Numbers 13-15

Things have been going relatively well for the Jewish people. God has saved us from a terrible situation in Egypt. Israel has been redeemed from decades of horrible slavery in Egypt with great power, signs and wonders, and by the deaths of the Passover Lambs. We are no longer slaves. We are a free people. We have crossed through the Red Sea on dry ground. We’ve seen miracle after miracle. God has been providing for all of our needs, even miraculously, with manna, and the water that came from the rock that Moses struck.

We’ve fought and defeated the Amalekitesby relying on the Lord, symbolized by the hands of Moses being lifted up - then there was victory. God then manifested His presence on Mount Sinai, and the voice of God was heard by all of Israel, and the Ten Commandments were given. Israel accepted this covenant with God, promising to obey His commands. Animals are killed, and blood is sprinkled on the people. The covenant is confirmed.

Then Moses and Aaron, Nadavand Avihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, climbed Mount Sinai, and celebrated this covenant with God. They had a meal on Mount Sinai, and they saw the God of Israel, who manifested Himself to them! Other laws were given.

We’ve built the Mishkan, where God dwell on Earth in the most powerful way. We have our mediators between God and us - the priests who come from Aaron, along with their assistants, the Levites. We’ve been instructed about the various korbanot- the sacrifices that enable us to get closer to God.

We’ve had some smaller setbacks, and one major setback - the Golden Calf incident, where we disobeyed God, and got out of control, and the Lord was so angry that He wanted to destroy us and start over with Moses, but Moses, our great leader, interceded for us, and the Lord relented and spared the nation, although not without a measure of judgment.

The Sh’chee-nah - the Glorious Dwelling Presence of God, dwells in the Tent of Meeting. A pillar of cloud leads us by day,and a pillar of fire by night. Every day the Jewish people were surrounded by the supernatural. Our history in the wilderness was miraculous, full of the love and power of our great and mighty God.

We’ve been in the wilderness for just over a year, and it’s time to enter our Holy Land. And so, we’ve set out from Mount Sinai, and are headed toward the promised land, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a good land flowing with milk and honey. We’re not far away. It would only be natural to know what the Land of Israel was like.

That brings us to chapter 13, where the Lord tells us to send out 12 spies, one leader from each tribe, to spy out the Land, whether the Land was good or bad, rich or poor; if there were many trees, useful for shade, lumber and fruit, or not; whether the people in it were strong or weak, many or few; whether their cities well fortified or poorly defended.

The men went, spied out the land, and after forty days, returned to Kadesh, brought back some pomegranates, figs, and a huge cluster of grapes, that was so heavy it had to be carried by two men! The Land was indeed, exceedingly fruitful!

The 12 leaders gave their report: the Land certainly flows with milk and honey, but, there is a problem: the people who live there are strong, with walled, fortified cities. The Land is inhabited by various peoples: our enemies - the Amalekitesin the Negev. Also the Hittites, Jebusitesand Amorites live in the hill country; Caananiteslive near the Mediterranean and along the Jordan River; plus, giant human beings, the Anakeem- live there as well. When you hear about the Anakeem, think Goliath, who was about 9 feet tall, a virtually undefeatable fighting force!

These were the facts. Now, there were two interpretations of the facts. The first was provided by Caleb and Joshua, who with faith in God, confident of His presence and help, said: “we should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.” With God helping us, we can overcome all obstacles!

Then, there was the analysis of the ten other leaders - the majority, who said: “we are not able to goup against the people, for they are too strong for us. The land is dangerous and will eat us up. All the people there are huge, and don’t forget the giants! We are like insignificant little grasshoppers compared to them. We can’t possibly succeed.”

Both groups of leaders looked at the same situation. Both considered the same facts, Bothconfronted the same circumstances. The minority with confidence in God were positive, hopeful and successful. The ones who weren’t close to God were negative, despairing, and failures.

Good leaders need faith in God, and they need vision; they need to know what God wants; they need to understand the big picture of faith; they need to inspire and lead their people in the right direction, bring the people closer to the Lord, asking them to trust the faithful God.

You know what happened: the majority of the people sided with the majority of the leaders, and were completely discouraged, depressed and despondent. They wept, they cried all night. “It would have been better for us if we died back in Egypt!” they said, despairing. “In fact, we would be better off it we had died in this wilderness, rather than face this terrible situation that awaits us. We will surely be killed, and our wives and children taken by others.”

Then, their despair turned to anger. They got angry with Moses and Aaron, our wonderful God-appointed leaders. “They are the ones who have leadus into this disaster. They’re not any good. Let’s not follow them any long; let’s get some new leaders, and return to Egypt. Sure, we will be returning to a life of slavery, and reversing everything that has happened to us during the past year. No, it probably won’t reflect too well on us, or God, but that is better than following Moses and Aaron into a sure death.”

