Insight for Living

Speaker 1

Have you ever heard of the peril principle? According to Chuck Swindoll, it's a common paradox when we're walking closely with God. You see, most of us would assume that life gets easier when we're in harmony with God. But actually, the closer we walk with God, the more challenges we face. That's the peril principle.

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll teaches from the Book of Numbers. In this Old Testament record, we find Moses in a vulnerable position. And we discover how to rise above the unwanted emotions that sometimes drag us down.

Speaker 2

Now, Numbers, chapter 10. Let's discover the perils of godly Moses. Look at verse 11 of chapter 10. It came about in the second year, in the second month, on the 20th of the month that the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony. And the sons of Israel set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the clouds settled down in the wilderness of Paran.

Verse 17. The tabernacle was taken down. The sons of Gershon, the sons of Merari were carrying the tabernacle. They set out. Now you would think that these people who had just seen the law of God written with His own finger and just built this shiny, golden, beautiful piece of construction from God's own mind, that there would be a hundred percent excitement in moving to the land of Canaan. But you know, there wasn't. There's always a group of people that don't want to walk with God who hang around a larger group of people that do want to walk with God. You found that true. They're called in scripture the rabble.

Look at chapter 11, for example. Here we have these people on their way to Canaan, and all of a sudden we've got a group that doesn't want to square away. Verse 1. Now the people became like those who complain of adversity. A characteristic of the rabble is grumbling. These people are grumbling in the hearing of the Lord. And the Lord heard it. His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. They cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out.

Verse 4. And the rabble. Here's the crowd in this camp of thousands of Israelites. There was a segment made up of a mixed multitude that came out of Egypt with the people of God who were constantly a thorn in Moses' side. And God called them back in Exodus 12:38. The mixed multitude. Here he calls them the rabble. Look at what they said. They had greedy desires. And they wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt. The cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. Now our appetite is gone. I want to say, that's what you get for eating stuff like that. No wonder it's gone. There's nothing at all to look at except this manna."

And so Moses heard them gripe and gripe and gripe. Verse 10. Put yourself in the sandals of Moses. For a moment, picture this. Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families. And before long, he wears down each man in the doorway of his tent. The anger of the Lord was kindled, and Moses was depressed. Now you're going to read the words in verses 11 to 15 that are going to surprise you. They came from Moses. They're the words of a discouraged man.

Moses said to the Lord, "Why hast thou been so hard on thy servant? Why have I not found favor in thy sight that thou hast laid the burden of all this people on me? Was it I who conceived all this people? Did I bring them forth that you should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries an infant?' Verse 13. Where am I to get the meat to give to these people? For they weep before me saying, 'Give us meat?' Verse 14. I alone am not able to carry this people. It's too burdensome for me. So if thou art going to deal thus with me, kill me at once. Oh, man, he's really low, isn't he? If I found favor in your sight, don't let me see my wretchedness."

You understand how he felt? Ever been that low? Ever been so discouraged that you just feel like, you know, the faster you go, the behinder you get, the deeper you commit yourself, the heavier the burden, the faster the pace, it seems, the greater the anchors and the greater the dreams God gives you. There's always the rabble that puts down the dream, and you get discouraged.

We've got a young man in our church who teaches in a West Los Angeles school. This man teaches math to a group of kids. And you know they don't want to learn math. A few of them don't. So he says, really, what I'm teaching is a class on discipline. And in the meantime, I throw in a little math. He told me some time ago he spent part of a class getting ahold of a kid, finally tackled him and got him on the desk. And he said, "I wanted to tell him some things." He never told me what he wanted to tell the boy when he got him on the desk, but he got him on that desk and that was part of the classroom.

You think he ever faces discouragement? Man, he's got a degree in mathematics. He knows how to communicate, but he's spending his time putting out fires not related to his calling. Let me give you a little advice. Soon as a group gets large enough to include the rabble, they're going to be there. You have a Bible class, and it increases large enough in size, you're going to get some rabble. You go to a school or seminary, Bible institute, you name it, you're going to find the rabble there. You get in a church of any size, you will find the rabble.

It's true of groups in a church, Sunday school classes, choirs, no matter what, when you get a large enough group together, you will find the rabble. And you want your life to be a life that's pleasing to the Lord. You want very much to count for Christ, but you will be rubbing shoulders with those that don't want that at all. If you don't watch it, you're going to get discouraged.

You know, one of the greatest battles I faced in seminary, I was just naive enough to believe that those men who taught us were men of God. And I was just strange enough to think that if you really applied yourself in study, it was worth it all. But there was a percentage at the school that couldn't care less. And I had the battle of discouragement around some of those guys. And I didn't. I wasn't the, you know, super saint, never sinned and came through un, you know, untarnished. But the point is, my goals, it seemed, didn't fit a number that were there. So we had some confrontations. It was unpleasant.

Now, if your focus is upon those, you will stay discouraged. That's what happened to Moses. He just heard one tenth too many crying, and finally he just said, "Lord, take my life." That's the ultimate of depression. Now, the Lord didn't take his life, but He took care of the problem. Moses was again trying to do too much. And the Lord spread out the workload. You can read it for yourself, beginning with verse 16, all the way down through 25, He just took care of the load.

