Failure to Launch

chapter 13. Numbers, chapter 13. Tonight, we're looking at Numbers 13 and 14, and I've given it the title, Failure to Launch, because we're going to find that the children of Israel are going to come right up to the edge of the promised land, but they cannot make it into the promised land because, quite frankly, they are not willing to believe that God is able to do what He's able to do. Now, this is what they have been aiming for this whole time.

I was thinking about this. During worship, that if you think about it, this promise was given to the nation of Israel when Jacob was on his way down to Egypt. Remember, when Jacob went down to Egypt because of the famine, Joseph was there. Jacob was nervous to go to Egypt, but on his way down, God appeared to him. When he stopped there in Beersheba, built an altar to the Lord and worshiped Him there,

and God appeared to him and said, hey, don't worry. You're doing exactly what you're supposed to do, but I will bring you back to the land. I'll bring you back to the land. I'll bring your family back, I promise. The last thing that Joseph said before he died was, God's going to visit you, and He's going to take you back to the land. When Moses showed up to talk to the children of Israel,

he said, God appeared to me, and he said, He's heard your cry, and He's visiting you, and He's going to take you back to the land that He promised to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. And this is what they've been looking forward to this whole time. But unfortunately, they will not approach the land in faith, and they will not be able to enter the land. So, we pick up in chapter 13, verse 1, and this is what it says.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Send out for yourself men, so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel. You shall send a man from each of their father's tribes, every one a leader among them. So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord, all of the men who were heads of the sons of Israel. Now, this first portion, really most of the first chapter, I've entitled Spies in the Land, because that's exactly what happens, is they send these 12 spies in to check out the land.

And so, what we see, first of all, is their commission. Now, there's something interesting that's mentioned in the first couple of verses of chapter 13. It says, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Send out for yourself men, so that they may spy out the land, the land of Canaan. So if we only had the account of Numbers, we would be given the idea that this was completely God's idea for them to go in and to spy out the land of Canaan.

But if we continue on into Scripture, we'll come over to the book of Deuteronomy. And if you were to look at the book of Deuteronomy, turn there real quick. Look at chapter one. I didn't have her put this up there, I'm sorry. Deuteronomy chapter one, and I want you to look at verse 22.

In Deuteronomy chapter one, verse 22, it says this. Then all of you approached me and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities we shall enter. And the thing pleased me, and I took 12 of your men, one from each tribe. Ah, but see, when we see the Deuteronomy account of this, Moses gives us a little bit more of a commentary on what really happened.

And so most commentators, myself along with them, agree that the people are the ones that said, we want to go check out the land. Why don't we send some spies into the land so that we can see exactly what we're getting ourselves into? It sounded good to Moses because Moses at this point in time, remember, has just gone through a really difficult test where his authority was challenged. And as his authority was challenged, and the people come up with this idea, he's like, yeah, that sounds good to me.

And God gave them what they wanted. As a matter of fact, there's going to be a couple of times tonight where we see that when God gives us what we want, it's oftentimes not the best thing. But sometimes in God's judgment, he gives us exactly what we ask for. You see, Moses made the mistake that oftentimes leaders can make. He made the mistake of saying, well, what do you all want to do, right?

If I've learned anything, as a dad, it's that if I really want something specific, I never ask my kids what they want to do. I tell them what they're going to do, right? I learned that lesson as a youth pastor, too. I don't ever ask a group of kids, what do you want to do? Because you know what happens the minute that you ask a group of kids, what do you want to do?

They each have a different opinion about what they want to do. And then you'll have to disappoint somebody. I would rather disappoint all of them and just do what I feel like the Lord wants me to do, right? And so Moses makes the classic mistake of leadership and he asks them what they want to do. And they say, well, we want to send spies into the land. And he says, seems like a good idea to me.

And God's going, fine. If that's what you need, then send out 12 men, one, from every tribe. They can spy out the entire land and see exactly what they're getting themselves into. So this message is sent out from God and they choose 12 men. There's only two names I'm going to point out to you of the 12 guys that are mentioned because they're the only names that we really care about.

One is a guy by the name of, Caleb. And another one is a guy by the name of, Hosea. Now I bet you just asked yourself, who is Hosea? Well, look down here at verse 16. These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. But Moses called Hosea, the son of Nun, Joshua. You see, this Joshua that you and I have talked about several times, his name was actually Hosea.

