What Does it Mean to Be Humble?

Now, every now and then, have you seen in the news where there's a person or often a group of people doing some kind of crazy thing so they can get in the Guinness Book of World Records? You know, you get this largest whatever or the longest, something like that. For some reason, we always pay attention to things like that. And I brought back a memory when I think of it. When I was in elementary school was when I first discovered this amazing book. I think my son has discovered it recently. You get it out and back then you see, oh, it shows the oldest person in the world.

And there will be a really creepy looking picture of the person with the longest fingernails, you know, curling all around. You know, I seem to remember a picture of the world's tallest man standing next to the world's shortest. Yeah, when somebody is the most of something in the world, yeah, we pay attention. We don't take it lightly. So it does seem we should notice that the Bible says somebody is the most of something. And that's where I want to turn to Numbers 12.

Because it does, you know, Bible doesn't isn't like the Guinness Book where it goes through a whole list of things, but there is an aside about a character that we know well in Numbers 12 in verse 3. This is interestingly a time where Moses's older siblings are sort of bringing him to task thinking he's taken too much on himself, and he doesn't speak out for himself, although it turns out God will. But we see here in it's in parentheses in my edition, verse 3 says, Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who are on the face of the earth.

That's outstanding. And being humble is really good, so being the most humble must be terrific. But after I wrote that, I paused because I had this memory of a rhyme that I remember one of my speech instructors teaching at college.

I remember especially back then we still had to do what they called an attack speech. And any of you men who have gone through that, you know what a challenge those were. But they told us to be strong, not weak. And I remember a rhyme that said, Meek is not weak. And they would quote Numbers 12-3. Well, wait a minute. Oh, now I know. I read from the New King James version where it says he was the most humble.

If any of you have the Old King James on your lap, you know, the one from 1611, because it says Moses was very meek above all others on earth. That makes me wonder, did Moses qualify for the Guinness Book in two categories? Maybe more. I wrote down some other versions of the Bible. The modern language Bible says Moses was very gentle more than any other person. The emphasized Bible translation says Moses was patient exceedingly. And the New English Bible, actually, I really like the way this one is phrased.

The New English Bible says, Moses was in fact a man of great humility. Obviously, the English words used here are closely related and they overlap. But we do know there is only one word in the original Hebrew. And I'm trying to remember if I've got it written down because now that I say that, I should tell you what it is. I'm not remembering off the top of my hand, but it does tell us a lot about Moses. And it's worthy of our attention.

Moses was a good role model. And we go beyond this one scripture to see some other things about him and focus on not only his example, but I think most importantly the source of Moses's good traits. Now we see this intermixed. I want to go to Galatians chapter 5. I'm guessing many of you were expecting that.

Galatians 5 beginning in verse 22 is where Paul lists what we commonly call the fruits of the Spirit. Although he says it in the singular, Galatians 5, 22, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness. I lost my place. Gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. Meekness we see as a fruit in the Spirit. Well, he was the most beak person on earth. Meekness can be listed as a fruit of the Spirit, but so is...

Yeah. Gentleness, self-control. Actually, the New King James lists gentleness and kindness. The New King James is one that says Moses was the most humble, but the modern language said gentle. And we do see these words overlap and have a lot of the same meaning. And there's where I say we should understand the various aspects of this that should become part of our character. Let me add to this Ephesians 4. This is just a few pages further in the Bible.

Ephesians 4, the first two verses. Paul says, I therefore, prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another. I'm going to go to one more. If we turn forward a little bit more to Colossians. Colossians chapter 3 will pick up in verse 12. So Colossians 3 and verse 12, here, the same author, the Apostle Paul, says, Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against one another, even as Christ forgave you, so also you must do.

So we could say, you know, we need to have all these traits and consider that their fruit of the Holy Spirit come from God working in us. But when I think of the fruit of the Spirit, again, it stands out to me. And this is a little bit of a word study, but I'm going to get into some examples in a bit. The Old King James lists gentleness as one of the fruits of the Spirit. But where the Old King James said gentleness, the New says kindness.

Where the Old said meekness, the New says gentleness. So going from the old translation to the New could cause some confusion. I don't think it has to. I was correct. So I see the Hebrew word that we saw applied to Moses back in Numbers is pronounced anaw. Not like gnawing on a bone, but anaw. If you like to look it up in Strong's later, I did note that the number 6035. That means low in mind. It means humble, meek, or poor. Now, the Greek word in Galatians 5.23 that's translated as meek is prowl.

