Numbers 13-Numbers 14 (Click scripture reference to access audio)
"Spies and Bad Reports" • 4.19.12 •
Thursday Night Bible Study, Calvary Christian Fellowship
Intro.
- In your life,
there have been decisions that have been made that have shaped your future,
changed the course of your life.
- For the
children of Israel, these two chapters in Numbers before us record decisions
that would set the course of their lives and the lives of their children for 4
decades!
- As we proceed
through this chapter, I must warn you and heed it myself: These things are
written for our admonition! The wise will see parallels and seek to heed God's
warning within.
Text
• Numbers
13:1,2 : "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to
the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man,
every one a leader among them.'" : Deuteronomy 1:22 fills in the details
here, as it was the people who wanted to spy out the land. It was their motive,
Moses had asked for God to reveal the method.
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These guys were to go in to explore. Canaan, like any land had people coming in
and out of her, so this was not a clandestine mission.
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That these men were leaders within their tribes. Verses 3-15 reveal to us their names.
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One imagines that these were the younger and stronger men of the tribes, who
were leaders.
• Numbers
13:16-20
: "These are the names of the men whom
Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua. Then Moses sent them to spy out the
land of Canaan, and said to them, 'Go up this way into the South, and go up to
the mountains, and see what the land is like:
whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the
cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are
forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the
land.' Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes." : In addition to the 12 spies, Joshua was set apart to lead them
all in. Joshua has been Moses' right hand man since the battle with the
Amalekites.
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Moses wanted a complete report. He wanted to know about everything and he
wanted them to bring back some samples! Most scholars place this event at the
beginning of summer.
• Numbers
13:21-27 : "So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of
Zin as far as Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath. And they went up through the South
and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were
there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) Then they came to the Valley of
Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it
between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and
figs. The place
was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the men of Israel
cut down there. And
they returned from spying out the land after forty days. Now they departed and came back to
Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the
Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the
congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him, and said: 'We went to the
land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its
fruit.'" : As the spies traveled into the
land from the south, they encountered these men who were they the descendants
of Anak, a race of giant linebackers!
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The Anakim were pesky inhabitants of Canaan that would provide great opposition
to the Hebrews. There were great men in the land. Canaan also boasted great
cities.
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The city of Hebron, which pre-dated the Egyptian city of Zoan must have been physically
comparable in a way that they knew about. Hebron was an established fortified
city, not a hick town.
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In fact, many of the cities of Canaan, even at this time, were well fortified
with walls in excess of 90 feet high and 20 to 30 ft thick!
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The other impressive and positive feature of Canaan was it's fruitfulness.
Grapes that were large enough in cluster to have to be carried by two men. This
was simply a sample!
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These fruits were all cut down in the valley of clusters. The fruitfulness of
the land is a major consideration given that they were nomads living in the
wilderness!
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They stayed there in the land for 40 days. In the scripture, 40 is the number
of testing. These men had 40 days to consider what they were seeing. Would they
believe God or not?
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When they came back their initial report was stunning. "Everything that
God has said about this place is true! The fruit and the riches are
there!" You wish that they would have stopped there.
• Numbers
13:28,29 : "Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the
cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak
there. The
Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the
Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along
the banks of the Jordan.'" : Nevertheless. That being said. Be that
as it may. All of these phrases cancel out all that has come after it.
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The report began with the fruit, but soon went into the fear! They feared the
strong people, the strong cities and the strong enemies, like the Anakim, the
Amalekites, etc.
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These enemies were not all congregated in one place. They were spread out
throughout the entire land, marked by the South, the Mountains and the Sea.
Everywhere they looked!
• Numbers
13:30-33 : "Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, 'Let us go
up at once and take possession, for we are well able to 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 stronger
than we.' And they
gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out,
saying, 'The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours
its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
There we
saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like
grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.'" : The people stirred up and Caleb spoke up. "We can do this!"
Unfortunately, the majority spoke far louder than Caleb was able to speak.
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Listen to their bad report: They are stronger than we. We were like
grasshoppers in our own sight and in theirs. "We looked at ourselves and
saw how small we are!"
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What a grievous mistake that the people are making here. We make the exact same
mistake when we look around us or at us and don't consider who is over and
above us!
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We make a grievous error when we count what is against us without considering
who is for us? How can anything or anyone be bigger than God?
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How can we ever discount the promises that He has made to us and yet, when we
face similar circumstances, we are just as quick to lose heart.