Which actually just means salvation. Moses changed his name to be Joshua, which means Yahweh is salvation. And so, those are the two names that we want to pay attention to because those are the guys that are important. Now we pick up in verse 17 and this is what it says. When Moses sent them 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. 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 there trees in it or not? Make an effort to get some of the fruit of the land.

Now the time was the time of the first grapes. Now as we look at what Moses says to the people when he sends them into the land, to these 12 spies when he sends them into the land, I see a little bit of a lack of faith on the part of Moses. Now, I typically have tended to lean towards being a little easier on Moses because of everything that he's been through. Moses had a job that I think any lesser man would not have been able to handle.

But you see, what I see here is Moses lacking a little bit of faith in God's ability and really in God's presence. And that's a promise. Because what were some of the things that God had promised Moses about the land? Well, first of all, he told them that it was a land flowing with milk and honey. And that doesn't mean that there was chocolate milk in all of the streams and honey flowing from the hills.

Although, can we be honest and say there wasn't anything wrong with that? That's not what that meant. It meant it was a land of plenty. What had God told them about what was going to happen to the inhabitants of the land? He had promised, I will drive out the inhabitants of the land that are before you. God said, I'm taking you into a place where the people are bigger and stronger than you,

but I will go before you and I will drive out the land. So why, as Moses is sending the spies in, does he say the things that he says? Because, did you take note? There were three lines that stuck out to me. The first one starts in verse 18. It says, I want you to see what the land is like. And as he says, I want you to see what the land is like, he says, I want you to look at the people.

Tell me if the people are strong or if they're weak. Tell me. Tell me if the people are many or if they are few. Now, if God has promised victory, if God has promised to drive out the inhabitants of the land, why does it matter how strong the inhabitants of the land are? Why does it matter how many inhabitants of the land there are? Why would you ask that question if God has already said,

I will drive out the inhabitants of the land? You have to start to ask yourself, how big is Moses' God at this point in time? Well, he tells them to do a second thing. Verse 19, he says, how is the land in which they live? And then he goes on to say, is it good or bad? And are the cities fortified? Well, God has already promised them what about the land? That it was going to be more than enough for them.

That it was going to be a wonderful land. So why is he now telling them, when you go in, tell me if the land is good or bad. What's he going to do if he comes back and they say, the land is really bad? Well, so much for us in the promised land. A place like the promised land, you would think, would be a pretty good land. And are the cities fortified? Well, does it matter if the cities are fortified?

What did God do to the nation of Egypt? So why is Moses asking them to check these things out? And then there's a third time Moses says it. Verse 20, how is the land? Is it fat or lean? Are there trees or not? Again, why does he need to ask this question if God has already made promise? Now, again, lest we be too hard on Moses, let's remember the times that when God has made us promises,

we probably also have said, but is it going to be good enough? But am I really going to like it? But am I going to be able to handle it? Is it too big for me? Is it too great for me? Is this going to be good enough for me? How many times have we asked ourselves that question when God has made promises to us? Oh, maybe not out loud, and maybe not in those words.

But it's certainly been in our hearts. And it's certainly been in our hearts. And it's certainly been in our hearts. I think we see a little bit of a lapse of faith I think we see a little bit of a lapse of faith on the part of Moses here. So we see what happens when he commissions them. It says that they, verse 21, went up, and they spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin, as far as Rehob,

from the wilderness of Zin, as far as Rehob, at Labo Hamath. When they had gone up into the Negev, they came up to Hebron, where Ahimon, Shishai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were. At that point in time, if there were music accompaniment, when it said the sons of Anak were there, it would go, ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba-ba. Right? Because those are giants. Now, Hebron

was built seven years before Zon in Egypt. Then they came to the valley of Eshgal, and there they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between them. Some of the pomegranates and the figs, and that place was called the Valley of Eshgal, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there. And when they returned from spying out the land, at the end of the forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh.