But now look, as soon as that peril was over, another one came right on the heels of this one. Remember we mentioned that you will be facing perils as you walk with God. Look at verse 26. Two men had remained in the camp. Now that doesn't mean much to you unless you think. Remember that Moses has said, all of you come out of the camp and get together under your heads. There are 70 men that he had appointed under God to carry the load. And there were two men that didn't come out. The name of one was Eldad. The name of the other was Medad. The spirit rested upon them. That's important. These weren't rebels. They were led by the Spirit of God to stay in the camp. And it says in verse 26, they prophesied in the camp.

So a young man ran and told Moses and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." Meaning what? Well, that's Moses' job. He's the prophet. And if anybody's going to prophesy, let Moses do it. That is, that's the way that young man saw it. And he said he was kind of a tattler. He said, "Moses, a couple of fellows are not getting with the program. And of all things, they're in there doing your job." Look at the next verse, Joshua. Yeah, that's the same one. The book bears his name. The son of Nun. The attendant of Moses from his youth answered and said, "Moses, my lord, restrain them."

Now what's the problem? Well, it's the peril of jealousy and indispensability. They were jealous for Moses' role, and they thought, "Moses, you can't let them get away with that. You're the prophet. What's Eldad and Medad doing in there? I wonder if they were twins. With names like that, what are they doing in there? Prophesying." That's your job. And Joshua says, "Hey, Moses, put a stop to it." Let me show you how broad-shouldered Moses is. Look at the next verse. It's just great. Moses said to them, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them." Wow, talk about unselfish. There wasn't an ounce of jealousy in that man of God.

But I'll tell you, when you are godly and you want to count for Christ and you're gifted, you will face the peril of jealousy. The feeling at times of being indispensable for some particular ministry. And there will be those around you who will plant those seeds in your heart so as to prompt jealousy and the feeling of indispensability. "What's she doing up there? I could teach better than she." Or, "You know, that man bears watching. He's trying to take over. Everybody knows I'm the leader." Or as some counselor might say, "You know, you're the leader. You better watch out for him," or "I can't afford to step down. I started this organization." Ever heard those words? Ever said them? Those are words of indispensability.

Listen, everybody can afford to step down if God's enthroned. Some of the most jealous, suspicious people in the world are so-called Christian public figures who are very enamored with their track record. And it's terribly important to them that they drop the right names and that they be seen by the right people and that they have a name. And God help the one whose name gets close to theirs. I came across a neat poem. Sometime when you are feeling important. Sometimes when your ego is way up. Sometimes when you take it for granted that you are the prize-winning pup. Sometimes when you feel that your absence would leave an unfillable hole. Just follow these simple instructions and see how it humbles your soul.

Take a bucket, fill it with water. Put your hand in it up to your wrist. Now pull it out fast. And the hole that remains is the measure of how you will be missed. You may splash all you like as you enter and stir up the water galore. But stop and you'll find in a minute it's right back where it was before. Amen. You're not indispensable. I'm not indispensable. Nobody's indispensable but Jesus Christ. He's the head, he's the president, he's the founder, he's the leader. And when he moves one and demotes him and sets up another, he calls the shots. You don't even have to live under the threat of that. He's sovereign.

The problem is, when we get to thinking we're sovereign, He gave you that job. He can take it just as fast. Just do your work, lie low, and exalt Christ. Now you would think, wow, since Moses passed that test, man, that was it. No, as a matter of fact, chapter 12 introduces a third test. Let me give you the peril. And then let's look at the passage that gets better. As you work your way through these perils, the third one is the peril of being misunderstood and misrepresented. They go together. People who are misunderstood are misrepresented to others.

Now, that happened to Moses. It is very possible that Moses' wife Zipporah died and he married another woman who is described in verse one of chapter 12 as a Cushite. Look at the response to this choice that Moses made. Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses. Wait a minute. Who's Miriam and Aaron? Who were they? They're Moses' sister and brother, aren't they? If your memory is back into Exodus, you'll remember that. Now his sister and his brother started a whispering campaign against Moses. Why? Because of the Cushite woman whom he had married.

Now this troubles some who read this. Because God stood in Moses' defense, and yet he didn't marry an Israelite. Wait a minute. The Lord had specifically declared an Israelite was never to marry a Canaanite. She was a Cushite. It's very possible she was an Asiatic, not necessarily an African. But the point is, she wasn't one in the camp. And furthermore, Moses didn't turn to Miriam and Aaron, ask for their counsel, or promote them to his level. So they didn't like it. Look at what they said. Verse 2. "Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses?" Underscore only. That's the slander. "Has He not spoken through us as well?" And the Lord heard it? Uh oh. In every slander, there is a gossiper and a gossipee, and between the two is the Lord. And before the gossipee ever hears the comment, the Lord has intercepted what was said.

