Catching Fog

God said to Moses, “Climb up into the Abarim Mountains and look over at the land that I am giving to the People of Israel. When you’ve had a good look you’ll be joined to your ancestors in the grave—yes, you also along with Aaron your brother. This goes back to the day when the congregation quarreled in the Wilderness of Zin and you didn’t honor me in holy reverence before them in the matter of the waters, the Waters of Meribah (Quarreling) at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.”

Moses responded to God: “Let God, the God of the spirits of everyone living, set a man over this community to lead them, to show the way ahead and bring them back home so God’s community will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

God said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun—the Spirit is in him!—and place your hand on him. Stand him before Eleazar the priest in front of the entire congregation and commission him with everyone watching. Pass your magisterial authority over to him so that the whole congregation of the People of Israel will listen obediently to him. He is to consult with Eleazar the priest who, using the oracle-Urim, will prayerfully advise him in the presence of God. He will command the People of Israel, the entire community, in all their comings and goings.” (Numbers 27:12-21)

“Who knows whether the one who comes after you will be wise or a fool?” So said the author of Ecclesiastes. Moses knew he was going to die before he could lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land. He knew that he would not be there to guide them in their conquest against the Canaanites. He had been the one to stand before Pharaoh and ten times tell him to “let my people go.” He had led them through the sea, and into the wilderness. He had held their hands through their grumbling and fear. He had prayed to God on their behalf and stood up for them when even God seemed ready to give up on them. And now, just as they were about to reach the place God had promised them, facing even more and possibly worse problems, he wasn’t going to be there for them. Would his forty years of ministry be for nothing? Would it all fall apart without him?

God let him know who would take his place; he reassured him that just as God had been with Moses and had helped him lead an obstinate and difficult group of human beings through a nightmare, so God would be with Moses’ replacement, Joshua, just as much. And just like Moses had succeeded because of God’s presence, so Joshua would succeed and for just the same reason. The human leader might change, but the real leader—God—wasn’t going anywhere. God remains the same generation to generation. Our children will do just fine. God will stand by them just as much as he stood by us.

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People of Israel,
that’s what the LORD
has said to you.
But you don’t have good sense,
and you never listen
to advice.
If you did, you could see
where you are headed.
How could one enemy soldier
chase a thousand
of Israel’s troops?
Or how could two of theirs
pursue ten thousand of ours?
It can only happen if the LORD
stops protecting Israel
and lets the enemy win.
Even our enemies know
that only our God
is a Mighty Rock.
Our enemies are grapevines
rooted in the fields
of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The grapes they produce
are full of bitter poison;
their wine is more deadly
than cobra venom.
But the LORD has written
a list of their sins
and locked it in his vault.
Soon our enemies will get
what they deserve —
suddenly they will slip,
and total disaster
will quickly follow. (Deuteronomy 32:28-35)

Just because it’s impossible to lose doesn’t mean you won’t. At Jericho, God defeated an army of tens of thousands with barely three hundred men. Those facing Gideon had no reason to think that they wouldn’t be victorious against him. But they lost all the same. But then, there were times when the enemy was severely outnumbered by Israel’s forces, and they lost all the same.

Israel faced judgment. Even before they entered the land of Promise, before Jericho fell to an army that had merely walked around it, God warned his people that they would make mistakes during the years to come. Nevertheless, those who stood arrayed against God’s people didn’t have a chance. In the end, no matter how good they looked at the moment, no matter how invincible, they were no better than Sodom and Gomorrah, the two cities that God had destroyed with fire and brimstone in a single day. God reassured his people that no matter what, God would avenge them. He was keeping track of all the wrongs that they had done against his people and eventually he would call them to account.

Winning and losing are in God’s hands, not in our own. We like to imagine we control our destinies, that our fate is ours to chose. But the reality is that God is the one actually in charge, and no matter the odds, good or bad, it is God’s way that always wins out.

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Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey.

The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”

The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.”

And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:4-9)

People tend to give up on God at the first sign of trouble. They praise God at the first hint of blessing. People can be very fickle with their affections. The Israelites had spent years in the wilderness. It was easy to complain about their condition. In fact, complaining is something that all humans everywhere are really good at. The students of a school will always complain about the food in the cafeteria. Soldiers complain about their chow and about the miserable rain, their tired feet, their lack of support, their shortage of ammunition. Workers stand around the water cooler and gripe about the boss and all the work piling up. The unemployed gripe about the lines at the unemployment office and about how hard it is to find work. How much easier it would be to just lie down and die.

The Israelites had that chance. They were unhappy with their diet. They asked Moses why he had brought them out to the wilderness just to die. So God sent snakes to bite them and kill them. They wanted to die? God would make it easy.

