"From Rebellion to Submission"
Sermon Transcript for February 9, 2003Scripture Reading: Numbers 16:1-5, 1 Peter 2:13-25
By Rev. Mike Beck
We continue today a five-part sermon series entitled, “Lord, Change My Attitude – Before It’s Too Late”. Looking in the Old Testament Book of Numbers, Chapters 11-16, it’s the stories of five attitudes of the Israelites’: complaining, rebellion, their cravings, criticism, and lack of faith that emerged as they were being led by Moses from slavery in Egypt to the land of Canaan. Those five attitudes collectively resulted in their failure to enter in to the Promised Land instead to wander 40 years in the wilderness until all of those over 20 had died off. With each of these attitudes that we need to put off, we are going to be also looking at a corresponding attitude that we need to put on in its place. For in our walk with the Lord, it’s never enough just to get rid of the bad; we’ve got to fill the souls of our dwelling with the good things of God. So we are looking also at the attitudes that need to be put on.
Last week we looked at the negative attitude of complaining and its counterpart, an attitude of thankfulness. We can perhaps summarize last week’s message with this quote, “Gratitude is the attitude that sets the altitude for living.”
Now this morning’s sermon topic on rebellion and the corresponding attitude of submission are difficult to preach and difficult to apply. So let’s take a moment to pray. “Heavenly Father, illuminate us from your Word through the Holy Spirit. As we hear these feeble lips of clay, may we not be inclined to think of some other person that, “gosh we wish they were here, they really needed to hear this message”. Help us to think of ourselves—of ways in which we have been rebellious, of ways we need to submit more fully to your ways. In Christ’s name, Amen.”
The negative attitude today—rebellion. The positive counterpart—submission. I want you this morning to take your red pew Bibles and turn with me in the Old Testament book of Numbers, page 148, to Chapter 16. 148 there in the Old Testament and leave your Bibles open throughout the message; we are going to refer to them often. Let me give you a little background. Here’s the scenario: Moses and Aaron for the past 16 months have been leading almost two million Israelites on the journey. It was only about a 60-mile journey from slavery in Egypt to the land f Canaan. They spent a year almost camped at Mt. Sinai where Moses received the law. But if you think about it, 16 months in the desert with two million people is certainly a breeding ground for struggles and problems.
So in Chapter 16 of Numbers we read the first five verses, “Korah son of Izhar, from the Levite clan of Kobath, rebelled against the leadership of Moses. He was joined by three members of the tribe of Reuben—Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—and by 250 other Israelites, well-known leaders chosen by the community. They assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘You have gone to far! All the members of the community belong to the Lord, and the Lord is with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set yourself above the Lord’s community?’ When Moses heard this, he threw himself on the ground and prayed. Then he said to Korah and his followers, ‘Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him; he will let the one who belongs to him, that is, the one he has chosen, approach him at the altar.’”
And then on the opposite page, reading starting with verse 12, “Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, but they said, ‘We will not come! Isn’t it enough that you have brought us out of the fertile land of Egypt to kill us here in the wilderness? Do you also have to lord it over us? You certainly have not brought us into a fertile land or given us fields and vineyards as our possession, and now you are trying to deceive us. We will not come!’ Moses became angry and said to the Lord, ‘Do not accept any offerings these men bring. I have not wronged any of them; I have not even taken one of their donkeys.’”
In every human heart, friends, is a tendency to rebel. It’s an attitude as old as the account in the Garden of Eden. And if you don’t believe it, just watch the behavior of young children! In every human heart there is a tendency to rebel. Moses has been chosen by God. He is a proven leader. He isn’t perfect, but he’s successfully led and provided for God’s people. And if you know the background on Moses, he never wanted the job in the first place. He’s done nothing to wrong the people. And yet now he finds them in a state of rebellion.
