In this lesson, we look at the account of Israel spying out and then refusing to enter the promised land of Canaan. While most of Israel doubted God and refused to obey God, a faithful remnant that included Joshua and Caleb stood strong and urged obedience. This passage has much to teach believers about trusting God’s Word over fleshly feelings or analysis; when we simply believe God, we not only avoid God’s judgment/chastening, but we do not miss out on God’s great blessings.
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people know they were awesome manifestations excuse me of God’s glory but even they were a foreshadowing of the ultimate the manifestation of our ultimate revelation of God God’s Son Jesus Christ God in human flesh we’ll talk more about the other elements of the tabernacle next week like the building structure the various types of offerings that could be offered at the tabernacle and the priests garments among other things any questions about what we talked about last week okay now let’s talk about Israel’s first arrival to the borders of Canaan before entering Israel send some spies to observe the land here’s what we’re going to look at today we’re going to examine numbers 13 and the account of the spies and their reports to Israel then we’ll remind ourselves of what promises God had given to Israel before they hate even sent the spies in the came in do some cross-referencing there and then finally we’ll look at God’s reaction to Israel in numbers 14 Israel’s response to the spies and then God’s reaction to Israel so we’re going to be in number is 13 and 14 mainly today that’s right father you are great in glorious it’s so sweet to talk about your word today these things really happened and they were meant to instruct us that reveal more to us about you and to show us the way that we ought to go so Lord use use this time now to work on us by your spirit in Jesus name Amen please open your Bibles if you haven’t done so yet two numbers 13 number is 13 Genesis Exodus Leviticus numbers so we’re in the fourth book of the Old Testament now let me give you some background to fill you in on what happened between where we were next is last time and where we’re going to be today Israel you remember had arrived at mount sinai in the third month of the first year and that’s where God gave them or the third month of the first year since they came out of Egypt and that’s where God gave him his gave them his time coming minutes and it gave me instructions for building the tabernacle at the end of Exodus X is 40 verse 17 we hear that the tabernacle has been completed X is 40 verse 17 says now in the first month of the second year on the first day of the month the tabernacle was erected so how long did it take to build the tabernacle if as you arrived at Sinai received the commandments and the instructions for the tabernacle in the third month of the first year and how long did it take to build the tabernacle if the tabernacle was completed on the first month of the second year about nine months about eight or nine months or nine it’s eight to ten months depending on what time of the month they started about nine months though the book of Exodus ends with the cloud of God’s presence descending on and remaining on the tabernacle cloud by day fire by night and not just when it was completed throughout Israel’s journey the rest viduals journey that cloud is going to be above the tabernacle either cloud or a pillar of fire unless that God was committing them to move on now in the Book of Leviticus wouldn’t have time to examine that one specifically but the Book of Leviticus outlines many laws for the people of Israel there were some law declared in the book of Exodus but many more in Leviticus including what kind of offerings they are to bring to God the duties of the priests what is clean and what is unclean for the people of Israel because we’re all declared in the Book of Leviticus and then we come to the book of numbers numbers begins with numbers it begins with a census begins with the census of Israel’s fighting men the men who would be 20 years old and above and then the book outlines more regulations for Israel there’s an account of the second pass over this is the second year they come out of Egypt so is the second time Israel celebrates the Passover and then in numbers ten number ten verses 11 and 13 we hear this now in the second year in the second month on the twentieth of the month the class was lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony and the sons of Israel set out on their journey journeys from the wilderness of Sinai then the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran so they moved they moved out for the first time according to the commandment of the Lord through Moses so now we’re in the second month on the twentieth day of the month so this would be 50 days after the tabernacle was completed the Israel’s this realite SAR leaving Mount Sinai finally leaving Mount Sinai and they’re following God’s cloud where did God’s cloud settle the wilderness of Paran the wilderness of Paran it says now this location is not precisely known though it’s probably in the northeast end of the Sinai Peninsula so if you think of think of the Sinai kind of being like a triangle they were down here probably and they move it up to the northeast so that’s out the northeast end of the Sinai Peninsula or the northwest section of the Arabian Peninsula closer to the promised land after setting out from Sinai however Israel quickly slips into trouble unbelief and complaint but unlike earlier in Exodus God meets this unbelief with some holy chasing and numbers 11 your clothes there so you can just glance at that chapter and numbers 11 that people complain about their adversities and fire from God comes and burns parts of the camp in the same chapter some of the non-israelites