Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: "Smith, Lynn " <lsmith20@Central.UH.EDU>
Sent: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:06:16 -0500
To: "Smith, Lynn " <lsmith20@Central.UH.EDU>
Subject: Morning Manna Apr. 30-BP: Num. 32; RBTTY: Lk. 21:1-19; I Kings 8-9
April 30 “On Discouraging Others In Deeds”
“And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, ‘Shall your brethren go to war and you sit here? And why discourage you the heart of the children of
Numbers 32:6-7
Active words and passive deeds so often are powerful tools of discouragement in the devil’s hands.
They’d been wandering 40 years in the wilderness. All those over 20-years-old had died out there as part of their punishment for refusing to enter the Promised Land when they first reached it (Num. 14:20-35).
But, now, here they were once again on the east side of the Jordan River, looking over at the land the Lord God had promised to Abraham so many years before (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:14-18). It would be at the point that Caleb, one of the two spies who said “Let’s take the land” when they first arrived (Num. 13:30; 14:8-9), would stand and say, “I was 40-years-old when Moses sent me into the land to spy it out and I brought him word against as it was in my heart; nevertheless, my brethren, who went up with me, made the heart of the people melt—but I wholly followed the Lord, my God. . .And now the Lord has kept me alive these past 45 years and I’m now 85-years-old, but still as strong today as when Moses first sent me into the land; now, therefore, give me this mountain . . .” (Josh. 14:7-12). Hallelujah!!
Even so, the tribes of Gad and Reuben weren’t too keen on crossing over the
That’s when an irritated Moses spoke today’s message and said, “Shall your brothers go to war and you just sit here? Why, by your actions, are you wanting to discourage (Heb. ‘nuw’—‘to refuse, forbid, dissuade, make of no effect, cause to lose heart, etc.’) the heart of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them?” He then reminded them of their fathers’ sinful words which discouraged the people from going over the first time (v.9) and warned them of the consequences of turning away from the Lord (vv.10-15).
Oh, dear Pilgrim, we all know of the great damage discouraging words can do. They tempt us to second-guess ourselves or give in to our doubts and fears. Cowardice is contagious and quickly spreads throughout a group IF we let it.
The same is true with discouraging deeds. It’s appears that the tribes of Gad and Reuben were guilty of the sin of contentment—i.e., thinking only of themselves and not knowing/caring how their actions might affect the whole group. Passive resistance is just as damaging to God’s Kingdom work as active or aggressive incitement. That’s why we should always seek to be edifying in all we say and do. . .lest we end up stirring up God’s wrath and grieving His sweet Holy Spirit in the process.
Thanks,
Mr. Lynn M. Smith
Department Business Administrator
Department of Economics
204C McElhinney Hall
(713) 743-3802 (office)
(713) 743-3798 (fax)
LSmith20@central.uh.edu (email)
http://www.class.uh.edu/econ/ (department website)
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