Under The Oakes

Have you ever heard the phrase we have two ears & one mouth, so we can hear twice as much as we talk? I don’t know who came up with that phrase, but they clearly had never met me! I seem to talk twice as much as I listen, & I have 17 years of hearing tests from working in a loud factory to prove I have excellent hearing! Sometimes I need to stop talking & listen more. I try to do this especially with my wife & children. More than once I will interject my two cents, before realizing that I am hijacking the conversation. I then will zip my lips & try to let the conversation return to normal. Sometimes I need repitition in my life. I know I need to hear things WAY more than once. 

This week, I was doing some prepping for teaching Bible next week & I came across a verse that was full of hard to read names & it made me question why God would include these foreign names & places in His word. (He obviously didn’t consult me when writing scripture, & we are all better for it, trust me!) However, I came across a few names that I swear I have heard before. Let’s see if you have heard of them either: King Sihon & King Og. Alright, have you heard of them? If not, don’t feel bad, I knew I had heard those names before, but couldn’t exactly place where. 

Following some well placed study notes, it brought me to Numbers chapter 21. Where we read one of the most famous stories out of the book of Numbers. The story of the Bronze snake in verses 4-9. However, King Sihon & King Og weren’t in that story at all…. They actually don’t appear until after that story. You can read them on your own if you want, but I’ll quickly summarize below. 

King Sihon’s story is found in Numbers 21:21-30. Israel is in the midst of their 40 year wandering & they ask King Sihon, King of the Amorites, to allow safe passage through their land. They promise to be on their best behavior while in his territory, stay on the main road, & not help themselves to any vineyards, fields or even water. Instead of simply saying no, Sihon says no with an iron fist! He gathered his troops & rode out to battle against the Israelites were he was quickly defeated (all glory goes to God)! They even wrote a quick song about this battle you can read in Numbers 21:27-30. Not sure anyone has put music to those words yet…. 

We then read of King Og’s story immediately after in Numbers 21:31-35. Israel is now living in the land of the Amorites. They weren’t planning on living there, they were just going to pass through, but after Sihon wanted to fight them, they defeated him & took over his land (for now). Og & his soldiers ride out to fight the Israelites & God promises the same victory He gave them over Sihon before the battle even starts! Scripture says in verse 31 the battle was so fierce, no survivors of Bashan (Og’s land) were left & the Israelites now inhabitated that land as well. 

Now that I knew the summary of who Sihon & Og, I must have been all clear on why I knew their names, right? Wrong! I felt like this was a far off distant story I had heard from the perspective of someone’s Brothers’, Aunts’, Cousins’, Grandma…. I was actually even more confused then I was before I started this study. So I dug deeper. It was then that I realized why I knew their names without ever knowing their story. You see, the victories over King Sihon & King Og are mentioned in the Bible 17 times! 17 times God reminds the readers that He defeated these nations for His chosen people. Why would God remind us the reader, & more importantly, the Israelites through those words that were spoken to them, 17 times of their defeat?

I believe this was because the Israelites needed to be reminded of the faithfulness of God. The vast majority of those 17 references are a historical narrative reminding both the audience then & the audience now of their defeat. The Israelites needed to be reminded that God had taken care of them in the past & He was taking care of them in the current. God knew exactly where they were & where they needed to go & He was always at work to make that happen. You see, God is the same yesterday, today & forever, so we can see that in our lives as well! God knows where we are at, He hasn’t misplaced us or forgotten us. Sometimes things aren’t progressing in our timeframe, not because God is incapable, but because we are not ready for the next step!

The tragedy is that after all the Israelites had seen of God’s provision, His intervention, & numerous victories, when faced with big challenges, they almost always lost heart & rebelled against God. This past week I was talking with someone about this very topic. I mentioned to them that everytime I study the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the Promised Land I shake my hand in frustration at how stupid they were & how they JUST. DIDN’T. GET. IT! However, in the next breath, I shared that I can only imagine the angels are sitting up there & say to God, “Your servant Evan, he just keeps making the same mistake, expecting different results – how stupid he is, He JUST.DOESN”T. GET.IT!” Sadly, they would be right, at times. We do the same thing don’t we? We tell God we’re going to give it our all, & we may do that for a day or three. We read a little bit of scripture, or spend an extra 30 seconds in prayer. But then we throw in the towel blaming God for not working in our timetable. One of the many things God has taught me is His timing is not my timing. God is a God of the process, & that’s for us, not because He needs to do it that way.

A friend of mine, who is now in glory used to remind me of this truth, “I’d rather do things God’s way, than make myself King.” There are very few of us, myself included, who have that humility. I will tell you all that I ALWAYS have an opinion, & I am usually convinced my opinion is the correct perpsective/answer to the problem. (Sadly, sometimes before even hearing the whole thing (here is where the talking twice as much as I listen comes in)) I had a friend in ministry one time come in & sit next to me during a meeting. Before the meeting started, he wrote at the top of the paper, “Better to stay silent & make people think I’m a fool, than open my mouth & prove them right!” I laughed right out loud in looking over at his paper. However, there is some truth there. 

This week, slow down, listen to that still small voice. Spend some time with God each day. Read His Word, spend time in prayer, listen to worship music, write things down, however you connect with the Father. I sure hope when I stand before the Lord, He won’t tell me that He had to remind me of something 17 times like He did with King Sihon & King Og. In all honesty, it wouldn’t shock me to learn He reminded me of it 71 times! Thank you Lord for your faithulness! Thank you Lord that Your faithfulness is so apparent, even when I am faithless! Turn to Him, first & foremost, in all things! Read His Word! It is cliche, but it is the user manual we need to get through life. Pursue Him, honor Him, glorify Him, in ALL you do! Be blessed!