Joshua and Caleb, our two wise and brave and faithful leaders, filled with faith in God, and His ability to help and save and bring victory despite the outward appearances, in spite of challenging circumstances, intervened, and spoke to all the people: “The Land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us - a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the Land, for they will be our bread. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them." People - obedience, closeness to God, and faithfulness to Him brings blessing from God, and victory! Neither the size of the opposition, nor the apparent difficulties matter, if the Living God is with you, and you are doing what He wants you to do!

But the congregation didn’t listen to their words, true words, right words, and they responded and said: “kill them with stones.” Who? Probably Joshua and Caleb, and Moses and Aaron.Things are not looking good for our heroes!

Thankfully, the Almighty intervened, and the Glory of the Lord, the Magnificent Manifestation of the Living God appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the sons of Israel. The Lord was so angry at the Jewish people - for not having faith that the same God who had been with them, and done miracles for them, and brought them out of Egypt with a mighty arm, and was still doing miracles for them (remember, the cloud that contained the presence of God was there every day, and the pillar of fire was there every night, and manna was being provided every day); this faithful God, who promised them the Land of Israel, wouldn’t continue to be with them, and help them; and He was angry with them because by rejecting God’s appointed leaders, they were rejecting the God who appointed them.

The Lord was so angry that He told Moses that He wanted to destroy our people, and start over with a new nation that would come from Moses. It’s a good thing that I am not Moses. In my pride I would have thought to myself, “wow - that sounds really good. The people chosen to bring the world back to God will all come from me.”

Moses is humble, gracious, and very forgiving toward his people, who had just rejected him, and may have wanted to kill him. He is not unforgiving or vindictive. He doesn’t want to see them suffer, and so he prays for his erring people, and intercedes for them.

And, the Lord hears the prayers of this man, and pardons us, and does not destroy us. Oh, there will be consequences. The nation would be banished into the wilderness for 40 years, a year’s punishment for each of the 40 days that the spies spied out the Land. It’s interesting that the number 40,is the number of testing and judgment. It’s obvious that we failed this test. All of the adults who are 20 years old and older, who had seen God’s greatness and His miracles, but had challenged Him ten times in the wilderness, will not enter the Land of Israel.

One generation can harm the following generation. If one generation is foolish, and goes into more and more debt, they can pass a huge debt onto the next generation, which will make their lives much more difficult.

In this case, the children of Israel will suffer for the adults’ unfaithfulness. Instead of growing up in the Land flowing with milk and honey, they will live in the wilderness for 40 years, until the new generation is ready to inherit the Land. Israel was to turn around and head back into the wilderness, and not try to enter the Promised Land.

The punishment was even more severe and more immediate for the leaders, because to whom much is given, much is required, and the greater your position, the more responsible you are, and the higher standard you are held to, and the greater punishment you receive.

The ten leaders who brought back the very bad report, and discouraged the people, all died by means of a plague. But not the two good leaders - Joshua and Caleb.They remained alive, remained great leaders of our people, and were the only adults over 20 who were eventually allowed to enter Israel.

The Lord knows who is faithful, and who isn’t. Righteousness and faithfulness will be rewarded. Faithlessness will be punished. You can be assured of that.

Moses told the people these things, and the people were very upset,and mourned greatly. But it wasn’t the right kind of sorrow. It was the sorrow of those who mourn because they have been caught, and are suffering the consequences. It wasn’t the good and godly sorrowof those who have been made aware of their failing, and are sad about their sins, and desperately want to change, and do better - the sorrow that leads to genuine repentance.

How do we know? Because the very next morning, they got up early, intending to enter Israel. They sounded contrite, and duly religious: “we have indeed sinned, but we will do what we think is best. The Lord’s consequences are too severe. He can’t really mean it.” But He did really mean it.

By their actions, they showed that there were not genuinely sorry about their faithless, rebellious attitude, thatgot them into trouble in the first place. They were religious, but hypocritical, insincere religionists.

Moses was angry at them, for again defying the Lord, and warned them not to try to enter Israel. If they did, they would be defeated before their enemies, which of course is exactly what happened.

We need to learn the lessons from Israel's failure in the wilderness, so that we don’t repeat them. We don’t want to be like that generation that knew much about God, and saw His miracles, and were delivered out of Egypt, but who didn’t enter into the rest God had for us in the Promised Land. To help us, I’m using a part of a message given by Adolph Saphir, a fantastic Messianic Jew who lived in the 1800s. Let’s turn to the third chapter of the letter written to the Hebrews (Messianic Jews), starting with verse 7:

The Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, and saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, 'they always go astray in their heart, and they did not know Myways'; as I swore in My wrath, 'they shall not enter My rest.'"

