This past Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching at my Church’s evening service. Since I taught a narrative text from Numbers 14 the last time I preached, I decided this time to choose an Epistle. I chose Romans 1:11-12 for my passage. Sermon title’s always cause me some difficulty, so I settled on “Mutual Encouragement and the Christian.” The link to the sermon video is below, along with the link to the audio file.
I keep a google drive with all sorts of “sermon skeletons“. Essentially, when a text of scripture grips me, I make a brief outline to lay out how I would teach that text if I ever got the opportunity to. This allows me to be somewhat prepared ahead of time if I end up getting a chance to preach. Even though I had many of these sermon outlines ready to go, when my Pastor asked me to preach, there was only one text I wanted to teach: Romans 1:11-12.
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
Romans 1:11-12, ESV
Why choose these couple verses? First, because these couple verses at the front of Romans have been on my mind all year. As a goal for 2021, I have set out to try to memorize the book of Romans. One of the benefits and blessings of doing this is meditating on lesser known portions of the Epistle. Verses 11-12 of Romans 1 in particular stood out to me as containing important truths about faith, encouragement, and the Church.
The second reason I chose these verses is I saw them come alive in my interactions with the local Church. Seeing and experiencing mutual encouragement among my fellow local Church members caused my mind to jump back to Romans 1:11-12. I didn’t just know these verses. My eyes were seeing them lived out in front of me. I was experiencing the truths of the passage as I was encouraged in ordinary conversations with local Church members.
In the end, there was no other text I wanted to preach. Paul’s couple sentences to the Roman Church had stewed in my mind for a couple months and I had seen enough examples of the verses come to life that I was gripped. Preaching gave me an opportunity to delve deeper into the verses myself and to share what I had learned with the body.
How I prepared the sermon
There were a number of tools I used to prepare this sermon. The first was breaking the passage into its components. I tried to understanding the historical setting, where the text occurs in the flow of Romans, and the characteristics of the two main “characters” in the passage (Paul and the Roman Church). After that, I identified the key words and phrases I needed to define in order to understand the passage.
The tool I used most for this sermon, however, was Iterative Bible Study. As soon as I heard I was preaching, I made a very rough outline of the text fairly easily. Using that, I identified gaps in my knowledge which I needed to go back and fill. Check out my Iterative Bible Study approach to see how I actually did this.
Finally, once I had done a couple rounds of study on the text, I started thinking of practical implications. To do this, I used the Puritan application questions. I love these questions. Simply by answering them, I was able to come up with about 7 implications that follow from the truths of Romans 1:11-12. I only gave 5 implications in the actual sermon for the sake of time.
All in all, this was the easiest and most pleasant sermon preparation I have experienced yet. My other two times preaching took a lot longer and I struggled much more with the structure of the sermon. But because I had spent so much time thinking about the text personally and since I took advantage of some of my own Bible study tools, prepping for teaching was a breeze.
If you are going to teach, you need good tools. The better the tools, the less time you will spend thinking of where to start and the more time you can devote to meditating on the text itself.
Outline of the sermon
I conclude with the outline of my sermon. In a future post, I will format my notes for reading. In the end, I tried to structure my sermon the way John Flavel laid out his sermons: define the terms of the text, define the doctrine, expound the doctrine, apply the doctrine. I plan to do a future post on the different ways to structure a teaching. Personally, however, I found this structure very effective for preaching a shorter couple verses like Romans 1:11-12.
Introduction
Why text is important
Overview of sermon structure
Definition of terms and doctrine
Define key words
Summarize key reality/doctrine of text
Expounding the doctrine
Encouragement in the NT
Truth encourages
Christ Encourages
God encourages
Other believers encourage
How faith can encourage
Faith sets an example
Other people’s faith in action makes ours more enduring
What do Paul and the Roman Church have in common
Not much at a surface level
From different geographies
Different levels of knowledge
Paul called as an apostle
Much on a spiritual level
Same problem-sin
Same need-Christ’s righteousness
Same present-living out Christian life
Implications of doctrine
Your faith needs encouragement
You need the local Church
Talk about your faith with others
Don’t think your faith is above encouragement from others
Even small conversations build up the Church
There you have it! I truly am grateful to the Lord and my Pastor for giving me this third opportunity to preach from the pulpit. The best way to learn how to preach and to improve is simply to do it. I pray the tools on The Average Churchman will help you when you are called to teach or preach.