Let me seek to define rebellion. It’s an attitude that says, “I won’t do it.” “I know I should, but you can’t make me.” It’s a lips-out, arms-folded attitude that says, “I’m going to do what I want to do.” And when there’s rebellion, you’ll usually find a number of these root causes, which we see illustrated in the story of Numbers 16. You’ll find:
Un-truths and half-truths
Delusionary thinking--In fact if you realize only 16-months have passed and these Israelites are saying, “It was better back in Egypt.” They were in slavery in Egypt! Don’t all of us have a tendency to glamorize the old days thinking they were better than what they really were? Delusionary thinking.
Jealousy
Ungratefulness
Stubbornness
Disappointment
Distrust
Issues of Control
The Israelites knew the truth, but they chose rebellion. And God in turn brought judgment. And we are skipping most versus of what Moses did to determine where errors had been. Read that this afternoon, but for now skip with me down to Verse 31, “As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under Dathan and Abiram split open and swallowed them and their families, together with all of Korah’s followers and their possessions. So they went down alive to the world of the dead, with their possessions. The earth closed over them, and they vanished.” Not a pretty picture. And if you’ll take time to read the entire 16th chapter, you’ll discover the people still didn’t get the message. And they continued rebelling and God ends up sending the plague that wipes out almost 15,000 of them.
The concept of God-given authority has become almost totally lost in our American culture today. Yet the Bible has some very clear teachings on this matter of authority. The Bible teaches that God in His sovereignty has ordained governmental leaders. The Bible teaches that God has ordained leaders within His church. The Bible teaches that God has given men in a marriage relationship a position of spiritual authority. The Bible teaches that husbands and wives are given authority over their children. The Bible teaches that your employer is given that authority ultimately by God. And then, ultimately, friends, is the truth that all of us are under God’s authority.
Now when God-given authority is used wisely and in a spirit of servanthood and humility, there is safety, there is movement forward. When there is an attitude of rebellion against God-ordained and appropriately exercised authority, there is “wandering” in the wilderness and all that goes with that. Leadership in the home, in the workplace, in government, in the church, is difficult in our day. In our culture of autonomy, self-expression, and independence, people think it is their God given responsibility to sit in judgment on every person placed in authority over them. And in many ways, our nation, our homes, our schools, and our churches are reaping the results of an attitude of rebellion. I’ve got a lot of schoolteachers out there. It’s a whole lot more difficult for you to do your job than it was 40 years ago because the attitude of God-given authority is gone.
So let me ask you these questions. Are you easy to lead, or hard to lead? Can you see the big picture or are you want of these people that likes to major in minors? Do you understand what John Savage taught us a few years ago in our consultation process? This is true of leaders; this is true of all of you. He taught us that, “All persons are radically gifted and radically flawed.” That’s true of me; that’s true of you. I’ve come back to that a thousand and one times over. We’re all radically gifted, but we are all radically flawed. What am I going to choose to focus on--the gifts or the flaws? Are you willing to lay aside some of your own interests and needs for the well being of a bigger cause? Those are important questions for us to ask ourselves.
So I want to shift now to the positive attitude of submission. The related Biblical concepts of submission and authority have been so horribly misused and misapplied. There is probably no greater example of this than in the relationship between husband and wife. I saw a few eyebrows raised a moment ago when I made this statement. The Bible teaches that husbands have a God-ordained place of spiritual authority in their home. So let’s look at that. Turn now in the New Testament to Book of Ephesians, Chapter 5. And it’s found on page 244 of the New Testament. Ephesians 5, New Testament, page 244. Let’s look at Verse 22, “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord.” That’s Scripture. Unfortunately, a whole lot of husbands haven’t read the whole passage. Look at Verse 21, “Submit yourselves to one another out of your reverence for Christ.” Oops, there’s some submission on both parts now. Then let’s go down to Verse 25, “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave His life for it.” Now when you read the whole passage, there is absolutely no place for the husband to say, “I’m the authority in this home; you are going to do what I say.” Husbands, there is more responsibility on you than the wife. You’ve got to love your wife like Christ loved the church. And I’m going to tell you, if you do that she’s the most pampered, blessed person there ever was.
