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| Men of God are not equal in the eyes of God Num 12 |
Numbers 12 Exodus
34:29,30,35 ; 33:17-23 ; 23:25-33
God loves everybody but He
doesn’t place equal value on all of his children. It is same with the men of
God. Our main text Numbers 12 tells the story of how Aaron and Miriam
criticized Moses because he had married an Ethiopian woman. Their attitude was
that they were prophets too, they said ‘has the Lord spoken by only Moses, has
He not spoken to us too?’ God heard it
and immediately called Moses and castigated Aaron and Miriam and delivered his
punishment.
The ministers of God are not equal;
some value more than in the eyes of God.
The Lord’s sermon to Moses’s critics
1. Moses was the chosen one that is
why He the Lord always used him more than all of them.
2. Moses was faithful to the Lord in
all things and God does value such people. An unfaithful person would
disappoint the Lord when He needs him most. The Lord is just like all of us, we
want somebody who would be there for us in the period when we need them most.
If you own a business, you want somebody who is completely faithful so that your
money is safe.
3. The Lord showed his love here.
Moses was the most humble person on earth at that time and the Lord treasured
that a lot. If you talk to parents, you would know that every parent love his
or her child, nevertheless they like some more than the others because
of certain attitudes. If you are not a
careful observer, you might think that a parent hate one and love the other.
They love one ‘more’ than the other.
Is there a value in you been the Holy Spirit’s main man?
In our text we see here how the
Lord would speak to Moses face to face or mouth to mouth. Aaron and Miriam only
heard from God in their sleep but with Moses it was live! God questioned them,
‘are you not afraid of such a person?’
This is the mark of the special ones;
this mark is something that cannot be faked. People can try to do things to
confuse the ordinary person but you can’t fake the true gift of the Holy
Spirit. The mark of the special ministers of God is not tall buildings or money
or cars as we all think. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit. When you hear
them preach, your spirit ‘bears witness’ with them.
True revelation and not heard
knowledge, spiritual authority among others are bestowed upon the special
ministers of God. And you have to know that we are all children of God and
there is no partiality with Him. Moses was the most humble person on earth and
the first love naturally rested on him. We have to impress the Holy Spirit. In
a conference, various men of God would speak; some would excite your minds with
their quotes, jargons and charismatic behaviors and win few souls or have less
impact. Another would be less charismatic and yet the impact on the people is
so massive.
The Holy Spirit always shows His
appreciation to the special ministers by bestowing on them the best of His
anointing and gifts.
So what is the catch?
Loving the Spirit and impressing
Him. It is like working for a boss and seeking promotion, you do many things to
catch the boss attention. You try to create an impressive record. It’s the same
with the Holy Spirit.
We have the perception that the
Holy Spirit is like some static idol. Our attitude shows by the way we start
prayers and just prattle into the air. We don’t even pray in a conversational
tone and when He speaks to us we don’t pay serious attention to it. We forget
His instructions too easily, oh, how we grieve the Holy Spirit everyday! Even
our normal demeanor towards the ordinary person is better than the way we treat
Him!
The Holy Spirit is a person or
‘human’ like you and me. He can be hurt (in Gen. 6:5-6 ‘God saw the wickedness
of man ….. and it grieved Him at his heart’) and if you disappoint him when He
needs you most, He would not trust and entrust you with special things you have
been praying for. The Holy Spirit is in business against the devil, he fights
our battles for us the scripture says ‘when the enemy shall come in like a
flood, the Spirit of God shall lift up a standard against Him’. He is not going
to depend on unfaithful people to lose his battles.
In our dealings with the Holy
Spirit, we either shape up or we shall be shipped out.
Mark of the special minister
1. Loves the Holy
Spirit; do you strive not to hurt Him? Are anxious to impress Him?
2. Schooled;
education impresses God. He chose Moses who was thoroughly educated in Egypt to
lead his people. Paul the educated, within a short period did more than all the
disciples of Jesus combined. God loves
professionalism my dear minister, He loves research, plans and metrics,
marketing, management, accounting, etc. Our God is a business person, He
doesn’t do things anyhow, he measures everything. When Solomon was going to
build the Lords house for Him, the Lord gave Him all the measurements and so is
the Ark that Noah built. If you are following spiritualism and not using your
education, then you are mistaken!
3. Bearer of
revelation; Daniel and John were preserved because of their ability to bring
out the revelation of God. John having been put in oil and thrown onto the
island of patmoss received revelation. God would not allow the lions to tear
Daniel apart because of the prophecies. What is your revelation man of God? Are
you preaching prosperity because that is what you were taught at the seminary
and also because somebody is preaching it and getting results?
4. Full of the Holy
Spirit; you can’t be full of the Holy Spirit if you are not sanctified and
holy. Prayer, fasting and the word would charge you with the anointing. These
things you can’t fake it for long, you would be caught.