I've got it transliterated as P-R-A-U and pronounced prow-oo. I see a version of that word that the Greek version of prow-oo-tase often is translated into English as humble. One of the reasons that sticks in my mind is I still remember as a student having Dr. Ward, who I was privileged to take classes from, saying meekness and humbleness, that prow-oo-tase means being teachable. He liked to use the phrase a truly teachable spirit. I think that's a good question. I think that's a good question.

Someone who can be entreated, someone willing to be convinced, even though they thought they knew something, that willing to be convinced, I can't remember where I picked that up, but it's something I've used when I've been in charge of things. I think that's always that humble, but someone who's teachable, willing to be convinced, is the opposite of being a know-it-all. Someone who is full of themselves. But I will find something...

I think a reason we don't see meek in modern translation so much, because it's dictionary definition, meek in English, means humbly patient or submissive. But it's gained a secondary meaning, I think, for most of us. A secondary meaning that occasions some men to say, wait a minute, meek is not weak.

Because a lot of times when we say meek, we kind of mean weak. Someone who's a pushover. Someone who really is weak. And that's why when the old King James said, well, Moses was the most meek, but that didn't mean he was weak. We used to feel compelled to say, yeah, we've got to explain it. Well, why not just say he was humble? The new King James translates it that way. Well, there's where I'd like to bring it up there.

There's a subtle difference between meek and humble. Humble can mean being courteous and respectful. It means not being proud or arrogant. But it's worth noting the word humble can be used in a way different than as an adjective.

Humble is also a verb. So someone can be humbled. It can be imposed on him. And that happens when we see descriptions in the Bible where sometimes that word is used. Someone humbled their servant. As a matter of fact, it comes up for me in prayer a number of times. I'll pray to God and say, please help me to be humble.

I always often say, please help me to humble myself. Because I know you can do it very effectively, but I might not enjoy that process if you impose it on me. I'm not a humble person. But meek does not have that usage. Meek is only the adjective. You can't meek someone else. It almost seems like we should. It would be funny to say, I'm meek Tim. If someone takes on the quality of meekness, it's self-imposed. Someone makes them self-meek, himself or herself. I think that's powerful.

I'm not a humble person. I'm not a humble person. I'm not a humble person. I'm not a humble person. I'm not a humble person. I'm not a humble person. Sometimes we see the word gentle, where sometimes meek is used. A definition of gentleness means to be mild, not severe or rough, but polite. I got this from Webster's unabridged dictionary. I'm adding another word. I mentioned kindness. Sometimes we see these Greek and Hebrew words translated that way in English. Being gentle or meek suggests you don't have to be.

If you're gentle because you choose to be, it implies you could be strong or powerful or forceful. The Apostle Paul is a good demonstration of someone who didn't choose. I want to look at Paul's example starting in Acts 9. I opened right to it. This is a well-known story, but it's worth looking at. Before he changed his name, he went by more the Hebrew. It says, He went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found anyone who was of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them down to Jerusalem.

As he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. He heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, where are you persecuting me? I suspect Paul was a little meek at this point. He said, who are you, Lord? Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It's hard for you to kick against the goads. This is now Paul, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what do you want me to do? He said, Lord, what do you want me to do? The men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

Then Paul arose from the ground, and when his eyes opened, he saw no one. He was blind. They led him by the hand. He was three days without sight and neither ate nor drank. I would say that the fasting that Paul continued was where he began humbling himself and his book of Judges. There is a reference in 1 Corinthians 4, which I can read for you. We remember correctly in the epistle to the Corinthians, Paul was a little bit corrective.

