listening when He spoke. He is saying they refused to hear. When God speaks we WILL MAKE A CHOICE. Being passive when God speaks does not remove the responsibility. Someone might say, “I was not really listening and did not really understand the implications of what God was saying.” Listen. When God speaks, it is time to give our undivided attention. God holds us responsible and will judge us accordingly. I am afraid that many who sit in church pews today do not believe the man who stands before them is an ambassador for Christ. And that God does speak through him. My first thought when I say that is that it humbles me. Then it scares me. It makes me know that I better be right. That is the reason I try to explain the words (including the grammar) of the text I use. The preacher is always to say, “thus saith the Lord.” A preacher has no authority apart from the Scriptures. But if he is preaching the Word, you better not reject it. This is exactly what Israel did in our text.

Next God says, “but ye rebelled against the command of the LORD . . .” The word “rebelled” translates “marah” and means, “to be contentious, be rebellious, be refractory.” This verb is in the Hiphil stem. Strong says, “Hiphil usually expresses the ‘causative’ action of the Qal.” They did not only rebel, but they caused rebellion. Others were drawn into the rebellion because of this. It is a studied fact that mob violence is contagious. People that are mild and would never do certain things will join with others when they are moved by the mob. But while this is true, God held them responsible and judged them for it. We are responsible to hear and obey God. What God says, He says is a command. We don’t have to decide, “is this a command or not?” If it is in God’s Word it is a command.

Then last in this text, God says, “and went presumptuously up into the hill.” After God had given His judgment, they tried to reverse it by doing what He said to start with. But God said, “Enough is enough.” I think God said, “Judgment is the only voice you understand. So, I will accommodate you.” Num. 14:29 says, “Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me” The only exception was Caleb and Joshua. God wiped them out in the desert. When it came time to enter the land forty years later, not one of this group, twenty years of age and above (except Caleb and Joshua), were alive. All had died under the judgment of God for their rebellion against God’s Word. The word “presumptuously” translates “zuwd” and means “to boil, boil up, seethe, act proudly, act presumptuously, act rebelliously, be presumptuous, be arrogant, be rebelliously proud.” It is a verb in the Hiphil stem which means it is causative” and it is imperfect which means a continuous action. They were boiling because of God’s declared judgment against them. They got mad. The message didn’t humble them, it made them mad. Do you see why God did not reverse His decision to judge?

My meditation is too long. But I must says this: I believe many times true repentance does reverse God’s judgment. Our reaction to God should always to take Him seriously and repent in dust and ashes. Who knows but what He will deal with us in mercy and grace.

However, when God says that enough is enough, it is probably too late to stay His judgment. You can always be forgiven. But there are times when His judgment will not be reversed. Let me give two verses in closing: “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (2 Tim. 2:25-26). Meditate on that. God had not said of these “enough is enough.” Repentance was still possible. But God would have to grant it.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White