“Kill Me at Once,” Cries Moses???
5/4 Reading Portions: Numbers 11; Psalm 48; Isaiah 1; Hebrews 9
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
5/4 Reading Portions: Numbers 11; Psalm 48; Isaiah 1; Hebrews 9
Numbers 11:5
“If You will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in Your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”
END
Moses is not the only one who has made such a request. Elijah also pleaded,
“O Lord, take away my life.” 1 Kings 19:4
When Jonah grew faint under the scorching sun of the Nineveh hillside, he said,
“O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Jonah 4:3
Even the apostle Paul recognized that the presence of Christ in the hereafter was the Christian’s great desire when He told the Philippians,
“My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” Philippians 1:23
Surely, many of us have come to the end of our rope at one time or another, and have desired that the Lord come again quickly, or take us home. Yet the physical life is an extremely precious thing. Even the Lord Jesus Himself, who is the Lord of Light and Life, when facing death He prayed in the garden,
“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:39
Moses’ words, however, give us a prophetic insight for a deeper meaning behind his plea when he said,
“…that I may not see my wretchedness.”
Moses understood that he did not have the wherewithal to carry the burden of God’s people, as thus he states in the 14th verse. You see, when we are saved by God’s grace in Christ, and now have eternal life through Christ, and are alive within because of Christ, we are to die to self because of the corruptions still remaining in our mortal flesh. We cry out like Paul, as he does in his epistle,
“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Romans 7:23
Paul states at another time,
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
You and I don’t have the strength in and of ourselves to go to the cross, to die to self, to live for Christ. We are to daily plead to the Father, in Christ’s name, for His Spirit to keep us denying self, taking up our cross, and following Jesus, so by God’s grace, we may not see our wretchedness. Our strength to die daily must come from Christ alone; and if, like Moses, we cry out, the Lord Jesus will supply that need (Phil 4:19). Hallelujah! What a Savior!