Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: How many times you and I misrepresent God to our children, to those that we work with? And they don't see a good representation of God's mercy and God's grace and God's love. But it could be that you're going to be held back from the blessings of God where God wants to bless you completely and use your life tremendously.

I am falling, I am falling in love. I am falling, I am falling in love. I am falling, I am falling in love with you.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. We are so glad to have you with us today as we look at godly fatherhood from the word of God. Pointing to an error in judgment on the part of Israel's leader, Moses, Raul will challenge us to evaluate whether our lives are accurately representing the Lord.

Your kids, coworkers, and others in your sphere of influence are watching, and your example will either encourage them in their spiritual journey or will deter them. Today's lesson is titled, "The Man That Misrepresents God." Here is Raul Ries in Numbers chapter 20, beginning in verse one.

Raul Ries: The children of Israel have been in the wilderness and Moses has been leading them through the wilderness. God has been working a lot of miracles and wonders. And now they're coming to the end of their wilderness experience and Moses, they're on the other side of Jordan and they're getting ready to cross the Promised Land. And this is now the second time that Moses is asked by the people to get water because they were thirsty.

And in chapter 20, we have the chapter that is called Moses's Error at Kadesh Barnea. It says in verse one, "Then the children of Israel and the whole congregation came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month and the people stayed in Kadesh, and Miriam died there and was buried there. And now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron.

And then the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying, 'If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord. Why have you brought up this congregation of the Lord into the wilderness that we and our animals should be dying here? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt and bring us to this evil place? It is not this a place of grain and figs and vines and pomegranates, nor is there any water to drink?'"

And so Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces, and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them. And then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the rod that is in your brother Aaron and gather the assembly together and speak to the rock before their eyes and it will yield its water. And you shall bring water for them out of the rock and give them a drink to the congregation and their animals."

And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he was commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered together the congregation before the rock. He says, "Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" And then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod, and then the water came out abundantly and the congregation and their animals drank.

And then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe me to hallow me in the eyes of the people or the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given to them." This now was the water of Meribah, which means contention, because the children of Israel contended with the Lord and he was hallowed among them.

Now, many times we don't understand that we could actually misrepresent God in what we are doing before the Lord. God had given Moses a very easy task to do, but because of the people's contention and murmuring and crying out, Moses got a little bit nervous and Moses got a little bit upset.

And so when he went to speak to God about giving this people a drink of water, Moses was instructed by God to go out and speak to the rock. Now, who is this rock that he's talking about? And we're going to see that in a minute in First Corinthians chapter 10. The rock here is Jesus Christ in the old, as he is in the New Testament.

Now, many times God will give us a lot of examples from the Old Testament, even unto the New Testament, to prove something that God is trying to teach the church. That somehow, even like Moses, many times we have been living a life of misrepresentation before the people of God as the people of God have seen that I have misrepresented the Lord Jehovah God.

Now, you see, it was a real simple task as Moses had gone out to the rock and spoken to the rock, everything would have been fine. But Moses had an anger problem. I don't know if anybody here has anger problems. When you get really angry and you lose your mind and you do things that you should have never done and then you actually try to retrieve back to your normal state, but it's too late because you already have said and done what you wanted to do.

And so when Moses became upset with the people, when he went out to speak to the people, he was very angry. And he called the people rebels and told them, "You want water? I'll give you water to drink." And he went over and he took his rod and he began to beat the rock once, and he beat the rock twice.

And then the water, of course, came forth because God honors his word. And when the water came forth, the children of Israel went in and began to drink the water. But while they were drinking the water, God actually told Moses, "Moses, come here. I want to talk to you. Now, Moses, when I spoke to you and gave you the command to go out and to actually represent me, I told you to represent me as a God of love, a God of grace, a God of mercy, a God that was never upset with the people because, Moses, I know the people more than you know them."

"They're always murmuring, they're always complaining, they're never satisfied, they're always wanting to go back to Egypt. And I know that I've heard their tune through the whole wilderness experience. And yet one little thing like this gets to you. And what do you do? You get so uptight that you go out and you scream at my people and then you begin to beat the rock twice."

"And what you've done, Moses, is a very, very serious sin against God. And because you have sinned against God, even though you have been walking through this wilderness for almost 40 years and you've been with me for almost 80 years and you're coming to the end of your life, you are going to see the Promised Land, but you're not going to go into the Promised Land because you have misrepresented me as an angry God when I was never angry with the people of God."

Imagine that. Imagine how Moses must have felt in his heart to know that he misrepresented God just in a fit of rage. And he said things that he should have never said and did things that he should have never done. But it was too late.

And Moses died on the other side. And Moses in his own time never got to enter into the Promised Land until he died and in Matthew chapter 17, when Jesus goes up to Mount Hermon with Peter, James, and John. Remember? Jesus Christ is there and all of the glory of God as he is transformed into the future kingdom as he's coming at the second coming. Who is there with Peter, James, and John and Jesus? Moses. And who else? And Elijah. Imagine that.

