Category: Fear, Faith, & False Repentance
Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: God Keeps His Promises

Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: God Keeps His Promises

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We have come to the last post in this series on Numbers 14. I have shown you Israel’s sinful fear, their lack of faith, and their false repentance after God confronts them. But Numbers 14 also gives us a positive picture of courageous faith, God’s merciful character, and Christ’s mediation. In this final post, I want to answer the simple question: Has God rejected Israel for their disobedience? Will God keep His promises to bring them into the land and bless them?

God will still keep His promise because He is faithful

Numbers 14 ends in a depressing place. Israel attempts to enter the land by their own strength against the advice of Moses. What happens? Complete defeat. The last verse in Numbers 14 has the Israelites routed by the Amalekites and the Canannites. At this point, you might say to yourself “Israel is hopeless! How is God going to stay with them? Will God continue to be faithful when Israel is unfaithful and disobedient every single step of the way?”

Numbers 15:1-2 comes with an answer:

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you,

Numbers 15:-12, ESV emphasis added

Not if Israel comes into the land: when Israel enters it. At this point your mind should be blown. God is still going to give Israel the land He promised them. After all Israel’s rebellion, after their false repentance, after they tried to claim the land without him. What kind of God would respond in this way?

A promise-keeping God. It is who God is fundamentally.

After all that happened in Numbers 14, after all the sin Israel committed, God is still committed to keeping His promises. God is a promise-making, promise-keeping God. Even human rebellion cannot thwart God’s sovereign plans. Paul explains this truth in 2 Timothy:

If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.

2 Timothy 2:13, ESV

God cannot deny Himself. Even when His people are faithless. Why is God so faithful to you time and time again? Why is His covenant love, his steadfast love, so inexhaustible? It isn’t because Israel is great. It isn’t because you and I are great. 

God’s love is great because God Himself is great.

There is of course discipline when you sin. You saw that in Numbers 14. God does not let the guilty go unpunished. But He is rich in forgiveness, in faithful love. When you are tempted to believe God will give up on you or that He will not fulfill His promises in Christ because of your unfaithfulness, remind yourself it isn’t about you. It is about how great God is.

Numbers 14 and the Gospel of Jesus

In 2 Timothy Paul says Scripture can make one wise unto salvation in Jesus Christ. So how would someone reading Numbers 14 anticipate Christ? I would say there are at least two ways.

1. The New Covenant is necessary

Israel had the law, had a mediator, had God among them, but they still rebelled. Why? Because of unbelief. Even though Israel had the law:

  • They didn’t have the power in themselves to keep the law
  • The law didn’t produce faith in God
  • The law was still outside of them and it didn’t bear the fruit of trust in the Lord

And if you keep reading the Old Testament, this lack of fruit and faith continues. God sends prophets again and again to call out Israel for their unbelief and disobedience. The law does not fix either problem.

That is why the promise of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31 is so amazing. God says it won’t be like the covenant He made with Israel when He brought them out of Egypt: God promises to put His law within His people, on their hearts.

In Numbers 14, Caleb and Joshua had faith in God’s promises and begged Israel to believe too. In Jeremiah 31 God says that won’t happen anymore:

  • “No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother saying “know the Lord””
  • Why? “Because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.”

Numbers 14 should cause you to ache for the New Covenant. And how is God going to bring about this new covenant? 

Matthew 26 gives us the answer: “Then Jesus took a cup and after giving thanks gave it to them and said “Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood that establishes the New Covenant, it is shed for the forgiveness of sins.”

God is going to establish a New Covenant. But establishing it will be costly. The price: the blood of His own son, Jesus Christ. The New Covenant wasn’t free. If you are a believer and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, if you are set free from the curse of the law, and if you know the Lord, realize that all that came with a price.

Jesus had to bring it about. Through His blood alone.

2. Only those who believe enter God’s promised rest

Hebrews 3 and 4 looks back on Israel’s history, including Numbers 14. The author sees Numbers 14 as a warning for people who read it. The author of Hebrews saw that even though this generation of Israel was redeemed from Egypt and saw signs in the wilderness, they still rebelled. The result? God swore in His wrath, as we saw in Numbers 14, that Israel would not enter His rest. The promised rest in the promised land.

The author of Hebrews in 3:19 gives the same conclusion you saw in Numbers 14: Israel was unable to enter because unbelief. Then Hebrews turns to us and gives us a warning.

If you hear about the rest promised in Jesus Christ, the rest from having to earn your standing before God, do not harden your hearts. Don’t be like Israel who stood at the edge of the promised land yet did not enter because of unbelief.

You can hear the gospel a hundred times but if you never actually believe it, you won’t enter the rest Jesus promises.

Let me say it again because it is a crucial takeaway from Numbers 14: You can be as close to the promises of God as Israel was, but if you don’t believe them, they won’t do you any good. You can be around God’s promises, you can hear the gospel, you can even be an upstanding member in a Church but unless you believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, you will perish outside of God’s promises.

Conclusion: Flee from unbelief, have faith in God’s promises

So, by way of summary, let me remind you the main point from this series: Israel did not enter the promised land because of their unbelief in God. And as I just explained above: you can be as close to God as to see His miracles, and yet still perish because of your lack of faith, your rebellion, and your false repentance.

I think Hebrews 4 gives us the best ending word: “So, let us make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.” Let us pray the Holy Spirit would work in our hearts so that you and I behave like Caleb. He was loyal to the Lord and His promises. Israel was fearful of men, but Caleb feared God. And in the end, Caleb, through his faith, ended up entering the promised land.

If you missed a post in this series, click here. If you want to listen to a sermon I preached on Numbers 14, click here. Subscribe and share below. Be sure to follow The Average Churchman on Instagram so you can get more content.
Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Moses’ Mediation, God’s Mercy

Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Moses’ Mediation, God’s Mercy

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We are coming to the end of this ongoing study on Numbers 14. Already I have shown you Israel’s sinful fear, God’s judgement on their unbelief, and Israel’s false repentance. Then, I showed you how Caleb’s courageous faith stood in stark contrast to Israel’s absence of faith. Now, I want to focus on Moses’ mediation.

You can glean a lot of truth from a narrative passage of Scripture just by observing how its characters relate to God. What do they do? What do they say? What do they not do or say? However, there is an even more important reason to study Moses’ mediation in Numbers 14: Moses illustrates what mediation looks like so you and I can better understand how Jesus mediates for His people.

So for this post, I want to give you one thing Moses did not do when mediating, and two things Moses did do.

“I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, and they will tell 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 face to face, and 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 kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, 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 generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

Numbers 14:12-19, ESV emphasis added

Moses does not plead Israel’s merits

Explanation

Sometimes it is helpful to think about what something is not so you can more clearly see what something is.

In this case, think about what Moses did not say as he pleaded for God’s mercy on the Israel. Not once does Moses mention Israel positively. In fact, Moses hardly mentions Israel at all in his prayer to the Lord. There are a number of things Moses could have pleaded as he mediated on Israel’s behalf:

  • Could talked about the good things Israel has done in the past
  • Could have reminded God of the times Israel did have faith
  • Could have argued destroying the whole nation is not proportional to the sin

But Moses says none of these things. Why? Because Israel had no merit to plead. No rights, nothing they “deserved.” Israel was a nation helplessly enslaved and doomed apart from God’s gracious action. And now, they were rebelling against that same God.