The Greek word for kindness is how modern translations of the Bible render a Greek word. It's pronounced Christotis. That Greek word appears only one place in the Bible, and it's in Galatians 5 verse 22. There it's translated kindness, and that's a good way for it to be. There's a Hebrew word that's used a number of different ways. It's a very powerful word, and it also means kindness. That Hebrew word is khesed. I'm purposely trying to do the hah. Sometimes it's spelled H-E-S-E-D, but a lot of times you see it with a C-H-E-S-E-D because it's, what did they use the term, guttural? Hebrew has that kind of thing. Hhesed means kindness. It can also mean favor. It's a word that's often used talking about the way God feels about us and the way he treats people. So that's what I say. It's a powerful word. God shows hhesed. Any person that's showing hhesed is showing a godly trait. The English translation of kind, our word means to be of a good or benevolent disposition, to be considerate, to be helpful or indulgent, can mean to be gentle and mild. But this is one word when I was researching. I found some quotes that I think define it almost as well or better than the dictionary. Mark Twain, the well-known American humorist, Mark Twain said, Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Oscar Wilde, the humorist, he said, The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention. And that's, we could say, similar to meekness. Kindness is done by choice. It's not forced on us. Samuel Johnson wrote that kindness is in our power even when fondness is not. Which reminds me, I often tell the students at ABC, and when I talk about the difference between agape love and Philadelphia love, Philadelphia includes that fondness, that warm feeling. Agape is doing what you're supposed to do even if you don't feel like it. You know, it's a sacrificial serving love. And maybe similarly, we could say kindness is something even if you don't feel fondly towards someone, you can show kindness. I've got one last quote, this one from President Franklin Roosevelt. He made a statement that I think applies well to all three of these words that we're considering that are fruits of the spirit. So Franklin Roosevelt said, humankind has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough. I don't have the date written down where he said this, but I suspect it might have been as World War II was moving towards its conclusion and world leaders started thinking about how are we going to treat the conquered? You know, and they made, I think, a wise choice not to exercise cruelty and harshness, but to try to be kind to people. With that in mind, as I said, I'd like to consider a couple of other examples. I've been talking about kindness and gentleness and meekness.

But I think these concepts are easier to grasp when you see them, as Mark Twain said. You know, even the deaf can understand this language and the blind can.

Now, we talked about the Apostle Paul. He's known for his humility and gentleness with strength. So I want to go to a story about someone who's really known for kindness. This is going back to the Old Testament. As we were going in the sermon, I thought, well, we've got several examples from the Old Testament, but that's good. The person I'm thinking of is Ruth. And if you think, what is the meaning of Ruth? Well, we know Ruth less could be like the opposite of kindness and gentleness. The story of Ruth demonstrates a lot of wonderful things, you know, about God's calling, about God's salvation. It's a beautiful love story, and I love that part of it. And it is an example also of finding hope when all hope seems lost. But at its base, it's a story about kindness. I guess I should start turning towards the book of Ruth. I want to read some of it. Ruth herself was a person whose words and actions expressed kindness over and over again. Now, I'll summarize the first few verses, because it starts with a family from Bethlehem and Judah when there was a famine in the land. You know, food was in short supply, they were in difficulty. So this man named Alimelech uproot took his wife and his two sons, and they moved to the land of Moab. And it doesn't say much about what he did, but he must have found work and been able to support his wife and his two sons. And they were there a number of years, so each of the sons came to the point of wanting to marry, and they each married a Moabite woman, one named Orpah, the other named Ruth. And then the story gets sad, which is why I like to summarize instead of just reading. Within the space of, we know within 10 years, maybe less, all of the men in the family died. Alimelech, the father, dies. His two sons die. And now we have a widow, a woman named Naomi, left with two daughters-in-law. The leadership of the family defaults to Naomi. So I'm going to begin reading in verse 6. Because she's there, and well, it says, she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab. She had hovered in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread. Therefore, she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. And they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. And it's worth noting that they became part of that household and that family, so they were following the leader of the family. That was their obligation. But Naomi chose to release them from that obligation. And in fact, she's showing kindness in that. She says to her two daughters-in-law, Go each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. And so the first time we see the mention of kindness is that it's God's kindness. But she's saying, you young women have dealt kindly to me the way God does, and may he return that.

Well, and Naomi will go on to remind them that, okay, I don't have any other sons for you to marry. The practice that's called levered marriage, meaning brother marriage, not that brothers get married, but if a man dies and he leaves the widow with no children, his brother was supposed to take her in and take her as wife and have a child that would bear the deceased brother's name. And Naomi is saying, look, I don't have any other kids. You know, and if I suddenly had a husband and got pregnant tonight, are you going to wait that long?

She doesn't want them to feel that obligation. So she tells them, go back. May you find husbands. May you have a new good life. Orpah is convinced. The story tells us that actually it's very briefly in verse 14, after lifting up their voices and weeping, Orpah kissed her mother-in-law. And that indication she's kissing her goodbye and returning, but not Ruth. Ruth clung to her. I get the feeling Ruth isn't there just because of Naomi. What she says later shows us that she's accepted the worship of the true God.