They misunderstood and they misrepresented this man of God who made a decision regarding a wife that they couldn't understand. And because they couldn't, and in all honesty, because they weren't promoted in the process, they tucked their thumbs under their suspenders and pranced around saying, "Look, we are authorities, just like Moses." Now verse 3 sets the stage. Moses was very humble, more than any man on the face of the earth. Verse 4. Suddenly the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, "You three come out to the tent of meeting." When I read that, a funny little chill runs up and down my back. Can you imagine? Just remember those days when you were in school and you got a note to go to the principal's office. Remember that? Oh man, you looked for the first fire escape. You just couldn't believe you were to go to the principal's office. God said, "You three come to my office."

Well, Moses had nothing to lose. He just was delighted to go back in the Lord's presence. But not Miriam and Aaron. You will notice they came out. You bet they did. When the Lord said come, they came. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent. And He called Aaron and Miriam. When they came forward, He said, "Hear now my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my household. With him I speak mouth to mouth."

Speaker 1

This is Insight for Living, and we are midway through a classic message from Chuck Swindoll delivered many years ago. He titled this study in the Book of Numbers Grumblings Against a Godly Leader.

I'll share our contact information with you in just a moment, along with details about Bible study resources for this teaching series.

But first, Chuck, more than 45 years have passed since our very first broadcast in 1979, and some would assume that you're ready to slow down and maybe retire.

Speaker 3

I smile every time I hear Mark Twain's unique retort. When the rumors were traveling about his death, he made the comment, "The news concerning my death has been greatly exaggerated." That's a great line. I would say the news of my retirement has been greatly exaggerated. I feel like saying that today regarding the news of my retirement, as if retirement means I'm going home. Closing the door, pulling the blinds, locking things up, sitting here to just wait for time to pass. Until I pass. Are you kidding? There's nothing within me that wants anything to do with a life like that.

Let's look at it this way. I've left the pulpit ministry at Stonebriar Community Church as of October 20th. I've been there for just a little bit more than 26 years, which seemed long enough. All of that happened on the same weekend of my 90th birthday. So I felt like this is a perfect time to step away from the pulpit. Though Cynthia and I will be in regular attendance as worshipers at the church we love and have founded and have enjoyed over all of these years. So believe me, I'm very much alive and I will be very active in this new chapter of my life.

I'm moving a few hundred yards away from our church to the other building adjacent to the church property, which is the building that we call our international headquarters for Insight for Living Ministries. While there, I want to do podcasts and interviews. I want to do some mentoring of our international students who hopefully one day will become my voice in their homeland, using their language as they spread the gospel as I have taught it through Insight for Living Ministries. You could think of it as there being my voice in their homeland, and we are expanding that with great delight and with great care that we do it well.

I'm also going to be writing my memoir. I haven't quite begun that, but I'm thinking about it and that will probably be my final volume, so I'm in no hurry to do that. But I look forward to it. Most of all, I want all of you to understand my energy and efforts will turn from what was once given to the church to Insight for Living Ministries. While I'm there, Cynthia and I are sharing the same office space and I'm involved in touching the lives of people on our staff, friends of ours who have been close to the ministry through the years, and as I mentioned earlier, many of our international students who are still preparing for the ministry and would like to have some time with me personally.

All of this is exciting to me and it has been for these 45 plus years as I poured my life into this ministry that Cynthia and I founded back in 1979. By the way, from the very beginning we have never had support from some large church, from some big denomination or someone who says, "Just give us a call when you need a couple of thousand dollars and we'll send the gift to you." We have none of that. We've operated by faith since we began. We've started like that and we will continue like that because we believe that's the way we can sense God's pulse in leading us in the direction we should go.

That also tells me and should inform you that your gifts are vital as they have always been. From our very first broadcast to the last one you listen to, we are relying on those who love our ministry to support our ministry with prayer and with your financial gifts as you're able to give a particular year-end gift at this time of the year. We would be very grateful if you could be unusually generous. It would help us so much as we launch the new chapter in our history, and I look forward to ministering to you with great delight and with renewed energy as the old chapter of my life turns and the new chapter of my life begins. And remember, I'm not retiring.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Chuck. Let me give you our contact information so you can reach out to Insight for Living. We'd love to hear from you. To send a year-end contribution in the mail, just address your envelope to Insight for Living, Post Office Box 5000, Frisco, TX 75034. You can also call us at 800-772-8888 or go online to insite.org.

I want to remind you that Insight for Living offers helpful resources that are paired with Chuck's Hallmark series on Moses. For instance, we're pleased to offer a brand new resource called the Searching the Scriptures Bible Study. With your Bible open to the Old Testament and your pen at the ready to jot down personal observations, this workbook will deliver life-changing application. The Searching the Scriptures Bible Study for Moses and more can be found at insite.org or by calling us at 800-772-8888.

Sometimes leadership is exhausting. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindoll describes how to guard against emotional fatigue. Thursday on Insight for Living.

The preceding message, "Grumblings Against a Godly Leader," was copyrighted in 1976, 1978, 1981, 1985, 1998, and 2024, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.