This is a quote from Psalm 95. It’s a very serious warning. For forty years the Jewish people experienced the miraculous works of the Most High. Every day we ate the manna. Every day we saw the pillar of cloud during the day, and the pillar of fire at night. We saw miracle after miracle. But, our fathers provoked the Almighty. Ten times we challenged the Lord:

1. At the Red Sea (Ex. 14:11-12) when out of fear we wanted to return to slavery in Egypt.
2. At Marah (Ex. 15:23-24) when the people grumbled at Moses because there wasn't enough water to drink.
3. In the Wilderness of Sin (Ex. 16:2-3) when we grumbled against Moses and Aaron because we were hungry.
4. In connection with the manna (Ex. 16:20), when we disobeyed the instructions of Moses and left the manna until morning, and it became foul.
5. A second time in connection with the manna (Ex. 16:27-28), when some of the people went out to gather manna on the Sabbath, expressly disobeying the command of Moses.
6. When there was a shortage of water and we complained against Moses and Aaron, that they brought us into the wilderness to kill us, and that we would have been better off in dying back in Egypt (Numbers 20:3).
7. At Mount Sinai (Ex. 32:7), when we were guilty of idolatry with the golden calf after just having received the Ten Commandments, which instructed us against idolatry.
8. At Taberah(Num. 11:1-3) when we complained about the difficult conditions, and God destroyed some of the people by fire as a result.
9. At Kibroth-Hattaavah(Num. 11:4-32), when we complained that we were sick of manna ,and missed the meat, onions leeks, and garlic of Egypt. God sent quail and then destroyed some of the people with a very severe plague.
10. At KadeshBarnea(Num. 14), when we listened to the bad report of the spies, grumbled against Moses and Aaron, wept and said that we would have preferred to die in Egypt or in the wilderness, made plans to appoint a new leader and return to Egypt.

At the end of this long period and these daily supernatural manifestations, the Lord said with sorrow in His heart, I was disgusted with that generation - I said, their hearts are always going astray, they have not understood how I do things. “They do not understand Me. They have no eyes to really see Me. In spite of miracle after miracle upon miracle, after saving them from Egypt, they still do not understand Me, or My faithfulness, or My reliability; My trustworthiness, My Promises, My plan for them, although I have been with them, and speaking to them, revealing Myself to them, doing miracles for them.”

Over and over again we challenged the Lord. By yielding to fear and murmuring, by presumption and lust, by disobedience and idolatry, and most of all by unbelief - by not trusting the Lord to be our God, and provide for us, and take care of us, we tested and challenged the Almighty. Although we had seen the mighty works of God, and were continually experiencing His mercy, we doubted His power and love and goodness.

Oh, it wasn’t all bad. There were times of praise and thanksgiving. There were times when the Jewish people willingly offered our gold and silver and precious things to build the Mishkan- the Dwelling Place of God. There were times of victory over our enemies. There were a few in whomthere were found faith and love. There were men like Caleb and Joshua.

But for the most part there were continual murmurings, ingratitude, idolatry, sexual immorality, sin, doubt, unbelief and hardness of heart. Overall, God was disgusted with that generation. In His anger, He swore that they would not enter into the rest that He had in store for them in Israel. That entire generation died in the wilderness, and werenever allowed to enter the land flowing with milk and honey, only a few short days walk away. So close, and yet they never entered, but returned to the wilderness, where they died.

But let’s also remember that where Israel failed in the wilderness, Yeshuasucceeded!.He is the true Israel, the perfect Israel, the fulfillment of Israel, who was also tested in the wilderness. The Spirit led Him into the wilderness and God proved Him and tested Him. Although wild beasts were with Him, and His body was exhausted, weary and hungry, and the tempter's voice was cunning and subtle, yet He never grumbled, complained or sinned. He continually dwelt in the secret place of the Most High, and lived under the shadow of the Almighty!

That is to be our life. Our life in this world is in many waylike a wilderness. Only believe in God, believe in Messiah, place your confidence in the Word of God; trust God in every situation, and don’t harden your heart. When you hear the Scriptures, when the Spirit of God speaks to you in His still small voice, though wild beasts, hunger and need, weakness and temptation surround you,know that you are OK, because God is with you! His angels surround you! The Son of God is with you always, everywhere. You are more than a conqueror through Him that loved you and gave Himselfup for you!