No good thing Israel had done, no moment of faith could counter Israel’s sin and unbelief. Moses does not approach God on the basis of good things Israel had done because no good work could counteract their sin or merit God fulfilling His promises.

Application

When you think of Jesus mediating and interceding for you, what do you picture? Do you imagine He mentions you, your character, your merits, your personal holiness? It is so easy to imagine that you and I have “something to bring to the table” before God.

Let Numbers 14 humble you and remind you there is no good work you have ever done that merits you any blessing from God. Jesus did not need to die because you needed some minor improvements. You had no righteousness to bring before God.

And that is the amazing grace of the gospel. It is Christ’s merits, not yours, that matter. When you are tempted to look at your own works, character, or “goodness” and imagine that somehow these grant you right standing before God, remind yourself of Moses and Israel in Numbers 14. You have nothing to bring. But Christ has all you need.

Moses pleads God’s reputation among the nations

Explanation

If Moses does not approach God on the basis of Israel’s merit or past goodness, how does Moses address the Lord? The first way is by pleading God’s glory among the nations. Moses starts out by saying if God destroys Israel, the nations who have heard of His “fame” will think less of the Lord.

Here you see again that Israel’s purpose was to display God’s glory among the nations. It started with God’s original promise He gave to Abraham in Genesis 12: “In you all nations shall be blessed.” In Deuteronomy, Moses says one of the reasons God gave Israel the law is so that other nations would look and say “Wow! What a nation! Israel is wise and their laws are righteous and their God dwells among them!”

What made Israel special was not Israel. It was God choosing to display His glory through Israel. Need more evidence of this?

  • In 2 Samuel 7, David prays and says God saved Israel from Egypt to make a name for Himself.
  • In 1 Kings 8 when Solomon is dedicating the temple, he says nations will hear of God’s great name and come to the temple to worship
  • The Psalms are constantly calling the nations to praise the Lord, often right after recounting God’s redemptive work in Israel: Psalm 96:3 “Tell of God’s glory among the nations! His wonderful deeds among all the peoples!”
  • Ezekiel 39:7- God says “My holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy named be profaned anymore. And nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy one of Israel”
  • And then in the New Testament: Romans 1 says “Through Jesus Christ our Lord we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations, including you who were called to belong to Jesus Christ.”

If you get nothing else from these verses, see that God seems primarily concerned with the nations knowing who He is and seeing His glory. And that is why Israel was originally redeemed out of Egypt and that is what Moses pleads here in Numbers 14.

It is not about Israel’s righteousness or worth. It is God’s glory, God’s promise, God’s plan for the world. God destroying Israel in Numbers 14 would not be the main tragedy. The tragedy would be other nations thinking less of God.

And that is Moses argument: since the Egyptians know about what the Lord has done for Israel and God’s promise to bring them into the land, if God destroys Israel know Egypt will think less of God. So Moses pleads “Don’t damage Your reputation among Egypt and among the nations!”

Application

Why does God do what He does? This is a vital question to answer for you to make any sense of your life. Thankfully, Scripture seems incredibly interested in giving you that answer: God’s glory in all things. God displaying His magnificence and worth through His chosen means.

And what is most astounding of all: God chooses to display His glory by showing mercy to sinful humans. By saving His helpless, fallen creation. By choosing and calling a people for Himself to “declare the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Is this comforting to you? Do you value God’s glory above all things? I think passages like Numbers 14 humble us and remind us what really is most important in the universe.

In a world that tells you to think highly of yourself, God’s word reminds you that His glory and the display of that glory is the most important.

Moses pleads God’s character

Explanation

Moses doesn’t just plead God’s glory. He pleads God’s character as revealed in Exodus 34, particularly God’s “faithful love.” The word is “chesed” and it is an incredibly important Old Testament word. It signifies God’s loyal, covenant love. In fact, the word shows up around 250 times in the Old Testament and is often mentioned in the same context as God’s character and covenant.

This loyal love, this covenant love expresses itself in kindness and mercy towards the object of God’s love. This covenant love is one reason why God in the prophets often compares His relationship with Israel to that of a marriage relationship. It is the same idea: God has entered a covenant relationship with Israel and is committed to doing them good, even when they don’t deserve it.

“Chesed” is not a feeling of love, it is a commitment God has made. And Moses’ mediation is specifically in light of this love: “God’s power be magnified (i.e. displayed), pardon the people’s wrongdoing in accordance with Your faithful love.”

What is God’s response to Moses’ mediation? God heard Moses’ plea on behalf of the people and though Israel proved unfaithful, God remained faithful and gracious. Of course, we saw in a previous post that Israel’s punishment was still severe. But God did not destroy the nation.

God is merciful to Israel but not at the expense of justice. God isn’t just rich in faithful love; He also does not leave the guilty unpunished.

God is faithful to His covenant, but He will discipline His people when they disobey Him.

Application

Moses pleading God’s covenant love and covenant commitment should become the image you think of when you read about Jesus mediating on your behalf. Jesus does not plead your merits. He pleads the “New Covenant in His blood.” Why is this a comfort? Because you can stop worrying about God casting you aside.

The “perseverance of the saints” is a marvelous doctrine, but many people (including myself) struggle to live out on a day-by-day basis. We know we are saved by grace alone in Christ alone, but it is still so easy to fall back into a “merit-based” theology. Numbers 14 is a comfort because it reminds us:

  1. Pleading your merits before a thrice Holy God will condemn you every time. You have nothing in your hands to bring.
  2. Despite this, all who believe in Christ have entered into a covenant with God. It is a covenant based in God’s promises and for God’s glory.
  3. Because of this covenant, “who can bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” God will not destroy you, just like He didn’t destroy Israel in Numbers 14, because to do so would break His covenant.

When you are discouraged and feel like you have ruined any chance of God being merciful to you, think of Christ standing before the Father. What is He saying? He is pleading His blood, the blood that brought you into an eternal covenant with God. And until Christ’s blood loses its power to cover your sins, which it never will, then you are safe and secure in your salvation.

The New Covenant in Christ’s blood is what keeps you secure. Your good works can’t add to it’s power, nor can your worst sins nullify it’s effectiveness

Conclusion

One of my favorite hymns is “Before the Throne of God Above.” A verse from it is a fitting end to this post:

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look, and see Him there
who made an end to all my sin

Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Before the Throne of God Above

Moses’ mediation in Numbers 14 gives us a beautiful picture of Jesus’ mediation. It is not based on our merits or works. It is based on God’s covenant and commitment to His own glory. That is freeing truth. It shifts your perspective away from self and back to God.

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Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Caleb’s Courageous Faith

Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Caleb’s Courageous Faith

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What is “courageous faith?” How does bold belief in God and His promises manifest itself? So far in Numbers 14, I have shown you how faith of any kind was completely absent from the nation of Israel. They were afraid of the people of the land. Israel wanted to turn back and return to Egypt. Even when confronted with God’s just judgment, Israel chooses to continue in unbelief rather than respond in true repentance.

