This is the Bible Book Club, and we're in the book of numbers. Welcome to the club.

Last episode was a sad one for our man, Moses, as he lost both his siblings, Miriam first and then Aaron,

and then for the remainder of the journey, he will lead alone. And this must

have been a great personal hardship for him. Sandwiched between the loss of his family, Moses,

makes a mistake, one that cost him the chance to see the promised land. It seemed like a small

mistake. Another water war was brewing, and Moses got frustrated with the Israelites for their lack of trust in

God's provision for food and water and then he took it out on the rock by striking it rather than

speaking instead of asking God what he wanted to do he did something himself and that's never a good thing

poor Moses and now I can't go in the promised land like everyone else in his generation

well chapter 20 was

true a low point for Moses. And there is this common pattern in life. I hope you've seen it

before if you haven't watched for it because we can learn from it. And that is this. Just before

there is a victory, there is usually tension, struggle, and

distraction. It's as if the enemy knows we're about to be useful to God's plan and he tries to

thwart us. He tries to pull us back into chaos in order to limit our effectiveness.

Moses's low point in the last episode precedes a breakthrough for Israel in

chapter 21. This chapter is a turning point in the wilderness wanderings. God's perseverance

with Israel begins to pay off, and there is a glimmer of hope for God's people. Now, I want to give you a theme alert,

and that is this theme that we're going to see of wrestling with the will of God. The rise and fall

of Israel as a nation is symbolic of the rising and falling pattern in our own lives. When Israel obeys God's will,

there is a rise. They're successful. When Israel rebels against God's will, there is a fall.

We struggle with sin as Israel struggled. We have our ups and our downs. And most of our struggles with sin occur because we struggle with God's will.

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