Look at verses 12-13, and then verse 19: Take care, brothers, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin... We see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

We need to listen to this warning. Why did the Jewish people not enter into Israel? The primary reason wasn't sexual immorality. It wasn't greed. It wasn't idolatry. The one sin that is pointed out above all the others is an evil, unbelieving heart. It was our unbelief, our lack of faith, our lack of trust in the good God, our lack of genuine drawing near to Him.

All sins can be forgiven, if you turn to God in faith and believe in Him and draw near to Him through the Messiah. But if you don't have confidence in God and Messiah; if you have an evil, unbelieving heart that lacks trust in God, that won’t listen to His Word, that won’t believe in His Messiah that He sent to save us, that will cause you to fall away from the living God.

Faith brings us near to God. Unbelief causes us to fall away from Him. We are saved by faith. We are lost by unbelief. The heart is softened by faith. The heart is hardened by unbelief. By faith we draw near and worship God. By unbelief we go through the motions of religion, but despise God in our hearts.

Who is this warning directed to, my dear brothers and sisters? This warning was written to Believers - to the Messianic Jews of the First Century, and so it was written to each one of us as well - to you and to me. This warning is given to people who have experienced miracles. This warning is for people who have been through the waters of the Red Sea, who have been baptized. This warning is for people who have had God in their midst. This warning is for religious people who think that because of their proximity to the supernatural, whoare among God's people, they are safe. This warning is written to you and to me.

We don’t want to be like the generation that was saved out of Egypt, but never entered the Promised Land. There are millions today who may be deceiving themselves by thinking that because they know about Yeshua, because they may have even experienced the miraculous, or seen the supernatural, that they can live shoddy lives, and get away with more. They presume on God's grace in Messiah. The apostle is telling us that we need to be very careful of that attitude. We dare not presume on the grace of God.

This warning was written for those living “today.” “Today,” it says, “don’t harden your heart, if you hear God’s voice.” Yesterday, with its good and its bad, with its joys and its sorrows, with its sin and misery, is past. It will never come again. Tomorrow is full of eternal joy and honor to those who believe today; or full of weeping and gnashing of teach for those who will not believe today.

So today, and not tomorrow, is the day of decision, the turning point, upon which our eternal destiny rests. Today, and not tomorrow, is the day that is given to us to act, and to believe.

Today, and not tomorrow, we are warned to watch out for the deceitfulness of sin. Sin is so very tricky. We can so easily deceived ourselves, being entangled by wrong actions and wrong thinking, but all thewhole thinking that we are OK, when in actuality we are not OK.

Today, and not tomorrow, we need look to our own souls for any signs of unbelief. Today, and not tomorrow, we must watch out for one another, and warn one another, and encourage on another to do what is right, and believe what is right, and remind one another of these truths.

Today we must hear God's voice and respond - in faith, in belief, in trust. Whenever we hear God's voice, whether it is when we read the Bible, or through the preaching of the Word, or when God speaks to us in His still, small voice, our heart must respond in faith, in belief, trusting God and His word and His good intentions and His love for us. Mere thoughts of the mind, the admiration of the understanding about spiritual truths, are not enough. Faith is more than knowledge. Faith is knowledge plus faithful action.

When God speaks our hearts must be soft and tender, if they are to trust God, and believe. If our hearts are hardened, they will not believe. We need to be delivered from all hardness of heart - that is, from dullness of perception of God’s greatness and His love and His beauty; we need to be delivered from ingratitude and lukewarmnesstowards Him; from wanting to be independent from Him; we need to be delivered from not wanting to be close to Him, or obedient to Him. Whenever we hear God speaking our hearts, our innermost being, must soften.

When we hear the voice of God speaking: “I am the Lord your God. I have loved you with an everlasting love. As I have loved you, love one another,” our hearts must get tender - tender towards God and tender towards our fellow man.

When we receive God's word in our heart, when we acknowledge our sins, when we appreciate God's mercy, when we desire to get closer to God, and most of all when we see Yeshua, who came to serve us, to wash our feet, to shed His blood for our salvation, our hearts become soft and tender.Repentance, faith, prayer, patience, the hope of Heaven, all these things will soften our hearts.

Though many others, who claim to know the Lord, fall by the wayside, and die in the wilderness, you keep faith with God and Messiah. Don't look to the majority, who may be faithless. Look at the Joshuasand Calebs, the small minority that remain faithful.

Believe with your heart is the lesson. If we keep on trusting God, and Messiah Yeshua; if we keep on listening to His voice when He calls; if we respond and obey, then the wilderness that we are walking through will lead to a land flowing with milk and honey, and we will find the rest that we seek, both in this world, and in the world to come.

By constant faith in God and Messiah Yeshua, through watchfulness, through self-denial, through prayer and fasting, by constantly paying attention to our way according to His Word, and with God's grace we will reach our goal!