Get The Story Straight

But Moses objected. “What will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?” he asked the LORD. “They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing your people from Egypt. Now if you destroy them, the Egyptians will send a report to the inhabitants of this land, who have already heard that you live among your people. They know, LORD, that you have appeared to your people face to face and that your pillar of cloud hovers over them. They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Now if you slaughter all these people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will say, ‘The LORD was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.’ [Numbers 14.13-16]

I guess I never really payed much attention to what this passage actually says in all the years I have read it. Moses' plea to God was indeed, "What will people think?" but there is more in what he said.

As far as the future of Israel was concerned, it didn't matter what the Egyptians thought - they had already been defeated. What mattered was the opinion of those inhabiting the land where Israel was going - those who had not yet been defeated. Moses appealed to God regarding His reputation recognizing that Egypt would not tell the whole story!

Sound familiar? It should.

As I asked the Father how this passage points to Jesus, He made me understand: Egypt represents Satan. Even though Jesus forever broke Satan's bondage over God's people, from Satan's defeated position he still whispers thoughts of deception blaming people's problems on a weakness of God instead of acknowledging them as the result of their own sin thus making them appear weak and powerless to future adversaries.

Boom!

Moses knew that God was fully able to deliver Israel. But Moses also knew that deception would get involved and the story would be slanderously skewed by Egypt (what else could one expect from a defeated foe?). Egypt's erroneous report to the Canaanites would embolden them against God instead of instilling fear of God in recognizing that Israel's demise was their own doing (by sin).

A little word about thoughts and imaginations would be helpful here from the Apostle Paul:

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. [2 Corinthians 10.3-5]

A revelation of Jesus sets the story straight. It is worth noting here that a humble and repentant attitude by God's people will go far in preventing the lies of Satan from taking root. Our strength is in our humility!

Father, thank You for Your amazing Word. Help me to understand that the remnants of Jesus' foe, Satan, are Satan's falsehoods planted in the minds of men to cause doubt and fear. May I be found humble and repentant at all times so as to avoid the pride and arrogance of false accusations against You by declaring myself innocent.