Israel’s behavior in Numbers 14 is a stark warning of the consequences of unbelief. But thankfully, Numbers 14 doesn’t just give us a negative example of what not to do. Instead, the Holy Spirit has included in this account an example of courageous faith, even in the midst of widespread unbelief. This faith is exemplified by Caleb. If you don’t have an Old Testament “hero” yet, I would strongly suggest you consider Caleb. He is easily one of my favorite Biblical individuals.

In this post, I want to look at Caleb’s courageous faith, its source, and finally Caleb’s legacy. By studying Caleb’s role in Numbers 14, you can live out what Paul says in Romans 15:4.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Romans 15:4 ESV

The call to courageous faith

At one level, Numbers 14 focuses on contrasting the unbelief of Israel as a whole with the faith demonstrated by Caleb (and Joshua). If you remember, Israel was terrified when they heard the spies’ report on the promised land. They had not even directly seen the land firsthand, but their reaction was immediate weeping and unbelief.

Joshua and Caleb actually saw the land. They entered it. And their reaction is completely different to Israel’s reaction.

And 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 said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”

Numbers 14:6-9 ESV, emphasis added

Of all the spies who saw the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained faithful. They both knew that the strength of God’s promises were greater than the strength of the people in the land. And so, in the middle of Israel’s weeping and wailing and rebellion, Caleb and Joshua pleaded courage.

Several times in these verses they repeat “Don’t be afraid!” Why? Because God is fighting for Israel. Notice: Caleb and Joshua had the exact same information as the nation of Israel had. They were in the same exact circumstances. But rather than let external circumstances challenge their belief, Caleb and Joshua examined their circumstances in light of their belief.

Courageous faith means holding on to and acting on God’s promises even in frightening circumstances. It means trusting the Lord even if no one else around you is.

The basis of courageous faith

How could Caleb and Joshua have this confidence? Their courage isn’t a reckless foolishness or some abstract thing. The basis of courageous faith is the Lord and His promises. Joshua and Caleb hold fast to the belief that God will bring them into the land and God will enable them to defeat the nations.

Unlike the rest of Israel who was quick to forget God’s promises and His purpose for bringing them out of Egypt, Joshua and Caleb actually apply the promises, believe them, and live them out. To put it another way, Caleb and Joshua’s theology actually changes their response to this situation.

Want to test your theology? Watch how you respond to trying circumstances, discouragement, and difficulty.

Caleb and Joshua’s theology is practical and logical: God promised them this land. Therefore, if God wants to give it to Israel, the strength of the nations is irrelevant. Why? Because God is sovereign not only over Israel, but also the nations. Notice in Numbers 16:9, Caleb and Joshua point out that the nations’ “protection has been removed from them”.

The courage Caleb and Joshua are calling Israel to is not wishy-washy, abstract, or foolish confidence. It isn’t self confidence. It is courageous faith. Faith-fueled courage. Israel was looking at their circumstances purely in human terms. But Caleb and Joshua knew that God would keep His promises.

But courageous faith can be costly as well. Caleb and Joshua call out Israel’s sin in verse 9: do not rebel against the Lord. Joshua and Caleb label Israel’s fear and lack of trust in the Lord as rebellion. And Israel’s response is to try to stone them both.

Not trusting the Lord and His promises is a form of rebellion.

Caleb’s reward and legacy

But how does God respond to Caleb and Joshua? In the midst of this decisive judgement, God rewards their courageous faith. God not only punishes unfaithfulness; He rewards faithfulness. Those who believed His original promise received further promises.

But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

…not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Numbers 14:24, 30 ESV

Joshua and Caleb pleased the Lord through their faith and lived to enter the promised land. The rest of Israel died because of their unbelief. If you fast-forward to when Israel actually enters the land, Caleb still has as much faith and boldness as he did in Numbers 14.

Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.” Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel.

Joshua 14:6-14 ESV, emphasis added

40 years after Numbers 14 and Caleb is still talking about God’s promises. I find it interesting three times Joshua 14 talks about Caleb being loyal to the Lord. Five times it mentions God’s promise to him. After 40 years wandering, Caleb is still ready for battle and to claim what God promised him. And in the end, Caleb receives the promised inheritance. It took years and years but Caleb’s faith was not disappointed.

Faith means loyalty to the Lord just as unbelief is a form of rebellion.

Conclusion

Numbers 14 sets Caleb and Israel in stark contrast. Israel through their fear forfeited entering the land for 40 years, but Caleb through faith was promised a special portion of the land and lived to possess it. What a legacy! Caleb was loyal to the Lord even when in the minority. He knew God would fulfill His promises.

Matthew Henry in his commentary on Numbers 14, leaves us with the perfect application:

“Those that would follow God must have another Spirit from that of the world. The Spirit of faith of Caleb.”

Matthew Henry

When you see the courageous faith of Caleb in the promises of God, may you “go and do likewise.”

Click here to read any posts in this series you might have missed. If you want to listen to my sermon on Numbers 14, click here. Check out my other ongoing series “Happy?” where I expound on what the Psalms have to say about happiness in the world.
Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: An Enduring Warning

Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: An Enduring Warning

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What is the difference between true repentance and false repentance? It is an important question. Jesus declared when He started His ministry “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel!” In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about a “godly sorrow that leads to repentance.” But Paul also warns there is a “worldly sorrow which leads to death.”

The question is: are their any indicators that you are truly repenting? How can you discern whether your repentance is true or merely a worldly sorrow? Thankfully, Numbers 14 gives us a clear, memorable example of what false repentance looks like. We have already seen Israel’s fear and how it kept them from exercising faith in God’s promises. In the last post in this series, we saw God’s merciful yet just response to Israel’s lack of belief.

Today, I want to look at what Israel did after hearing God’s judgment. Israel’s response in Numbers 14 helps clarify what true repentance is and what it is not. Even though Israel was in a different circumstance than you would find yourself in today, this passage is instructive and vital to understand for Christians of all times.

Israel’s false repentance

Israel sorrowful again

When Moses reported these words to all the Israelites, the people were overcome with grief. They got up early the next morning and went up the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Let’s go to the place the Lord promised, for we were wrong.”

Numbers 14:39-40, HCSB

Moses reports God’s judgement on Israel’s sin. Israel had chosen to fear the people who lived in the land rather than believe in the God who freed them from Egypt. God declares His judgement and what happens? Israel is overcome with grief again! It is understandable reaction. God has just pronounced judgement for their sinful actions and it is pretty bad.

Israel would wander for 40 years in the wilderness and a whole generation would die because of their unbelief. Additionally, God had just struck down the spies who spread a false report about the land. Israel sees at once their error, and they respond emotionally as they did at the top of the chapter. Only this time, Israel is grieving not in response to a perceived threat of the nations, but grieving before the reality of God’s judgement.

Fear of man can be consuming until you come in contact with a God who is a “consuming fire.”