Now, they did exactly what they were supposed to. They go and they spy out the land. As a matter of fact, a very thorough spying out of the land, because they're there for forty days. Now, this is another one of those scenes where I feel like not nearly enough detail is given, because how do you hide twelve guys cruising around the land, right? At what point in time

are they like, hey, who are those twelve guys? Anyway, that detail is not given to us, but it's something that always runs through my mind when I read this. And so they do what they're supposed to. They see some things that are scary. They see some things that are amazing. But let's hear what they have to say, because now they're going to come back, and they are going to

give the report. And that's what I've titled this next little section. The report. Now, the first thing that we see in the report is the facts, and only the facts. Notice what it says. Middle of verse twenty-six. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and they showed them the fruit of the land. Thus they told him, and said, We went into the land where you sent us,

and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, or we could insert the word, but the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Hopefully you have that same music playing in your head right now. We saw the descendants of Anak there. Amalek is living

in the land of the Negev, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan. Now, I'll point out to you that when they come back and report what's there, this is what I would call a very accurate report. They are reporting the facts. There's nothing false about the facts. The only thing

that's mildly misleading is the nevertheless, because that would indicate maybe there's something negative going on here. But they say, this is in fact a land flowing with milk and honey. Check. God knew exactly what He was talking about. God knew that when He said, I'm going to take you to a land flowing with milk and honey, that's exactly what's taking place.

After all, look at this amazing fruit that we brought back from the land. However, or nevertheless, or but, there's also some really big things going on in the land, meaning there's lots of really big people in the land. Because as we look at the big people in the land, first of all, we see that the cities are very fortified. Remember, Moses told them to check that out.

What kind of cities are there? Are they encampments or are they fortified cities? Now, fortified cities would be cities with walls around them that would be hard to get into if you were a rag-tag army of Israelites. So the cities are very fortified. But also, the descendants of Anak are there. Or we could maybe put this in a little bit better terminology and say,

there's giants there. We know that because we know of one of the descendants of Anak that was very famous. His name is Goliath. And we remember how tall Goliath was, somewhere eight, nine foot tall, right? To me, a guy that's six foot tall is a giant. So anything beyond that, you're huge, right? As far as I'm concerned. And so, there's giants living in the land.

And then I would sum up the verse with all of the Amorites and the Hittites and the Jebusites to say that there are great nations living in the land. Now, you and I read that list of nations, and for the most part, unless you've done a lot of studying of world history, you just know that those are nations listed in the Bible. But if you do know very much about world history, you know that some of those nations were actually very brutal nations. As a matter of fact, the Hittites were some of the first empire builders in world history.

These weren't people to be messed with. So when they go in there and they report these facts, it's exactly like they said. It is a beautiful land, but there are going to be difficult things in the land to overcome. But now it's time to interpret the facts, because after all, that's what we do, right? We look at the facts, and then we interpret the facts. And we know that the interpretation

of the facts has everything to do with your perspective. The first interpretation we see is from Caleb. Look at verse 30. Caleb quieted the people, because undoubtedly the minute that giants were mentioned, there was a murmuring among the people. There was a stir amongst the people. Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, we should by all means go up and take possession

of it, for we shall surely overcome it. I always wish I was a little bit more like Caleb in my life. I can tend to be a little bit like the other ten guys, but Caleb is a fun kind of guy to be around, right? He's a see the hill, take the hill kind of a guy, right? If Caleb lived today, he would be a retired marine officer, or a retired navy seal, or one of those kind of guys that's

like, see the hill, take the hill, because that's what we do. We take things. And Caleb, I think, had a really strong faith. As a matter of fact, we're going to read a little commentary about Caleb here in just a minute. Remember I said, he's one of the two spies' names that we need to pay attention to, because he had this heart in him that said, if God has given it to us,

well then, by all means, let's go and take what God has provided, and what God has given. You see, Caleb is a man who had listened to the promises of God. Caleb was a man who had watched everything that had taken place in the land of Egypt. He had watched everything that had taken place in the wilderness. He probably had been a part of the battle that took place where Moses held his hands up,

and as long as Moses' hands were held up, they had victory. He was believing in a very big God, and he said, it's a wonderful land, we should go in there because we will take the land. But you see, the majority report looked much different. Because the other ten guys had a little bit of a different interpretation of the facts. Notice what it says in verse 31.

