13:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. 4 And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.
17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, 18 and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19 and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol,1 because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.
Report of the Spies
25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”
30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
13:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. 4 And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.
17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, 18 and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19 and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol,1 because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.
Report of the Spies
25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”
30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
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Joel Brooks:
Numbers 13. About 15, 16 years ago when I was in college, when my roommates, that gosh, that just struck me 15, 16 years ago. I was in an apartment and we tried to save money by just not using any power whatsoever. And so when it would get really, really cold, we would sleep in our thermal sleeping bags, and we would have this policy, we would never ever turn on the heat ever. The problem is I'm an early riser.
Joel Brooks:
I like to get up really early usually. Even in college, I'd get up around 4. And and so it's really cold that early in the morning. And so I snuck in a little heater, and I would just keep it underneath my desk and it wasn't wasn't a big heater, just a little heater. Nobody could see it.
Joel Brooks:
And so I just, you know, get right up to my desk, turn it on, and it would keep me warm. Well, as I'm doing that one morning, all of a sudden I look up and there's both of my roommates. And they're going, what's that noise? Why is it warmer in your room than in the rest? And, and they said, you've got a heater.
Joel Brooks:
I was like, and they said, get the heater. So I got the heater, and I wrapped the coil around my arm. And I said, go ahead. Try to take it. And, and so we got in a little fight.
Joel Brooks:
At first, it was one of those kinda roommate fights, just really fun if you're a guy, happens all the time. And, and we just kinda were wrestling, and and then somehow we ended up in my half bath, which is very small and was 3 of us. And we're kind of going, and then I I accidentally I think it was accidentally, I head butted one of my roommates, his name was Sam. And at that moment, everything stopped. And we looked at one another, and we knew everything had changed.
Joel Brooks:
At that point, it was no longer games. And he picked me up and he threw me through the wall, all the way through it. It just broke through the sheet rock, knocked the toilet over. Water is going everywhere. In the end, we had done almost $1,000 worth of damage, and we were trying to save money.
Joel Brooks:
But I kept the heater. I kept the heater. And, and and the guy's like, why didn't you just let it go? And I was saying, well, some things, you know, some things you just you gotta have and they're worth fighting for. And and that might be kind of stupid, but there's some things in life and you can follow through your life.
Joel Brooks:
There's some things you wish you had fought for and you hadn't given up on so easily. What we're gonna look at tonight is the time when Israel should have been fighting, but they gave up. They didn't think it was worth it. In Numbers 13, we're gonna begin reading in verse 23. And they came to the valley of a skull and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between the 2 of them.
Joel Brooks:
They also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of a Skull because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. At the end of the 40 days, they returned from spying out the land, and they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Peran and Kadesh at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land and they told him, we came to the land which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
Joel Brooks:
However, the people who dwell in that land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the hill country, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea along the Jordan. But Caleb, he he he quieted the people before Moses, and said, let us go up at once and occupy it for we are well able to overcome it.
Joel Brooks:
Then the people who had gone up with him said, we are not able to go up against the people, for they're stronger than we. So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land, and they had that they had spied out. The land through which we have gone to spy spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there were, there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Enoch who came from the Nephilim, and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we sing to them. Go to chapter 14 verse 19.
Joel Brooks:
This is Moses's prayer. Please pardon the iniquity of this people. According to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt until now. Then the lord said, I have pardoned according to your word. But truly as I live, and as the earth shall be filled with the glory of the lord, 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 10 times, and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers.
Joel Brooks:
And none of those who despised me shall see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went and his descendants shall possess it. Now since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea. Pray with me. Lord, we ask that you would honor the very reading of your word that through your spirit would convict us where we need convicting and it would encourage us and restore us where we need that.
Joel Brooks:
Lord, my simple prayer is now that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered by anyone, but let your words remain. May they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. We've been going through the life of Moses for a few months now.
Joel Brooks:
Just a few weeks ago, we studied the tabernacle and how god had given the Israelites every little instruction for the tabernacle. So many details. He was very involved in this, and he wanted a tabernacle and not a temple and because a tabernacle best represented who he was. The god who lived amongst his people. A god who moved with his people.
