Blame is a funny thing. It cannot remain stationary, it has to go somewhere. It’s like a ray of light beaming out, headed into the darkness from its source. Moving away from where it originates. You see, when a hard heart cannot process the predicament it finds itself in, it generates blame. And as it does, it projects it out into the world, searching for a place to settle. A hard heart cannot process responsibility and it morphs into blame. Why does it have this need? Why this process? The sin-filled heart cannot retain the blame, it must shed it. Blame moves guilt to another.
This morning we see a powerful chapter in Numbers 14. In chapter 13, we saw the spies return from the Promised Land with a divided report of whether or not the land could in fact be taken or not. Out of the 12 spies, 10 said it could not be done yet two men stood in great faith, knowing that with God, all things are possible. We see in the subsequent opening verses of chapter 14, the people decided to side with the ten. They had forsaken God and would not trust in Him to lead them into the Promised Land as He told them He would. Disbelief fueled by fear of the unknown.
But what results from their decision to forgo the Promised Land is paramount to our study. In fact, as I studied this morning, I had to check the calendar as I thought I might have been reading the news from today. In a strange twist only a hard heart can produce, the people immediately blame Moses and Aaron for their situation. What? Yep, read on.
Now recall that up to this point Moses has been receiving directions from God daily. Directly from God. Moses would then in turn give the directions to Aaron and the people. Easy cheesy. Simple as salad. God instructed Moses about the plagues in Egypt. God instructed Moses about the last major plague that sprang the Israelites from Egypt, the Passover. God had Moses raise His staff and God then parted the Red Sea and saved the entire Israelite nation from destruction. God instructed Moses about the manna to feed the people. The same with the 10 Commandments, the same with tabernacle, the same with the camp and on and on. Finally, we see that God instructed Moses to bring the Israelites to the border of the Promised Land. Out of great disbelief in their God, the people choose fear instead of God. In their fear they move into rebellion and they decide to forgo the land God has promised them. And the result of their decisions? They blame Moses and Aaron for their plight.
“That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” Numbers 14:1-3
Did you just see what happened? The blame for their current situation projected outward. Blame always moves away from the heart that cannot process or accept its situation. They blame the only people they can, their leaders. I’ve been blessed to work with some great companies. For years I have worked in various roles, many of them in management. In fact, my undergraduate is in business management. I thoroughly enjoy manning the helm of a team and loving and leading them in the direction of our goals. But there is a constant. A downside to being a leader. Anything that goes wrong, you get the blame, whether it was your fault or not. It’s just the way of the world. And it’s no different here in Numbers 14. Who else could the people blame? Mike Miller from the Judah tribe? Sally Smith from the tribe of Manasseh? Nope, won’t work. You gotta go higher. You gotta blame it all on the top dog. In a marvel of physics, blame trickles up.
But blame has another interesting quality, it multiplies. The more voices that project blame, the more momentum the blame garners. Like the boulder chasing Indiana Jones, it gains speed until it cannot be stopped. The blame eventually gains a life of its own and moves and pursues who it may, a ball of misdirected anger, frustration and fear. And as over 2 million people blame Moses and Aaron for their own failure, where does it lead? It leads to a place that only Satan would condone.
“And they said to each other, “We should choose a new leader and go back to Egypt.” “Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones.” Numbers 14:4, 10
Wow, hard to read and hard to believe. The boulder of blame quickly escalates from projection, to rejection to death threats. You see, the sin of blame just like any other sin, it escalates and builds. The seed of sin starts out small, buds and if allowed quickly grows. We see a pattern emerge here that is alarming in its continuity into our current age. If your unhappy with your situation, blame your leaders. If your unhappy with your life because of any reason, blame your leaders. If you’re living a life of sin and disbelief and you’re in rebellion to God, reject your leaders. You see, how you treat your leaders is sign of the heart that beats within your chest. How you deal with your leaders today is indicative of how you treat God today. If you easily reject your Heavenly leader, you will easily reject your Earthly leaders. A rebellious heart does not discriminate.
Let’s stroll through recent US leaders. Clinton, hated and despised and almost impeached. George Bush Jr, hated, ridiculed and endlessly mocked. Obama, disrespected, mocked and threatened to be impeached. Trump, utterly despised, hated and currently in impeachment. Do you see a pattern here? It’s not the leader, it’s the people. The first thing the Israelites did was try to remove and replace Moses, some insane line of logic that says that if they had a new leader their own personal rebellion would somehow be alleviated or satiated. False logic and sinful thinking.
Our world today is no different than it was 3000 years ago. Leaders are blamed no matter what, right or wrong. We see a history in Numbers 14 that has never ceased to be repeated since. Roman emperors in 100 BC, British Monarchy in 1700AD, and world leaders in 2020. A historical constant of blame being projected onto whatever leader might exists. Don’t blame the leader, turn the blame inward and ask God to work in your heart. The way you see your leaders is really the way you see God.
The reformation of a nation doesn’t start with one leader, it starts with a million hearts that worship and serve Almighty God.
Comments