But the men who had gone up with them 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 land which we have gone in spying 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

are part of the Nephilim. And we are like, we became like grasshoppers in our own sight. And so we were in their sight. Isn't it interesting how these guys interpreted the facts? Now, again, the facts were true. There were giants living in the land. There were fortified cities. There were great nations. But on one hand, you have Caleb who says, I don't care. Let's go.

God promised it. Let's go take it. But on the other hand, you've got these other ten guys. And what do the other ten guys say? Well, the first thing they say is, we're not able. We are not able to go in and take this land. Not only are we not able, but they are too strong for us. After all, it's a land that devours its inhabitants. There are men of great size in my

favorite part of the interpretation is when they projected their own view of themselves on the people and then pretended to know what the people viewed them as. Did you take note of that? It says, and we are like grasshoppers in our own sight. And we became like grasshoppers in their sight. Isn't that kind of an interesting phrase that's given there? They said, when we looked at them, we felt

this big. And we know that when they looked at us, they saw us as this big. Now I have a question for you. How did they know how the people of the land viewed them? I'll answer it for you. They didn't. But you see, our perception becomes our reality. I want you to understand something. Perception does not become reality, but it becomes our reality. In other words,

that's what I perceive, so that's what I believe. This is what has happened to these ten spies. To these ten guys who had been sent out to spy out the land, they said, we can't do it. So what was the problem? Well, I've identified the problem that they had in three ways. Number one, it was hard. It was really hard. Right? Because that's exactly what it was. You see, I think as they were

heading for the promised land, they thought this is going to be easy. It's kind of interesting, isn't it? We give ourselves in this culture a really hard time. They felt the exact same way 4,000 years ago when they were like, but it's really, really hard. And we can't do it. It does kind of sound familiar though, doesn't it? People think, oh, I'm just going to go do this

and it turns out it's really hard. And once it gets really hard, we turn around and say, never mind, that must not have been what God wanted. This can't be what God wants because surely God wouldn't have me walking anything hard. Listen, I think the quicker that we can know the fact that when God calls us to do something, it's going to be hard, the easier it's going to be for us to overcome.

But you see, the first problem is that they realized this is going to be hard. And because they realized it was going to be hard, number two, all they could see was their inability. All they could see was their inability. You see, they couldn't get past their nose and when they looked at themselves in comparison with the people that they were supposed to go in and take this land from, all they could see is that they were not able to go in and take the land. And may

I say, in their own strength, they weren't. In their own strength, they were not able because it's true, the people of the land were greater than them. The people of the land were stronger than them. The fortified cities were too much for them. But see, all they could see is their own inability because number three, they failed to see God's ability. I'll ask us all again,

how big is our God? You see, I think a lot of times we have a tendency when facing something really difficult to forget that our God is bigger than the thing that we're facing. Because for us, it may not actually be going in and taking over a land. As a matter of fact, if any of you are thinking about taking over another state, I'm just going to tell you, don't do it because I don't think that's what God's calling you to do.

However, there are some things in your life that you're going to need to overcome. And as you need to overcome those things, sometimes they feel really hard and so because of them feeling really hard, you can think, well, I can never do that. I'm just going to live with this sin. I can never do that. I'm just going to live in disobedience to God because even though he

is calling me to go do something, I know that's more than I can do, so I'm just going to sit over here on this side of the promised land because that's too hard for me. And after all, God doesn't call us to do hard things because the walk of faith is an easy walk. They fail to see God's ability in all of it. Well, now it's time to look at the people's response.

Chapter 14 verse 1.

They said to one another, let's appoint a leader and return to Egypt. I'll put that into the category of dumbest ideas ever. You just got set free from slavery. Let's go back. Well, of course, the people respond in the kind of faith that we expected them to respond in. They responded in the kind of faith that caused them to cry all night, to weep all night.

So I looked this word up to see if I could come up with some kind of a great like, oh, there must be some amazing definition. But what it did for me is it gave me another word to use, and that word is to bewail. Is that not a great word? Let's reintroduce that to being used on a daily basis. Next time I see a kid throwing a fit, I'm going to be like, that kid is bewailing right now.