She's willing to leave behind the Moabite gods and traditions that her people had because she's found something worthwhile. She makes a statement that's one of the most beautiful passages in Scripture, so it would be negligent not to read it. Starting in verse 16, Ruth said, And treat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go.

Wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. And where you die, I will die, and there I'll be buried. And the Lord do so to me, and more also of anything but death, part you and me. What's funny is that Naomi stopped talking to her. I think it means she stopped trying to convince her. So Naomi doesn't try to talk her into going back home. I wonder, I can't help but think Naomi might have felt secretly a little relieved.

Okay, I don't have to travel alone. I'm not all on my own in the world. But she had shown the kindness to put the young women's well-being first. So it goes forward. We fast forward through the story. They reached the land that had belonged to a limalek, and it turns out there's a wealthy landowner there named Boaz. Well, we know Ruth determines to get to work to support herself in Naomi. I believe Ruth was with her. This implies, sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry for my words.

Naomi must have reached the age or maybe health condition where she wasn't going to be able to work to support herself. And there weren't any social security checks showing up in the mail each month in those days. So we see at the beginning of verse two, Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, well, please let me go to the field and glean heads of grain after him and whose side I may find favor. Naomi said, go, my daughter. So she left and went and gleaned in the field after the Reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of a limalek.

I often say, gleaning was the welfare system of the day. There's a passage in Leviticus 19, verses nine and 10 that says this was required of landowners so that those who were poor but able-bodied could work to support themselves. Other places it would talk about third tithe so that those who were poor but not able to work would still be taken care of. So Ruth is doing this. Boaz, the landowner, is going to come on the scene. And, well, matter of fact, I feel like I should say...

Yeah, in verse five, Boaz says to a servant, who's that? You know, it doesn't say it quite like that, but who is this young woman? And he doesn't know who at first, but because I like the love story aspect, I imagine he's, oh, who is that? And then he learns all about the story. He learns about her kindness and how she's taking care of her mother-in-law. And he'll comment on it later. Maybe her kindness attracted him far more than her appearance. But he speaks to her in verse eight.

Boaz said to her, And she said, Now, I don't want to completely skip ahead, but in chapter three of verse ten, Boaz will mention of Ruth that he says, But what he just described is, But what he just described is at the first. I want to emphasize, he's speaking kindly to her, as she says. He's showing care for her feelings, for her needs, and she's showing kindness. Not so much to Boaz here, but obviously, she's showing this great kindness to her mother-in-law.

Now, I want to move ahead to verse 20 of chapter two, because Naomi will notice where the ultimate kindness is. Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Before that, Naomi said, How did you get so much food? Where did you work? I've been working for this guy named Boaz. Naomi says, Naomi says, We're all experiencing God's kindness. I think that's significant. Sometimes we might not feel like we're experiencing God's kindness. I'm sure when Naomi's husband, a limo-lect, died, she didn't think, Oh, this is God's kindness.

Neither when her sons died did she feel that way. She, at one point, will tell the people in the neighborhood, Don't call me Naomi, because that means beautiful, or well favored. Call me Mara.

Bitter. I'm not going to say that. She felt like God's kindness was totally gone from her. Now there's a glimmer. Oh, the Lord has not forsaken his kindness to the living and to the dead. By the way, this man's a close relative of ours. I almost wonder if her eyebrows are going, Mm-hmm. He's a close relative. Let's see what develops. She knows about levered marriage. And actually, she's a close relative of her. Well, we'll finish this.

Naomi says to Ruth, It's good that you go out with his young woman, and don't have the people meet you in any other field. So she did. She stayed close by the young women of Boaz to glean till the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. She dwelt with her mother-in-law. We get the feeling Ruth is a hard worker. Now, I don't know if she took any days off.

She was a little bit tired. She was going to have enough food. She could have been a slacker, but I don't think she was. Naomi is going to determine that it's her turn to show further kindness. She showed kindness to her daughters-in-law when she told them, Hey, you don't have to stay with me. Go back home. Build new lives for yourself. Ruth didn't take that up. Naomi says in chapter 3, verse 1, I am not going to be able to do this. I am not going to be able to do this. I am not going to seek security for you.