Check out the Tools page to look through resources I use to prepare my sermons and study a passage. To listen to either of my other two sermons, head over to the Preaching page. Be sure to follow The Average Churchman on Instagram if you haven’t already!
Happiness is possible in this world. Despite the pain, suffering, and disappointment, God has revealed in His word the path to true, lasting, objective happiness. Thus far, I have shown you a number of Psalms which connect our happiness to our relationship to God. Now, Psalm 41 is going to connect your happiness to how you relate to others. In particular, this Psalm will explain how helping the poor impacts your happiness.
Happy is one who cares for the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity. The Lord will keep him and preserve him; he will be blessed in the land.
Psalm 41:1-2a, HCSB emphasis added
I have found that discussions on how Christians relate to the poor can become heated and unprofitable. Psalm 41 does not give a list of ways to care for the poor. It simply gives the objective statement that your happiness is somewhat dependent on how you relate to those around you, particularly to those who are in need.
For this post, I want to first look at Psalm 41:1 and the following verses to see what truths it reveals. Then, I want to put Psalm 41:1 in the context of the Old Testament and the New Testament before drawing some applications for us. The most important instruction for how believers are to go about helping the poor is contained in Scripture.
If you desire happiness, you would do well to understand how the Lord wants you to relate to those in need around you.
Helping the poor: insight from Psalm 41
After declaring “happy is one who cares for the poor”, Psalm 41 gives a couple effects. In a sense, the Psalmist answers immediately the question “how can helping the poor make me happy?” From verses 1-3, there are at least three outcomes of helping the poor that the Psalmist lists: the Lord’s protection, the Lord’s blessing, and the Lord sustaining power in sickness.
The Lord’s protection
The Psalmist first declares that the one who cares for the poor will experience the Lord’s protection.
…the Lord will save him in a day of adversity. The Lord will keep him and preserve him…
Psalm 41:1b-2a, HCSB
Notice the flow of the sentence: it is the one who cares for the poor that the Lord will save. The Lord will keep and preserve the one who is helping the poor. Now, if you read the rest of Psalm 41, you can see that the Psalmist is dealing with a number of enemies. Enemies are planning to harm the Psalmist, and one of the Psalmist’s closest friends has betrayed him. It is in this context that the Psalmist declares:
You will not give him over to the desire of his enemies
Psalm 41:2b, HCSB
The “him” is still referring to the one who cares for the poor. So, the one who cares for the poor is happy first because God will protect him. The question is, how can the Psalmist connect caring for the poor with the promise of God’s protection? The answer to this question is found in the larger OT context. For now, simply understand that the Psalmist is confident that God will deliver Him from His enemies in part because the Psalmist has cared for the poor.
The Lord’s blessing
Next, the Psalmist declares the one who cares for the poor will experience God’s blessing.
The Lord will keep him and preserve him; he will be blessed in the land
Psalm 41:2, HCSB
The Psalmist does not emphasize what in particular that blessing is. But he does emphasize where the blessing will occur: in the land. Again, in order to understand how the Psalmist can say this, you must look at the larger OT context. For now it is enough to acknowledge that Psalm 41 connects helping the poor with God’s blessing.
The Lord’s sustaining power
Finally, Psalm 41 says
The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed; You will heal him on the bed where he lies
Psalm 41:3, HCSB
As if it wasn’t enough for the Psalmist to connect helping the poor to God’s deliverance and blessing, now the Psalmist connects it to God’s sustaining during sickness. Notice that this verse connects with verse 8 a little ways later
“Lethal poison has been poured into him, and he won’t rise again from where he lies!”