Joel Brooks:
A temple was never the Lord's idea. It was man's idea and He later used it, but He always He said, a a tabernacle is what I asked for. And the reason that he loved the tabernacle is because when he wanted the people to stay, he'd say, stay. And then when they wanted them to move, he would move and he would move with them, and then he would stay, and then he would move, and he was teaching his people obedience, teaching his people to follow him by hearing his voice, and and they would go when he went, and they would stay when he stayed. And God had gotten up and through the cloud and the pillar of fire, he had led them right now to the very edge of the promised land.
Joel Brooks:
Right there they can see it. It's in sight. Then he does something different from all of the other times that he has led them, challenged them. He does something different. This time he actually asks them to fight.
Joel Brooks:
You're to fight this time. And and up to this point, he has never he has he has gone to great lengths to lead them away from battle. Even in in of Exodus 13, it says this. This is right after the Passover. Says when Pharaoh let the people go, god did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near.
Joel Brooks:
For God said, lest these people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt. God did not want his people to get discouraged by having to fight, and so he led them away from that time and time again. He did the 10 plagues. The people didn't do anything. When it came to crossing the Red Sea, he did it.
Joel Brooks:
When it came to destroying pharaoh's army, he did it. All of Israel was very passive in all of this, and now they get to the edge of the promised land and he says, you're gonna have to fight. You're gonna have to fight. I want you to grab your sword, and I want you to go and take the land. So here they are at the edge, and they can see it.
Joel Brooks:
What they've been waiting for. There there is joy, there is rest for the taking, and then when they realize we've got to fight for this, they back down. They say, oh, no. I I want to go back to Egypt. No.
Joel Brooks:
I'm just a farmer. I'm just a shepherd. Listen, I wanna go back to Egypt. Now this event here is gonna be referred to over and over again throughout the rest of the Bible. God sees this, and the the psalmist and the prophets, they see this as the height of Israel's rebellion.
Joel Brooks:
When you rebelled against me at Kadesh Barnea, when you rebelled against me there. And so I think it's worthwhile for us to take a closer look at this. And I want to answer 3 questions. We're gonna look at why did the Israelites stop short? Question 2, why didn't God simply forgive them like he has done every other time up to this point and then move on?
Joel Brooks:
And 3rd, what was the consequence of their half hardenness hardness? One, why did they short stop stop short of the promised land? In a word, it's not very hard. You all know the answer, it's fear. They're scared out of their minds.
Joel Brooks:
I mean, they're beginning they're so scared that they're thinking, you know what? Life in Egypt really wasn't that bad. Yes. We were scared of pharaoh, but not scared of this. And the spies, they said, you know what, we look like grasshoppers compared to them.
Joel Brooks:
And it's it's interesting that they would use that, and what they're trying to, to say is a grasshopper is the smallest edible creature. And so when they're saying, we look like grasshoppers, they're saying, we go there, they will eat us for breakfast. They will destroy us, they will devour us if we go. We're not gonna go there. And excavations from the cities and and Canaan from this time, they've shown that the cities have had walls 30 to 50 feet high, 15 feet thick.
Joel Brooks:
And so can you imagine being a farmer or, you know, a brick layer or a shepherd and going up and facing that and saying conquer it? They're scared. That's suicide. Fear is a it's a powerful weapon that the enemy uses to to keep us from advancing. Something I have noticed about fear over the years is, fear always produces in us this desire to cling to something that's very familiar, no matter how much we don't like it or no matter how much it was even painful.
Joel Brooks:
If we're scared, we cling to whatever is familiar and think back to when you were in college, you know, your freshman year you just move in, You're scared. You're having to meet all these new people. You don't know exactly what to do, and you see somebody from your old high school. Somebody you would have never said hello to in the hall, never thought anything of it, and you're like, hey, hey, you're best buds. All of a sudden you're like, what class are you doing?
Joel Brooks:
Great. I'm in that class too. And you you cling to one another. Why? Because you're scared of having to get out there and meet new people.
Joel Brooks:
You're scared of the unknown, and so you cling to something that's familiar. I mean, I remember the after I had a shoulder injury, and I did not want to go to the doctor. Absolutely did not. I waited an entire year, and my shoulder kept dislocating over and over and over, but I I was scared of going to the doctor because, well this is a this is a fear, this is a pain that I know. Pops out, I could pop it in.
Joel Brooks:
Sorry. It's a it's it's it's an inconvenience. It's a pain I know. I don't know what's gonna happen if I have to have surgery. I don't know what they're gonna do to me, and so I put it all for an entire year.
