FOLLOW GOD WHOLEHEARTEDLY. Numbers 13:1-14:25 Key Verse 14:24

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Arnold Marshall
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1 2012 New Year Special Study II FOLLOW GOD WHOLEHEARTEDLY Numbers 13:1-14:25 Key Verse 14:24 This passage is about a Spiritual Battle in which the Israelites were called to pioneer the promised land. They had to check their hearts and see if they were following God wholeheartedly. 1. What command did God give to Moses (13:1-2)? Verse 13:1-2, "1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders. " The command to go and explore the land which God promised to give to the Israelites. This was not Moses idea but he gave a command reflecting God's promise. What is the promised land for Israel to explore and conquer? (Ge 13:14-17) Genesis 13: The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring[a] forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you. The land that God told Abraham to claim. They had faith that God would give them the land as he promised to Abraham. What is the promised land for us to conquer? It is where you are. Your university, county, state, province, for me it is Dupage County. Whom did Moses appoint? (3-16) 3 So at the LORD s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. 4 These are their names: 4 from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; 1

2 11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki. 16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.) Notice that Moses changed Joshua's name. It had been Hoshea which means "Salvation." But Moses had an eye to train him a leader of God's people and renamed him Joshua, which means, "Yahweh is salvation." What did he ask them to find out about the people and the land? (17-20) Verse 17-20, "17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land. (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)" He wanted them to see if it was exactly how the Lord had told them it would be. Moses wanted them to have God's vision. How joyful it is to have God's vision. When we don't have a vision in our lives, we stop praying--as we don't see the point. Moses wanted people to have God's vision through the scout's report. Exploring the enemy camp is a basic step before a military operation. Sun Tzu s Art of War, a Chinese classic military manual, states, If you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. However, there were two things Sun Tzu did not know. Do you know what those are? The first is that the battle belongs to the Lord (1Sa 17:47). The second is that one can know himself and others when he has spiritual eyes. 2. Where did the explorers go? (21-25) Verse 21-25, "21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo[a] Hamath. 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshcol,[b] they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. " They went everywhere in the promised land. The desert, The Negev, and the hill country. They met many kinds of people in the land they were promised. It was 40 days of travel and 250 miles each way--500 total miles. 2

3 What was their report about the land? (26-29) Verse 26-29, "26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan. " They testified that the land was indeed flowing with milk and honey. They showed the great fruit among the people and that two men needed to carry one vine. They also testified about powerful people and fortified cities. What discouraging report did ten of the explorers give? (31-33) Verse 31-33, "31 But the men who had gone up with him said, We can t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them. " The people were giants. Descendants of the Nephilim. We can't attack those people! The land devours those living in it. The 10 scouts changed from giving a report of the facts now to giving a commentary about how hopeless their situation was. They described themselves as grasshoppers and imagined they would be easily squashed. What was their problem? The 10 scouts were not seeing the land with God's vision--even their testimony contradicted itself. On one hand they said the land was plentiful and full of powerful people (31). Then they said that the land devours all who live on it (32-33). They did not see the land with God's promise. How was Caleb s report different? (13:30) Verse 13:30, "30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it. " Caleb knows that when he looked at these obstacles from God's point of view, God became bigger and the problem became smaller. To God, these giants were nothing but just bigger grasshoppers. Caleb was positive to see the land with God's eyes. He had complete faith in God and wanted to go up and take possession of the land. We can certainly do it with the help of God. How did the people respond to their report? (14:1-4) 3