Psalm 41:8, HCSB
The Psalmist enemies are either plotting to poison the Psalmist or have already poisoned him. And in the face of this mortal danger to his life, the Psalmist declares God will heal him. Sustain him. Why? because it is part of the happiness reserved for the one who cares for the poor.
Now, Psalm 41 is a good example of a passage that you can draw false implications from if you don’t place it in the overall context of Scripture. If all you do is read Psalm 41 and immediately apply it to yourself without any further thought, you will expect God to always protect you, bless you, and heal you in thanks for you helping the poor. There are indeed implications for us from Psalm 41. But a broader look at Scripture must come first.
Compare every application and implication you get from a text with the rest of the Bible. If you are accurate, the rest of Scripture will confirm you. If not, Scripture will correct you.
Helping the poor: OT context
Now that we have seen the outcomes of helping the poor from Psalm 41, I will do a quick OT survey to help reveal why Psalm 41 can connect helping the poor to happiness. With just a brief look at the OT, three points come up: God makes provision for the poor in the Law, helping the poor is connected to the heart, and how one treats the poor reveals part of one’s relationship with God.
God makes provision for the poor in the Law
And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:10, ESV
In the Law, God provides instruction for how Israel is to provide for the poor. If you are familiar with the book of Ruth, you will know how this works. When harvesting their field, Israel was not to scrape every last bit of produce. Instead, they were to leave some behind for the poor and foreigners to come and get. Notice, the poor would have had to come and work to get the leftover food. But God has provide a means by which the poor could be fed.
If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.
Leviticus 25:35, ESV
God then takes it a step further. Not only does He set up a way for the poor to be fed and support themselves, He commands Israel to house any Israelite who cannot support themselves. It is interesting to note the text says “becomes poor” indicating possibly a tragedy or life event that causes poverty. Widows and orphans are good examples of people who would “become poor” because of a tragic life event in OT times. The emphasis here is God does not want someone who suddenly becomes poor to be rejected or neglected. His chosen people are to care for each other, whether poor or not.
Helping the poor is connected to the heart
Deuteronomy 15:7-8 repeats the previous command from Leviticus 25:35, but adds a new dimension.
If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be
Deuteronomy 15:7-8, ESV emphasis added
The command is the same as before: provide for fellow Israelites who fall into poverty. But this time, God connects withholding help from the poor to hardening your heart. The alternative to hardening your heart is to lend the person what they need. And lest Israel thinks hardening their hearts towards the poor is a light thing, God defines this hardness as evil and sin in the next verse.
Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin.
Deuteronomy 15:9, ESV emphasis added
In this verse, the person has an excuse for not helping the poor person and so does not help him. The result? The poor person will call out to God and the hard-hearted well-to-do person will be guilty of sin. So, God views a hard heart and withholding attitude towards those in need, particularly a fellow Israelite, as sin.
You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
Deuteronomy 15:10-11, ESV emphasis added
Now, God gives the alternative to hard-hearted withholding: cheerful giving to those in need. Again God emphasizes Israel’s hearts should be happy to give to those in need. What is interesting is here God connects giving to the poor to His blessing. This is the same thing the Psalmist does in Psalm 41.
God promises blessing to those who are open and generous with their resources.
Notice, God is not emphasizing here that Israel will end poverty through giving to the poor. He says quite the opposite: there will always be poor in the land. Jesus actually repeats this in Matthew 26:11. God does not say you can end poverty. But He does command abundant generosity to those in need.
The emphasis in Deuteronomy 15 is the heart. To give or withhold free support to those in need is connected to the heart. Guilt for sin is reserved for the hard-hearted or those who give with the wrong attitude while blessing is promised to those who give with an open hand and heart.
How you treat the poor shows something of your relationship with God
The book of Proverbs takes this idea of generosity to the poor revealing your heart and goes a step further.