Now, Boaz, who is young women you are with, isn't he a relative? He is winnowing barley tonight on the threshing floor. Wash yourself, put on your best garment, and go down to the threshing floor. You can't take them. culus. Go back home. Go to the place where he is. Go in and cover his feet. He will tell you what to do. Again, I realize I have in my notes here to talk about the leverage marriage. I did mention it. God commanded Israel to do something that was already common. He was a woman who had a wife named Tamar.

One of them had a wife named Tamar. Just wait until the older one is old enough to marry. He will take care of you. He was being deceptive in that. In Deuteronomy 25, God gives the description of how that system is supposed to work. He put what seems to have been accustomed in the Middle East into their national law.

They didn't have a welfare system the way we have in the modern U.S. They had a way of making sure that widowed women who wouldn't be able to own property or work it couldn't go out and get a pension, couldn't work as software engineers, or something like that, not yet, they would be cared for. Naomi realizes, maybe at this point, she says, maybe it is a study at NR and Naomi's taking a risk! It's worth noting that Naomi doesn't know for sure that won't happen, but she's putting Ruth's well-being first. And I would say Boaz's happiness, perhaps.

As it turns out, Boaz doesn't see himself as being all that desirable. I'm going to go in chapter 3 down in verse 7. Well, yeah, Boaz had eaten and drunk, his heart was cheerful, and he went to lie down at the end of a heap of grain.

Ruth came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. It happened at midnight, the man was startled. He turned himself, and there's a woman lying at his feet. I don't know how many of you have seen the old Bible stories that Basil Wolderton, you know, wrote and drew. There's a drawing he made of a man with a blanket with his eyes as big as saucers. I imagine maybe he thinks a raccoon is sneaking in, snuck in, something like that. So he's a little alarmed, and then, oh, it's a woman.

At least it's not an opossum, or, you know, a badger. Who are you? I'm Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are close relative. Taking under your wing, sometimes that's translated, spread your garment. She's proposing, which is a little further than what Naomi. Naomi said, go there, and he'll tell you what you should do. Ruth said, no, I'm going to tell him what he should do. And he said, verse 10, blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter.

You've shown more kindness, more has said, at the end than at the beginning, and that you didn't go after young men, whether rich or poor. They said he's seeing that her wanting to be married to him is an act of kindness. He doesn't think he deserves that. And, of course, she says he's been showing great kindness to him all along. Now, as the story goes, Boa said, well, I'm happy to do this, but there is someone that's a closer relative to me. I'm not going to read through chapter four, although it's the closing act of what seems to make this great drama, because Boa has phrased it just so, so that when the relative comes by, you know, hey, if you want to get this piece of land, you got to take this mole by woman.

He's like, I don't think so. And so he pulls off his shoe and says, I've obtained all that was a limolex and the other brother's names keep slipping my mind. But and I've taken Ruth the mole bite to be my wife. And as the saying goes, they lived happily ever after. It's a beautiful story, and partly because it shows people acting beautifully.

You know, it's one of those places in the Bible where it's really happy because it has some bad news at first, but it's not warring kingdoms. It's not people to seduced away by Satan and evil.

And it's not kings and priests. It's normal people living their lives in the countryside and doing it right. I like to keep coming back to that story.

But I'm going to turn away from it for now, because I want to circle back almost to where we began for one more example. Because if Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth, he was the most humble, the most gentle. We could ask, how did that look in action?

Now, you might think I'm going to go to Exodus, and I will, but first I want to read in Acts chapter seven. Acts seven is known as the chapter where the being known as Stephen the martyr gives this great sermon. And he recounts a lot of Israel's history, in some cases filling in some things that we wouldn't see in the Old Testament. So I'm not going to read all of Stephen's story, but I'll pick up in Acts chapter seven with verse 22, where he says, Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. Now, that's something learned in all the wisdom, mighty in words and deeds. At this point, it doesn't say anything about meekness. That's going to come a little later, I think. When he was 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, struck down the Egyptian. For this reason, he supposed his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. And we know the story. To make the point, Moses wasn't completely off track. He understood that it would be God who would do the delivering, but he sort of made an assumption. Oh, of course he's going to use me. I'm so educated. I'm so capable. They should all see this right off. But they didn't, right? The story goes, let you go back the next day. I'm going to go back to Exodus chapter 2 to pick this up. Because he tries to apparently mediate for some others that are having a disagreement. They say, what are you going to do? Kill me like you did that Egyptian? Matter of fact, that's Exodus 2 and verse 15. All right, I left my classroom Bible in my office. This one doesn't turn very quickly. It does help me to slow down a little. Yeah, so the Israelites aren't eager to follow Moses, and word is going to get around. At the end of verse 14, Moses feared and said, surely this thing is known. Now, I'll make a note that something it doesn't say outright, but which thing is he more afraid that Pharaoh is going to find out? That he killed an Egyptian?

