The Danger of Discontent by Brother Curtis Hansen

         Good morning. Our scripture reading will be in the book of Numbers chapter 21. We will start reading at verse 4. There will be stops in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, and Daniel 10. Verse 4 of Numbers 21 says;

        4 And they journeyed from mount For by the way of the Red Sea, to compass 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 loathes this light bread.

        6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

        7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

        8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to add, that every one that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live.

        9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

        The sermon this morning will go as deep as you allow it. To summarize, the people were discouraged in their journey outside the promised land, and they begin not only to speak against Moses but also against God. God sent fiery serpents among the people, and towards the end, Moses would be carrying a serpent of brass upon a pole among the people. Anyone who was bitten that looked at the pole Moses carried would live.

        Let's look at serpents in the Bible. The serpent was cursed in the story of Adam and Eve. How the story plays out is why many people associate the devil with a serpent. It's why when you see a snake, you immediately think evil. Here in Numbers though, God uses the same creature to save. God turned Moses' staff into a serpent in Exodus. There in the court of Pharaoh, Moses snake consumed the snakes that the court magicians conjured. 

        Moses had written about the people's discouragement in Numbers, and we are no different than they were today. Man is always discouraged and disappointed with his place in life because even if he attains a goal, it's only a short while before he wants more. As Christians, we are called to be good stewards of what God has given us and not be consistently dissatisfied. In verse 7, the people are crying out to Moses. You don't know what protection you have under God until he removes it from you as a result of you cursing him. Returning to verse 7, the people are repentant and ask Moses to pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents. In this time, you have the capability to reach out and pray to God yourself. In this dispensation of grace, man can pray to the Lord, not have a middle man act as his conduit to heaven. Why is this important? Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. We will begin reading at verse 9.

        9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

        10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

        There in chapter 10, the apostle Paul was writing to the church in Corinth of Israel's history in the wilderness, referencing what happens in our earlier scripture selection. God can use whatever he wants be it man or animal to get his point across. Let's look at John chapter 3 and verse 14 for a second.

        14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

        Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus in this scripture and references our earlier scripture. There were a number of parallels between the life of Jesus and life of Moses which some of you may not realize. Both had to endure the massacre of children when they themselves were babies. Moses delivered the people from bondage while Jesus delivered bondage from the people. The use of the bronzed serpent was salvation to the Israelites who were bit and looked upon it, where Jesus would be the salvation for those who believed him as he hung on the cross.

        In 2 Kings chapter 18 and 4, it speaks about King Hezekiah destroying the high places for pagan worship. He tore down the images placed there as well as cut down the groves. He also broke into pieces the bronze serpent because the Israelites burned incense to it. A tool of salvation was made into an idol. How are we different today when many have idolized the image of Jesus on the Cross? Marketed it as jewelry, paintings, the bigger the cross the bigger statement of your faith. There are too many professed believers content in leaving Christ on the cross, or as a babe in the manger before they place him as the author and finisher of our faith.

        I wanted to show you this morning that there is nothing of happenstance, of chance or coincidence in the Bible. The question to ask yourself this morning is will you follow God's commandments? When you are truly saved in Jesus, the mistakes, errors, pain, shame associated in your past life which did harm to your relationships should be left behind you. You should always seek God's face. Be able to discern from good and evil. 

        Let's look at what got the Israelites in trouble often there in the Old Testament. Murmuring and complaining. Do you know that murmuring and complaining goes against biblical principalities and powers? When you murmur, complain, you are dissatisfied where you may be in your walk, that opens a door in your walk. 90% of your fight is against the flesh. There is no tiered system of sins to God. He doesn't view them as small, kind of bad, and really bad as man can equivocate. Sin is sin in God's eyes. You are purposefully breaking a principality of God's. When your discontent opens the door, God's judgement is not behind it, but evil and demons lie behind it waiting for you at your weakest.

        Daniel was a great man of faith taken into the country of Babylon. There he interpreted dreams, walked through the fiery furnace with three other Hebrew men, and he survived being thrown in a lions den. In Daniel chapter 10 verses 1-14, we find Daniel fasting in his mourning for 3 weeks when he was visited by an angel. The evil in the land of Persia was so great the archangel Michael was fighting a principality just so the messenger to appear to Daniel. There is so much being done that we don't see.

        When you open the door your discontent brings, you are consumed with anger and lust. Not all emotions are bad. Every creature on earth has a set of drives. When you are unchecked in emotion, you black out your past and your future. There in lies within you a sub personality. That sub personality reveals itself. A demonic presence is a personality. There are times where we open a door and other times when it needs to shut.

        Returning to the sub personality. It takes over the whole person. This is very worrisome because one thing you carry which may not be subject to God has the capability to overtake you. Science has patented brief submission of personal demons through medication. A demon will play on those sub personalties. Grow them and make them stronger. You need to know your surroundings in every waking moment. I would like to remind you that all sin is equal in God's eyes.

        I say all this to say we need to strive to be Christ like in our walk daily. When God says guard the door, it is for you to look inward and see what doors are open. Look for vulnerabilities in your life.