God's compassion... (Hebrews 4) (Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 3:1-19, Numbers 20:7-13, Matt 17:1-3, 1Cor. 2:9)

"Poor Moses"
Corel Painter X3, digital cartoon
© Karen Kyle Ericson, all rights reserved.

Ok so I'm a really happy artist today!  Corel released a new version of Painter and it's working really well : )  So now I'll be able to do more cartoons again.  Yay!  Hopefully you are happy too...  Guess I better watch what I say,  they named the last tropical storm after me.  Good old Tropical Storm Karen but she fizzled, shew.

15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
(Hebrews 4:15 NKJV)

Hebrews 3

1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, 2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. 3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. 5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
Moses had a really tough job.  He made a really big mistake.  If you only read the Old Testament story, you miss the good news.  In the end, he was considered the faithful one in the Exodus.

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways. ’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest. ’”
This is a sad story.  Moses led Israel out of Egypt for 40 years.  It quit being fun after they crossed the red sea and entered the desert.   At one point they ran out of water.  And became angry.    So Aaron and Moses went to talk to God about how to get the water they needed.  God told Moses to speak to a rock and water would come out.  Here's what really happened:

 7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.(Numbers 20:7-11 NKJV)

(oops... hate when that happens.)  I imagine Moses looking around at people, thinking,"Did I do that?"  Then hopelessly searching for a rewind button so he could do it over.  He didn't get to go into the promised land.

12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
(Numbers 20:12-13 NKJV)

I know how it is.  I get angry because of something someone said or did, and fuss, and fume.  I forget all the good things God has taught me.  Finally, when I am most miserable and want to feel better:  I turn back to God, confess what I did, and ask for healing from what the other person did.  I feel much better.  This story humbles me and makes me feel so sad for Moses.  Yet because I know God, I've always known He would have something extra special for Moses. But wait. There's more!

1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
(Matthew 17:1-3 NKJV)

Moses got to come back from the dead, and speak to Jesus when He was transfigured.  We should never give up.  God knows our weakness and our intentions.  So glad this story is in the Bible.  This should be an encouragement to anyone who's messed up in ministry and felt like it was the end for them.

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man. The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
(1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV)

12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
We really need to focus on our todays.  I do for sure.


16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
I believe this is referring to those who wandered in the wilderness, following the glory of God and yet focused on themselves.  They were just going along, without really paying attention to all God had done for them.  Sounds very familiar to me.  He understood what Moses went through.
(NKJV)

Moments go by fast

Psalms 49
13 This is what happens to those who live for the moment,
who only look out for themselves:
14 Death herds them like sheep straight to hell;
they disappear down the gullet of the grave;
They waste away to nothing —
nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.
15 But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death,
he reaches down and grabs me.
16 So don't be impressed with those who get rich
and pile up fame and fortune.
17 They can't take it with them;
fame and fortune all get left behind.
18 Just when they think they've arrived
and folks praise them because they've made good,
19 They enter the family burial plot
where they'll never see sunshine again.
20 We aren't immortal. We don't last long.
Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
THE MESSAGE

As I read this Psalm, I felt this would be very hard to write about.  Some things in the Psalms are hard to read, but here's my thoughts.  I am reminded of some of the movie stars who bask in the spotlight of fame, money and false praise to manipulate them into shining on the screen.  Really they are just people, like us.  So many tragedies show up in the newspaper.  It's so sad they never knew how to really live.  To me, when it says, "live for the moment" it means selfishly doing what pleases ourselves with no regard for others.  Or allowing other people to control us.  The opposite is to be compassionate to others; helping when we can.  To know Jesus as Lord and Savior is really the only way to know what love is and stay out of hell.  Before I became a Christian I was angry and empty.  I swore like a truck driver with a high-pitched, squeaky, voice.  Becoming a Christian is mysterious.  After I accepted Christ, at the age of 16, I laughed for the first time in years.  When I read the Bible for the first time it stung.  All I saw was what was wrong with me.  But I continued to read it. Soon I began to see the other side- God's unending love and mercy.  When I visited a stranger in a Nursing Home, I felt like a princess sharing a wonderful gift.  So opposite of trying to dull my senses and the deadness inside.  There's so much more to life than money and fame.  Even sunsets are more beautiful when you understand who painted the sky.

My Grandma, who was a Christian, died at age 99.  Before she died she said, "I don't think we are supposed to live this long"- death was merciful.  Grandma Long used to crochet, listen to baseball on the radio, and watch basketball on TV.  At 80, she drove the old ladies to Church.  At 90, her hands shook so bad she could no longer hold a crochet hook.  It was hard to see.  She left behind afghans and all sorts of crocheted items.  Best of all, a message of love I will always treasure.