identified as the rabble the non-israelites traveling with Israel stir up the Israelites to complain about their food oh the food we had in Egypt was so much better and with weeping is you like declare that they are sick of mana and they want quail again God grants them quail but he promises them they’re going to get so much that they’re going to become sick of it and when the quail arrived God strikes down those greedy rabble rousers with plague then in numbers 12 Aaron and Miriam complained against Moses asserting that they should have the same level authority as Moses is Moses the only one that got speaks through God’s speaks to us as well but God reminds them that he is the one who chooses his own profit and that they dare not speak against whomever God chooses God strikes Miriam with leprosy for seven days I was going to be permanent but Moses intercedes and God says well she’s gonna at least have it for seven days so not a very good start for Israel post Sinai but now we’re number is 13 and they’re coming near Canaan we’re going to read the whole chapter of number is 13 and then we’ll talk about it kind of a long passage so follow along with me number is 13 verse 1 then the Lord spoke to Moses saying send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan which I’m going to give to the sons of Israel you shall send a man from each of their fathers tribes each one a leader among them so Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel these were their names from the tribe of rumen shamu at the son of zakar from the tribe of Simeon chef at the son of Horry from the tribe of Judah Caleb the son of Jeff una from the tribe of Issachar yoga the son of Joseph from the tribe of ephraim Hosea the son of nun from the tribe of Benjamin Paul T the son of rafu from the tribe of zebulon gadiel the son of saudi from the tribe of joseph from the tribe of Manasseh gaddi the son of susi from the tribe of Dan Amy L the son of Gamal II from the tribe of Asher set third the son of michael from the tribe of naphtali nabi the son of off she and from the tribe of GAD who l the son of machi these in the names the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land but Moses called Hosea the son of nun Joshua well Moses sent him to spy out the land of Canaan he said to them go up there into the Negev then go up into the hill country see what the land is like and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak whether they are few or many how is the land in which they live is it good or bad and how are the cities in which they live are they like open camps or with fortifications how is the land is it fat or lean are their treason it or not make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes so they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of zin as far as ray hob at labor Hamas when they had gone events the Negev that came to Hebron where ehemann sheesh I and Tom I the descendants of anak were now hebron was built seven years before zohan in Egypt then they came to the valley of ash Cole and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes and they carried it on a pole between two men and with air with some of the pomegranates and the fix that place was called the valley of Eshkol because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there when they returned from spying at the land at the end of 40 days they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel on the wilderness sopran at Kadesh and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land thus they told him and said we went into the land where you sent us and certainly and it certainly does flow with milk and honey and this is its fruit nevertheless the people who live in the land are strong and the cities are fortified and very large and moreover we saw the descendants of anak there Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites are in land of the Negev and the Hittites and the jebusites and the amorite SAR living in the hill country and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said we should by all means go up and take possession of it for we will surely overcome it but the men who had gone up with him said we are not able to go up against the people for they are too strong for us so they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out saying the LAN through which we have gone in spying it out is a land that devours its inhabitants and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size there also we saw the Nephilim the sons of anak apart Nephilim and we became like grasshoppers in our own site and so we were in their site okay let’s start our analysis with this chapter with some basic observations who called for spies to be sent into the land yeah Danielle it actually is Moses but in the text it says God did it back in a verse 1 then the Lord spoke to Moses saying send out for yourself men that they may spy out the land it’s Moses who’s going to pass on that command but we learn from Deuteronomy that the people actually came up with this idea it meant Moses his approval and I met God’s approval to and he commanded do that but here we’re told that God specifically commands them Moses sends out 12 men to spy out the land why 12 14 each drive one each tribe is represented and we get each spies a name noted for us goes along with it the very historical nature of this book each spies name is noted in verses 4 216 now notice Joshua’s real name is actually Jose but Moses called him Joshua anytime you see the text making a big deal out of someone’s name or renaming it’s worth investigating what the name means you may have a note in your Bible does anyone know what Hosea means means salvation or Savior but what does joshua mean yahweh is savior yahweh is salvation poignant renaming there moses it tells the spies to note certain aspects of canaan we see this