Aloha Friday Message – March 6, 2026 – When is too much enough?
March 6, 2026
2610AFC030626 – When is too much enough?
Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Please forward this to them and ask them also to share it to others.
Exodus 17:7 – 7 He called the place Massah a and Meribah, b because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
a Test or Testing – an actual physical place which stands as a memorial to the disbelief of these earthlings and the enormity of God’s patience bThere are two physical places with this name – Meribah at Raphadim and Meribah at Kadesh. Raphadim is near Sinai where God in his Endless Mercy provided water for the Israelites despite their unfaithfulness. (See Exodus 17) Kadesh is where – decades later after the last of the unfaithful had died – and Moses angrily struck the rock which God had told him to speak to so the water would flow without human action. God’s command was meant to demonstrate his Holiness. Instead it demonstrated human arrogance, and that cost Moses and Aaron their opportunity to enter Canaan. That penalty demonstrates that previous grace never extends to current disobedience.
Romans 5:8 – 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
John 4:28-30 – 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah,[a] can he?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
Hope Fulfilled
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope! Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all be filled with the beautiful Light of Hope! There is such Joy and Peace in the lives of Believers. Those dual blessings come to us through the Holy Spirit, yes? How about a quick refresher in the Gifts and Fruit of the Holy Spirit?
HOLY SPIRIT GIFTS AND FRUITS
7 Gifts: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude (Courage), Knowledge, Piety (Reverence), and Fear of the Lord (Wonder/Awe) See 1 Corinthians 12:4–11
9 Fruit “flavors”: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience (Or Forbearance), Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, And Self-Control. See Galatians 5:22-23
What a good God we have who freely blesses us with so many Gifts – more than enough Gifts to live a Holy Life. Is there anything lacking in these 16 Graces with which our Father in Heaven has graciously offered us in super-abundance so that, whenever we ask to receive or choose to accept each and/or all, the amount available to us is not diminished!
Perhaps you respond like me when I hear about how the Israelites were quarrelsome and frustrated by their circumstances. “Ingrates! Get over it!” We need to remember, though, that they were newbies to this idea of being a Great Nation. This incident at Raphadim was most likely some three to six months into their wandering in the desert of Zin. Remember now that it is recounted in Chapter 17 of Exodus. (↔ Click Link) 38 years later, in Chapter 8 of Deuteronomy, (Important review for New Testament studies.) they will be on the verge of entering The Promised Land. They will have to fight for it city-by-city, and were commanded by God to utterly annihilate ALL the earthlings in every city! Doesn’t that seem like “overkill,” literally?? WAY too much to allow. Perhaps if we see that command for ourselves, it might sink in a little better. Here are a couple of references –
Deuteronomy 7:1-2(GNT)[1]– 1 “The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 2 When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy. In a latter reinforcement of these commands from God to Joshua, we read in Deuteronomy 20:16-18 – 16 But as for the towns of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breathes remain alive. 17 You shall annihilate them—the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites – just as the Lord your God has commanded, 18 so that they may not teach you to do all the abhorrent things that they do for their gods, and you thus sin against the Lord your God.
An example of those abhorrent things is the veneration of the idol Moloch (or Molech). Worshippers of this aberration of human nature built huge bronze statue of a grotesque beast (← Here is what it looked like!!) with the head of a bull and the body of a man with outstretched hands. There was a large bronze brazier in front of the image. The image and brazier were heated red hot. Infants and children were placed in Moloch’s hands to be burned alive. Their bodies would fall into the brazier and be burned beyond recognition. The World has developed a less obvious form of the sacrifice of innocents to a more palatable “god.” We kill preborn and newborn infants in the womb and on the operating table for the deity called Self. It is no less evil than what was done in the name of Moloch.
The annihilation of 7 – SEVEN! – entire nations is hard to believe in our times. We call that genocide. AT THAT TIME God called it Immutable Justice. Those people in Canaan had around 430 years to seek and to find God who revealed himself to them in the abundance and productivity of their lands and cities, in the totality of Creation, and in the nascent natural affinity for God in each earthling’s heart. They ignored him. They made their own “gods” of wood, or stone, or precious metals. They committed execution by torture on their own infants by burning them ALIVE in the metal hands of their deity name Moloch (← Here’s what that looks like!!) God decreed that these City-States had more than enough time and opportunity to repent of their evil ways, and – rather than wipe them out in a smaller deluge – he would help the Israelites take over the land little by little (so that it would not be taken all at once and wild beasts overwhelm them) It was God’s decree that all of them should perish by the sword, and the Israelites were going to be the instruments of God’s Immutable Justice.