But he also gave them an easy way to stay alive. The bronze snake became a cure for the poison. All that chose to look at it could live through the snake bites. If someone was determined to just give up and die, it was easy enough. All he had to do was close his eyes and give up. But not giving up wasn’t all that hard, either. They just had to alter their perspective a little. Then they could find out that God really didn’t want to kill them in the wilderness. God is always near. He never abandons us. He won’t leave us without a solution.

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Then the LORD said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

“If any of the people, either men or women, take the special vow of a Nazirite, setting themselves apart to the LORD in a special way, they must give up wine and other alcoholic drinks. They must not use vinegar made from wine or from other alcoholic drinks, they must not drink fresh grape juice, and they must not eat grapes or raisins. As long as they are bound by their Nazirite vow, they are not allowed to eat or drink anything that comes from a grapevine—not even the grape seeds or skins.

“They must never cut their hair throughout the time of their vow, for they are holy and set apart to the LORD. Until the time of their vow has been fulfilled, they must let their hair grow long. And they must not go near a dead body during the entire period of their vow to the LORD. Even if the dead person is their own father, mother, brother, or sister, they must not defile themselves, for the hair on their head is the symbol of their separation to God. This requirement applies as long as they are set apart to the LORD. (Numbers 6:1-8)

Sometimes all you’ll get out of a vow is pain. A Nazarite vow meant giving up haircuts and anything made out of grapes, among other things. Examples of people in the Bible who took a Nazarite vow include both Samson and Samuel, who were Nazarites from birth (Judges 13:7 and 1 Samuel 1:11). The apostle Paul took the vow as an adult, but only for a specified, limited period of time (Acts 18:18). Paul also paid for the ending ceremony for other Nazarites (Acts 21:17-26).

The purpose of fasting, the purpose of vows, the purpose of spiritual discipline of whatever sort, is not discomfort. God is not brought nearer or better understood as a consequence of suffering. Pain is not the key to reaching God. God is not accessed by a ritual or the equivalent of a secret handshake. Instead, it is the discipline of the thing: the perseverance, the seeing it through to the end, that becomes the learning experience. A person gets to know God better not in the pain, but in practicing one of God’s qualities. God is not one to ever give up. He is not one to quit. To make a vow and to see it through to the end builds patience and perseverance, qualities that are valuable in life and in one’s relationship with God. After all, God may not fulfill his promises instantly. His answers to our prayers often take time. We just need to be patient.

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Yes, truth is lacking;
And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey.
Now the LORD saw,
And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.
And He saw that there was no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.
According to their deeds, so He will repay,
Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will make recompense.
So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west
And His glory from the rising of the sun,
For He will come like a rushing stream
Which the wind of the LORD drives.
“A Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.

“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.” (Isaiah 59:15-21)

Truth and justice are not as popular as some slogans might make us think. Instead, people would rather know what they’ve always known and what they’re comfortable with. And too often, good guys do finish last. Or worse, get eaten alive.

God understands that the world of human relationships and activities too often fails to work the way he’d like. It has always been thus. In the time of Isaiah, his government wasn’t overjoyed by his message; many of the people in the land were not particularly happy to hear what he had to say, either. The truth is sometimes very painful, very unpopular, and does not make anyone feel good. He predicted the destruction of his nation by the invasion of powerful neighbors. People were suffering, which is why God was bringing his judgment. Those who heard God’s message accused Isaiah of being a traitor and of hating his own countrymen.

God understood that no one would take care of rescuing his people. And none of them could save themselves. Therefore, God took the task upon himself. He recognized that salvation was dependent upon him, and him alone. He would see to it that his people came back from captivity in Babylon. Likewise, he would ultimately see to it that his people came back from their bondage to sin when he sacrificed himself on the cross.

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Thus says the LORD:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
For My salvation is about to come,
And My righteousness to be revealed.
Blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who lays hold on it;
Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
Do not let the son of the foreigner
Who has joined himself to the LORD
Speak, saying,
“The LORD has utterly separated me from His people”;
Nor let the eunuch say,
“Here I am, a dry tree.”
For thus says the LORD:
“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And hold fast My covenant,
Even to them I will give in My house
And within My walls a place and a name
Better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
That shall not be cut off. (Isaiah 56:1-5)

Do you know the name of your great grandfather? Or would you have to go look it up? Most of us never met our great grandparents and most of us don’t even know their names.