Israel even acknowledges they were wrong. They tell Moses they should enter the Land as God had promised. So Israel has sorrow, and Israel has an acknowledgement that what they did the day before was wrong. As a reader, you might think Israel is on the right track. After all, feeling sorry and admitting you were wrong would definitely pass as repentance in today’s culture.

If Israel felt sorrow for their sin and admitted they were wrong, does that mean they are truly repentant? What more could God want from them?

Israel try’s to fix things on their own

But look at verse 40 again. Israel feels sorry and admits they were wrong, but what do they do next? What is their plan? Go into that place that the Lord promised! To Israel it makes sense: they were wrong, they feel bad about it, but they are still right on the edge of the land!  Why not forget about yesterday and go take the land? God won’t mind right? They feel sorry after all!

The question you and I have to ask as readers is this: is this true repentance? Or does Israel have merely a superficial view of their sin? Thankfully, the text answers the question, because Moses responds to Israel’s plan. And it is Moses’ response that reveals what true repentance would look like for Israel in this situation.

Moses responds to Israel

Entering promised land without God is disobedience

But Moses responded, “Why are you going against the Lord’s command? It won’t succeed. Don’t go, because the Lord is not among you and you will be defeated by your enemies. The Amalekites and Canaanites are right in front of you, and you will fall by the sword. The Lord won’t be with you, since you have turned from following Him.”

Numbers 14:41-43, HCSB

Moses clarifies the problem with Israel’s plan: it is simply further disobedience. Rather than accepting the punishment and discipline of the Lord, Israel is trying a “quick fix.” Why? Because Israel does not like the consequences of their actions.

Notice: at no point in the passage does Israel cry out to the Lord. All we have in the text is that Israel is sad and doesn’t like the punishment God has declared. But Israel is missing the whole point. God wants their hearts to turn to obedience and by wanting to enter the land, Moses says they are not obeying the Lord!

Real repentance means accepting the Lord’s discipline and turning to Him in obedience. False repentance focuses on trying to fix consequences you don’t like

Entering promised land without God is doomed

Moses gives a further problem with Israel’s plan: if they try to enter the promised land against the will of the God that promised the land to them, Israel will be defeated. Why? Moses says “The Lord is not among you.”

Israel thinking they had the power in themselves to claim the promised land misses the point. It was never about Israel’s strength. God was going to enable Israel to defeat their enemies despite the nations weakness. Trying to take the land without God would be a disaster. Twice Moses repeats in verses 41-43 that God is not with Israel.

Moses then gives the reason God isn’t with Israel: since you have turned from following Him. Israel in all their weeping and confession of wrongdoing forgot the biggest piece of all: they had turned from following the Lord. They were disobedient and rebellious.

True repentance does not simply say “whoops God! Mistakes were made! Let’s get back on track.” Repentance means realizing dishonoring God was the fundamental problem.

Israel is in such a rush to get out of the consequences they forget to stop and think “is God with us still? Does He approve of this plan?” As a reader, you wish Israel would just stop here. That they would listen to Moses and seek God first. God had just declared Israel would not enter the land, yet Israel immediately says “Let’s enter the land!” Obedience and repentance in this passage would mean heeding Moses’ warning. But Israel still doesn’t get it.

The result of false repentance

Israel tries to claim God’s promise without God‘s presence

But they dared to go up the ridge of the hill country, even though the ark of the Lord’s covenant and Moses did not leave the camp. Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them as far as Hormah.

Numbers 14:44-45, HCSB

You wish the story ended here with Israel listening to Moses, their mediator. That Israel would turn back, TRULY repent before the Lord.But that doesn’t happen. Instead, the text said they dared to go up on the ridge of the hill country. And Israel did this without the ark of the Lord or without Moses. This is not just a throwaway line. If you go back to Numbers 10, you will see that the ark of the covenant is related to God’s presence

They set out from the mountain of the Lord on a three-day journey with the ark of the Lord’s covenant traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them. 34 Meanwhile, the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp. Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say: Arise, Lord! Let Your enemies be scattered, and those who hate You flee from Your presence.

Numbers 10:33-35, HCSB emphasis added

Leaving the ark behind is equivalent to leaving the Lord behind. It is as if Israel said “alright, if God doesn’t want to help us out here, we are doing it ourselves.” Israel fails to remember the only claim they have on the promised land, is that their God promised it to them. That is it. But instead of seeking God, Israel continues their pattern of disobedience. They focus on what they want, rather than what God wants.

Israel is defeated soundly

What is the result? The text makes it clear Israel didn’t make it far at all: they were routed. What an illustration of what Paul ways in 2 Corinthians!

“For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but worldly grief produces death”

In Numbers 14, the death is physical. Israel’s grief that they had in verse 39 did not produce repentance. It produced death. Therefore, Numbers 14 reveals Israel never truly repented but had merely a worldly grief.

To put it another way, this ending narrative shows the reverse side of Israel’s unbelief. At the beginning of Numbers 14, Israel didn’t trust God to give them the land. Then in desperation they attempt to take it on their own. At both the beginning and end of the chapter, you do not see Israel truly believing and seeking the Lord. Israel tried to gain God’s blessings apart from God. There is no true repentance because unbelief is still there. It has simply changed form.

Unbelief is like water: it can change forms and manifest itself in different ways, but at its most basic level, it is the same.

Application: false repentance vs true repentance

I will close this post with a helpful quote from Matthew Henry’s commentary:

It is folly to promise ourselves success in that which we undertake contrary to the mind of God

Matthew Henry, “Commentary on the Whole Bible”

Numbers 14 is an unparalleled picture of false repentance. Often times, you feel sorry for what you did, you might feel pained by the consequences and you want to quickly make it right as fast as possible. But don’t be deceived like Israel was:

Sorrow without obedience is not true repentance

The fundamental problem with your rebellion and unbelief is not what it does to you, but what it does to God. Therefore, if you want to truly repent, do not get merely upset with the consequences of your actions. See the ultimate issue: disobeying the Lord. Let that reality grieve you.

If you only focus on what your sin does to you, you won’t turn and change your fundamental behavior. You will just try to change your circumstances. True repentance means accepting Lord’s discipline and obeying rather than trying to fix the consequences of your sin.

Repentance is about turning from disobedience to obedience, not from consequences to no consequences

We live in a culture that thinks feeling sorry means repentance. Don’t be fooled. Heed the warning from Numbers 14. See how your sin grieves and dishonors God. Turn to the Lord in humility, accepting any consequences He gives. Commit to correcting the behaviors, thoughts, and/or heart attitudes that dishonor the Lord.

And most important of all: don’t try to correct yourself using your own strength. Don’t be like Israel leaving behind the Lord’s ark and leaving behind the Lord’s mediator (Moses) to try to take the land. Ask the Lord to empower you to correct your sinful behavior. Run to Christ, the better mediator, for “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate.”

May God empower you to flee false repentance and truly repent when you sin and “by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the flesh.”

To read other posts in this ongoing series, visit this page. If you like this series, check out my other ongoing series “Happy?” where I show you what the Psalms have to say about finding true happiness.
Faith, Fear, & False Repentance: God’s Judgment and Mercy

Faith, Fear, & False Repentance: God’s Judgment and Mercy

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Judgment and mercy. These are two things you might not expect to go together. But a Biblical view of God and His character holds these two words side by side. If you lose judgment, you end up with a God who does not ultimately care about sin. But if you lose mercy, you are left with an utterly hopeless view of life.