Joel Brooks:
After 5 surgeries, it's it's really not a big deal anymore, but we're we're scared of the unknown. It makes us cling to things that are familiar, and Israel is the same way. They're in a scary situation. What did they want to do? Cling to Egypt.
Joel Brooks:
Was it painful? Yes. It was painful, but we know that pain. We understand that pain. We can deal with that pain.
Joel Brooks:
We've dealt with it for 400 years. We don't know what's gonna happen here. So they wanna go back. Except for Joshua and Caleb. Caleb is described as having a different spirit than the rest, and as one who followed the Lord fully.
Joel Brooks:
And I find it really interesting that Caleb and Joshua saw the exact same things that the spies saw, and they are in complete agreement with the assessment of the spies. The spies come in and go, yes, yes, yes. It is a wonderful, yes, yes, the enemy is strong. Yes, we're small compared. Yes, they agree with it, but they have completely different conclusions.
Joel Brooks:
Same data, 2 totally different conclusions. Because Caleb and Joshua have a different spirit and it's not one of fear. It's of trust. Well, let's look at the second question here. Why didn't God simply forgive them and allow them to move on?
Joel Brooks:
This one's a little harder than the rest because God does say, okay, Moses, I forgive them, I pardon them, but none of them none of them are gonna find themselves in the promised land. I will not take them in there. They're gonna go and they're gonna die 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. And it's interesting. Why why this time?
Joel Brooks:
Why this time? Every time up to this point, God has forgiven the people, and he says, you've tested me 10 times. He says, in each of those times I've forgiven you, and then I've said, let's move on. And you see this early on in Exodus 14, you know, when pharaoh's in hot pursuit of them and they're pinned up against the Red Sea. Moses, why did you take us out here to die?
Joel Brooks:
God forgave them. Part of the Red Sea, they went on through. The moment they get through, they're dying of thirst. Why have you taken us out here to die? He gives them water, then they're hungry.
Joel Brooks:
Why have you taken us out here to starve us? Moses prays for them. God forgives them, rains down manna, provides for them. Right after that, they're thirsty again in Exodus 17. Moses, why have you taken us out here to to, let us die of thirst?
Joel Brooks:
Moses intercedes for them. God gives them water in the middle of the desert. Over and over again, they rebel. God forgives them. He provides for them.
Joel Brooks:
He says, now let's keep moving forward. Even when you get to Exodus 20 or Exodus 32, when when they build a golden calf, they bow down to it while Moses is up getting the law, they commit idolatry. And God says, I forgive you. Now let's move on. Let's move on.
Joel Brooks:
Build a tabernacle. I'll come and dwell on your midst. Now let's move on. So why here? All those previous sins, all of those other times a lack of belief, lack of trust, forgiveness, move forward.
Joel Brooks:
But here God says, enough. You're tempted to just think, I mean, is this just the straw that broke the camel's back? You know, God had been keeping score 10 times, and actually, I'm not sure which 10 it is. If you go through, it was more. But God points out 10 times, and maybe he's just saying that's a complete number.
Joel Brooks:
You have fully disobeyed me. I mean, has his patience just run out? I see one difference of this occasion versus all the others. And it's this time as they're actually at the edge of the promised land, they can see the promised land. Not just see it, they've tasted it.
Joel Brooks:
They've actually tasted of its fruit. I mean, it took 2 men just to carry one cluster of grapes, and so they finally have arrived and they taste it, and this land is good. No longer is this land just some distant dream. No longer is it something that that Moses had to keep reminding about or or something that they would tell each other the story of when they were around the campfire. Oh, it's gonna be great.
Joel Brooks:
We're in their promised land. Now it's a reality. Right there, they have tasted of its fruits. God says, here it is. It's yours.
Joel Brooks:
Take it. And they think, actually, can we go back to Egypt? Yeah, it was better it was better in Egypt, where we were slaves, than to live eating that fruit. Maybe you could see how why God got so angry. Let me use somewhat of a silly illustration.
Joel Brooks:
My grandmother, she's as old as our house, she's 98 years old, and she is an amazing cook. Now just imagine my sweet little grandma, she calls you up because I told her to, and you're, you know, you're a nice guy, girl. And she says, I want you to come over to my apartment, and and I'm gonna cook you dinner. And, and so you're excited, and I go and I tell you, it's like, you know what? My grandmother is the best cook you've ever ever seen.