Well, maybe, but you know, Josephus says that Moses was a great military leader. Now, he tells stories of Moses saving the nation from the Ethiopians, and as such, he would have had the power of life or death over many soldiers. So, I'm not positive. This is speculation, but I tend to think the thing that Moses was worried about Pharaoh finding out was that Moses went down thinking God was going to use him to lead the Israelites out. You know, that would be seen as causing a slave insurrection. You know, I could see where Pharaoh would be pretty upset about that, and so it is. Verse 15, when Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian. He sat down by a well. I'll skip down to verse 21. He meets Zipporah, who will become his wife and her sisters.

You've seen the Ten Commandments movie. I think, I don't think it was like that. I remember watching it not long ago. I said, yeah, anyways. Moses was content to live with the man, his father-in-law Jethro, and he gave him Zipporah, his daughter, to Moses. Wow! Moses has gone from being mighty and words and deeds, educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. You know, now because Pharaoh is seeking to kill him, he's flees for his life. He's, it seems, he's willing to live with whoever will take him in, the first family he meets. So after being brought up in Pharaoh's household, after thinking he's going to lead the Israelites to freedom, Moses spends the next 40 years working as a poor shepherd, often a lot of time alone. Now he's not probably driving a new BMW or eating steak at night. I'd say the experience was humbling. Matter of fact, just in this next chapter, we get an idea of how humble Moses is, because remember he thought, hey, I'm going to go confront Pharaoh, I'll lead the Israelites out. 40 years later, when God appears in a burning bush and says, well, let's read chapter 3 verse 10. God says, come now, I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. This is exactly what Moses was expecting 40 years earlier.

But now Moses says to God, well, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and should bring the children of Israel out? Now, I'd love to stay here and go through the rest of the conversation, because I find it entertaining. Moses keeps making excuses. Who am I? I'm a nobody. Oh, by the way, I can't speak well. Please, send anybody else. We wouldn't say Moses is now flawless, but he's become meek.

You know, he, humbleness has been perhaps forced on him, but he acts in a different way than he did before.

Let's go ahead to chapter 15 of Exodus, and notice how he reacts the first time Israel complains of a big problem. So this is after they've come through the Red Sea. So I'll skip past this cool song that Moses wrote, and go to verse 23. When they came to Mara, they could not drink the waters of Mara. They were bitter. That's why its name is called Mara, which means bitter. And the people complained against Moses. What are we going to drink? So he cried out to the Lord. Now, wait a minute, what did he do?

What he did not do is they didn't say, hey, we don't have good water to drink. He didn't say, I'm skilled in the wisdom of Egypt. I'll figure something out. Now he immediately cried out to God. It's like, God, what are we going to do? We need help. At least I presume he said something like this. And God showed him, he said, well, cut down this tree, throw it in, I'll heal the waters.

I'd say Moses is keeping himself in perspective. Let's go down in chapter 16, starting in verse 1, as they journeyed from Elam and all the congregation of Israel came to the wilderness of Zinn. I don't like to say Zinn because sin sounds kind of, I've often said, well, you know, no wonder they kept sinning and getting into trouble. They're in the wilderness of sin. But I think it's related to Mount Sinai. So maybe we should say the wilderness of sin. Anyways, that has nothing to do with this sermon. Let me move on. And they're moving on to 15th day, second month, parted from the land. Verse 2, the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. And they said, although we died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt, you know, where we sat by the pots of meat and ate bread to the full, you know, they're hungry. They're complaining.

Verse 4, the Lord said to Moses, I'll rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day. Let's go down to verse 8. After God, Moses knows the answer. I think this is a good example of how Moses keeps himself in perspective.

Moses says, this shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and the morning bread to the full. For the Lord hears your complaints, which you make against him, and what are we? Your complaints aren't against us, but against the Lord.

You know, Moses has learned to see himself a little bit differently, because I am my age, my tendency would be, what are you griping about? Can't you say, look, I'm in charge, you don't need to talk like that. Moses, no, this is against God, and he defers it to God to handle. It's something that I need to learn to do, we all need to do.

