1 + 1 = 2

Deuteronomy 4:

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.”

Here is the true failure of the Israelites and, I believe, many of today's Christians.  Many of us make life choices so that our children "Won't have to go through what I did."  We remember times when our families struggled to put food on the table, or pay the car insurance, or get money to go on that school trip.  We choose our path to make life better for our children.  This is a good thing, but it is a little short sighted.

Mark 8:36

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

Yet, I hear parents "brag" about their children.  "I never tried to influence little Jimmy spiritually.  I prefer that he comes to his own understanding."  To me, this makes NO SENSE!!!  I am a math teacher and as such many times I look to numbers for answers.  I would never let my son or daughter decide whether they believed that 1 + 1 = 2.  I would never let them come to their own understanding.  Some things are true, and some things are not.  I teach my children what is true and I discourage them from believing what is false.

Look, if religion to you is only a way of life, and a moral code, something to make you feel good about yourself, then go ahead let your kids "find their way".  If however, it is about the search for TRUTH, real life changing truth, then how could you let them go their own way?  Imagine you lived in a cabin with two doors.  Outside one door was a meadow with fruit trees and sunshine and lollipops.  Outside the other was a chasm of doom.  Your child has to choose a door and walk through it blindfolded.  If you know which door leads to the beautiful meadow, do you tell them?

So, here is what I am doing and what I intend to do:

1. Live my "religion" every day in a way that my kids can see that it is real to me
2. Teach my children the truth about Christ
3. Tell my children stories about how God intervened in my life and how he intervened in theirs
4. Encourage them to follow a path that is Godly

Children are the greatest gift that we were given.  We have to keep them safe and show them the way.  The world doesn't leave anything to chance.  Anyone that has an agenda to promote goes to the children first.  It is important for us to equip them to fight the lies that are out there, and not leave them wandering blind in a world that will take advantage of an empty mind.

Generations to Come

So, the last time we visited with the Israelites, we read the following passage:

Numbers 14
26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: 29 In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.”

First, can you imagine being the guy that just had his twentieth birthday the day before this.  Seriously, that would suck.  If only I was a day younger...

Anyway, Israel has been told that they don't get to see the promised land after all.  Only the young will get to go.  I guess that I would hope that Israel had learned her lesson, and would rely on God from now on, but...

Numbers 21

4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,[c] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

and 

Number 25 
While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the Lord’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”

5 So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”

You see Israel did not do a good job of reminding the younger generations about what God had done.  They forgot God because they did not heed God's warning in Deuteronomy 4:

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.13 He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

This I think is the real failure of the Israelites.  They failed their children, and their children's children, etc.  Can you imagine how the history of Israel would have changed if they had started with what God had told them, to teach their children.

Finger Pointing

When last we met we looked at an overview of the Israelites journey out of Egypt and on to the Promised Land.  Time and time again we noticed that God rescued His chosen people, only to have them turn their backs on Him, and forget all He did for them.  If you are anything like me, you were probably wondering how the Israelites could be so stinkin' STUPID!?!?  It's an easy thing to do.  We read the stories of the bible, knowing full well how the story ends, and look down on the people (Israel, the Pharisees, doubting Thomas), when the truth is, if we are truly honest with ourselves, we will admit that we are no better than they were.

I bring to your attention a "funny" story.  A while ago I had to purchase a power supply for my laptop.  I bought it at Best Buy (it was on my way home from work, and kind of an emergency buy).  Anyway, after a a while, for reasons I don't remember, it stopped working.  Crap.  It was still under warantee, YAY!  I knew that I had to have the receipt somewhere, but where?  I couldn't find it anywhere.  I looked all over the house.  I phoned Best Buy, after some time on the phone, they basically told me there was nothing they could do, and that I would have to call the credit card company.  I called them, and they told me that there was nothing they could do and I would have to call Best Buy.  Anyway, after approximately 3 hours on the phone (that is not an exaggeration) Best Buy came through for me with a copy of the receipt!  YAY!

Why do I tell you this story.  Well not long after this day, I looked in my wallet.  There was the original receipt.  It was in my pocket all along!!  I never even considered praying about it.  I forgot that God could, or would be a part of my life.  This is where I give kudos to Beth.  The first thing she asks when I mention that I lost something is "Did you pray about it?"  I relied on my own strength and understanding.  I won in the end, but not without much struggle and frustration.  Sound familiar?  Pick a story from the Israelites...