The Israelites really had no idea what was in store for them. And, as is often said throughout the first five books of the Bible, they were a stiff-necked people, both stubborn and fickle. That’s a bad combination, isn’t it? It is one of those emotional synergies which often overflows into anger and really stupid decisions. I’ve been there way too many times. How about you? Do we ever feel like we’ve had too much to handle? Hmmm.
Are we sometimes (or often) in a snit about something or someone? Do we ever get to the point where we say, “That’s it! I’ve had enough! I’m out of here!” That attitude seemed to be common among the Israelites. And who did they blame for it? Well, Moses of course. He was the guy that got them into this mess and they figured it must be his fault because somebody had to be wrong. OK, on Moses’ behalf, we should probably also say he was pretty new at being The Leader. Because of his very close and personal relationship with God, he knew that he could go to God and say “What in the world am I going to do with these people?” He had more than enough of their tantrums, whining, and opposition. He realized that his acquired leadership skills at that time were insufficient for resolving the problem before him, so he turned again to his God Who responded with another mighty miracle, drawing water from the flinty rock. Later on in this post we’ll see why that was such an important Type in Christology.
How about these declarations?
I can’t believe a loving God would do such a terrible thing!
Why would God take him/her away from us so soon?
The Lord gives and the Lord takes. That’s just the way it works.
I don’t know what I did to turn God against me, but not only does he not answer me, he gives me even more to handle. I’m not so sure I want to be part of all of that.
The Israelites got angry with God and blame him for their being miserable, When in fact it was their fault because they were being so stubborn. All they needed to do was to say yes Lord whatever you want and guess what. They said that over and over again and then did just the opposite. So many times we claim that we want to serve the Lord, but (I’ve said this before) only in an advisory capacity. Like the Israelites, we can be stubborn and fickle, too. And also, like the Israelites, we cuss and moan about it, while what we really need to do is humble ourselves before God and ask for the faith, the discernment, the patience and perseverance, and especially the humility to cast down our idols of self and make God preeminent in all things. “Easier said than done, Mr. Chick!” Of course, that is true. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
Or would they? Is it really that difficult to do like Moses did to turn our backs on all the drama and say, “God what should I do now?”, and then DO IT? Why do we often seem to harden our hearts and to become fickle and stubborn? “Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness” and ‘ If today you hear his voice harden not your hearts.” (↔ Music Link) Do not fall asleep during that Psalm. We must not let the repetitive nature of it distract us. If we make that same mistake, the mistake the Israelites made at Miraba, Then we make it difficult if not impossible for the next part of God’s miraculous love for take effect. We will not be able to draw Living Water from The Rock.
We will remain sinners who refused to be saved. How stiff necked and stubborn is that, huh? And look at what The Apostle Paul said to us in Romans 5:8 – 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. You see, this time it was God that struck the Rock of Ages, and from it, blood and water flowed and a New Covenant was established. We could be turning our backs on experiencing God’s Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, Eternal Salvation, Immutable Justice, Irreproachable Wisdom, and Incomparable Grace. It seems to me that sounds like it would be another of those really stupid decisions.
It is important that we remember that the woman at the well (Jacob’s well in Sychar) was a Samaritan, and therefore not “eligible” to inherit all the blessings that would come through the Messiah. She made herself eligible, as well as many in Sychar, through repentance and believing the Gospel. That’s exactly the same process we should be using every single day. “Let anyone who is thirsty [as in hunger and thirst for righteousness (↔ Click Link)]come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”
It literally took another extraordinary Miracle for the Israelites to get their heads on straight. That lasted only a short while because – as the Lord God had predicted – they did not annihilate the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. They disobeyed and intermarried, proceeded to try to “fit in” by taking up the idolatry condemned by the Lord, and continued to be stubborn and fickle for which they were repeatedly – often severely – punished by God until at last God said, “Too much is enough! I’m going to fix this once and for ALL. Son, come over here. It’s time for Phase Two-of-Four in the Absolutely Perfect Plan.” Wanna know what phase three and four are?
Phase Three – A New Heaven and a New Earth. Phase Four – The Resurrection for Eternal Life – YOLO-F. Hell-o-o-o-o-o-o! Or Oh Hell.
On that Last Day Jesus’ Prophecy will be fulfilled as in Matthew 25:44-46 – 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’(↔ Music Link) 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Too much is more than enough, and that is how the Lord does everything – with extravagant generosity. Jesus would have died for you, or for me, but instead, he died for every single living soul ever created and made alive “from conception in the womb unto natural death.” We should hear, heed, and obey that rather than hardening our hearts. Praise the Lord!. God is good ALL the time! …and …?
I hope this wasn’t too much, but that it was still enough.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd! Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.
Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Please forward this to them and ask them also to share it to others.