Now, I'm going to move ahead to the book of Numbers, see some more examples of Moses as the most humble man on earth, and skip over Leviticus, there's not a lot of narrative there, but Numbers is where we get a lot of the story. And interestingly, and perhaps sadly, there's a lot of times where Israel gets out of line. Now, I've noticed, starting with chapter 12, every other chapter, there's a rebellion. The first one, chapter 12, we saw was when Aaron and Miriam came against Moses, and that's where it says, Moses was the meekest man. How does it say it again? Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. So let's skip that two chapters ahead to chapter 14. Now, this is when they've sent spies or scallops into the Promised Land, and they come back and they bring this bad report, and they go, oh no, we can't go in there, the giants will stomp on us. Verse chapter 14, verse 1, so all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night, and the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said, if only we died in the land of Egypt, if only we died in this wilderness, why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? This is a whole-scale mutiny rebellion against Moses' leadership. And how we react, we see in verse 5, Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. Now, I always say this in the classroom, I say, this isn't because they're clumsy, you know, he didn't just suddenly trip and fall on his face, because if that were the case, he's doing it all the time. They prostrated themselves to pray to God. And what a humble attitude, you know, immediately going to God in prayer, and it seems they didn't mind who saw it or who knew that it would happen. Now, I think we often do that ourselves, I hope, you know, privately. That's where I think it's kind of amazing when someone has a humble enough view of themselves to just stop in the middle of a crowd and start praying, as Moses and Aaron did. That thought came to my mind, and I remember there's an incident that Herbert Armstrong described in his autobiography, where he did something like that. So if you don't mind, I'm going to read a brief excerpt, because he's describing a time where there was, you know, he was still associating with, I think, the Church of God Seventh Day, and there was a big dispute that happened. Let me read Mr. Armstrong's words. It says, At that instant I rose, and a loud but calm voice I asked if I might say a word. Since I was a guest, they didn't refuse. Brethren, I said, you all know how, as recorded in the first chapter of Job, when the sons of God came together, Satan came also. You also know how, in the 12th chapter of Revelation, we're told that the people Satan is most angry with are those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. That means us. Satan is here.

He is stirring up rage and anger in your hearts. And Mr. Armstrong said, I'm going to drop to my knees right now and ask God Almighty to cast Satan out of this house. All of you who wish may kneel with me and pray silently. And he goes on to say, Without another word, I quickly dropped my knees beside my chair and began asking God to rebuke Satan and this controversial spirit that was rousing these men to anger and to drive Satan from our presence and give us peace and love.

He says, When I arose, there were some wet eyes, but there were no angry voices.

These people were sincere. They simply believed what they believed and had allowed themselves to be caught off guard and roused to anger. Now, I've, you know, like I said, I read that story when I was a boy and it stuck with me, not just because of the praying for God to intervene, but being willing to just stop right then and there. And matter of fact, that reminds me of a story. If you don't mind, it's not that much of a story, but I shared this with the students at ambassador.

Sorry, my voice is a little dry.

But there, you know, it's I think it's been three years or so now since I became the secretary for the Council of Elders and the General Conference, which I'm learning I'm not the best at. Gerald Seelig did it for years and was great. I'm reminded that because this past week I did a mailing to the GCE and found several mistakes, but that's not what this is about. You know, I get to be in the meetings with the Council of Elders when they're discussing things and sometimes unpleasantly also when they're in executive session. Matter of fact, speaking of that, when I was in training, I sat beside Gerald Seelig and I started learning to type notes. I still remember the first time they voted to go into executive session and everyone that wasn't on the council got up to leave, so I started to get up and Gerald put his hand on my arm and said, no, Frank, we stay. And I said, oh.

Sometimes, you know, sometimes there's unpleasantness, although I will say almost at least 99.9% of the time, even when those men disagree, they're not disagreeable, as the phrase goes. They discuss, sometimes they have different views, they come together. But what I want to point out is twice, I think, within the last year, it's been that something came up where they were discussing someone having a problem or the church having a problem. And one of the men said, I think we ought to pray about this right here and now. And I saw all 12 men push their chairs back and get on their knees right then and there. You know, when I joined them, you know, and so did some of the cases, I think the president was there and, you know, prayed very humbly. I mean, that was moving to me the first time it happened. I thought, and then I thought, this is the way it ought to be, you know, being willing to go to God, trust Him in His place. So, sorry, that's not in my notes, but I thought you might enjoy it, or at least see it as instructive. Coming back to Moses in chapter 16, we have what's known as Korah's Rebellion. Some men who were actually relatives of Moses, I remember correctly, I think Korah was Moses's cousin.