Because that sounds way better than throwing a fit, and yet makes me sound smart at the same time. And so that's what they did. They literally wept. They bewailed the fact that they could not enter the land because they heard this negative report, and they believed the negative report. And so, of course, they began to grumble against Moses and Aaron, and they said, oh, we

should have stayed in Egypt and just died there, or maybe we should just die in this wilderness. Why would God bring us to this place where we're going to die? What is God thinking by doing this? I know. Let's go back to Egypt. You, you lead us. Quick, let's hold an election for who is going to take us back to the land of Egypt. What an unfortunate moment for the children

of Israel. Again, they have forgotten everything that God has done. Was there any way, according to human standards, that any of the plagues would have taken place to remove them from the land of Egypt? Absolutely not. That was a miracle of God. Was there any way that they could have crossed the Red Sea on dry ground apart from a miracle of God? Of course not. That's ridiculous.

Is there any way that they could have seen what they saw at Mount Sinai with God showing up, scorching the mountain, giving the law and all of His amazing revelation to them of His holiness and His greatness apart from just the amazing nature of God? No. And yet they've forgotten all of it. They have forgotten that God was there in the pillar of cloud. Bear in mind

from everything that I can read and everything that I can understand, the pillar of cloud is still there. The very presence of God was who was shading them from the sun and yet they said, entering the land is too hard. Let's go back to Egypt. For those of us that think, if only the presence of God could be here with me right now in a visible form, I know I wouldn't be having the struggles that I had.

Really? Because the nation of Israel would prove much different. You see, it's not about what you can see. It's about what your heart is willing to really believe. So as they sit there at the edge of the promised land, they cry and they moan. It says in verse 5, And then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all of the assembly of the congregation

of the sons of Israel. Now it's time for Joshua and Caleb to speak. It says, Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh of those who had spied out the land tore their clothes. They spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel saying, The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord was 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 shall be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them. Man, again, now Caleb's got him a buddy that's willing to come alongside of Joshua. Joshua whose name means Yahweh is salvation. He's like,

I believe that God is our salvation. I want you to notice the things they said. I kind of broke them down here. The first thing they say is, this is a good land and God will give it to us. This place is going to be amazing and God's going to give it to us. Do you know why they believe God's going to give it to them? Because God hasn't failed them up to this point in time. What would prompt

God to start failing them now? Why would God change his mind now? Well, they know he's not going to change his mind now. And then they say, do not rebel. And may I point out the fact that this unbelief was exactly that. It was rebellion. It was not just, we're scared. It's, we're not going to. We're not going to do what God has called for us to do. He says, don't rebel against God

like this. And I love the next thing he says. He says, don't fear. I think fear is one of the greatest drivers of our culture right now. It has driven so many things in our world. And listen, we need to understand that the idea, do not fear, doesn't mean that you will never have fear on the inside of you because fear is a natural emotion that we cannot help

but feel. The idea, do not fear, means do not let fear be the thing that rules you. Listen, I am scared all the time. Every time I get ready to come up here and tell you what God has given me to tell you, there is fear inside of me. But I have learned that I cannot let fear rule me. There are still areas where I'm learning that. But we have to understand we cannot let fear rule our

lives. Because our God is greater than our fears. As a matter of fact, I think VeggieTales put it best when they said, God is bigger than the Boogeyman. He's bigger than Godzilla or all those monsters on TV. Right? He says, do not fear. And then the next thing he says is, I love this. He says, their protection has been removed. Now isn't that amazing? You look at these giants that are in

the land. You look at these fierce warriors, these fierce tribes, these empire builders, and he says they have no more protection. All of their weapons, all of their armaments, anything that they would consider to be their protection has been removed. Why? Because God is going to go before them and drive them out. And then of course there's that last great statement that he

makes. That last statement that should mean everything in the world to us. The Lord is with us. Brothers and sisters, when God is with us, who can be against us? Right? He says God is with us in this. Now, I started asking myself the question, what is different about Caleb and Joshua than all the rest of the people? It's their faith. And so I've identified three things that I think built their

faith. Number one, I think they still understood the difficulty. Because you have to be rational in the way that you handle things like this. Notice that they never said, there's no giants there. What are you talking about? There's no fortified cities there. What are you talking about? No, they knew there was difficulty there. But in the process of knowing there was difficulty there, number two,