in verses 17 to 20 says first find out what the land is like scan those verses for a second how many times does moses tell them to consider the quality of the land how many times you could probably say four but I would definitely say three once in verses 18 19 and 20 see what the land is like at verse 19 how was the land verse 20 how is the land and then they’re told specifically to check out the trees and bring back produce so it really wants to know what the land itself is like but also secondly what kind of and how many people live there what are the people of the land line and third what are the cities of the land like are they big they small are they fortified or are they open now where exactly did the spies go well the text says they went from the wilderness of zin to ray hob nearly bohomoth have a little map up here for you there’s probably where the Israelites were in Kadesh wilderness was in right above them and they were in the wilderness paren and labor ha math is all the way at the top right of the map what do you notice about these two locations why would they go from Kadesh to label on math and back yeah this is all the Land of Israel they’re going from the bottom portion the bottom border to the top border they’re going to see the whole land so those locations are not accidental on the way though they do stop in to specific locations and the value of s Cole and hebron and the valley they picked up some grapes along with some pomegranates and figs but what about the inhabitants of he braun stood out to the spies say that again they notice there were certain people there who were the sons of anak who they compared later to the Nephilim what’s significant about the sons of anak I’ll get your question just a second yeah yeah they are very large because we see later on they say the we were like grasshoppers in their site the sons of anak were known for their bigness these were large men they were or maybe even consider Giants and they saw a couple of those sons there and they’re listed by name and that really got them thinking we’re going to say Rob yeah so it might be a little hard to read but you see the red and yellow line here so where they started would be where those red and yellow lines start at the bottom Kodesh and where they ended would be where they were those lines and at the top lai lai Bahama um that’s a good question okay and thank you Bill that that’s very helpful so just repeat his comment the land of Palestine is about the size of New Jersey so just imagine walking from one that of New Jersey to the other and you probably get about the same amount of time it took them so yeah what’s my next question here okay so they notice the sons of anak in Hebron particularly large men and they compared them to the Nephilim now who are the Nephilim they were mentioned before in the Bible yes I right okay so you’re going to the right section of Scripture the Nephilim were mentioned when we’re talking about the sons of God coming into the daughters of men i think that’s genesis 6 but we took notice in that passage that the author tries to clarify that the Nephilim were already on the earth by the time that that happened so the Nephilim were not the descendents not really the descendants of this Union some of their descendants may have been Nephilim but Nephilim were already on the earth at that time Nephilim as far as we understand it were probably not a particular race or prepare that race but ethnicity or lineage it was just a term that meant mighty man sometimes it’s translated as Giants but doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a it’s a kind of it’s a word that we’re not exactly sure edimo etymologically what it refers to but clearly it was a it was a term that denoted might so to be like the Nephilim was to be like a mighty man so when they compared the anakim the sons of anak to the Nephilim they’re saying these are like the mighty men of old from the time of the flood that’s what they were saying but those Nephilim just understand they’re not they’re not merely the descendants of angels that’s not what it refers to okay what figure of speech do the spies used to describe the land itself yeah joe that’s right they say it does indeed flow with milk and honey now of course we’re not supposed to take that phrase literally but what does it mean yeah Rob yeah it’s abundant its fertile and abundant it’s a bounteous land how long were the spies spying 40 days 40 days and when they come back they answer Moses’s three questions let’s summarize their report what’s the land like its bountiful beautiful it’s awesome it’s an awesome land what are the people like they’re big and strong people are big and strong and what if the city is like they’re large and fortified when Caleb here’s this report what’s his response let’s go get it from will surely overcome it sounds great what the other spies say we are not able to take this land we’re not able to do this and these are the spies spread a discouraging report among the people of Israel emphasizing the obstacles and not mentioning the lands bounty let’s ask a few interpretive questions now why might God have wanted Israel to send spies into the land we see that the outcome is not that great but why would God have wanted them to do that one possible reason yes I yeah so I think there’s a test here that they’re going to see not only that the land is awesome get excited about it kind of like Caleb does but they’re also going to see that you can’t get this land yourself you have to let God give it to you you have to trust in God to give it to you it was in some ways to show them that God promised the lands going to be awesome and look it is awesome you can see that for yourself even before you go in get excited but also it was a test will you trust the Lord you see the obstacles that they’re going to be in front of you in this