But while he was here in the flesh, Moses could not go unto the other side, and Moses had to stay on the other side, even though for 40 years he had brought the people all the way through. Why? Because of one sin. He was angry with the people. And when he was angry with the people, he misrepresented God to the people as if God was angry with the people when God was never angry with the people.

How many times you and I as believers misrepresent God to our children, to those that we work with, or maybe to your husband or to your wife or to someone that you're dealing with? And they don't see a good representation of God's mercy and God's grace and God's love.

And maybe God has been dealing in some issues of your life that these things that you're hooked to or these things that you've been doing, that if you don't take care of these things, you could be like Moses. You could not that you're going to perish, but it could be that you're going to be held back from the blessings of God where God wants to bless you completely and use your life tremendously.

Let me take you now to the other side of First Corinthians chapter 10, because there he gives us the examples for the New Testament. Because you say, "Well, that's the Old Testament." Well, let's look at the New Testament. First Corinthians chapter 10.

All these things are written for our examples, beginning with chapter 10 of First Corinthians. Now, remember that in chapter nine, Paul the apostle has been talking about what? Finishing the race. But Paul the apostle also, like Moses, has been sharing that as a child of God, as a believer, if I'm running on a race, then I have to concentrate, I have to train, and I have to give it all that I have to the Lord in order for me to finish the race.

But in chapter nine, verse 24 to 27, he's actually speaking about striving for the crown of victory. And he gives you the story where Paul the apostle says that I give myself black and blue marks all the way through because I want to keep my body down unless I have preached to others and yet I myself, because of my sinful life, will be what? Will be kept from preaching the gospel of Christ and be disqualified from the service of Jesus Christ. Not that somebody's going to be lost eternally, but put on the shelf where God cannot use your life as a child of God because of your sin.

You see, you can be a Christian and if you're a carnal Christian and you're continually living in sin, then how can God use my life to bring glory and honor to his name when I misrepresented God to the people of God? It's an impossibility. You can't do it. It'll never happen.

I am falling, I am falling in love. I am falling, I am falling in love. I am falling, I am falling in love with you.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Our goal here is to help you live a God-glorifying life in obedience to God's word. Visit somebodylovesyou.com to look through our full range of resources. And if you have Bible questions for Raul, you can email him at pastorraul@somebodylovesyou.com. Now back to more of our study, "The Man That Misrepresents God."

Raul Ries: When he uses that word to be disqualified there in verse 27 of chapter nine, it means to be a castaway. To be a castaway in the kingdom. It would be like a library of books that have never been used for the past 10, 15 years and all they have done is they've collected a lot of dust. They're there to be read, but nobody really has read them or touched them.

And I believe there's a lot of people like that, not only within the church here, but in every church, there are people that have become castouts or castaways in the kingdom of God because of the sin that so easily besets them.

So Paul the apostle in chapter 10, verse one, says, "Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all of our fathers were under the cloud," that is the Shekinah glory of God that was leading them, "and they all passed through the Red Sea, and they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food," which was what? Manna.

And notice, "and all drank of the same spiritual drink, for they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock," here it is, "is who? Christ." You see? So in the Old Testament, it's a typology of Christ, the rock of our salvation. "But with most of them," speaking of who? Speaking of the children of Israel in the wilderness with Moses.

"But with most of them, God was not well pleased with them, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness." Notice how God says that even among his own people, there are people that will be scattered in the wilderness. People that have the life of unbelief, they will never, ever enter the Promised Land. They will never, ever see what God has prepared for them.

These people that had unbelief in their hearts never went across to see the Promised Land. They died on the other side because of unbelief. And unbelief is a great sin before the Lord God. Unbelief will keep you from heaven.

Look what else he says. "And now these things became our examples." This is why it happened so that God could show us these things. "Now these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted." What was their problem? The problem was the sin of lust. Lusting after strange women, lusting after gold and silver, lusting after all those things that kept them from the Promised Land.

Look what else he says. That is desiring the old life to go back to Egypt and have the garlics and the watermelons and all that stuff, which they did not have. They were in bondage in Egypt. Egypt is a type of the world, of the old life.

Verse seven. He says, "And do not become idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat, to drink, and rose up to play.'" Now what does that mean? The word "to play" there is literally playing sexually. They had a real wild party where they were getting drunk and everybody was lying with everybody sexually.

And that's when God got angry and God wiped out most of them, killed them all in the wilderness because of their lifestyle, because they were supposed to be a light to the heathen world, as the church is today to the heathen world. You see? These things are written for our examples as we look into the past.

Verse eight. "Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day, 24,000 fell." Not 23, literally 24,000 in the book of Numbers. 24,000 died in one day because they were in sexual sin. Imagine that.

Now, just because God today is not wiping out people and they're not dying, don't be deceived. Because Paul the apostle in First Corinthians chapter 11, in the chapter of the Holy Communion, of the bread and the cup, says that the reason that many people were coming into the church and they were eating and drinking the cup, eating the bread, drinking the cup in an unworthy manner, which means they were coming in and they were not changing from their old life to a new life, what happened to them?

