And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. (Numbers 21:4)
- The Path of Discouragement
The children of Israel were on a pilgrimage from the land of Egypt to Canaan. Israel, like us, expected the faith journey to be easy and a strait line to “The Promise Land.”
The life of the Israelites took a turn for the worse when the king of Edom refused to let them travel “the king’s highway;” thus, they were forced to travel into a baron, mountainous desert. (Num. 20)
Discouragement came when God’s directions did not meet their expectations.
- The Poison of Discouragement
And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. (Num. 21:5)
Numbers 21:5 records for us the eighth and final time Israel murmured. Murmur means, “To grumble; to complain; to utter complaints in a low, half articulated voice; to utter sullen discontent; with at, before the thing which is the cause of discontent.”
Discouragement caused Israel to murmur against God, Moses, and the Manna.
The Poison of Blaming God
Israel was walking an appointed way. They were led with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God could have destroyed Edom like He did the Egyptian army, but He allowed them to persecute Israel.
Scripture tells us to “trust in the Lord with all thine heart” (Prov. 3:5). What the Edomites meant for evil God meant for good! (Gen. 50:20); “all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28); even when God chastens us, it is “for our benefit!” (Heb. 12:7-11)
Discouragement is poison because it doubts God. It is the opposite of faith that pleases God. Discouragement means: “To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits; to deject; to deprive of confidence.”
The Poison of Blaming Man
God gave Israel the greatest leader of the Old Testament and the meekest man on the face of the earth as their leader. How easy it is to blame a spouse, a boss, a pastor, or even our own children for personal discouragement!
The Poison of Blaming Manna
The people “loathed” the Manna, for it was all they had to eat. Manna, “this light bread,” was angels’ food and tasted like wafers and wild honey. It pictured the daily bread of Scripture. God was teaching Israel in the wilderness the same lesson that Jesus quoted to Satan: “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Duet. 8:3; Matt. 4:4). The Living Word and the written Word are sufficient for any wilderness through which we might be traveling (John 6:48-59).
- The Penalty for Discouragement
“And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.” (Num. 21:6)
“But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.” (I Cor. 10:5)
“Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (I Cor. 10:9-11)
God doesn’t treat discouragement lightly. The plague of the poisonous serpents was a reflection of the souls of the discouraged nation (“The soul of the people was much discouraged”). The serpent in the garden got Eve to question God’s goodness; and, the day she ate of the fruit, she spiritually died! (Gen. 3:5). Satan was doing the same work to the household of Israel.
Discouragement is a destructive poison to our lives.
- The Plan to Cure Discouragement
And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.(Num. 21:8)
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:14-15)
“Look and Live” – God didn’t rid the camp of serpents, and He doesn’t rid our lives of potentially discouraging situations. He does, rather, give us a place and a person to look upon. Look away from your wounds and look up!
Look in faith! “Whosoever believeth in him…” Looking to the cross, we die to our own personal expectations and yield the control of our life back to Him. We believe in Him. We trust Him in “the way” that He has led us.
At the cross we learn to say with Job: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15) “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)
This is a blessing