God’s response to Israel’s unbelief involves both judgment and mercy. Numbers 14 gives a clear look at the character of God and how He responds to His people’s sin. Through studying this passage, you see three truths about the Lord: God does not need anyone, God is merciful but there are still consequences for sin, and God more strictly judges those who spread falsehood about Him.

This post will look at each of these three truths so you can better understand how the judgment and mercy of God relate. Doing so will give you a bigger and more biblical view of God. Read through the last half of Numbers 14 before you continue reading if you need a refresher on the context.

God does not need anyone

In the last post in this series, I explained God’s response to Israel not wanting to enter the promised land. God declared Israel’s fundamental problem was unbelief. The Lord has brought them out of Egypt to the edge of the promised land, performing signs and wonders along the way. But here at the edge of the promised land, Israel crumbles due to sinful fear of the nations which already live in the land.

What is God’s response to this rebellion?

11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

Numbers 14:11-12, ESV

There is irony throughout this passage where God gives His judgment. Think of these verses this way: since Israel did not remember the plagues God hit Egypt, God would strike Israel with a plague. In other words, God is threatening to treat Israel just like His enemy in the book of Exodus. The Lord judged Egypt with plagues, now Israel will get judged in the same way.

How could God threaten this? Because Israel is behaving like God’s enemy right now. Their unbelief and rebellion is as worthy of judgment as Egypt’s wickedness was. But you might ask, “If God destroys Israel, He won’t be able to keep His promises! God is stuck!”

But the text before us gives a different answer: God could destroy Israel in judgment and still fulfill His promises.

God is not dependent on anyone to fulfill His promises. He is utterly and completely sovereign. The Lord choosing to use a person or a nation is simply a mercy and a privilege, not a right or a guarantee.

God could just as easily fulfill his promises with or without Israel. The Pentateuch is incredibly clear: what makes Israel important is God’s plan, God’s promise, God’s choice. I have written before on God choosing Israel. I think one of the more helpful verses to remember is Deuteronomy 7:7.

The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all the peoples. For you were the fewest of all the peoples.

Deuteronomy 7:7

God isn’t going to be manipulated. It is not as though God is thinking “Oh man, Israel really should be punished but drat, I made a promise to them! Guess they have me stuck!” No, God simply says “I could destroy this nation and still fulfill my promises!” It would not be a difficult thing for God.

We would all do well to remember the needy one is not God. It is us. We need God desperately, God does not depend on us at all.

God is merciful but there are still consequences for sin

If you continue to read Numbers 14, you see that God does not destroy Israel. In a future post I will look at Moses’ mediation and why God does not destroy Israel. Essentially what happens is God chooses to show Israel mercy. Israel does not get what their sin deserves because God is faithful.

20 Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. 21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.

Numbers 14:20-23, ESV

It is important to notice that God pardons Israel, but there are still consequences for their sin. Both judgment and mercy are present. God swears by himself that Israel will not enter the land in this generation. It is not a “easy” consequence. An entire generation will die in the wilderness. You might think this is too harsh, but this judgment is incredibly merciful.

To understand fully what God does with this judgment, however, you must notice three ironies.

The first irony: Israel didn’t want to enter God’s promised land, so God judges them by giving them what they want. The entire generation will not enter the promised land.

Israel said out of fear in verse 2 “If only we had died in the wilderness!” God gives them what they prefer as an act of judgment. The entire generation will die in the wilderness.

The second irony: the scouts had 40 days to enter the promised land. In judgment, God will give Israel 40 years, one year for each day, outside of the promised land.

The third irony: Israel says “our children will be plunder in this land.” Israel is terrified the nations will take their children. But God in judgment says He will give their children the land as plunder. The opposite of what Israel feared will happen.

Each of these ironies demonstrate how just God’s judgment is. God simply gives Israel exactly what they asked for.

The judgment of God isn’t always taking away something you want. Sometimes, God judges your sin by giving you exactly what you wanted.

God’s stricter judgment for those who spread falsehood

Finally, God deals with those who were not loyal to the Lord: the spies who spread the bad report. God’s judgment on these spies is particularly harsh. Numbers 14:38 says only Joshua and Caleb survived. God reserved the most immediate and intense judgment for those scouts who lead Israel astray.

Why did God put to death these scouts? The text leaves no question of their guilt: Numbers 14:36-37 says they incited the community to complain and they spread a negative report. The text repeats that the spies spread a negative report 2 times for emphasis. The spies were given a position of authority, but they used this authority to spread falsehoods about God. James 3 gives a similar warning to the Church.

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

James 3:1, ESV

God’s people receive both judgment and mercy in response to their sin. But God’s judgment is always just. This means the people who were most responsible for the rebellion, the spies, were judged more harshly. If you have a position of authority in the Church, use it to speak truths about God. Spreading lies or falsehoods about the gospel is inviting God’s judgment.

The question is: did Israel get it? After God’s judgment and mercy, did Israel truly repent in response? In the next post in the series, I will show how their response is one of the best examples of false repentance in Scripture. All of Numbers 14 serves as a sobering warning about how you and I relate to the Lord.

Click here to find other posts in this series. If you are enjoying this series, check out my other series “Happy?” where I go through the Psalms and examine what they teach us about true happiness.
Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Unbelief in God

Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Unbelief in God

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Unbelief in God and His promises is often your fundamental problem in life. It keeps you from the happiness you desire. Unbelief can lead to sinful fear of man. It is based on feelings rather than revealed truth. And in Numbers 14, unbelief in God is the sin that ultimately keeps Israel from entering the promised land.

In the last post of this series, I discussed the progression of sinful fear in Numbers 14:1-4. Israel started out weeping out of fear. Then they started complaining. And finally Israel fell into outright rebellion against God. Israel declared it would be better for them to appoint their own leader and return to Egypt, the place the Lord just freed them from.

Then, God shows up. God declares His take on Israel’s situation. How does the Lord interpret Israel’s rebellion?

11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

Numbers 14:11-12, ESV

Israel’s problem is unbelief in God

There are two parallel statements in Numbers 14:11-12. The first is “how long will this people despise me?” and the second is “how long will they not believe in me?” The primary question you must ask as a reader is what is Israel not believing about God? The answer from the text: Israel isn’t believing God is powerful enough to keep His promises.

Israel thinks the problem is the nations in the promised land are just too strong. But that isn’t the main problem.

God declares that Israel’s problem isn’t nations around them or their circumstances. It is a wrong theology, a wrong view of who God is.

God goes as far as to say Israel has despised Him. That is strong language. How has Israel despised God? By their unbelief. God says Israel has no excuse for their unbelief because He performed plenty of signs and wonders among them. 

As my Pastor always says, unbelief in God is not an intellectual issue. Israel did not need more signs or more evidence of God’s power and ability to keep His promises.

What belief in God looks like

It is interesting to contrast Numbers 14 with what happened in Exodus 14.

