Fear, Faith, & False Repentance: Sinful Fear
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.