Some became weak, some became what? Sick, and some even died. Are people still getting sick and weak and dying today? Yes, they are. According to Paul. That's what happened to the Corinthian church because they were a very carnal church that did not fear God when it came to the holy things of God.

Look what else he says, verse nine. "Nor let us tempt Jesus Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by the serpents." What does he mean by that? Well, again, in the book of Numbers. Here, God told Moses to make a rod and to make this pole and to make it out of brass and to put a brass snake on top of it.

And as the children of Israel were in the wilderness, these vipers came along and began to bite the people. And as they were biting the people, the people were reaching down and they were cursing. And all they had to do, God says, as you look up to the brass serpent, you will be healed. But because of their unbelief, as they got bitten, they did not look up, but they looked down, and they died in their sins.

That's why Jesus used that same example in John chapter three. "When Moses lifted up the brass serpent in the wilderness, even the Son of Man is going to be lifted up," where? On the cross. A symbol of God's judgment, brass. You see? In the Old Testament. And here, these things are written for our examples.

Look what he says. "And let us not tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor let us murmur, as some of them also murmured," notice the sin of murmuring, "and were destroyed by the destroyer." Who's that? The Angel of Death came along and wiped them out and killed them. The Angel of Death came by night.

Now, all these things, I want you to underline this, "now all these things happened to them," notice, "as examples and they were written for our admonition of whom the end of the ages have come." You see? These things are warnings to us so that we can learn not to be like the people of God from the past, but to be better in the present. To fear God and keep his commandments and to know who God really is within our own lives.

Verse 12. "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." Notice that. Thinking that, "Hey, I got it all together and nothing's going to happen to me. You might fall, but I'll never fall." Be careful. Because when you think you're strong, you will become weak.

And the things that you thought you already conquered in your life, believe me, new things will arise in your flesh. And in the things you thought you were strong, there'll be things you'll become weak in and the enemy's sin will come in and tempt you and then he'll try to destroy you.

There's always an area in my life that I got to deal with every day of my life. Because once I conquer something, God shows me something else. That's the way the whole Christian life is. We never arrive until we go to heaven. You see?

But then again, look what it says, verse 13. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation, he will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it."

You notice what he says? If you're tempted with your girlfriend or your boyfriend or if your husband and wife and you're being tempted by the secretary in the office or somebody at the grocery store, whatever it may be, you can't say when you fall, "Well, man, God tempted me." No, God cannot be tempted with evil.

God always has a door for us to run out in that door, just like Joseph. So these things are written for our examples. And God is telling us here that with every temptation, there's a door open for you to run out that door. You don't have to stay. You don't have to give in.

God is not going to force you in any way, but he wants you by obedience through his love. I love God so much, how can I do this thing when I know that it's going to hurt him and it's going to hurt my relationship with him? You see? That's why these things are written for our examples.

I am falling, I am falling in love. I am falling, I am falling in love. I am falling, I am falling in love with you.

Guest (Male): How wonderful it is to know that our merciful God can redeem our mistakes and equip us to accurately represent him. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's lesson was titled, "The Man That Misrepresents God." We've made an unedited copy available to you for a donation of $5 or more. To get that, just call us at 800-634-9165.

And as you contemplate ways you can better reflect the Lord's love in your home, we'd like to offer you Raul's six-lesson Father's Study. It's available on both CD and flash drive. Every lesson will inspire you to pursue more in your own relationship with God.

You'll see that when you spend daily time in the word and in prayer, the Lord will shore up your faith and strengthen you to be the spiritual leader of your family. Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's six-part series for fathers.

We'll send you the CD set for $19 or the thumb drive for $10. The number again is 800-634-9165. You can also order this series by writing to us at Somebody Loves You Radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California, 91765.

Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries is completely listener-supported. We are thankful for your partnership and every contribution is tax-deductible. Join us again next time for the conclusion of this series for Christian fathers. The world is full of fractured families, but you can strengthen yours by immersing yourself in God's word and looking to him to help you be the spiritual leader of your home. Here is Raul once again.

Raul Ries: God will give you the power and the strength to bear it. It literally means in the Greek, to endure it. You can endure temptation. God is not trying to tempt you to sin, but he's trying to build character and he's trying to bless you and he's trying to use you.

And let me say this. Every time you fail a test, you gotta retake that test until you pass it. So if you keep failing, you're gonna continue to do it until you pass. And once you pass, other tests will come. But every test is because God wants you to endure and God wants to use your body, and God wants to use your mind, and your hands, and your feet, and your life to bring glory and honor to his holy name.

You see, that's why we tell young people, "Hey, avoid fornication, man. Don't get into fornication." Why? Because God has a husband and a wife for you, and what will happen in fornication or sexual sin before marriage? What does it do?

You'll not only become bitter, but people will use you and you will not be in the perfect will of God and you will not have peace with God because you're sinning against your body, because your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. You see? So that's why God wants you to save yourself for him. Flee immorality. Flee fornication. Because God has a purpose for your life. You see?

I am falling, I am falling in love with you.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.