29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Exodus 14:29-31, ESV emphasis added

This text details Israel’s reaction after they cross through the Red Sea and God destroys the Egyptian army. The text says God saved Israel from the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead. Israel observed this great act of God on their behalf. What was their response?

  • They feared the Lord
  • They believed in the Lord
  • They believed in His servant Moses

There is a connection between seeing what the Lord has done and fearing Him and believing in Him. In Numbers 14, you see the opposite of this.

Instead of fearing the Lord, Israel is fearing the nations. Nations not any more powerful that Egypt who God defeated clearly and decisively. Instead of believing in God and in His servant Moses, Israel is ready to rebel and go back to slavery.

God looks at this fear and lack of faith and calls it for what it is: Israel is despising Him. Rejecting Him.

The high cost of unbelief in God

God does not deal with Israel’s unbelief lightly. In Sailhamer’s excellent commentary, he points out that all Israel is going to face in the rest of the Pentateuch is a consequence of their unbelief in God. They are going to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Not enter the promised land. A whole generation is going to die.

Why? Because of something Israel did in the past? Because of a battle they lost?

No. All these consequences are going to happen to Israel simply because they failed to trust in the Lord.

Unlike their behavior in Exodus 14, Israel is not properly fearing the Lord and believing in Him. If you read through Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers up to this point, Israel has seen even more miraculous signs than they had in Exodus 14. But as I said before, unbelief isn’t based on lack of evidence. Israel had plenty of reason to believe God was powerful enough to bring them into the land.

How awful a sin is it to not believe in God? God is prepared to destroy Israel because they are not trusting Him. Is this too harsh? I mean, the nations in the promised land really are strong. Doesn’t God know trusting Him in spite of circumstances is difficult? Is unbelief in God really that big of a deal?

The answer God gives is this:

Lack of faith in God is equivalent to rejecting God

Without faith it is impossible to please God. The righteous will live by faith. Walk by faith and not by sight.

Israel had the promise that God would bring them into the land. They had seen the power of God displayed. They knew God had brought them out of slavery. So why are they fearful? Why are they rebelling?

Unbelief. Lack of faith in the promise of God. It might not sound like such a “big deal”. But unbelief in God is a rejection of Him. It is trusting in something other than His word as truth. Israel was walking by sight, not walking by faith in God and His promises. The consequences of unbelief are severe because God is so incredibly great and powerful.

Application #1: Your specific sins are fundamentally based in unbelief in God

This text should shape our thinking of what sin is. Fear and sin are related fundamentally to unbelief. You might fight and struggle with a myriad of different sins. Different people you know might fight different manifestations of sin. But everyone’s fundamental battle is against unbelief. It is a fundamental sin.

God is a promise-making, promise-keeping God. He doesn’t ask us to fulfill His promises; He asks us to trust Him (think Abraham). Simply believing in Him and His promises pleases the Lord. Therefore, not trusting in the Lord displeases Him. Unbelief in God and His promises is never a neutral thing.

A lot of times in my own life, I treat trusting in the Lord as something I can either have or not have. It becomes like a cherry on top of the Christian life.

It is also very easy in the Church to talk about trust in Lord very casually. A situation or a trial comes up and you here something like “Oh I just need to trust the Lord”, or “I’m struggling to trust in the Lord.” This makes it sound as if belief in God is a part of the Christian life rather than essential to it.

Believing & trusting in the Lord is not something you can choose to do or not do depending on your circumstances. It is the essence of the Christian life.

And belief in the Lord’s promises is essential when things get difficult. Often times, you and I have a very superficial view of our problems. So, we end up going after very superficial solutions. When you are faced with a difficulty, or problem, your first question should not be “how can I fix this problem?” Or even when faced with your own sin, your first question should not be “What can I quickly do to stop feeling guilty?”

When faced with a problem or your own sin, your first questions should be: What promises of God am I not trusting? What am I actually believing to be true? 

What promises of God should you have trusted to avoid this situation? What are you functionally believing to be true about God? Are there things you say you believe, but you aren’t living in light of?

That is what Israel needed to do in Numbers 14! To say “Wait a minute, we are fearful because we have forgotten God’s promises!”

Application #2: Know and trust in God’s promises to you

God promised Israel the land and that He would defeat the nations currently living in the land. A very specific promise, God explicitly gave to Israel. You might think that you don’t have any promises like that.

But you have to understand God bathes his people in promises.

If you read the New Testament, you see just as many promises (if not MORE) than the nation of Israel had at this point!

  • We are promised if we suffer with Him we will reign with Him! 
  • We are promised if we are faithless, He is faithful because He cannot deny Himself!
  • We are promised all things work out for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose!
  • We are promised God will make a new Heavens and a new earth where JESUS will reign forever!
  • We are promised that the sufferings of this present time are not WORTHY to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us!
  • We are promised that God has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and Godliness!
  • We are promised if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead you WILL be saved!
  • We are promised Neither death nor life nor ANYTHING in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Promise after promise after promise. Most of your problems in life are because you aren’t believing the promises!

Just like Israel. The next 40 years wandering in the wilderness comes simply from not believing and trusting in the Lord’s promises even though God has proven Himself again and again.

So next time you are faced with a problem, a sin, a difficulty, the first question you should ask is “what am I actually believing? What am I trusting in here? Am I trusting in God’s promises or is it not?”

  • When you are disciplining your children and it doesn’t seem to be working what promises should you trust in?
  • When there are difficulties in your marriage and you feel bitter or discouraged what promises aren’t you trusting?
  • When your career isn’t going as you wanted it to or you get passed up for a promotion you feel you deserve, what promises do you need to run to?
  • When you are single and you can’t seem to find contentment as you wait on a spouse, what promises aren’t you trusting?

The Bible says God is sovereign and has declared the end from the beginning. So stop and consider before the Lord what promises you are not believing

You are not in control of your circumstances. But in your circumstances, you can choose to trust the Lord and His word.

Always remember: unbelief in God is a sin. It is not a neutral issue. Personally as I have studied this text, I have found myself praying more “Lord I believe, help my unbelief!” May we all grow in faith in God’s promises.

You can listen to my whole sermon on Numbers 14 here. You can find a tools I used to meditate on the application of this text here and here. Follow The Average Churchman on Instagram to make sure you never miss a post or a new tool.
Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Sinful Fear

Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Sinful Fear

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What does sinful fear look like? What can sinful fear do to your life? Numbers 14 gives a clear picture of what happens when your fear is misplaced. It stands as a warning for all of us.

In a previous post, I detailed why Numbers 14 is an integral passage within the Pentateuch. Israel is at the edge of the promised land, but they do not enter because of unbelief. (Click here to listen to my whole sermon on this passage).

But how does this unbelief manifest itself? Fear. Fear of circumstances and the nations who already inhabit the land.

Unbelief in God and His promises will often show itself in sinful fear of man.

In this post, I want to show you the different aspects of Israel’s fear and how it instructs you and I today.

14 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 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! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Numbers 14:1-4 ESV

Emotive aspect of sinful fear

This passage comes right after Israel hears from the spies who entered the promised land. Numbers 13:36-33 gives their report. What is Israel’s reaction to the report?