they did not trust in their own ability. Do you notice Caleb never mentioned himself once? Everything was about the Lord. Everything was about what God was going to do. Everything was about what God had. It had nothing to do with himself. Why did the other people fail to enter? Because all they could see was themselves and their own inability. Caleb and Joshua had no trust in their

own ability. And that brings us to number three. They had faith in a big God. They had faith in a very big God. As I was studying this today, I thought about a moment in my life where I too was at the edge of the promised land. I was at the edge of walking in faith. And I opted out of walking in faith. And I, just like the children of Israel said, it's too much

for me. It's too hard for me. And I know for me that there was a wilderness experience in my own life. The good thing is that God's bigger than those. But may I say, the entire reason I had to enter that wilderness experience is because I didn't have faith in a big God. Oh, I believed God. And I believed Him for salvation. But I didn't believe Him to truly overcome the things in my life

that needed overcome. Because of that, I had to walk in a wilderness time, just like what the children of Israel are going to have to do. They had faith in a big God. And so, of course, the people are going to respond by saying, Joshua, Caleb, you're exactly right. I don't know what we were thinking. Let's go in and take the land, right? Verse 10. 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. I love this. Joshua and Caleb, you know it was just a fury of fire. Like, this is what we're going to do. The Lord is with us. Kill them! Right? Because that's what happens when you're the one person that stands on the truth. That's what happens when you're the one person who is

a bold visionary and says, no, let's move forward. And they're like, you have terrible ideas. Let's kick you out. You don't get to be here any longer. So, of course, God has to step in. I love this because it says, the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel. This feels like one of those moments where, like, all the kids are fighting

and then Dad shows up. And when Dad shows up, everybody goes, that's not good. Right? Because Dad doesn't just show up. Dad shows up. Right? Like, full of stern, completely under control fury. Like, I think the scariest time that I've ever seen either of my parents be upset is when they were not really showing their anger. They were incredibly calm. And I remember thinking, that is

not good. Because they are fully under control and I am really about to get it handed to me. That's exactly what's going on here with God. God shows up. And when God shows up, I want you to notice what he says. He says, 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 dispossess them. And I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they. By the way, as we move into this next verse, we come into the third section, which is the consequences of unbelief. The consequences of unbelief. And it starts off by Moses interceding for the people. But before Moses intercedes for the people,

God steps in. And the first question he asks, and I think it's a completely legitimate question to ask, how long are you going to keep doing this? How long will you continue to fail to believe that I am who I say I am and I do what I say I'll do? And I love that God says this, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst. God says, how much do I have to do

to prove to you that nothing is too difficult for me? Do I need to give you bread from heaven? Oh wait, I've done that. Do I need to produce water from a rock? Oh wait, I've done that. Do I need to provide meat for you to eat? Oh wait, I've done that. Do I need to provide shelter for you? Oh wait, I've done that. How many things do you need for me to do? May I say, brothers and sisters,

sometimes when we doubt God, as much as I know He's patient with us, I also know there's that little part of Him that goes, how much do I need to do to prove to you that I'm always going to do what I say I'm going to do? So he looks at Moses and he says, I'm just going to wipe them out. And I'll start over again with you. And I'll make of you a great nation.

Now this had to have been a tempting moment for Moses. I can't imagine it wasn't. Moses was like, it's not a terrible idea. I could be the patriarch. They could be the nation of Mo. Right? I mean, everything about that doesn't seem like a terrible idea. But that's not what Moses does. Moses steps up and he's going to intercede for the people because that's actually what God was drawing out of the

heart of Moses, is God was drawing out of the heart of Moses that true leader that he actually was. Because notice what it says in verse 13. It's a beautiful intercession that Moses makes for the people. Moses said to the Lord, then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by your strength you brought up this people from their midst. They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land.