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
Proverbs 14:31, ESV
This Proverb connects how one reacts to the poor with how one reacts to God. Oppressing the poor is insulting God, while generosity to the poor honors the Lord. This connection is the final step you need to understand Psalm 41:1. How can the Psalmist call those who help the poor happy? How can the Psalmist see God’s protection, blessing, and sustaining power all connected to helping the poor? We now have the answer.
How you treat those who are in need reveals both your own heart and your relationship with the Lord.
A person who turns away from those in need dishonors the Lord. But the one who loves the Lord and wants to honor him is a cheerful giver. A person who withholds or oppresses those in need is acting like the poor are lesser human beings. But the person who loves the Lord knows all people are made in God’s image. Therefore, the one who loves the Lord treats those in need with dignity and love.
So, the Psalmist in Psalm 41 can trust in God’s blessing and protection not because giving to the poor is a box to check or a lever to pull to get God’s blessing. Instead, Psalm 41 is saying the one who gives to the poor is happy and receives God’s favor because generosity towards those in need reveals a proper heart attitude towards God and towards others. That sentence bears repeating because it is of vital importance.
The one who gives to the poor is happy and received God’s favor because generosity towards those in need reveals a proper heart attitude towards God and towards others.
Blessing comes from helping the poor in the same way blessing comes from any time you live in obedience to God’s word. Happiness comes from helping the poor just as happiness comes whenever you live according to how God has ordained the world rather than living according to self-centered motives.
Helping the poor: what the NT says
The OT survey helped unlock the meaning of Psalm 41:1. But before I apply it, we must look at what the NT says on the subject. How does the NT Church understand poverty? A lot of the OT texts we looked at referred to how Israel was to care for those within their covenant community. Does the NT clarify how these principles apply to the Church? There are too many NT texts to go into here, but three points stand out.
The Gospel and how Jesus gave to the poor
What I find interesting is when Paul was encouraging the Corinthian Church to give to another Church in need, he didn’t quote any of the OT passages we studied above. Paul didn’t cite Deuteronomy 15. He did not quote Psalm 41:1 or any Proverbs. Instead, Paul went straight to Jesus and the gospel.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9, ESV
Why should the Church give to those in need? Because that is exactly what Jesus did for believers at a cosmic scale. Jesus lacked nothing, had everything, was One with the Father from eternity past. And yet, Jesus made Himself of no reputation and came in the form of a servant. Why would Jesus condescend? Why would Jesus bear the shame of dying on the cross?
So that all who would believe in Him would become rich. You see, every human being is spiritually poor.
Even in America where wealth abounds, every single human being has not a penny of righteousness before a holy God.
What can make us right before God? It isn’t anything we earn. You and I cannot pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps in the spiritual realm. You may believe the idea of the “self made person”, you may say “I don’t want any handouts,” you may think you have enough to live off of in a physical sense. But spiritually, every human being is in desperate need of God’s generosity.
And guess what? The good news of the Gospel is Jesus has provided a way you can become rich spiritually. Not through hard work. Through faith, belief, acceptance of His own wealth of righteousness. And it is free, not based on anything you have done or can do. Jesus became poor for you so that you might become rich. He is the only way you can acquire the righteousness you need.
And Paul takes this glorious gospel and says “If Jesus was THIS generous to you at a spiritual level, then everyone in the Church should be chomping at the bit to give even a little of what they have to those in need at a physical level.” Paul connects the two.
Those who have received God’s generosity in Christ on a spiritual level will become generous people on a physical level.
So the question becomes for the Christian, why am I not generous towards others? Why do I harden my heart to those in need? The answer to that question may be because you have not meditated enough on the riches Christ gave up for you so that you might never have to stand poor and spiritually bankrupt before a holy God.
There is still blessing reserved for those who give
A question you might ask after our OT overview is “Well, I’m glad God blessed Israel when they cared for the poor back then. But how can I be sure there God still blesses generosity these days?” Thankfully, God answers that question.