4 Verse 14:1-4 "1 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn t it be better for us to go back to Egypt? 4 And they said to each other, We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. " Imagine the scene of about two million people, including 600,000 fighting men, sitting and wailing under the light from the pillar of fire, which was a sign of God s protection and love. It was a demonstration of their unbelief. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron and said, If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Would not it be better for us to go back to Egypt? (14:2-3) They wanted to go back to Egypt and be slaves instead of trusting the Lord. That life was easier--it involved no sacrifice. 3. What was the problem of the people? They didn't have a heart for God and a heart filled with his words. Grumbling is a huge problem for the people of God, it prevents us from praying when we are grumbling. Grumbling leads to unbelief. If only we had died in Egypt! this was their habitual grumble (Ex 14:11, 16:3, Nu 20:3). Also the people had forgotten the privilege of serving God. God had chosen them as a people and rescued them from Egypt and now they had the honor of serving him, but when they grumbled they forgot this. What did Moses and Aaron do? (5) Verse 5, "5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there." They fell down face first and began to pray before God, instead of trying to confront the people. How did Joshua and Caleb respond? (6-9) Verse 6-9, ". 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them. " Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes in an expression of serious sorrow and anger at the people's grumbling and unbelief. They begged the people to remember the Lord who is with them by pillar of cloud in the day and pillar of fire at night. On what basis did they respond like this? (Ge 15:7-21, Ex 3:8) 4

5 Genesis 15:7-21, "7 He also said to him, I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it. 8 But Abram said, Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it? 9 So the LORD said to him, Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. 10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the LORD said to him, Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure. 17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi[a] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites. " Exodus 3:8, "8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. " Joshua and Caleb held firmly to God's proimises and could stand courageously before the pressure of the wavering crowd. God had planted his vision in them. What did they believe? (8) Verse 8, "8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. " They believed that God was sovereign over all. Here we learn our job is to follow God. What can we learn from them? (9b) Verse 9b, "And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them. " Hold onto one promise of God to overcome and that unbelief leads to failure. How did Joshua and Caleb warn the Israelites? (9a) They reminded them that giving up on God's way is not just rebellion but also a great sin. 5

6 4. What did God say about the sin of the people? (10-11) Verse 10-11, "But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The LORD said to Moses, How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? " God asked how long? God said their sin was their contempt against God. How did the Israelites treat God with contempt? They treated him with contempt because they refused to believe in him, in spite of all the miraculous signs he has preformed on their behalf. What did he tell Moses he would do? (12) Verse 12, "12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they. " God said he would make a new stronger nation from Moses. But Moses prayed for the people and wanted God's original vision and plan to get the glory not himself. Why should the Lord not destroy his people (13-19)? Verse 13-19, "Moses said to the LORD, Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. 14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O LORD, are with these people and that you, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 16 The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert. 17 Now may the Lord s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now. " Moses had vision to pray for the people's sins and ask forgiveness. Moses had a clear prayer topic and the Lord answered him. Why would that generation never see the Promised Land (20-23)? Verse 20-23, "The LORD replied, I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, 22 not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me 6

7 and tested me ten times 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. " That generation did not have a clear prayer topic--when they complained against God, they could not enter the promised land. 5. What was different about Caleb? (24a) Verse 24a, "24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly," Because Caleb was different from the people. He had a victorious spirit and also a different spirit from the people around him. Not a hint of grumbling. Unlike the ten leaders, Joshua and Caleb had a conviction of victory in their hearts. Was Caleb confident because he was taller and stronger than those giants? No. God said of Caleb that he had a different spirit that is a spirit of victory, not a spirit of defeat. What does follows me wholeheartedly mean? (24a, Dt 6:5) Deuteronomy 6:5 "5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. " It means that Caleb held the promise of God and the vision of God clearly in his life. What promise did God give to Caleb and his descendants (24b-25)? Verse 24b-25, "I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. 25 Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.[a] " I will give you the land along with Joshua--where as none of that generation would come to the promise land. Based on this passage, think about your faith and vision in your practical life and ministry. My faith and vision need to be based on a clear direction of God. Practically this means raising 3 committed men like Caleb and Joshua through 1 to 1 Bible study this year. 7

Supporting Cast. from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi; 12

Supporting Cast. from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi; 12 Supporting Cast Moses Trust in the Lord THE PEOPLE Recon God s Command o Numbers 13:1-3 The LORD said to Moses, 2 Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From