WHEN TO MAKE THE BEST OUT OF THE SECOND BEST
Part 28
Num. 14:40-45
Morning Meditation 11/29/16
Verses 40-45 say, “And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.”
It may seem like a lot of repetition but I must take one final look at what Israel did after God had informed them that they would wander for forty years in the wilderness, and all would die who murmured against Him from twenty years old and upward (vs. 29),.
Israel as a nation is a type of the individual believer. The believer is under the blood of the Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7), he is led by the Spirit to the Red Sea which is a type of baptism (1 Cor. 10:2), then led by the Spirit through the wilderness to enter Canaan which is a type of the believer’s victory in Christ (Heb. 4:1-5). Just like Israel rejected the land at Kadesh-barnea in unbelief, and because of human rationalism turned back, there are those believer’s today who do the same thing. They never rest from their own works (Heb. 4:4). The believer who refuses to enter into God’s sabbath rest, must go on a system of works so far as service is concerned. He must overcome the enemy in his own power because on the system of works, God will not go into the battle with him. And his life will be a life of continual defeats because he cannot overcome the enemy in his own strength.
The title of this meditation is when to make the best out of the second best. The best for Israel was to enter the land by faith. This they did not do. They saw giants and walled cities and they said, “There is no way we can win against the strength of this enemy. We will sacrifice our wives and children to the spoils of war. The wise thing is to avoid a battle when you can’t win.” So they brought back an evil report based on human rationalism. God did not figure into their thinking. Nothing was said about God except by Joshua and Caleb. And when they brought Him up, they almost got stoned for it. The flesh will never trust the LORD, and when it is suggested that faith is the way, and God is the power to accomplish His work, it gets fighting mad. Don’t mess with the flesh unless you want to get in trouble.
Numbers 14:22 says, “Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice.” I believe ten times should be enough for anyone to learn a lesson, don’t you? There is a limit to God’s patience. We have an illustration of it here. The LORD closed the door to the promised land to all the murmurers and unbelieving believers. It is no longer God’s will for them to enter the land. God deals with them with a death sentence. These people know the LORD well enough to know they cannot fight against Him. Fear grips them. They realize that they have sinned in this matter. But they have done this time and time again. They just could not learn to trust the LORD. And the only way Israel can conquer the land is by faith. And this nation had proven to the LORD that He could not give them the victory because they would not trust Him. Faith is the LORD’s way. He has no other way. Any other way is of the world, the flesh and the devil.
What did Israel do when they heard the LORD’s verdict? They decided to do NOW what the LORD wanted them to do THEN. What happened? Moses said, “Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.” In other words, it is too late for this to be the will of God for you now. They are still God’s people. He still loves them. He loves them so much that He tries to warn them through Moses that they will lose this battle. What had they learned by all of this? Absolutely nothing. Did they believe that God is the one who makes the difference in the victory over the enemy? No. They went up to battle against Amalek and the Canaanites without the Ark of the LORD with them. They had not changed their minds. They thought they could do God’s will without God. It is not enough to have a Bible. The Bible will spell out the will of God. But if you don’t have the Author with you, you have major problems. Any move will end in sure defeat.
Who was Israel going against in their own strength? They were going against the FLESH typified by Amalek. Amalek was the grandson of Esau, that profane person, who was hated by God (Mal. 1:2-3). They were going against the Canaanite, a grandson of Noah, who was under a curse (Gen. 9:25). So we have in these two men a type of the flesh and a type of the world under a curse. There is no way to overcome either without the presence and direction of the LORD. He must GIVE the victory. Jesus is the One who overcomes the FLESH through death (Rom. 6:6), and the CURSE through death (Gal. 3:13). Our victory is faith in His finished work (1 John 5:4). Faith enters in to His rest (Heb. 4:5). When we win over the FLESH and the WORLD, we are simply entering into His victory already won.
What happened when Israel went against Amalek and the Canaanites? Verse 45 says, “Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.” This proves one thing. They were right in that they were no match for the warring tribes of the land. But where they were wrong is that they did not figure the LORD into the picture. The Amalekites and Canaanites were no match for the LORD. The victory is simple when faith is exercised. It is the Lord’s battle and He never loses.
Can faith be exercised when it is not God’s will? Absolutely not. It was no longer God’s will for them to enter the land. What is God’s will for them now? Verses 33-34 tells us: “And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.” The wilderness is the will of God for Israel for the next forty years. They don’t need to pray, “LORD what is your will for our lives. It is hard out here in the wilderness. It must be that we are out of your will.” When it gets hard, we think we are out of His will. You don’t pray about the will of God when He had declared it in His Word. And God’s Word on this occasion was forty years in the wilderness.
Now Israel must make the best out of the second best. Yes, even though they are under the chastening of the Lord, He still loves them and will feed them for the full forty years. He will be with them in the midst of their camp for the whole time. He will work miracles over and over again to demonstrate His presence. The LORD is their leader and He will teach them and ultimately lead them as a nation into the land He has promised them. But the adult population, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, will die in the wilderness.
What do you do when you miss God’s best for your life? You repent of the unbelief that caused it, and serve Him faithfully where you are, even though you know it is His second best. There are some things that can never be straightened out in this life. I have seen young men and women come down a church isle and surrender their lives for the mission field. I have no doubt that the Lord called them. But they did not keep their eyes on Jesus. They did not trust the Lord to give them their partner. They made the selection based on their feelings rather than faith. They became carnal in their thinking and married a partner that made it impossible for them to fulfill their calling. They will have to take second best. The best way to make the best out of second best once you have provoked the LORD by your unbelief, is to repent and serve Him faithfully where you are. I have heard this very testimony many times over the last forty three years. It is never too late to be right with God. God will turn where you are into His will for your life. But where you are would not have been, if you had listened to God from the beginning.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