land trust the Lord and there perhaps some other purposes there too but I think that’s definitely part of it why did the majority of spy say the issue was not able to take possession of the land what were they thinking yeah yeah that’s exactly right they were comparing the obstacles that they had to face the people and their their strongholds and they’re saying well let’s look at our resources we have a certain number of men we have men of a certain height and men of a certain strength when you just crunched the numbers we can do it when we look at our resources we just can’t do it but they were looking only at man’s supposed power and not God’s power Israel was once again confusing sometimes like we do the means that God ordained to accomplish something and the power to actually accomplish it Israel’s fighting men their warriors their battles would be the means but it wasn’t their power that was going to give them the land it was God’s power that was going to give them victory and a land but perhaps we might think well maybe God never made it clear to the Israelites how God was going to deliver the land to Israel maybe they thought well God brought us this far but now we’ve got to do the rest let’s do a little bit of cross-referencing now when we study a Bible passage it’s not only important to observe the passage and its immediate context we also want to consider the passages greater context in the scriptures how did the rest of the scripture to relate to what we’re looking at it can be difficult those to consider the whole Bible at once how could we find passages relevant to the one that we’re looking at in numbers 13 what’s one way there are multiple ways yeah Roy yeah so 11 ways to use a concordance you have a probably eliminate concordance to the back of your Bible but you can also get grab an exhaustive concordance and then just look up the terms that are associated with the passage that we’re looking at here milk and honey give land or Anna camera or something like that and you can find some passages related to what we’re talking about what else how else can you find relevant passages you might have some cross references already listed in your Bible if you have a steady Bible you can just say look there’s some passengers related to right here it says some of my notes you might remember some passages and you might go and and look them up but also you can use a search tool like biblegateway.com or if you have an app on your phone like the grace to you bible app you can just type in search terms you say I want to look for all the verses that say give land I want to look at all the terms that are all the verses that say promised land actually I don’t think there are many thats a promised land but you have to be careful about the terms that you use but you can do it multiple times and find relevant vs so this is what I did I looked up I I looked up a number of passages that use the terms give and land on bible gateway and i’ll share some of them to you read some of them to you because we’re trying to get behind the question how was God going to obtain the land of Canaan for Israel did God make it clear how that would happen what was it unclear well Genesis 13-17 Khan says to Abraham arise walk about the land through its length and breadth for I will give it to you Genesis 17 8 God again speaking to Abram I will give to you and your descendants after you the land of your sojourning all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I will be their God Genesis 26-3 God speaks to Isaac sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands and i will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham Genesis 35 12 God speaks to Jacob the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give it to you and I will give the land to your descendants after you x just 12 25 Moses speaks to Israel when you enter the land which the Lord will give you as he has promised you shall observe this right speaking about the Passover and Exodus 22 Exodus 20 verse 12 God speaking to Israel himself honor your father and mother that your days may people may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you how the Israelites going to obtain the land of their inheritance according to these verses God would do it God would give it to them God would give it to them himself he made that abundantly clear it’s actually also amazing i mentioned Leviticus on here but don’t mention any specific passages because when you look at the Book of Leviticus a lot of the laws start with the same formula the same phrase something like when you enter the land that the Lord your God gives you remember to do this God said it again and again I will give you the land I tried out some other search terms i said to myself i think i remember the word drive out somewhere in the Pentateuch describing how God was going to give them the land so i searched that I searched those terms drive out and I found some even more compelling verses and he’s come from Exodus Exodus 33 verses 1 and 2 we’re getting more specific now then the Lord spoke to Moses depart go up from here you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt to the land which I swore to Abraham Isaac and Jacob saying to your descendants I will give it I will send an angel before you and I will drive out they came 2nite the amorite the hittite the parasite the Hittites and the jab x is 3411 be sure to observe what I’m commanding you this day behold i am going to drive out the amorite before you and the Canaanite the hittite the parasite and the hit I and the JV site later in the same chapter Exodus 34 24 for I will drive out nations before you and in larger borders and no man shall cover your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the lord your god there he was saying you can you need to come to my tabernacle three times a year all of them