They break down.

Fearful emotion is everywhere in the first couple verses of this passage. The text says Israel is crying loudly and weeping into the night.

This word used for weeping can also be translated lamenting. These aren’t just a few fearful tears. It is a bitter, despairing weeping.

Notice also this is not a minority of the people. The text says the whole community, the entire congregation is lifting up their voices and crying.

All this emotion comes simply from hearing the spies’ report. Israel has traveled all the way from Egypt to this land, and the spies’ essentially report back “Forget about it! No way are you entering the land!”

The spies said the people living in the land are stronger than Israel. Their cities are fortified. They spies even use some pretty colorful metaphors to get across to Israel just how scare the people in the land.

The spies compare Israel to grasshoppers. They say the land devours its inhabitants.

Basically, the spies tell Israel: if you try to enter the promised land, you are going to be eaten for breakfast! Squashed like bugs!

So Israel hears all this and what is their reaction? Crying. Not crying because of sadness. Crying because of their fear.

Israel is now afraid to enter the promised land.

Sinful fear leads to questioning the Lord

Forgetting God’s Promises

But in verse 2 and following, Israel doesn’t just stop at fear. Their fear makes them start to question God.

It says in verse 2 Israel started complaining and murmuring.

If you have been reading the Pentateuch, this word is like a warning sign for the reader: rebellion is coming! Sin is coming!

Three times in Exodus this word “murmuring” shows up in the context of Israel disliking their current situation. This is not the first time Israel has let their sinful fear lead to outright rebellion.

Israel then asks a “why” question in verse 3: “Why did God bring us into this land to die by the sword?”

So, Israel has now let their fear lead them to accuse God. In three short verses, Israel goes from crying to doubting the very God who brought them out of slavery.

Israel says essentially: “God, you brought us all this way just to kill us! You had this secret plan all along to harm us!”

Now remember, Israel had been in slavery in Egypt for years. They were not free, they were oppressed and mistreated. Then God through His own mighty power rescued them.

But in their fear, Israel does not remember this. It is an instructive point for us.

When you are afraid and let that fear take over, you forget reality. You don’t think clearly.

Israel should not be questioning God’s faithfulness or God’s plan for Israel. God multiple times up to this point has told them why He is bringing them to the land.

God from the beginning made it clear what His plans were with Israel:

2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’”

Exodus 6:2-8 ESV, Emphasis added

Notice: God in this passage is covenanting with Israel. God is promising to give them the land of Canaan as a possession. Why? Because God already promised the land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So, the problem in Numbers 14 is not with God. At no point did God promise anything but redemption and blessing for the Israel. More than that, God explicitly stated multiple times He would give Israel this land they are so afraid of entering.

But as is so often the case, the external circumstances blind Israel to the promises of God.

Misplaced Fear

Israel’s fear not only blinded them to God’s promises: it also blinded Israel to who they should have feared. God.

The God who is a consuming fire yet who is dwelling in their midst.

The God who single-handedly freed them from Egypt.

The God who parted the Red Sea.

The God who struck down Nadab and Abihu.

God alone should have been the object of Israel’s fear.

There are a lot of things in the world to be afraid of. And in Israel’s case, at a human level, their fear makes sense. Israel seemed to be facing certain defeat and death if the spies’ report was correct.

That is why who or what you fear is so important. Fear affects our behavior. It drives a lot of our actions. Fear can blind us to reality.

And often times you and I fear the wrong things.

If your house was burning down, you wouldn’t worry if your dishes were dirty. By comparison, the dishes would not be a big deal.

In the same way, if God is the one you fear most, if you fear displeasing Him, if you are in awe of his power, then you don’t have time for lesser fears.

Israel’s problem is the people inhabiting the land are bigger in Israel’s eyes, then God.

And you see in our text all the sinful places this misplaced fear leads Israel:

  • It causes overwhelming emotion
  • It causes Israel to forget God’s redemption
  • It causes Israel to harden their hearts to the truth

What you fear will drive your behavior. This is why the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Israel feared the wrong things. Make sure you are fearing the right things.

Don’t just ask yourself “What do I believe?” also ask “What do I fear?” Whether you fear the Lord or fear man will be seen in your behavior.

Sinful fear leads to rebellion

As if accusing God wasn’t enough, Israel goes a step further. Israel says they would rather be slaves again than continue forward.

At this point you might be thinking, “Israel is massively over reacting!” And they are. But that is how fear works. Fear takes you to the extreme.

Israel is so afraid that they want to be anywhere but here. They are ready to run. And you see this attitude many times in the Pentateuch: when circumstances get tough, Israel cries out “We wish we were still slaves in Egypt!”

And in Numbers 14, in addition to accusing God, Israel gets ready to act. they want to appoint a leader and get out of there.

This is a complete and total rebellion at this point. Israel is rejecting God, God’s appointed leader (Moses), and going right back to where they came from.

Back to Egypt. Back to bondage. Back to slavery.

How does this apply to Christians today? I think it serves as a sobering warning.

The other morning when I was praying, the Lord brought to mind a parable in Mark 4 that illustrates the same danger Israel fell into. It is the well known Parable of the Sower.

It is one of the few parables Jesus explained:

14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Mark 4:14-20 ESV, Emphasis added

In the two cases I highlighted, circumstances choke the word. In the first case, negative circumstances like tribulation or persecution keep the word from bearing fruit. In the second case, it is prosperity and desires for material gain that keep the word from bearing fruit.

Our circumstances can affect you and I. Just like Israel, often times when circumstances get scary or difficult or even when they are prosperous, we forget God, forget Jesus, and forget the redemption offered in the Gospel.

Oftentimes, responding to circumstances with fear drives you back to those sins which Christ redeemed you from.

Just like Israel wanted to run back into bondage because of their fear, fear of man can cause Christians to spiral into unbelief and sin.

Numbers 14:1-4 gives a stark warning to us all: fear of circumstances or of man leads to sin. Fear of God leads to obedience, trust, and wisdom.

So, in your quiet time, in your prayer life, in your personal reflection as yourself:

Who and what do I fear more than God? Why do I fear that person/thing/circumstance more than God?

For a study on the blessings of belonging to God, check out this post from my ongoing series “Happy?” Follow The Average Churchman on Instagram to get updates whenever a new post is published.
Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Israel’s Journey to the Land

Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Israel’s Journey to the Land

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I’ve been reading through the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Bible) lately in my personal study time. It is amazing to see God bring Israel out of slavery and then guide them on this journey to the land He promised Abraham.

I was so gripped by my time in Numbers, that when my Pastor asked me to preach, I decided to do a sermon from Numbers. Numbers 14 specifically.

Numbers 14 answers some crucial questions:

  1. What does fear of man vs. fear of the Lord look like?
  2. Why is fear of man so deadly? What sins can it lead to?
  3. What does belief in God’s promises actually look like?
  4. What is the fundamental sin underneath all other sins?
  5. Why is God so faithful when we are so disobedient?
  6. What does “mediation” mean and what does it look like in Scripture?
  7. What is the difference between true repentance and false repentance?

