This doesn't make sense to me. What does "pent up" fire mean?



What do you mean "pretends"?



First of all, you're phrasing this very poorly, given you're intending to represent an idea I've shared (if you're not intending to do this, I don't know what you're doing). Sin doesn't "leap out and kill," as sin is not a sentient being. I've never said anything like this.

I've said that people can cause God to remove His protection, and then bad things happen.

Secondly you're asserting a double standard because these things don't happen today. Why do you think these things don't happen today? (Remember that we're considering this from my perspective, since you're addressing ideas I've shared, which is that something happened as a result of God's removing His protection, as, for example, lightening striking them.)

I think much of the time God wants us to decide for ourselves.

Parents (at least, parents we would call "good parents") want their children to grow up and make their own decisions, but decisions based on the values they have been taught. They don't want to dictate to them every little decision they need to make. If there are major decisions, they are happy to help out, and they like to be considered. But when their children are grown, they have their own lives to live.

I think this analogy bears out with how we see God portrayed in Scripture.

I also think Rosangela brought out an important distinction in regards to what she called "spiritual" and "secular" matters.

Tom,

I'm facing some life-changing decisions right now, which may not be actually decided for several months or more, but which have been heavy on my mind today. I want to say thank you for this analogy. It makes good sense. I have been asking for some signs, which I think is also valid and I have experienced God's leading through signs at multiple times in the past. However, perhaps I need to "grow up."

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

The problem is, not always do we know which option is the best one. Some of the options we think are good, in fact aren't, and vice-versa. That's why we must always submit our will and plans to God. Analyze which is, as far as you can see, the best option. But be prepared to change course if God indicates otherwise.

I'm pretty sure we all agree that Jesus was the most "grown up" person there ever was. If ever there was a person who was capable of making decisions for himself, it was Jesus. But note how He went about His day:
Contrast that with Lucifer:
He who thought himself wise enough to make his own decisions was unholy, while the Holy One of Israel "made no plans for Himself."

Let's pull this back to the topic at hand.

Wasn't the fundamental apostasy of Israel at borders of Canaan the fact that they did not want to follow the plan God laid out for them, and instead made their own plans?

First, God told them to go in and possess the land. They responded that they didn't want to because that was too hard, so they wanted a leader to take them back to Egypt.

Then, God said that if they didn't want to go in, then He won't take them in. They responded by saying that they want to go in now, and tried to do it without God.

Either way, they did not want to follow God's plan. The Israelites were too hard-headed and stiff-necked to let God make plans for them, and trust Him to take care of the consequences. In Hebrews, Paul calls that "unbelief." That was ancient Israel's problem, that is modern Israel's problem.

I'm glad you liked the analogy.

Here's something else I've heard along the same line. Somewhere it talks about God's blessing the ground upon which David walked (during the time David was right with God, of course), the idea being wherever David decided to go, God would bless him. (A youth pastor mentioned this many years ago, and it's stuck all this time).

The idea is that if it is our desire to walk in harmony with God, God will bless our plans, whatever they are (i.e., plans not in conflict with the values we've learned from Him; many decisions are like this).

So while often God does have a specific plan in mind for us, there are many times when He may not, which is a reason I think it can be difficult for us to hear His voice. He might be saying, "You decide which option you want to choose, and I'll bless either decision," and that may not be what we're wanting to hear, so we don't hear it.

I don't know. What kind of fire do you think came out of the cloud and burned them alive? Did it exist before it killed them? Did God manufacture it? I believe it was the radiant firelight of God's person and presence.

How Miriam and Aaron's sin is described:

"In the appointment of the seventy elders Miriam and Aaron had not been consulted, and their jealousy was excited against Moses" (PP 382, 383).

"But Miriam and Aaron, blinded by jealousy and ambition, lost sight of this" (p. 383).

"Aaron had been highly honored by God in the appointment of his family to the sacred office of the priesthood; yet even this now added to the desire for self-exaltation" (Ibid.)

"Yielding to the spirit of dissatisfaction, Miriam found cause of complaint in events that God had especially overruled [the fact that Moses hadn't taken a wife from among the Hebrews]" (Ibid.)

"God had chosen Moses, and had put His Spirit upon him; and Miriam and Aaron, by their murmurings, were guilty of disloyalty, not only to their appointed leader, but to God Himself" (Ibid., p. 384, 385).

We should be careful lest Satan sows his seeds in our hearts.

The lying report of the ten spies:

"He [Caleb] did not contradict what had already been said; the walls were high and the Canaanites strong. But God had promised the land to Israel. 'Let us go up at once and possess it,' urged Caleb; 'for we are well able to overcome it.' But the ten, interrupting him, pictured the obstacles in darker colors than at first. 'We be not able to go up against the people,' they declared; 'for they are stronger than we. . . . All the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.'

"These men, having entered upon a wrong course, stubbornly set themselves against Caleb and Joshua, against Moses, and against God. Every advance step rendered them the more determined. They were resolved to discourage all effort to gain possession of Canaan. They distorted the truth in order to sustain their baleful influence. It 'is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof,' they said. This was not only an evil report, but it was also a lying one. It was inconsistent with itself. The spies had declared the country to be fruitful and prosperous, and the people of giant stature, all of which would be impossible if the climate were so unhealthful that the land could be said to 'eat up the inhabitants.' But when men yield their hearts to unbelief they place themselves under the control of Satan, and none can tell to what lengths he will lead them" (PP 388, 389).