Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20020220.htm

NUMBERS: ON SPIRITUAL CASUALTIES AND VICTORS
Part XXIII: God's Use Of REPEATED Trials To KEEP Our FOCUS On Himself, NOT Our HARDSHIPS
(Numbers 21:4-9)
  1. Introduction
    1. James 1:2-4 shows God uses trials to produce steadfast endurance in us, Ryrie St. Bib., ftn. to Jas. 1:3.
    2. Just how and why God uses such a program is revealed in Numbers 21:4-9 and its broad context:
  2. God's Use Of REPEATED Trials To KEEP Our FOCUS On Himself, NOT Our HARDSHIPS.
    1. As Israel focused on the difficulty of the journey, she became impatient and discouraged with God and Moses, and complained in unbelief, cf. Numbers 21:4-5:
      1. Because of their having to circle far around Edom to enter Canaan, the people of Israel became impatient by focusing on this hardship so as to be discouraged, Numbers 21:4:
        1. The Hebrew word for the KJV "discouraged" (NIV "impatient") in Numbers 21:4b is qasar, meaning "to be short," and it implies the people came to the end of their motivation to endure.
        2. As they were then making a large detour in the inhospitable wilderness to circumvent Edom, the people ran out of motivation to trust God and heed Moses by focusing on their hardships, 21:4a,b.
      2. Accordingly, they complained against God and Moses, asking why they had left Egypt to die in the wilderness where there was no bread or water but the manna they claimed they detested, Num. 21:5.
    2. God's immediate response was to send lethal serpents to bite and thus kill some of the people, Num. 21:6.
    3. When Israel realized the serpents were God's judgment on her complaining, she asked Moses to pray for God to remove the serpents, 21:7a,b. Moses then petitioned the Lord for Israel's deliverance, Num. 21:7c.
    4. However, God did NOT remove the serpents, but made it possible for the people to deal with them by focusing on God so they would PERSIST in trusting Him in their hardships, Numbers 21:8-9:
      1. Though Israel had long complained in unbelief when her way became hard (Num. 14:22-23), she had learned to trust God with hardship as had been evident in her victory over king Arad, Numbers 21:1-3.
      2. Thus, to keep the people persistently trusting Him as they had with the king Arad matter instead of refocusing on their hardships, God did not remove the serpents as Israel had asked; rather, He made it possible for the people to live with the serpents by repeatedly having to heed God in faith, 21:8-9:
        1. God told Moses to make a serpent and put it upon a pole for the people to view, Numbers 21:8a.
        2. Then, whenever anyone had been bitten, he would live if he looked upon the serpent in faith in God's promise of such a healing, Numbers 21:8b.
        3. This solution thus did not REMOVE the serpent TRIAL, but only gave a divine SOLUTION to the trial's effects once the people were repeatedly bitten!
        4. So, God let the serpents STAY to force the people CONSISTENTLY to focus on the solution to their trial in God instead of focusing on their problems (be they poisonous serpents or kings like Canaan's Arad, or what they had complained about in a shortage of food or water or a regular fare of manna, or even the long detour to circumvent Edom, cf. Numbers 21:7; 21:5b and 21:1-3)!
        5. Hence, Moses made a bronze serpent and set it up before the people. Then, as anyone was bitten, Moses instructed that his looking in faith on the bronze serpent would save his life, Numbers 21:9!
        6. Thus, Israel learned PERSISTENTLY to FOCUS on GOD above FOCUSING on her HARDSHIPS to counter her temptations to be discouraged by impatience in her unbelief!
Lesson: To end Israel's tendency to be impatient in unbelief instead of remaining persistently trusting God, the Lord placed the nation into an ONGOING FIERY TRIAL so Israel would be FORCED to KEEP her FOCUS on GOD, the SOLUTION to her trials INSTEAD OF focusing on her TRIALS!

Application: (1) If God lets us PERSISTENTLY face UNSETTLING trials, and yet always helps us SURVIVE them as we are forced REPEATEDLY to LOOK to HIM, He is seeking to get us to SHIFT our FOCUS from our BOTHERSOME TRIALS to HIMSELF, the SOLUTION to our hardships! (2) Thus, we should KEEP our FOCUS on the GOD of SOLUTIONS throughout our lives rather than focusing on our HARDSHIPS to slip out of such onerous divine trial programs!