all the males and you don’t have to worry about your land you don’t want to worry about it being stolen because i will give you so much that no one will even be jealous for your land you’ll have so much that no one will cover anyone else’s land i’ll give it to you because i’ll drive out the nations and so in larger borders we’re probably the most complete explanation for how God was going to give them the land as in Exodus 23 actually turn there please X is 23 vs 22-31 how was God going to give them the land of Canaan God said he would do it God even promises to send his angel and to drive out the inhabitants before them let’s hear what more he promises and this passage Exodus 23 verse 20 behold I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared be on your guard before him and obey his voice do not be rebellious toward him for he will not pardon your transgression since my name is in him but if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries for my angel will go before you to bring you into the land of the amorite the Hittites the parasites the Canaanites the headlights and enjoy besides and I will completely destroy them you shall not worship their gods nor serve them nor do according to their deeds we shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars and pieces but you shall serve the lord your god and he will bless your bread and your water now we’ll remove sickness from your midst she’ll be no one miscarrying or Baron in your land I will fulfill the number of your days I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you i will send Hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hittites the Canaanites and the Hittites before you I will not dry them out before you in a single year that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you I will drive them out before you little by little until you become fruitful and take possession of the land at one more verse I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines and from the wilderness to the river Euphrates for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand and you will drive them out before you amazing what specifically did God promised he would do for Israel he says a number of things there but what’s one of them I’m going to send my angel before you he will guide you he will protect you yes he’s going to send his angel what else would the Lord do Danielle yeah he said I’m gonna determine your exact borders and by the way here’s what they are and it’s all the land it’s all the land of Canaan and I think even more than that what else or something else when he says I’m going to send my angel before you well it is the Lord the angel of the Lord is God and some identify the angel of the Lord as Christ because the angel Lorde often appears visibly two men and in functions as a mediator of a kind and I think that makes sense a pre incarnate manifestation of Christ but we are talking about God here and he says my name is in him and he’s going to say my words and he’s going to do what I do so we’re talking about God how else are what other promises has gone make to Israel yeah Rebecca that’s right I’ll send my terror before you they’re going to have rationally or not they’re going to be so afraid of you they’re going to be thrown into confusion when you come near them yes something else yeah he will send a god says he will send a hornet now that’s also on a figurative expression that’s not literally sending Hornets we’re not expecting that but he says it’s as if who else we’re coming after them they’re going to be harassed they’re going to be afraid because of what I do to them God also says I will completely destroy your enemies I will make them my enemies I will deliver them into your hand when you go to battle I will give you the victory God says I’m not going to do it all at once it’s going to happen gradually why yeah so they wouldn’t be overwhelmed by what yeah all the the people were driven out of the land and the land would become unruly and that animals would just multiply and then they would those animals would be a problem for the Israelites so he says I want to spare you from that I’m going to keep the people there to maintain the land until you’re big enough to take it from it but I will do all of this God made it clear that he not they would obtain the land for them kool know specifically how would happen now that Israel still have to fight battles they did did the Israelite men still have to train hard and fight hard and war they did but their strength and their martial skill were only the means of God providing victory the power was on God’s it was not their skill it was not their strength it was not their cunning that was going to deliver victory it was God they just had to be faithful go out to the battle and fight and I will give it to you sometimes God didn’t even let them fight sometimes God just to really show who’s in control who’s got the power who’s delivering he overrides the normal needs of provision and he actually chooses to miraculously give them victory and we see this very obviously in Jericho right the walls fall down all by themselves because the Lord was fighting for Israel all of these promises that we looked at all these verses all these words they were heard and known by the twelve spies each of them heard these things and saw evidence that God keeps his word because he delivered them in Egypt and he delivered them at the Red Sea he granted them victory they didn’t suffer from a lack of information or a lack of assurance or lack of resources so why didn’t they believe in God’s power why didn’t they Danny yeah they loved sin and the flesh more than they love God they chose fleshly indulgence over faith you see in a strange way for the spies and later we’ll see of Israel it felt good in their flesh to fear it felt good to blame God for not providing