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
Acts 20:35, ESV emphasis added
More blessing comes from giving and helping others than in receiving. There still remains a blessing from God which comes from giving to others. What is interesting is Paul (here talking to the Ephesian elders) connects working with giving to others. He made the same connection in his letter to the Ephesians.
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Ephesians 4:28, ESV emphasis added
So for Christians, part of the reason for working is so you have something to give to those in need. Why? Because there is more blessing in giving what you have earned away to those in need than in simply receiving those wages and spending it all on yourself.
If you are spending all your money on yourself rather than giving to those in need, you are actually robbing yourself of happiness and blessing.
So when you read of the happiness and blessing of giving to the poor in Psalm 41:1 and following, don’t for a second think the principle does not still apply. You have a greater motivation to give to others because you understand the gospel. You also are told there is still blessing in giving to those in need.
Now, time does not permit me to go into other NT principles like those who are unwilling to work should not eat or making sure you are providing for your own household in addition to giving to others. But in light of the gospel and NT teaching, you should at this point see the connection between happiness and helping the poor. With all we have looked at in mind, I will close with some final general principles.
General applications for the Church today
Those who love God will love what He loves. Therefore, you should have a particular care for those in need in your Church and community
The moral and natural law of God both reflect His character. In the OT, God commanded Israel to care for the poor in their midst because God cares about the poor in their midst. As a Christian, the Bible says you know God and should imitate Christ. Therefore, part of your sanctification is progressively loving what God loves and hating what God hates.
If we did a survey of the OT prophets, you would see God’s heart towards the poor and vulnerable even more clearly. But even in this brief study today, it is apparent God cares about the poor. You might ask “If God cares about the poor so much, why doesn’t He do something about it?”
He has.
God has commanded you who are called to display His glory and reflect His values to care for the poor. The book of James goes as far as to call caring for orphans and widows (two very needy groups of people in NT times) as part of “pure and undefiled religion before God.”
Christians should have a particular heart towards those in needs, both for those in need within the Church and those in need in the community. God’s character has not changed. Now, if you want a resource to help you further understand the different categories of “the poor”, I recommend reading this brief and insightful article. I cannot recommend this article enough for thinking through how the Church should wisely and practically care for the poor.
There will always be poverty in the world. Therefore, there should always be generous Christians helping the poor
There will not come a time while this earth remains where poverty will be eradicated. Sound cynical? We have already seen in both the OT and NT that God has said it will be this way. The point of these verses is not to cause you to be fatalistic or hopeless. On the contrary: because there will always be poverty in the world, there is always work to be done.
Ignoring poverty or hoping to eradicate it from the globe are both not the answers. Instead, Churches should reach out to those in need in their community. With what? Both the gospel AND with items to deal with physical needs. Too often I hear arguments over whether the best way to help the poor is to simply preach the gospel to them or to simply give them food and clothing. This is a ridiculous false dichotomy.
The Bible is clear: the physically poor in this world need both the hope of the Gospel and the physical help of food and clothing. Both are in Scripture.
Oftentimes, helping someone with their physical needs will open up opportunities to speak about the generosity of Jesus. There will always be poor people to bless with physical care. That should encourage and spark zealous action among Christians! God has already said it is more blessed to give than to receive. So go pursue the happiness that comes from helping the poor and those in need.
Cheerful generosity will lead to blessing because you are living in accordance with God’s word. If you close your hearts towards those in need, don’t be surprised if happiness is also closed to you.
Let me conclude my going full circle back to Psalm 41. Happy is the man who cares for the poor. From the OT to the NT we have seen that this principle is true. Why? Because you were made to live under God’s rule. Anytime you instead try to rule yourself, you have lost your one path to happiness.
Because God cares for the poor and wants their needs to be met, don’t expect happiness to come when you are hard-hearted or indifferent to those in need.God is the source of all happiness. He has ordered the world so that you cannot find happiness apart from Him. Therefore, as you read what His word has to say about happiness, the only response should be ordering your life according to what God says.
And that includes what God says in Psalm 41:1. May God work in both your heart and my heart so that we are generous to the poor and needy around us!
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