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Listen to how quickly the bad report is made worse: The land devours it's
inhabitants and ALL the people were giants! They kept catering to worse and
worse thoughts until it was utterly hopeless.
• Numbers 14:1-5 : "So
all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that
night. And all the children of Israel
complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, 'If
only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this
wilderness! Why has the Lord
brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children
should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?' So
they said to one another, 'Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.' Then Moses and Aaron fell on their
faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel." : The bad report was
almost universally accepted by the congregation, who immediately went into
depressed mode! They wailed and complained against Moses, Aaron and the Lord.
- When fear is given into, it very often
creates an environment that strikes out against various people in our lives and
believes the worst.
- For the children of Israel, it began with the
leadership. They did not want to complain against God directly, so the
leadership received the blunt end of their complaints.
- Finally, their course of action was to
retreat. Let's go back to Egypt. Fear always leads us back to that which was
previously most comfortable, in this case, Egypt.
- Moses and Aaron just fell down before the
Lord, in the sight of all the congregation. As leaders, that is the only place
to go!
•
Numbers 14:6-10 : "But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb
the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore
their clothes; and
they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: 'The land
we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in 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, nor fear the people of the land,
for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.' And all the congregation said to
stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of
meeting before all the children of Israel." :
Joshua and Caleb, in a sign of deep mourning, tore their close and begged the
people to understand. "If God is with us, who can be against us!?"
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This was where God was leading them. This was a good land and the Lord would
give them this land. God was with them and would not allow the Canaanites to be
protected!
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Only do not rebel. Unbelief is a form of rebellion. Refusing to take God at His
Word is saying simply that God is a liar and that He will not do what He has
said.
-
When the people looked to stone Joshua and Caleb, God revealed Himself to the
people.
• Numbers
14:11,12 : "Then the Lord said to Moses: 'How long will these people reject Me? And how
long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among
them? I will strike them with the
pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and
mightier than they.'" : God spoke to Moses and
threatened to wipe all of them out! They rejected their God and refused to
believe despite all that they had seen.
-
We often think that if God would only give us a sign, then we would believe!
These verses stand in direct opposition to such thinking! Trust in God requires
nothing more than a willing heart!
-
God tells Moses, "Let's start all over with you!" which I am sure was
a temptation!
• Numbers
14:13-19
: "And Moses said to the Lord: 'Then the Egyptians will hear it,
for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, and they will tell it to the
inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people; that You,
Lord, are seen face to face and Your
cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and
in a pillar of fire by night. Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which
have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people
to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the
wilderness.’ And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You
have spoken, saying, ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and
transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’ Pardon the iniquity of this people,
I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven
this people, from Egypt even until now.'" :
In a moment when Moses would have been humanly justified to answer yes, he
stands in great contrast!
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Starting all over might have been considered "healthy" by today's
standards!
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What was truly "healthy" about Moses was his faithful zeal for the
Lord and His reputation!
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The Egyptians will hear it! The world will lower it's opinion of You. The
Canaanites will hear of it as well. They won't know the story, they will just
blaspheme your name.
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God did not just deliver Egypt because He did not want His people living in
slavery. He brought them out and demonstrated His power so that the Egyptians
would know Him!
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As the Canaanites saw Israel coming, their proximity was a warning to repent
and turn from their wickedness and to turn to Him!
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What would enhance His reputation? What would bring God the most glory? To be
the God that He is: A God of Mercy! Listen to Moses' words: Let the power of my
Lord be great! How?
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To do as He had spoken! Be what You say You are Lord! Reveal Your great
patience, unleash Your abundant mercy, forgive their iniquity and
transgression!
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Should God do this because of what the people deserved? No, Moses has it
straight. Do it according to the greatness of your mercy!
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Keep forgiving them as You have been! God is not at all limited in His power.
Power doesn't mean much most of the time to us. But, if He ever ran out of
mercy, where would we go!?
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Today, when God forgives you, it's because you have asked, but also because His
mercy is connected to Jesus Christ, which provides the justice. You are
forgiven according to His mercy!
•
Numbers 14:20-24 : "Then the Lord said: 'I have pardoned, according
to your word; but
truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord—because all these men who have seen
My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put
Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the
land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me
see it. But My
servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me
fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall
inherit it." : Here is an amazing set of statements. God, at the prompting
of Moses, who essentially uttered His words, forgave Israel!