5. Spiritual man;
this is a person who has overcome the ‘law of sin and death’ in his members.
You’ve overcome your natural proclivities to sin and you are in complete
alignment with the Lord.
6. Grounded conviction;
your conviction about your calling and ministry is complete. You don’t
vacillate, you are in full gear.
7. Complete obedience;
apart from the general guidance given you, you constantly seek the face of God
in all that you do.
8. Leader of the
church; there are people who the Lord has placed strategically to stand in for
the church. Are you a pillar too?
Mark of the ordinary ones
1. Seminary; to be
prepared for ministry is great. However, if you were not chosen and you think
you will do well because you forced yourself to attend some bible school, then
you are playing.
2. Tittles; God is not impressed with your titles except men. But it’s unfortunate for you oh man of God that God would not make you special because He doesn’t bless using titles.
3. Self-serving and over ambitiousness; ‘the zeal of the Lord has consumed me’ is good. But most ministers you can tell by the way all of a sudden they want to go to tour with their ministry in the whole Ghana. Are you following your own ambitions? God doesn’t need you to go beyond Him, He called you to help Him, and please the work is not yours. Don’t serve the work rather the lord of the work.
4. Trust in methods rather than God; most ministers put all their trust in their fasting or prayers. As long as they can fast their three days, they can get the anointing so they don’t care to live a holy life. Serving God is not a method, only baby ministers think that way. Praying long hours would help when the Lord directs you to and when you obey everything. I have seen frustrated ministers who have prayed and nothing is happening.
5. Unschooled; few people who are unschooled make impact. If an ordinary human being would not employ a JHS to manage his business how much more the wise God. Dear minister if you don’t have some education, get one.
6. Empty spirit; dryness because of unholy life, powerlessness and no fasting is the reason why church members are living in sin; the same persons at discos are the same ones we see on Sundays.
7. Full cup; when your cup for tea is full, you can’t receive more tea because it will pour. Some ministers are proud and therefore can’t receive a new revelation from the Holy Spirit.
8. A Little knowledge about the Holy Spirit.
9. Lack of conviction; when you are not sure of what you are doing or your call, you are always hesitant. How can God put you in charge of a serious task?
10. Under achievements; when you claim you have been in ministry for years what have you done? If it were somebody’s business would you still be keeping that position or you would have been fired? God doesn’t condone under performance.
2. Tittles; God is not impressed with your titles except men. But it’s unfortunate for you oh man of God that God would not make you special because He doesn’t bless using titles.
3. Self-serving and over ambitiousness; ‘the zeal of the Lord has consumed me’ is good. But most ministers you can tell by the way all of a sudden they want to go to tour with their ministry in the whole Ghana. Are you following your own ambitions? God doesn’t need you to go beyond Him, He called you to help Him, and please the work is not yours. Don’t serve the work rather the lord of the work.
4. Trust in methods rather than God; most ministers put all their trust in their fasting or prayers. As long as they can fast their three days, they can get the anointing so they don’t care to live a holy life. Serving God is not a method, only baby ministers think that way. Praying long hours would help when the Lord directs you to and when you obey everything. I have seen frustrated ministers who have prayed and nothing is happening.
5. Unschooled; few people who are unschooled make impact. If an ordinary human being would not employ a JHS to manage his business how much more the wise God. Dear minister if you don’t have some education, get one.
6. Empty spirit; dryness because of unholy life, powerlessness and no fasting is the reason why church members are living in sin; the same persons at discos are the same ones we see on Sundays.
7. Full cup; when your cup for tea is full, you can’t receive more tea because it will pour. Some ministers are proud and therefore can’t receive a new revelation from the Holy Spirit.
8. A Little knowledge about the Holy Spirit.
9. Lack of conviction; when you are not sure of what you are doing or your call, you are always hesitant. How can God put you in charge of a serious task?
10. Under achievements; when you claim you have been in ministry for years what have you done? If it were somebody’s business would you still be keeping that position or you would have been fired? God doesn’t condone under performance.
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Further Notes
Numbers
12 (KJV)
12 And Miriam and Aaron spake
against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had
married an Ethiopian woman.
2 And they said, Hath the Lord
indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.
3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which
were upon the face of the earth.)
4 And the Lord
spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three
unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.
5 And the Lord
came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle,
and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among
you, I the Lord will make myself
known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine
house.
8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and
not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord
shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant
Moses?
9 And the anger of the Lord
was kindled against them; and he departed.
10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold,
Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and,
behold, she was leprous.
11 And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee,
lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.
12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half
consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.
13 And Moses cried unto the Lord,
saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
14 And the Lord
said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be
ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after
that let her be received in again.
15 And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the
people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.
16 And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched
in the wilderness of Paran.
Exodus 33:18-23 (KJV)
18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21 And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
All scriptures copied from www.biblegateway.com/