So it’s true that these attitudes can be misused, misappropriated. This is another of those issues where we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. But, friends, we can’t abandon a subject that is clearly a part of God’s Word just because it’s often been misused or misapplied. So let me share with you some things that submission does not mean.
Submission does not mean apathy. Moses in Chapter 16 of Numbers certainly was not apathetic about the situation going on. Submission does not mean that we allow persons to engage in unbridled power plays that run over other people. Submission does not mean that we ignore evil and injustice. And submission, and its related concept of meekness, does not mean weakness. Make note of those things; they are important. Turn with me now to I Peter, Chapter 2 in the New Testament, page 298. And I want to read Versus 13-17. He writes, “For the sake of the Lord submit yourselves to every human authority: to the Emperor, who is the supreme authority, and to the governors, who have been appointed by him to punish the evildoers and to praise those who do good. For God wants you to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by the good things you do. Live as free people; do not, however, use your freedom to cover up any evil, but live as God’s slaves. Respect everyone, love your fellow believers, have reverence for God, and respect the Emperor.”
Submit is a military term, which means to place yourself under the established chain of command or authority. So let’s look at this passage again there at verse 13. It says, “For the sake of the Lord…” I want you to note the heading says “Slaves of God”; it doesn’t say “slaves of human beings”. The Bible doesn’t teach slavery in any form. It says, “For the sake of the Lord…” so that when we put on an attitude of submission, we are ultimately submitting to God “for His sake”. And then notice there in Verse 13, “For the sake of the Lord, submit yourselves…” We’re not talking this morning about “top-down” authoritarianism. That’s not taught in Scripture. “Servant leadership” is what is taught in Scripture. And we submit ourselves, not somebody above us saying “Do this or else”.
And then I want you to realize the cultural context found there in Verse 13. “…Submit yourselves to every human authority: to the Emperor…” Do you realize what Jews thought when Peter says this? They hated the Romans! In fact, that’s what got Jesus killed. When the Jewish people finally…(changed side of tape – some transcript lost). This is radical teaching that persons in that day would not want to hear. How do we silence the ignorance of foolish people? “By the good things you do”. Word of caution—submission has limits: “do not use your freedom to cover up any evil.” For example, the civil rights movement—overcome evil with good. Sitting in the back of the bus because the color of their skin is black is wrong. And there was a rebellion. But I want you to notice how they did it--peaceful, non-violence from the back.
And again, I come back to that verse “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Often when Jesus was teaching, people walked away with these words on their lips. They said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Now I’ve succeeded this morning if some of you walk out saying, “That’s some hard preaching. I’m not exactly sure what I’m suppose to do with that.” That’s what it means to work our your salvation with fear and trembling. There’s always tension in terms of divine truth. God’s Word drives us to our knees to know how to properly apply it. Friends, I honestly don’t know for sure what side I’m on in this situation with Iraq because it’s so complex. But we are definitely dealing with evil. And I am thankful that we have a man in the White House that honors God. And as our Supreme Commander we’d better be praying for him every day instead of nitpicking and sitting in judgment when we don’t know all the facts.
So in that spirit I close this message today by simply reading Verse 17. Where it says:
“Respect everyone”
“Love your fellow believers”
“Have reverence for God”
“And respect the Emperor”
And make this last phrase relevant to your own life. Change the word Emperor to the area in your life where God wants to instruct you in these attitudes of rebellion and submission. So just look at it for a moment. Respect everyone. Love your fellow believers. Have reverence for God. And respect ____, and you fill in the blank to where God is speaking to you. Let us pray, “Lord, we desire Your favor. And we are reminded that Your Word says, “If God is for us, who can be against us”. You are for our highest and best. Help us to choose attitudes that allow us to dwell in the Promised Land, not wander in the desert. In a world filled with so much sin and brokenness, so much evil, this teaching about submission is a hard one for us to know how to apply. That’s why we need to walk closely with You. That’s why we need to be on our knees in prayer and spending time in Your Word. Give us guidance; give us strength that only Your Holy Spirit can provide. Lord, change our attitudes. Lord change my attitude—before it’s too late. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.”
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