Num 20:14 And Moses sent messengers from Ka'desh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
15 How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:
16 And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:
17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.
18 And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.
*The Edomites were descendants of Esau & should have been brothers to Israel, but Esau sold his birthright for a meal of red pottage & they were enemies. Our enemy will make our journey as difficult as he can
*Time passes - (The Israelites journey unto mount Hor & Aaron dies....
Num. 21: 4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass (go around) the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
*There are no shortcuts...
We have to go the entire distance around anything that is not God's way, that is not righteousness & truth & sometimes it's not the shortest, easiest route.
We can't go by the way of the world or the way of our enemy, which is Satan, or we will suffer harm.
Many are trying to get to their heavenly destination by traveling thru the enemies territory.
Many are trying to get to their heavenly destination & still traveling thru the enemies territory.
In V.17, They said, "we'll travel thru your country, but we won't partake" –that was impossible! Can you imagine that many people traveling through your property, with tents & animals? We can't travel through the enemies land! If we choose to travel in Satan's domain, he will smite us!
*What does it mean to travel through Satan's domain?
Anything that is not pleasing to God... He teaches that His fruit is, "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" Gal 5:22-23
*Things that we recognize as Satan's works = envy, hatred, pride, jealousy, lying, deceit, lust
We don't always expect Satan to use discouragement as a means to tempt us. Discouragement often comes from disappointment.
We can "abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." (Ro. 15:13) *The Holy Ghost is a comforter, & we can rely on God to comfort us with His spirit & with His word.
We watch out for the obvious temptations, like those mentioned above. He is always "walking about, seeking whom he may devour." He will use any means that we allow, to overcome us... To destroy our faith...to cause us to doubt our relationship with God. He doesn't care whether we sin - his goal is to pull us away from God anyway he can.
However, we can resist him if we stand steadfast in the faith, knowing that God is "is able to keep that which we have committed unto him against that day." (2 Tim 1:12)
*If we yield ourselves to God & resist the devil when he tempts us, he will flee! (Ja. 4:7)
When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus spoke the Word & Satan was defeated! Satan cannot cause us to sin...he doesn't have that power! He is a voice that we can ignore & rebuke.
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