Non-Israelites who converted to Judaism too often felt excluded. In fact, after the captivity, many were in fact put out: the Samaritans and others who could not demonstrate a genealogy, a direct connection to Jewish ancestors, were excluded from participation in most aspects of worship. According to the Mosaic legislation, a descendent of Aaron who had “damaged testicles” (Leviticus 21:20) could not serve as a priest in the temple. Eunuchs would not even have testicles, of course—and so any of them descended from Aaron would be excluded. Worse for them, of course, was the simple fact that they could never have children: no descendents. When they died, there would be nothing of them left behind. But God reassured them, as he reassured the foreign convert, that they belonged to God as much as anyone else might and that if they had signed on to God’s covenant, it meant that they were as everlasting as God was: their names could never be cut off. They belonged to God and would be with him always. Our great grandchildren might not remember our names, but God will never forget us: we’ll be part of him forever.

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Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
you people who have my teaching in your hearts;
do not fear the reproach of others,
and do not be dismayed when they revile you.
For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool;
but my deliverance will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations.
Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the LORD!
Awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago!
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced the dragon?
Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep;
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to cross over?
So the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 51:7-11)

Criticism and problems are not forever. Your critics, those who trouble you: they’ll disappear like an old sweater in a closet without mothballs. Israel had nothing to fear: the Babylonians would someday be gone, just like their enemies in the past had gone away, too. God had taken care of the Egyptians, so why worry that God wouldn’t take care of the current bad guys, too?

Rahab was a mythological beast, a dragon in charge of chaos, that came to serve as a symbol for Egypt. It was often used in poetry, as it is here. In the myths, Rahab was chopped to bits by God allowing God to then create the universe. In a similar way, Egypt was overthrown by the plagues that God had sent against it, allowing God to make his people into a new nation. So the old myth was repurposed and applied to Egypt.

God promised his people that In the same way that God had delivered them from Egypt, so he would deliver them from the Assyrians and Babylonians who had taken them captive. The current oppressors would meet the same end as all those other oppressors who had dared to rise up against God’s people. God always wins and so do those on his side.

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The LORD says:
You are my people and nation!
So pay attention to me.
My teaching will cause justice
to shine like a light
for every nation.
Those who live across the sea
are eagerly waiting
for me to rescue them.
I am strong and ready;
soon I will come to save
and to rule all nations.
Look closely at the sky!
Stare at the earth.
The sky will vanish like smoke;
the earth will wear out
like clothes.
Everyone on this earth
will die like flies.
But my victory will last;
my saving power never ends. (Isaiah 51:4-6)

God offers a lifetime warranty like no other. The Earth wearing out like a garment is an image quoted by the author of Hebrews 1:11 as part of his exaltation of the Son of God, who unlike the angels, always was and always will be and who is the creator of the universe.

God’s salvation is not just for the people of Israel; instead, it is for all people everywhere and he told the Israelites that someday soon he would reach them all and rule over all the nations, not just over Israel. Israel had picked up the disease of their neighbors, the delusion that their God was small, ruling over just the lands that Israel called home. To be exiled from one’s homeland was not just to be removed from what you had known, it was also to be removed from the care—and reach—of your god.

But God told them again that he was more than they imagined: he ruled over not just Israel, but all nations and beyond that, the entire universe: look at the sky, he told them, look at the earth; in Hebrew thinking, to refer to heaven and earth in the same passage meant “everything that there is”; it was equivalent to our modern conception of “the universe.” The universe will end, but God will not. Everyone will die, but God will not. Therefore, God can be depended upon.

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“Remember this, fix it in mind,
take it to heart, you rebels.
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.
From the east I summon a bird of prey;
from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that will I bring about;
what I have planned, that will I do.
Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted,
you who are far from righteousness.
I am bringing my righteousness near,
it is not far away;
and my salvation will not be delayed.
I will grant salvation to Zion,
my splendor to Israel. (Isaiah 46:8-13)

How long a minute is depends on which side of the bathroom door you’re on. God’s sense of quick bears no resemblance to ours. So we need to have the mind of Christ.

The Persians—modern day Iran—is to the east of Israel. The “bird of prey” from the east, “a man to fulfill my purpose” is none other than Cyrus the Great. In Isaiah 45:1 God referred to Cyrus as his “anointed”—the Hebrew word “messiah.” Their captivity in Babylon would end and God would use Cyrus as the instrument to destroy the Babylonian empire and to set his people free. Isaiah’s prophesy came about a hundred years before it would come to pass, and yet God said that his “righteousness is near” and “my salvation will not be delayed.”

When Isaiah prophesied, the Babylonians hadn’t even yet conquered or attacked Jerusalem. The seventy years of captivity were yet far in the future. Before they even needed salvation from the Babylonians, God was already letting them know that he would save them. From a human standpoint, a hundred years doesn’t seem to be very soon. We become annoyed just waiting a couple of seconds for a web page to come up or two minutes for our food to heat in a microwave. God’s perspective is not nearly as rushed as ours.

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