well enough for them it felt good to run away from the challenges that God had set before them it felt good to doubt to complain to just stay with what they already knew sin allowed them to build up their own selves at God’s expense their fear mongering was really a cloak for their pride and their love of the world and its treasures when put to the test they pursued the poisonous joy of rebellion against God instead of the greater life-giving joy of faith in and love for God this is what all sin is this is what it means to be tempted by sin and it’s what we deal with as well will we indulge the flesh make our flesh feel good or will we exercise faith believe God and obey well what was the result of all this let’s now look at numbers 14 again will read the entire chapter verses 12 44 follow along with me they hear these reports the spies are telling them about the land being too much for them verse 1 then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried and the people wept that night all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation said to them would that we had died in the land of Egypt or would that we had died in this wilderness why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword our wives and our little ones will become plunder would it not be better for us to return to Egypt so they said to one another let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel Joshua the son of nun and Caleb the son of Jeff una of those who had spied out the land tore their clothes and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel saying the land which we have passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land if the Lord is pleased with us then he will bring us into this land and give it to us a land which flows with milk and honey only do not rebel against the Lord and do not fear the people of the land for they will be our prey their protection has been removed from them and the Lord is with us do not fear them but all the congregation said to stone them with stones then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel the Lord said to Moses how long will this people spurn me and how long will they not believe in me despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst I will smite them with pestilence and just possess them and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than a but Moses said to the Lord then the Egyptians will hear of it for by your strength you brought up this people from their midst and they will tell it to the inhabitants of the land they have heard that you O Lord are in the midst of this people for you O Lord are seeing eye to eye while your cloud stands over them and you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night now if you slay this people as one man then the nations who have heard of your fame will say because the Lord could not bring this people into the land where you promised them by oath therefore he slaughtered them in the wilderness but now I pray let the power of the Lord be great just as you have declared the Lord is slow to anger and abundant and loving-kindness forgiving iniquity and transgression but he will by no means clear the guilty visiting the iniquity of the father’s on the children to the third and the fourth generations pardon I pray the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving-kindness just as you have also forgiven this people from Egypt even until now so the Lord said I have pardoned them according to your word but indeed as I live all the earth will be filled with the glory of the lord surely all the men who have seen my glory and my signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness yet have put me to the test these ten times and I’ve not listened to my voice shall by no means see the land which I swore their fathers nor shall any of those who spurned me see it my servant Caleb because he has had a different spirit has followed me fully I will bring into the land which he entered and his descendants shall take possession of it and the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys are now the Amalekites in the Canaanites live in the valleys turned tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying how long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are against me I have heard the complaints the sons of Israel which they are making against me say to them as I live says the Lord just as you have spoken in my hearing so I will surely do to you your corpses will fall in this wilderness even all your numbered men according to your complete number from 20 years old and upward who have grumbled against me surely you shall not come into the land which I swore to settle you except Caleb the son of Jeff una and Joshua the son of nun your children however whom you said would become a prey I will bring them in and they will know the land which you have rejected but as for you your corpses will fall on this wilderness your sons will be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until your corpses lie in the wilderness according to the number of days which you spied out the land 40 days for every day you shall bear your guilt a year even 40 years and you will know my opposition I the LORD have spoken surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against me and this wilderness they shall be destroyed and there they will die as for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land even those men who brought out that very bad report of the land died by a plague before the Lord but Joshua the son of nun and Caleb the son of Jeff una remained alive out of those men who went out who went to spy out the land when Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel the people mourned greatly in the morning however they rose up early and went up to the ridge of the hill country saying here we are we have indeed