And more. In future posts, I will expound the chapter and show it helps answer all these questions. But first, why even go to Numbers 14 to begin with? Why is this text important for you and I to study?

Why is Numbers 14 important?

Numbers 14 is a turning point in the Pentateuch. A turning point in Israel’s journey to the promised land. To fully grasp its significance, you need to follow the flow of the Bible up to this point.

Background: Journey to the Land

Genesis 12

The Pentateuch is all related, like one continuous story. And the story of Israel’s journey to the Land really begins in Genesis 12. Verses 1-3 say this:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Emphasis added.)

This is where God first makes a promise to Abram (later Abraham). There are several components to this promise. But note first God promises Abram a land.

This is where the “promised land” comes from. It is simply the land God promised to give to Abram, and later Israel.

The other parts of the promise are God will make Abram into a great nation and through Abram all nations will be blessed.

This text is crucial for your understanding of the Bible. God’s purpose with blessing Abram and Israel is to bless the entire world. God has a global purpose.

As you approach Numbers 14, it seems Israel has all that God promised Abram back here. They are a great nation. Egypt and slavery to Egypt are behind them. They even have a leader, Moses, who talks to God as one person does to another.

The last promise Israel is waiting on in Numbers 14 is to get the land God promised.

Exodus & Leviticus

Backing up a bit, Exodus is crucial for understanding Numbers 14. In Exodus, God reveals Himself to the people of Israel.

Exodus opens with Israel in enslavement in Egypt. They are oppressed and without hope. The people of the promise are subservient to a more powerful nation.

Then, God remembers His promise to Abram.

And within a few chapters, God calls Moses to confront Pharaoh. What follows afterwards is a battle of sovereignty.

The question of the first half of Exodus is “Is God or Pharaoh more powerful?”

Throughout the narrative, God showed Himself as the victor over Pharaoh. He did this first by sending the 10 plagues. Each one confronts an Egyptian God.

And then God shows Himself as sovereign by redeeming Israel out of slavery. Pharaoh relents and lets Israel go free.

God saved Israel from bondage with absolutely no help from Israel. It was all of God.

Then, God further revealed Himself to Israel by entering a Covenant with them. The latter chapters of Exodus show this. God also gives Israel instructions on how to build a tabernacle so He can dwell among them.

You have that amazing scene in Exodus 40 where God’s glory fills the tabernacle. The eternal creator of the universe is dwelling among a people.

And that is where Leviticus comes in: God gives instructions on how Israel is to live and worship in the presence of a holy, holy, holy God.

All the while, God is LEADING the nation to the promised land. It is astounding how clearly God’s glory and power are on display in Exodus and Leviticus.

It is an absolute shame Exodus and Leviticus are not studied, read, or preached on very often. Each one is a masterclass in the glory, power, sovereignty and holiness of God.

Numbers 1-13

This leads us to the book of Numbers. Numbers 1-10 reads like a victory march.

You read the first 10 chapters of Numbers, and you are confident Israel is going to march right into the promised land. God is going to give it to them in a snap, and they will live “happily ever after,” if you will.

One of the most crucial observations in the first 10 chapters is a single repeated phrase. It occurs very often in one form of another: “Israel did as the Lord instructed Moses”

Israel is obedient, being led by the Lord, and trusting the leaders God put over them.

But Numbers goes from obedience, to grumbling. The descent begins in Chapter 11 .

Israel starts grumbling about circumstances.

They start grumbling about food.

Miriam and Aaron even try to undermine Moses’ authority.

But all of these seeds of rebellion come to full bloom in Numbers 14.

Israel is literally at the edge of the promised land. They are so close. Their long journey to the land is about complete.

Moses sends out scouts for 40 days, and their report is “the land is great but the people living in the land are stronger than us.”

And Numbers 13:32 says these scouts (besides Caleb and Joshua) spread a negative report to the Israel.

That leads us up Numbers 14. It is a major turning point in the Pentateuch.

Israel is at the edge of the promised land, but instead of completing their journey, they are going to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. And Numbers 14 explains how this could happen.

Importance in the Rest of Scripture

The Psalms, the prophets, and even the New Testament in places look back to Numbers 14. Biblical authors see a warning about rebellion and an illustration of God’s faithfulness in this text.

Numbers 14 is retold in the prophets (Isaiah 63, Ezekiel 20, Jeremiah 7).

Numbers 14 is reflected on in the Psalms (Psalm 78, 95, 106).

New Testament authors meditate on Numbers 14 (1 Corinthians 10, Hebrews 3-4).

A text this important to the rest of scripture is worthy of your time and reflection.

Preliminary Takeaways

Paul says in Romans 12

Whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures. (Emphasis added.)

And Numbers 14 does indeed instruct us on one of the most essential parts of Christianity: belief. Faith. Trust in the Lord.

Why is belief so important? What are the consequences for unbelief? How does unbelief relate to God’s faithfulness?

These are all questions that are important to ask ourselves. And they are questions Numbers 14 answers.

Israel did not enter the promised land because of their unbelief in God.

Think about that for a minute.

Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, an entire generation died, all because of unbelief.

All of this serves to illustrate a sobering reality:

You can be as close to God as to see his miracles, and yet still perish because of your lack of faith and rebellion and false repentance.

I will argue in later posts that a lot of your problems and a lot of my problems come down to not actually believing in God and His promises.

We say we believe. But then our actions, our fear, our disobedience show areas of unbelief in our lives.

And I think the text before us encourages us to deal with this root problem in our lives.

Oftentimes you and I get so caught up in our circumstances and trying control them, that we act a lot like Israel does in Numbers 14.

So, with that in mind, in future posts I will expound Numbers 14. I hope it will be a blessing to you as it has been for me.

Interested in listening to my sermon preached on Numbers 14? Watch it here. For insight into how I structured my sermon, read this post on my tips for preaching narrative texts.
Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Numbers 14 Sermon

Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Numbers 14 Sermon

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I recently preached a sermon on Numbers 14. My Pastor was out of town, and he asked me to cover for him. I have decided to make this sermon available on this blog.

In a previous post, I discussed some of the challenges with preaching narrative. Numbers 14 was a difficult text to preach in one sermon. But it contains a lot of rich theology.

I think in particular, Numbers 14 reveals how sin flows out of unbelief. Unbelief in God’s promises. In His power.

It took me a while to get the sermon written. I would work on the sermon every morning for a couple hours before heading to work.

But in my opinion, take every opportunity you get to preach God’s word. It is an amazing privilege.

I personally love the sermon writing process. You start out digging deep into God’s word on your own. Then you think how you best can present your insight to the congregation.

You write an outline. You check your conclusions with commentaries. Then, you meditate on the text until you develop useful applications.

Finally, after much prayer and wrestling and rewriting, you present it to the congregation.

I think Piper says it best in this excellent book on preaching: “Preaching aids worship and is worship.”

How true that is. I hope this sermon on Numbers 14 is a blessing to you. I have attached the video below, followed by the audio file.

Audio file here.

Any comments or thoughts? Feel free to reach out! If you want my thoughts on illustrations in preaching, see this previous post.