Exodus 17:7 – 7 He called the place Massah a and Meribah, b because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
a Test or Testing – an actual physical place which stands as a memorial to the disbelief of these earthlings and the enormity of God’s patience bThere are two physical places with this name – Meribah at Raphadim and Meribah at Kadesh. Raphadim is near Sinai where God in his Endless Mercy provided water for the Israelites despite their unfaithfulness. (See Exodus 17) Kadesh is where – decades later after the last of the unfaithful had died – and Moses angrily struck the rock which God had told him to speak to so the water would flow without human action. God’s command was meant to demonstrate his Holiness. Instead it demonstrated human arrogance, and that cost Moses and Aaron their opportunity to enter Canaan. That penalty demonstrates that previous grace never extends to current disobedience.
Romans 5:8 – 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
John 4:28-30 – 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah,[a] can he?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
Hope Fulfilled
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope! Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all be filled with the beautiful Light of Hope! There is such Joy and Peace in the lives of Believers. Those dual blessings come to us through the Holy Spirit, yes? How about a quick refresher in the Gifts and Fruit of the Holy Spirit?
HOLY SPIRIT GIFTS AND FRUITS
7 Gifts: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude (Courage), Knowledge, Piety (Reverence), and Fear of the Lord (Wonder/Awe) See 1 Corinthians 12:4–11
9 Fruit “flavors”: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience (Or Forbearance), Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, And Self-Control. See Galatians 5:22-23
What a good God we have who freely blesses us with so many Gifts – more than enough Gifts to live a Holy Life. Is there anything lacking in these 16 Graces with which our Father in Heaven has graciously offered us in super-abundance so that, whenever we ask to receive or choose to accept each and/or all, the amount available to us is not diminished!
Perhaps you respond like me when I hear about how the Israelites were quarrelsome and frustrated by their circumstances. “Ingrates! Get over it!” We need to remember, though, that they were newbies to this idea of being a Great Nation. This incident at Raphadim was most likely some three to six months into their wandering in the desert of Zin. Remember now that it is recounted in Chapter 17 of Exodus. (↔ Click Link) 38 years later, in Chapter 8 of Deuteronomy, (Important review for New Testament studies.) they will be on the verge of entering The Promised Land. They will have to fight for it city-by-city, and were commanded by God to utterly annihilate ALL the earthlings in every city! Doesn’t that seem like “overkill,” literally?? WAY too much to allow. Perhaps if we see that command for ourselves, it might sink in a little better. Here are a couple of references –
Deuteronomy 7:1-2(GNT)[1]– 1 “The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 2 When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy. In a latter reinforcement of these commands from God to Joshua, we read in Deuteronomy 20:16-18 – 16 But as for the towns of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breathes remain alive. 17 You shall annihilate them—the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites – just as the Lord your God has commanded, 18 so that they may not teach you to do all the abhorrent things that they do for their gods, and you thus sin against the Lord your God.
An example of those abhorrent things is the veneration of the idol Moloch (or Molech). Worshippers of this aberration of human nature built huge bronze statue of a grotesque beast (← Here is what it looked like!!) with the head of a bull and the body of a man with outstretched hands. There was a large bronze brazier in front of the image. The image and brazier were heated red hot. Infants and children were placed in Moloch’s hands to be burned alive. Their bodies would fall into the brazier and be burned beyond recognition. The World has developed a less obvious form of the sacrifice of innocents to a more palatable “god.” We kill preborn and newborn infants in the womb and on the operating table for the deity called Self. It is no less evil than what was done in the name of Moloch.
The annihilation of 7 – SEVEN! – entire nations is hard to believe in our times. We call that genocide. AT THAT TIME God called it Immutable Justice. Those people in Canaan had around 430 years to seek and to find God who revealed himself to them in the abundance and productivity of their lands and cities, in the totality of Creation, and in the nascent natural affinity for God in each earthling’s heart. They ignored him. They made their own “gods” of wood, or stone, or precious metals. They committed execution by torture on their own infants by burning them ALIVE in the metal hands of their deity name Moloch (← Here’s what that looks like!!) God decreed that these City-States had more than enough time and opportunity to repent of their evil ways, and – rather than wipe them out in a smaller deluge – he would help the Israelites take over the land little by little (so that it would not be taken all at once and wild beasts overwhelm them) It was God’s decree that all of them should perish by the sword, and the Israelites were going to be the instruments of God’s Immutable Justice.
The Israelites really had no idea what was in store for them. And, as is often said throughout the first five books of the Bible, they were a stiff-necked people, both stubborn and fickle. That’s a bad combination, isn’t it? It is one of those emotional synergies which often overflows into anger and really stupid decisions. I’ve been there way too many times. How about you? Do we ever feel like we’ve had too much to handle? Hmmm.