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That is the glory and reputation and value of our God! Unworthy, wretched,
filthy, sinful people are forgiven by Him. The whole earth will be filled with
that revelation!
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Every nation on Earth. Every tongue. Every tribe has the possibility of knowing
this powerful and merciful God! He forgave them, but they would not see the
land of promise!
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They refused to believe Him. They rejected His leadership. Those who saw His
power in arguably it's clearest form, did not believe and the consequence was
severe.
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They were still His people. They would still go to heaven. He would still be
among them in the desert. But they, because of their disbelief, would not live
the life that God had promised them.
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So many Christians have the promise of heaven. They will be saved and walk into
the Lord's presence, but fear and disbelief will keep them from the life on
Earth that God intends!
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God wants His people to live in a thriving relationship where believing God
brings fruitful service to Him!
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Enemies are vanquished, addictions terminated, marriages are healed, lives are
restored. Unfortunately, some never come to believe God's capability and they
never see that land! Stunning.
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Now, notice this: God does not just sweep everyone into this judgment. We might
think that God has no eye to the voices that spoke for faith. God did notice
and God made a distinction!
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Caleb had a different spirit in him and had followed Him fully! The NLT says
that Caleb had a different attitude and that he remained loyal. The NIV says he
followed "wholeheartedly."
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What a testimony! Three million or so, unbelievers and God looked down and saw
one man who was faithful, loyal, obedient and willing to follow!
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Two things occur to me. First, the crowd never has to influence what you
believe and who you follow. Second, your wholehearted obedience and loyalty is
noticed by God!
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Your life, as small as it is, matters! Your voice, as low in volume as it might
seem, matters!
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His life might not influence the crowd, change the culture or cooerce the other
spies, but his descendants will live in the land! He and his family will live
the life God intended!
• Numbers
14:25-38 : "Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley;
tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.' And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'How long shall I bear with this
evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which
the children of Israel make against Me. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My
hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall
in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire
number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of
Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which
I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will
bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses
shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years,
and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the
wilderness. According
to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each
day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know
My rejection. I
the Lord have spoken this. I will surely do
so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this
wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ Now the men whom Moses sent to spy
out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him
by bringing a bad report of the land, those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died
by the plague before the Lord. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh
remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land." : This is an incredibly sobering moment. For every day that they
did not believe, a year of life would represent their guilt.
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For those 20 and above, those who had complained against the Lord, would die
for their infidelity to the covenant that they had made to believe God!
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For forty years, they would be a walking funeral procession, burying carcass
after carcass.
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Joshua, Caleb and his family, as well as the children who had no chance to
believe, would receive the promise! God would keep His promise. These people
would not receive it!
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The spies who did not believe. The leaders selected from the tribes died before
the Lord, but Joshua and Caleb lived. This was God's way of affirming the truth
of what He had said.
•
Numbers 14:39-45 : "Then Moses told these words to all
the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. And they rose early in the morning
and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, 'Here we are, and we will go up
to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned!' And Moses said, 'Now why do you
transgress the command of the Lord? For this will not succeed. Do not go up, lest you be defeated
by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and
you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.' But they presumed to go up to the
mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp. Then the Amalekites and the
Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove
them back as far as Hormah." : After
hearing God's judgment, the people decided that they would just acknowledge
their sin and go forward anyway!
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They presumed upon God to change His mind to suit their thoughts. They figured
that God would just have to go along with their plans.
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Moses warned them. Their enemies were near by and the Lord was not with them.
This is every Pastors least favorite moment. He stands between the congregation
and their presumption.
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"We know that we're in sin and that it's not advisable, but we're going to
do it anyway!" Ok. They presume to go up and it ends with them attacked
and driven back!
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Instead of gaining ground in their spiritual life, they are set back, sometimes
for years!
Conclusion
- Several
things occur to me as we conclude tonight, but I want to leave us with two
thoughts.
- First, every
situation we encounter provides a chance for us to believe what we say we
believe about God!
- Your faith,
if it stays lodged in the pages of your Bible and tucked neatly into your heart,
means nothing unless it fights against fear in real life scenarios!
- Second, every
situation we encounter gives us a chance to testify for what God can do! Are
you one who always promotes unbelief with your words? Do you immediately
believe extremes?
- Our mouths
can inspire people around us to believe God or cause them fall into despair!
- Tonight, no
matter how impressive your battle is. No matter how difficult your decisions
are, choose to believe that you face them with the resource of heaven, the
power of God!