Sermon: January 27, 2008
"Doubting God's Promises"
(scripture references are clickable)
We’re continuing with our sermon series on the stories recorded in the book of Numbers, and today we reach the turning point in that book. This is perhaps the saddest and most shameful episode in Israel’s journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Here, in what should be one of the greatest triumphs of faith, we instead have a story of great failure. It’s a sad and sobering story, and we’ll examine the first half this week; next week we’ll see the conclusion. May the Lord speak to us through this difficult story, and may He teach us the lessons we need to learn from our predecessors in the faith!
As we have seen, the book of Numbers is the story of a people on the move. It gets its name “Numbers” from the census lists that bookend the work. Those census lists are taken and recorded to count the number of fighting men in Israel. The Lord didn’t lead Israel out of Egypt just to wander in the desert; He did so to form a new nation, to give them His Law, and to lead them to conquer the Promised Land – and you generally need an army to conquer a land. And here, finally, Israel is ready to use their army, to enter that long-promised land. They’ve been out of Egypt for a little over a year, and during that time, a great deal has happened. They’ve had a few missteps along the way, but they’ve also learned a great deal about their God. They’ve received His Law, seen His power in miracles and received His promises that He will be with them to lead them into a land flowing with milk and honey.
But Israel doesn’t want to just charge right in to the land. They decide to first send in spies to reconnoiter the land. They choose twelve men, one from each tribe, to scope out their new home. Included in this number is Joshua, representing the tribe of Ephraim, and Caleb, representing the tribe of Judah; they will eventually become leaders in Israel. These spies travel five hundred miles in the span of forty days. And they see that God was telling the truth – this is a fruitful land, a land flowing with milk and honey, a good land. They even cut a huge cluster of grapes, big enough to carry on a pole between two men. (You may have seen a little wood carving of this; it’s generally used as a symbol of God’s promise and provision). But along with all this goodness, the spies also see that the land is occupied by a strong, powerful people. They saw large, fortified cities. And here, fear begins to take over. Here, ten of the twelve spies begin to walk by sight and not by faith. They begin to doubt the Lord’s promises; they begin to doubt His Word. And in the process, they reject the purpose for which He had brought them up out of Egypt.
And worst of all, they spread these poisonous doubts and fears among the people of Israel. Caleb and Joshua alone say that they should attack, that they should trust the Lord to be with them as they conquer the Land. They alone have faith in the Lord’s leading. But the people don’t want to listen to a minority report; they instead listen to the other ten spies, who soon begin to exaggerate the dangers of the land. By the time they’re done telling the story, Canaan is occupied by a race of giants called the Nephilim – a legendary race said to be descended from the children of angels who mated with humans. And they spread this bad report among the Israelites, saying “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:33, NIV).
We’ll see next week how the people react, and how this bad report affects them. We’ll also see God’s response – and you can be sure that it’s not good. It never is when we reject Him. It’s never good when we reject His Word, His promises and the good things that He wants to give to us. And that’s exactly what the ten spies do here – they don’t believe in their God. They act on what they see with their own eyes – armies, fortified cities and Nephilim. They forget all that God has already done – His defeat of the Egyptians, the parting of the Red Sea, the manna from heaven. Those things aren’t remembered. Instead, they give in to their fears and doubts. And from this loss of faith, a great loss, a great tragedy comes to Israel in the wilderness. Their entrance into the Promised Land is delayed for a whole generation.
And so the question we must ask ourselves today, friends, in response to this story is: when have we walked by sight and not by faith? When have we given into our fears and doubts? When have we said “No” to God, thereby dealing ourselves a great loss? I’m sure we all have experienced something like this. The Lord tells us to go, He tells us to do something new or different or awesome – and instead, we get hysterical. He tells us to act, but we see only giants. He tells us to enter into a new land, but we see ourselves only as grasshoppers. The Lord has great plans for us, but we see only defeat and terror ahead. And thus, we give in to what we see with our own eyes and in our own minds, and we reject all the good that God wants to give to us through our acts of faith.
In short, like the ten spies, we speak evil of the Lord when we do these kinds of things. We say that He is not able to support or defend us when we act for Him. We say that the good land He is offering us is really evil, that it’s full of danger and death. We say that Lord can’t be trusted, that His Word and His promises are no more than a pack of lies, and that He only wants to set us up for failure. And we rob ourselves of so much; we miss so many opportunities for growth and blessings – opportunities we may never get back. The Lord raises us up for such a time as this, but we say “No, thanks”. We say “No way”. We say “I’m not able”. And we throw God’s good blessings right back in His face.
For my friends, it’s not about whether or not we are able. No, it’s all about whether or not God is able. And here, He clearly is. And in our own lives, when He calls us for service, He still clearly is able – able to guide us, able to protect us, able to uphold us, able to stretch and grow us into more faithful, more obedient, more righteous servants. Do we believe this? Do we trust that God will follow through on His Word, His promises? Do we trust even to the point of blind obedience, even when we seem as small as grasshoppers? Do we trust Him enough to step out on faith, even to go to war against giants? That’s the key here – are we willing to put our faith into action? Are we ready to step up to the offering plate and to try tithing? Are we ready to step up and try Bible study and daily prayer? Are we ready to go back to school, to try a new job, to found a new ministry or to start volunteering at the food pantry? Are we ready to forgive that person we hate, to give up that deadly habit that’s holding us back, to say “yes” when we are asked to serve, even if it will cut into our free time? Are we ready to reap God’s rich blessings? Or instead, will look at the giants and give in to our fears and doubts? Will we instead give in to what we see by our eyes, ignoring what we can see by faith? Do we trust God enough to act so that we can enter the Promised Land?
Each and every one of us has to answer that question for ourselves; we also need to collectively answer that question as a congregation. We will see next week what happens when Israel says “No”, when they reject their God and His purposes for them. It’s their turning point, and we all face such turning points. And we need to start preparing for them now, to build a solid foundation of faith in the Lord through Scripture, prayer and obedience in the small things. For if we don’t start preparing now, when the big challenges are put before us, we won’t be ready to say “yes” to the Lord. Instead, we’ll give in to doubt and fear as Israel did. But friends, I can promise you this: when you do say “yes” to the Lord, when you take Him at His Word, when you put your whole trust and your whole self into His Word, He will not let you down. He will not fail you! Trust and obey – for there’s no other way! May we all have the faith and the courage to trust in the Lord’s promises and to act when He calls us for service! And may we receive the rich blessings and the growth that He desires for us all! To Him alone be the glory! Amen.