Joel Brooks:
I mean, she's gonna make you grandmother's famous chicken casserole, which is amazing. She's gonna make for you the mashed potatoes, and you're gonna just it's gonna be be incredible. And you're kind of like, yeah, no. Okay. Yeah.
Joel Brooks:
I'm sure it's gonna be good. But I'm sure, I mean, it's probably not gonna be the best. If you said that, I'd be angry, but I would forgive you. I forgive you because you're speaking out of ignorance. Total ignorance.
Joel Brooks:
You have never sat down at my grandmother's table, you have never eaten what she put before you, and so of course you don't know. So go ahead, say those things. Alright, let's keep going. Just just go there. Yeah, I'm sure it's gonna be great.
Joel Brooks:
Now, go. Now if we're sitting down at dinner, and you you taste her mashed potatoes with her homemade gravy, and it is you know, like, no, This this was good. I think we're gonna order Chinese though, and just kind of get the rest, maybe something to carry out. If you said that, it would deeply hurt her, it'd make me furious, and you can assure yourself you would never ever, ever be asked back again. Because you tasted it and then you rejected it.
Joel Brooks:
And that's somewhat what is going on here. God finally takes them there. They taste it then they say, no thanks. It was better when we were a slave. Have you tasted this?
Joel Brooks:
The psalmist says, taste and see that the Lord is good. Have you ever tasted the Lord's goodness? You know, maybe it was when you you first became a Christian, and and we always use the word, it was so sweet during that time. Or maybe during a time of prayer or a time in the word in which you just so felt the Lord's presence, and the joy, or the peace in the midst of a circumstance, and you tasted it. His goodness.
Joel Brooks:
If you have Let me ask you a question. Where are you now? Did you did you press in at that point? Did it fuel the flame that is in you, and you said, now I'm going in at all cost? Did it fuel, did it ignite something in you, or did you just get a taste?
Joel Brooks:
And Charles Spurgeon, one of my favorite preachers, he'd always say, no, Christians they take a sip of salvation. And it's a shame because God offers a fountain. Is that you? You just take a sip, and God's saying, I've got a fountain here for you. Come to me and drink.
Joel Brooks:
Not just a sip. I think time and time as Christians, we we know the joy that comes in following the Lord, and we know it and we feel it, and then we turn and we embrace some form of emptiness and bondage. We choose sin, and it's totally irrational, but we can all identify with it. Israel wants to return to where they were slaves earlier to a place they were begging God to deliver them from. We return to the same sins over and over and over again when earlier we were begging God to deliver us from these.
Joel Brooks:
Why? Why why why do we do this? Why do I do this? I think the the answer is it's easier. It really is.
Joel Brooks:
We've got a sinful nature, so we do what comes natural. It's easier. You can fall into sin, but you gotta fight for joy. You you you can stumble, into sin. You you can just do nothing and you can sin, but when it comes to joy, you've gotta pursue it and you've gotta fight it.
Joel Brooks:
Nobody stumbles into joy. Nobody does nothing and then all of a sudden they get the abundant life. That doesn't happen. You have to fight for it. Sinning is not a struggle.
Joel Brooks:
It is easy. Guys, you you you know what I mean. When it when sin comes knocking on your door, maybe it's a temptation, maybe it's a it's a lustful thought comes popping in your head, and you you you kick it out. You dispel it. Comes back.
Joel Brooks:
You kick it out. Spell it. Kick it out. Kick it out, and you're fighting for it. You're fighting for it, and then you just get worn now.
Joel Brooks:
Just tired. Fighting for it and then you just get worn now. Just tired. Fighting for joy is hard. For ladies who who, you know, I've seen that most women live in constant comparison.
Joel Brooks:
They're always comparing themselves with other people. They're like, that that that woman there, she's got the perfect body and the perfect kids and a great house. And I will never ever measure up, so all I could do is maybe talk behind her back. You know, dispel it. It's easy to do that.
Joel Brooks:
You've got to fight for joy. The problem with so many Christians is that they have a desire to escape hell, but they have no desire to pursue heaven. God wants you pressing on and pressing in. Not just to be free from bondage, but free to go into the promised land. Let's look at what the consequences are of saying no to God.