They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen 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. If you slay this people as one man, the nations who have heard of your fame will say because the Lord could not bring this people into the land which he 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 in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers 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 also have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now. It's such a beautiful prayer that Moses makes to the Lord on behalf of the people. Did you notice the first thing that he called out to God for? The first

thing he says is, Lord, this will damage your name. All of the people will say you were unable to bring the children of Israel into the land. Isn't it interesting that Moses already knows that the people have heard about what God had done because God remember had said he would send his fear before them. That was already happening in the land. He said all the peoples will hear of it and they will say

you couldn't do this. And Lord, I don't want your name to be disparaged among the people. The second thing that he does is he claims the truth of who God is. Does anything sound familiar to you about verse 18? Verse 18 is exactly how God declared himself to Moses when he said, Lord, show me your glory. And he declared to him his name. And as he declared to him his

name, he said all of these things. This is who God is. You see, Moses is now going back to his previous knowledge of God, to what God had shown him before, and he's reminding God of who he is. Not because God needs reminded of who he is, but because when we pray to the Lord, we call out for the truth of who God is. You see, I'm not into name it and claim it,

but I am into claiming the truth of what God's word has to say. And that's exactly what Moses does. He says, Lord, you have told me that you are a God who pardons iniquity and forgives sin. And so, Lord, show yourself true to who you are. Show yourself true to your word. And then, of course, he makes that request after telling God that his greatest desire is to see his name glorified.

After telling God, hey, this is who you've revealed yourself as. This is your name. He then makes requests. He says, so, Lord, please, forgive this people. Now, there's two things I'd like to point out to you about this prayer of Moses that I think are important. God, we'll find out, was moved by the prayer of Moses on behalf of the people. Therefore, God is going to spare the people

because of the prayer of Moses. I think that's important because right now, friends, we live in a land of great unbelief. We live in a land of great iniquity and evil. But I think that God is moved by the prayers of his people. And I think the greatest thing that we can be doing right now for our nation, more than becoming activists for our latest cause, more than becoming

anti-abortion people, don't get me wrong, I think you should do those things. But more than any of those things, do you know what I think we need to be doing for our country? We need to be praying for it. And not just kind of. Not just, Lord, please bless our nation. Notice what Moses does here. Moses gets down to the nitty-gritty about the nation. That God would move on behalf of the nation.

That God would pardon the nation. Now, I'm not saying that God is going to bring wholesale revival to the entire United States. But I am saying, can't we just pray that he might? Think about Daniel. Remember what happened when Daniel knew that the time was almost up? That the time of captivity was almost up. What did Daniel do? Daniel prayed, and he started off by confessing his sins and the sins

of his people. And then he prayed that God would move on behalf of the people. Why? Because he knew that the only thing that moves the heart of God, the only thing that will move the heart of the nation, is that intercessory prayer for the people. Friends, I think sometimes we discount the power of prayer. And so that's what Moses does. And the second thing that I'll point out to us

is this. Intercession always brings us near to the heart of God. Because I don't think we're ever closer to God's heart than when we're interceding on behalf of another. You see, it's not only good because we want to see God move in the lives of other people, but it's good because I want to see God move in my own heart. And often times, my time of interceding on behalf of another

is the way that God changes my heart the most. And so Moses prays for these people. And I want you to notice what it says. Verse 20. So the Lord said, I have pardoned them according to your word. It's a powerful verse. If you're an underliner, I would definitely underline that verse. I've pardoned them according to your word. However, 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 have not listened to my voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurn me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it. Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys, so turn 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 generation who are grumbling against me? I have heard the complaints of 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 shall fall in the wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me. Surely you

have not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey, I will bring them in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected. But as for you, your corpses shall fall in the wilderness. Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness.

This is another spot I would underline. They shall suffer for your unfaithfulness until your corpses lie in the wilderness, according to the days which you spied out of the land, forty days. For every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you shall know my opposition. I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this I will do to all this evil congregation

who are gathered together against me in this wilderness. They shall be destroyed, and there they shall 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, those men who brought the bad report died by a plague before the Lord. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

Now if you initially read that, you go, but I thought God pardoned them. So why does he now punish them? Because there's an absolute truth that we need to pay attention to. Just because God forgives us, doesn't mean that on the top side of planet Earth there are not consequences that go along with it. Because as I've heard, I believe it was Patrick Farrell who says,

we can choose our sin, but we can't choose our consequences. And just because God forgave them, didn't mean that there weren't repercussions. God says, I'm going to give you exactly what you asked for. You asked that you would die in the wilderness, because that would be better than going into the land? That's exactly what you get. Again, when we don't choose what God

has for us in faith, God gives us what we want in judgment. And he says, so for forty years you will wander through the wilderness. For forty years, one by one, all of you who are twenty years old and above, shall fall by death in the wilderness. If you remember from our numbering of the nation of Israel, that's somewhere around six hundred and three thousand men, plus the women. He said,

and all those children that you're so concerned about, they'll go in, and they'll take the promised land. What an unfortunate thing to have to deal with the consequences of God. However, there is that one bright spot. Caleb and Joshua, they'll survive. They'll get to see the land. Why? Because their heart is different. What's different about their heart? They fully followed