You know, Korah, the son of Ishar, the sons of Kohath, son of Levi, all these fellows, verse 2 says, they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, and 250 leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, gathered against Moses and Aaron, said, you take too much upon yourselves. All the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you, I imagine pointing the finger at Moses and Aaron, why do you exalt yourself above them, above the assembly of the Lord? And of course, the response, when Moses heard it, he fell on his face. Again, immediately, Moses went to God in prayer. And we know God took care of the problem very dramatically in this case. A number of people died, but not because Moses did it.

I would say a meek person, a humble person, often doesn't feel that he has to fight to protect his reputation anytime someone questions it. I think that fits with Jesus Christ's saying, if someone smites you on your right cheek, turn the other also, and not, okay, let's duke it out. Pride is not one of the fruits of the Spirit. And a person who's meek and humble won't be on the lookout for his own advantage. You know, not eager to get promotion, especially at the cost of others. And I'm saying this in the third person, I wish that would apply to me. Too often it does not, but it's something to strive for. Moses is an example to follow. You know, even though, you know, we can't all be the meekest person on earth, we can strive to be meek. We can strive to be kind. And of course, we can draw on God's power for that. And that's where I think the last thing I should mention is that we're talking about the fruit of the Spirit. Moses didn't become that meek on his own.

Ruth, you know, she wasn't such a kind person without being close to God. And we can develop the fruit of the Spirit by having the Holy Spirit. If you will, let's turn to John chapter 15, where Christ talks about bearing fruit. And of course, we understand a person goes through repentance and undergoes baptism, and an elder lays hands on them and asks God to impart the Holy Spirit. And we want that Spirit to continually be renewed so that it'll bear that fruit.

I'm in John chapter 15, starting in verse 4. Jesus was talking to his 12 disciples the last night he had with them on earth, at least in the flesh, and he said, abide in me, and I am you.

As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. And he says, I am the vine, you're the branches. He who abides in me, and I am him, bears much fruit. Without me, you can do nothing. And if anyone does not abide in me, he's cast out as a branch, withered. They gather them up, throw them in the fire, and they're burned. But if you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you'll ask what you desire, it'll be done for you. By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you'll be my disciples.

So the spiritual fruit that we want to develop, you know, and that includes gentleness, kindness, meekness, that comes through the Holy Spirit, through our connection with God. And I think that's good news, you know, because I don't think I'm going to make myself very kind and gentle on my own. I'm pretty confident I won't. But it is possible through God working in me and in all of us. Now there is one other factor in this, though. Here in John chapter 15, I started in verse four, I didn't read verse two, but I will now. Because here we're reminded that, okay, sometimes it's not easy. Christ said, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Well, I don't want that to be me. But every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit.

Yeah, I want to bear more fruit. I don't like the idea of being pruned. But whether I like it or not, it's what I need. We see something similar in Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12 verse 11. This reminds me of something when I talked to the ABC students about fasting. I tell them, I got to be honest, I don't like fasting. But I sure like what it does, you know, in me. Hebrews 12, 11 is similar.

It says, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Yeah.

Being pruned is painful. Fasting is painful. But nevertheless, afterward, after you get through the pain, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who've been trained by it.

Going through trials is an effective way to help us to develop gentleness and kindness and meekness.

You know, Paul and Moses were both humbled by God, but then they maintained a humility and a meekness on their own. You know, Ruth suffered the loss of family and suffered through being uprooted and going to a foreign land. But through that, she became a more kind person. And there's where I say, you know, we maybe we can be humbled by outside forces.

You know, I know I can't I can be and have been in some cases, but I can only make myself meek. And I want to choose to do that.

So I want to encourage us all to strive to do that in our lives. Now, it's probably not going to get us into the Guinness Book of World Records. I don't know if any of us will have our picture short fingernails or long saying you're the meekest or you're the kindness.

But I hope it'll make a difference on people that we meet and interact with. You know, I'd love for someone afterwards say, yeah, that Frank, he was he was a humble guy, or just plain a good guy.

You know, no matter what word we put on it, you know, we want to strive to develop these fruits of the spirit. We want to kind of strive to have meekness and gentleness and kindness.