sinned but we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised but Moses said why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord when it will not succeed do not go up or you will be struck down before your enemies for the Lord is not among you for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you and you will fall by the sword and as much as you have turned back from following the Lord the Lord will not be with you but they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country neither the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord nor nor Moses left the camp then the Amalekites in the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and struck them and beat them down as far as hormone a complete disaster let’s make some observations how does Israel respond to the bad report of the spies they do a number of things they want to go back to Egypt they complained against Moses and they say let’s appoint a new leader with a goes back to Egypt I also weep they despair they complain Moses an errand they fall on their faces in response a showing deference to the Lord what about Caleb and Joshua what do they do yeah Caleb and Joshua tried to reason with their brethren they tear their clothes and they present an argument and their argument is if it pleases God and if we obey God we will be victorious and conquest because God is going to be with us they remembered all the words that God had said they think we’re even using the same language but how well as their argument received it was the worst response ever the people called to stone them maybe they even started maybe they were just about to get it going but something prevents it from happening what happens God’s glory appeared with the tabernacle you can see that the picture here in the illustration God declares to Moses that God will destroy all of Israel and start with Moses again but Moses intercedes for the wicked Israelites and asked for God’s pardon on what basis does God or does Moses ask for pardon Eric yeah said your glory is the most important thing God if you destroy the people of Israel your glory will be defamed people of Earth people of Egypt will hear about it and they’ll tell the people the land and they’ll tell others how God wasn’t able to bring them into the land that’s why kill them all so he beseeches gone on the basis of his own glory don’t destroy this completely unworthy people and based on your mercy God based on your loving-kindness show them pardon me God grants Moses his request he doesn’t destroy them immediately but he declares that he will make his glory known and he must pronounce a judgment even if it is a restrained judgment on Israel and what’s the judgment they will not enter the promised land they will instead wander for forty years in the wilderness everyone who was numbered before those fighting men 20 years old and upward they will all die before Israel goes into the land why 40 years that’s right one year for each day that the spies had been in the land the exception God makes to this judgment Joshua and Caleb they were faithful and they would receive God’s blessing what happened to the ten disbelieving spies they were killed immediately with plague I think of Jesus’s words better to have a millstone around your neck and thrown in the sea than to cause one of God’s children to sin they led the whole nation into sin God commands usual to return to the wilderness but what does Israel do instead I try to go in the land God says going to land they won’t go into leah God says don’t go in the land they go in the land hard hearts Moses warned them not to go without God but they would not listen and they were defeated in battle forced retreat God mentions just how incredibly hard harder that people of Israel are and that they have tested him ten times he’s been patient with them but they’ve tested him ten times what were those ten times well won’t look at each none specifically but this would indeed be the 10th time that the nation has rebelled against God and the various complaints are the various acts of disobedience after X is 32 we see that God starts chasing them for it different people in the congregation or killed but here and there were refusal to enter the land all of those 20 years old and upwards are condemned to die in the wilderness let’s ask a few questions now interpretation wise what attributes of God are on display in this passage that’s one of them rom his patients right yeah he grants them pardon and he reminds him I I’ve been patient with you all the way up until now even though you continually test me yeah we sees patients what else yeah yeah God is truthful God is faithful whatever he says will come to pass his word doesn’t come back void and it was true the land was great they were only believe it yeah Rebecca yeah right we see the Lord’s faithfulness on behalf of those who trust in him he not only protects their lives from being stoned but he says when I judge everyone else you will not suffer in that judgment because you’ve been faithful what else Iran that’s right God we do see the Lord is glorious and jealous for his glory Moses rightfully appeals the gods glory when interceding for Israel and God is faithful to his glory he says yes I will show my loving kindness but I will also show my my holiness not one of those people who just believe me will enter the land yeah something else right yeah yeah listen up yeah yeah that’s totally that’s the only reason that they receive kindness from the Lord is because of God’s glory because guy was going to give himself glory he was gonna give them what they weren’t worthy of and he was not going to let nations speak badly about him God shows his holiness he shows his patience he shows his mercy he shows that it’s faithfulness it shows his glory this passage it shows us the consequences of sin and disbelief in