God. They were willing to believe that God was able to do exactly what he said he was able to do. And because of that, they will go into the land. And so, we see in verse thirty-nine, Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel and the people mourned greatly, verse thirty-nine. Then in verse forty 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. And Moses said, Why are you transgressing against the commandment of the Lord? It will not succeed. Don't go up, or you'll be struck down before your enemies, for the Lord's 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, and 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 Moses left the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites, who lived in the hill country, came down, and struck them down, and beat them as far as Hormah. These poor guys.

They wake up the next morning, and they're like, Oh, never mind. Let's go. We'll do what God wants us to do. And Moses is like, That's a terrible idea. God didn't say to. You have to now live with the consequences. No, we're gonna go. Whatever. You're just gonna have to deal with the consequences of it. Can you imagine how sad Moses was when God was like, You're

gonna wander in the wilderness for forty more years. What a sad day for Moses. To know forty more years of wandering in the wilderness. Well, there's some spiritual truths, I think, for us to learn, and we'll wrap up with this. Number one is this. The Promised Land represents for us an abundant life in Christ. You see, for us, there is a Promised Land. There is a rest that we can walk in. We're

told that in the book of Hebrews. There remains a rest for the people of God. They would not enter in because of unbelief, but there remains a rest for us. The rest that we have is an abundant life in Christ. It is a walk of faith. There will still be battles to be fought, because when they come into the Promised Land, it's not like everything is easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy, right?

There are still things that need to be done. There are still battles to be fought, but God is with us in the battles, and there is an amazing opportunity for great fruitfulness in our lives. As I said, I stood at the edge of the Promised Land one time, and as I stood at the edge of the Promised Land of the abundant life in Christ, I said, I think I have a better idea. And God goes, Okay.

Then you get to wander in the wilderness for about ten years. And I wandered in that wilderness for those ten years until God was ready to bring me into, until I was ready to be brought into the Promised Land. Because while it's a place of great battles, it's a place of great fruitfulness. The second thing that we learn is that the Promised Land is a walk of faith.

The Promised Land is a walk of faith, because every day in the Promised Land the enemies will be great. We need to understand that. Remember, Caleb and Joshua knew that the enemies were great. They knew how difficult the journey would be. But in the midst of the enemies being great, God is with us, and He is greater. He's greater than all those enemies that we'll ever face.

He's greater than all of the difficulties that we'll ever go through. But the only way we can walk in them is if we walk by faith. We walk in that faith that God has given to us to be able to know God is greater yet than whatever the greatest thing is that I face. And then the third thing about this Promised Land is that unbelief will keep us out. Unbelief keeps us out

because it means that we won't walk in those steps that God has called for us to take. It's not that you have to muster up enough faith. I think sometimes we get a little bit concerned about that. Oh Lord, I don't know if I have enough faith. Listen, if you're willing to take the next step, you have enough faith. If God says move and you move, you have enough

faith. Oh, but I'm scared the whole time. You know who else was scared? Gideon. Remember that story of Gideon? When Gideon had to do what he had to do, sometimes he did it at night, but he still took the next step. Why? Because he had faith. Unbelief is the only thing that keeps us out because unbelief causes us to never take the next step. The enemies are great,

but God is greater. And the only way that we can make it through that wilderness is to continue to put the old man to death. And if you're in that wilderness right now, just know you'll be there until you're ready to come into the land. God will keep you in that wilderness as long as you need to be. He has not abandoned you. You keep learning to walk by faith.

Amen. Father, we come before you, and Lord, I thank you for these examples that are given to us, these things that are written for our instruction so that we can know how to walk. And Lord, I pray that you would just continue to strengthen us in you. Help us to be people that will walk in faith. People that will take the steps of faith that you call us to take.

And Lord, that you would draw us near to you. And Father, we thank you and praise you for who you are. In Jesus' name. Amen.