Here's another story to show my point.  I am a man of routine.  If I stray from the routine, all Hell beaks loose.  I forget to bring my lunch to work if I add something to my morning routine for example.  I tend to spend time reading the bible while I eat my breakfast in the morning.  I used to read at night before bed, but found that I couldn't concentrate when I was tired.  Anyway, this works great during the school year, but during the summer, my schedule gets all messed up (I teach math at a High school).  There are often multiple days in a row where I just don't read my bible.  Now, I have noticed a change when this happens.  Usually I don't remember my dreams, and very rarely do I have bad dreams, but during the times when I am not reading the bible consistently, I have dreams that I don't want to remember.  I'm not trying to say that reading the bible is some magic pill that protects your dreams.  I am saying that spending time with God has benefits, and forgetting Him will have negative consequences.

So the moral of the story is, not to point fingers at the faults and failures of the people in the bible, but to try to learn from them.  Oh, and don't forget God!

Israelites

So, my inspiration for this was the Israelites.  I spent some time going through their story.  I'd like to give you an overview of the beginning of their experience from life in Egypt to wandering the desert.

Okay, Israel has been enslaved.  Life sucks.  They need God to help them.  Thing is, it seems that they have forgotten who The Lord is.  I'll get to that later, let's go back to Egypt.  So Pharaoh tries to kill all the Hebrew boys, but the Lord has favour on Israel and he doesn't succeed.  He keeps trying to stop them from increasing, but nothing seems to work, so harsh labour and poor conditions await the Hebrews.

Then comes Moses, the burning bush and all that good stuff.  Wow this really is a MAN OF GOD!!!  You would think they would be impressed right?  Well not really.  Moses tells Pharaoh to let his people go or there would be bad stuff going down.  The first few signs (stick changes to a snake, water to blood, frogs everywhere) are replicated by the pharaoh's magicians.  Then come the others (gnats, flies, death of livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of firstborn).  These could not be replicated by the magicians.  Many of them, including the worst ones, only effected the Egyptians.

At this point I'm thinking that if I'm Pharaoh, I beg for forgiveness and give Israel all they want.  I think that if I'm an Israelite, I follow God anywhere.  Read the story, it's not what happens.  First God doesn't tell the Israelites to take the most direct route, instead God lead them away from philistine territory because “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”  He knew the kind of people he was dealing with.

He lead them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night.  Again, I'm thinking that's pretty cool, I'll follow wherever you want...  Again, not what happens.  They get to the Red Sea and the first thing they think is that they will die!?  Really?  How's that again?  Anyway, instead of going back to Egypt, God saves them and brings them across on dry land.

I could go on and on about how God delivers the Israelites just to see them rebel, ask to go back to Egypt, make a golden calf etc.  Still He provides water to drink in the desert, food to eat (manna and quail) and protects them throughout their trip.

Finally, the last straw for this group, they hear a report about the land they are to take possession of.  The people are giants, they will never be able to beat them.  They get scared and surprise, surprise, they want to go back to Egypt, except for Caleb and Joshua.

From Numbers 14:

The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. ²¹ Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, ²² not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— ²³ not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. ²⁴ But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. ²⁵ Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.

Then, 

‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: ²⁹ In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. ³⁰ Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. ³¹ As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. ³² But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. ³³ Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. ³⁴ For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ ³⁵ I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.

The Israelites forgot God, and they suffered because of it.  Over and over and over again.

Next time:  What about when I forget God...

Intro

First of all, for all who are in the armed forces and have family in the armed forces, forgive the title.  I will not be writing about remembrance day, or keeping the sacrifices made by military people in our thoughts (although I couldn't emphasize enough how important I think that is).  I will, however, be writing about how keeping God in our thoughts and lives is important.  I've been thinking about possible teachings at church in Sunday on the topic.  We have recently started "The Story", so it seems that for a while that will not be possible.

Basically I hope to discuss how forgetting God is detrimental to our lives.  The thought first came to me thinking about the Isrealites walking through the desert, and thinking "How could they be so STUPID?!?"  Seriously, after all God did for them, how could they want to go back to Egypt?  How could they doubt?  It's not as cut and dry as it seems.

Anyway, I have found that when I forget God, bad things happen.  There is a reason, the Isrealites were commanded to use phylacteries.

Lest we forget.