Joel Brooks:
Look at verse 25, chapter 14. Says, now since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness my way of the Red Sea. Because Israel refused to obey, refused to believe, God says, go back to the desert, go back the way you came. And for 40 years, they will waste their lives in the desert. They thought a few months in the desert was hard, Now it's 40 years wandering aimlessly, falling deeper and deeper into sin.
Joel Brooks:
I mean, you you from from this point on, they're gonna sin so many times. Moses is gonna sin. And it's such a shame because God had brought them out and said, your your purpose is to be a light into the world. You're to be a city on a hill. You're to declare salvation to the nations, but now you've got no purpose except to kill time.
Joel Brooks:
Now now please understand that God is still their God here. He's not rejecting them. He's still their God. They're still his children. He still moves before them with a, you know, by a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day.
Joel Brooks:
He still provides for them, gives them manna, he still protects them from their enemies, but all they're doing is wasting time. They never although they're as children, they never know the joy that comes with being a child. And they never advanced God's kingdom here on earth. And we're only gonna grow as a body of believers, we will only keep growing up to the point we say no. And the moment we say no, we stop growing.
Joel Brooks:
The moment we say no to what God's spirit is telling us to do, we stop. And you're still gonna maybe read your bible, you're still maybe gonna pray, you're still gonna go to church, but in reality, what you're doing is you're killing time. You're just doing those things to kind of survive, but you're not really advancing in because there is some area of disobedience. There is still some big huge fear in your life that keeps you from moving forward. Something you need to lay down at the altar of God.
Joel Brooks:
So which generation are you gonna be? I mean, are are we gonna be the kind of church that wanders aimlessly through life or are we gonna actually fulfill our purpose? Are we actually gonna say, you know, I'm not afraid. Let's go and do this. And you're looking over at Woodlawn, which is about a half of a mile down the street that way, and and you could look at it and say, alright, the the the schools are are terrible.
Joel Brooks:
There's no jobs there. Crime is on the rise. It has been without hope for a long long time, There's no real viable ministries there. Not many that are working. And you look at a little church at us and you see all those problems and you think there is, we can't make a difference.
Joel Brooks:
It's too hard. Or we could be like Caleb, or we could be like Josh with a different spirit, look at the same data, and say, it's ours. Let's advance the kingdom. Let's do it. Let's take a risk.
Joel Brooks:
We're not gonna fall into it. We're not gonna stumble into it. We gotta go after it. To be a city on a hill. And then this morning, I'll close with this.
Joel Brooks:
We, I was reading through one of Jonathan Edwards sermons. It's one of my favorite sermons he preaches. It's on Luke 16. It's called pressing into the kingdom. And Luke 16 16 says, the law and the prophets were until John.
Joel Brooks:
Since then, the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces their way into it, or takes it by force. It's actually a pretty violent word in which we're to force and we're to fight our way into this kingdom. And Edwards, he says this, says, when anything is presented to be done, the question should not be, is it easy or is it hard? The question should be, is it a required means of my obtaining an interest in Jesus Christ? Be directed to sacrifice everything to your soul's eternal interest.
Joel Brooks:
Let seeking Christ be so much you're bent and what you're resolved in, that you will make everything give place to it. Let nothing stand before your resolution of seeking the kingdom of God. Whatever it be that you look upon as convenience, or comfort, or ease, or a thing desirable on any account, if it stands in the way of this great concern of the pursuit of Christ, let it be dismissed without hesitation. As we opened up in scripture, the service from Philippians 3, Paul says something very similar. He says, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings becoming like him in death.
Joel Brooks:
That by any means possible, I may obtain to the resurrection of the dead. I will do whatever it takes by the spirit of the Lord in me. Pray with me. Lord, we can't create desire. That's why when you command us to love you with all of our heart, soul, strength, and all of our mind, it's almost a laughable command because you're like, how do you how do you do that?
Joel Brooks:
How can you command somebody to love? We can't muster it up, but through the power of your spirit, you can give us that conviction. You can give us that faith, which is a gift from you. And I ask that through the power of your spirit, you would blow that on this church. May we not sit, may we not doubt, may we pursue hard after you.
Joel Brooks:
I ask that you would give us a desire that is so much more than escaping hell, but it's the desire to pursue heaven here on this Earth that we would go forward and advance your kingdom at all cost. And I pray this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and our savior, our present and our future king. Amen.