Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Israel’s Journey to the Land
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:
- What does fear of man vs. fear of the Lord look like?
- Why is fear of man so deadly? What sins can it lead to?
- What does belief in God’s promises actually look like?
- What is the fundamental sin underneath all other sins?
- Why is God so faithful when we are so disobedient?
- What does “mediation” mean and what does it look like in Scripture?
- 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.