God sin brings down God’s judgment God’s holy judgment but what else is the consequence of sin not just the judgment of God not just punishment what else is a consequence yeah there’s definitely shame associated with their rebellion and where their sin as there always is with sin yeah that’s true there’s judgment their shame rom yeah yeah yeah you’re right they are no longer thinking properly they were no longer able to even act wisely no longer to think properly and that of course reminds us of Romans 1 we r talks about us God gives them over to a depraved mind we’re going to say Danny yeah yeah yeah yeah and that is another consequence of sin as you’re saying Danny that sin actually when we harden our hearts it makes it so that it’s even harder for us to obey later on what we gonna say Dwayne yeah that’s probably the biggest one here and it’s something that the writer of Hebrews makes point about later on they missed out on God’s blessing this is the worst part of the judgment they were so close some of the spies even saw the land and they said that it was a good lamp now none of them would go in no no that would even see it yeah yeah yeah that’s that’s a good point I think there might be a little bit of a I don’t know if there’s a debate but I think there could be some differences of opinion on the exact translation of the river Euphrates I know there’s an italicized word in that section but I do think you’re right that the borders that God describes that he will the borders of the land that God describes he will give to Israel extended further than the borders of Israel ever actually achieved so I think you’re right that we haven’t yet seen the the full fulfillment of what God promised Israel that’s part of why we believe that God is going to restore the kingdom as part of what God will do in the future but we see that because of their sin they brought themselves shame they were further hard and they became no longer able to think properly and they missed out on God’s blessing this is always what sin does it causes us to miss out on wisdom provision life and blessing God withholds from us that which he would have otherwise freely given us it says you don’t want it then I won’t give it to you this is what this is part of the sinfulness of sin I’m gonna have time right now but it’s exactly the point that the writer of Hebrews makes when he says commenting on the Psalms don’t harden your hearts like the people of Israel did before the land of Canaan and in the wilderness because God has results swore that none of them would enter his rest none of them would enter the promised land and that same thing will happen to us I’ll just read the last part of the Hebrews passage Hebrews 4 chapter 1 and 2 therefore lettuce fear if while a promise remains of entering his rest any one of you may seem to have come short of it for indeed we have had good news preached to us just as they also but the word they heard did not profit them because it was not united by faint and those who heard what’s the purpose was the purpose of this passage these two chapters we’re supposed to be affected the people of Israel that Moses wrote this for is supposed to be affected that they would learn not to be like Israel but to be like Joshua Caleb Moses and Aaron and it’s great that we do have some faithful people in those episodes right it’s not like Oh everyone turned away from God no there was a faithful remnant we sometimes think o Israel failed again and again we do the same thing man or just have to have God to be really gracious to us because all we do is fail that’s all we can do no the Old Testament shows that the righteous persevere by faith and here are some clear examples of that it is possible to walk by faith we must walk by faith if we’re believers we’re called to live holy God believing lives and that’s exactly the way that Caleb and Joshua and Moses and Aaron lived they weren’t perfect they did slip up every now and then but their habit was to exercise faith in God that must be our habit if we’re believers so as you consider your own life challenges you own obstacles to your own obedience this morning and as I consider that let’s ask ourselves do we believe the many times proven Word of God we may sometimes feel like we don’t have enough information or resources but we do do we trust in the power the wisdom and the kindness of God to provide for us as we pursue obedience do we believe that God can grant us victory over giants and fortresses figuratively figuratively speaking and do we really believe there is a great reward and rest for us if we are faithful or are we content to just indulge the flesh flesh and miss out on God His blessing and eternal life you have other questions or comments you can come see me afterwards that’s right father what a wonderful but also a sobering word or we want to enter your rest continually and Lord salvation is an entry into your arrest but for those of us who are saved we know that we can slip away from that we know that that that’s not to be characteristic of a believers life because you’ve given us adequate resources you’ve given us yourself you’ve given us your trustworthy word so God when the time of testing comes when the flesh says it would feel so good to doubt God just doubt God complain against God Lord pleased by your spirit grant us that we would exercise belief in your word that we would not look to what our I see or what our flesh feels that we would go to the only thing that’s trustworthy which is your word I would say I will go out on a limb and believe the Lord because you vindicate your people we saw that in a temporal way with Joshua and Caleb but we know that’s true in an eternal way for all people what we do believe you keep us far away from doubt and distrust of you thank you for being so patient but Lord cause us to be sanctified and Jesus name Amen