Are we sometimes (or often) in a snit about something or someone? Do we ever get to the point where we say, “That’s it! I’ve had enough! I’m out of here!” That attitude seemed to be common among the Israelites. And who did they blame for it? Well, Moses of course. He was the guy that got them into this mess and they figured it must be his fault because somebody had to be wrong. OK, on Moses’ behalf, we should probably also say he was pretty new at being The Leader. Because of his very close and personal relationship with God, he knew that he could go to God and say “What in the world am I going to do with these people?” He had more than enough of their tantrums, whining, and opposition. He realized that his acquired leadership skills at that time were insufficient for resolving the problem before him, so he turned again to his God Who responded with another mighty miracle, drawing water from the flinty rock. Later on in this post we’ll see why that was such an important Type in Christology.
How about these declarations?
I can’t believe a loving God would do such a terrible thing!
Why would God take him/her away from us so soon?
The Lord gives and the Lord takes. That’s just the way it works.
I don’t know what I did to turn God against me, but not only does he not answer me, he gives me even more to handle. I’m not so sure I want to be part of all of that.
The Israelites got angry with God and blame him for their being miserable, When in fact it was their fault because they were being so stubborn. All they needed to do was to say yes Lord whatever you want and guess what. They said that over and over again and then did just the opposite. So many times we claim that we want to serve the Lord, but (I’ve said this before) only in an advisory capacity. Like the Israelites, we can be stubborn and fickle, too. And also, like the Israelites, we cuss and moan about it, while what we really need to do is humble ourselves before God and ask for the faith, the discernment, the patience and perseverance, and especially the humility to cast down our idols of self and make God preeminent in all things. “Easier said than done, Mr. Chick!” Of course, that is true. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
Or would they? Is it really that difficult to do like Moses did to turn our backs on all the drama and say, “God what should I do now?”, and then DO IT? Why do we often seem to harden our hearts and to become fickle and stubborn? “Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness” and ‘ If today you hear his voice harden not your hearts.” (↔ Music Link) Do not fall asleep during that Psalm. We must not let the repetitive nature of it distract us. If we make that same mistake, the mistake the Israelites made at Miraba, Then we make it difficult if not impossible for the next part of God’s miraculous love for take effect. We will not be able to draw Living Water from The Rock.
We will remain sinners who refused to be saved. How stiff necked and stubborn is that, huh? And look at what The Apostle Paul said to us in Romans 5:8 – 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. You see, this time it was God that struck the Rock of Ages, and from it, blood and water flowed and a New Covenant was established. We could be turning our backs on experiencing God’s Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, Eternal Salvation, Immutable Justice, Irreproachable Wisdom, and Incomparable Grace. It seems to me that sounds like it would be another of those really stupid decisions.
It is important that we remember that the woman at the well (Jacob’s well in Sychar) was a Samaritan, and therefore not “eligible” to inherit all the blessings that would come through the Messiah. She made herself eligible, as well as many in Sychar, through repentance and believing the Gospel. That’s exactly the same process we should be using every single day. “Let anyone who is thirsty [as in hunger and thirst for righteousness (↔ Click Link)]come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”
It literally took another extraordinary Miracle for the Israelites to get their heads on straight. That lasted only a short while because – as the Lord God had predicted – they did not annihilate the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. They disobeyed and intermarried, proceeded to try to “fit in” by taking up the idolatry condemned by the Lord, and continued to be stubborn and fickle for which they were repeatedly – often severely – punished by God until at last God said, “Too much is enough! I’m going to fix this once and for ALL. Son, come over here. It’s time for Phase Two-of-Four in the Absolutely Perfect Plan.” Wanna know what phase three and four are?
Phase Three – A New Heaven and a New Earth. Phase Four – The Resurrection for Eternal Life – YOLO-F. Hell-o-o-o-o-o-o! Or Oh Hell.
On that Last Day Jesus’ Prophecy will be fulfilled as in Matthew 25:44-46 – 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’(↔ Music Link) 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Too much is more than enough, and that is how the Lord does everything – with extravagant generosity. Jesus would have died for you, or for me, but instead, he died for every single living soul ever created and made alive “from conception in the womb unto natural death.” We should hear, heed, and obey that rather than hardening our hearts. Praise the Lord!. God is good ALL the time! …and …?
I hope this wasn’t too much, but that it was still enough.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd! Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.
American Roman Catholic reared as a "Baptiterian" in Denver Colorado. Now living on Kauaʻi. USAF Vet. Married for over 50 years. Scripture study has been my passion ever since my first "Bible talk" at age 6 in VBS.
