But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
(Psalm 86:15 ESV)
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Verona NY
Numbers 13:1-3, 17-33
Spying:
# So the order to send out spies has been issued but the key part of this passage is in verse 2 where it says to send spies into the land of Canaan, “which I am giving to the people of Israel.”
# Out of the 12 spies sent into Canaan the two that you need to remember are Caleb (from the tribe of Judah) and Joshua (from the tribe of Ephraim).
# The spies started in the Negeb (the desert just south of Canaan) and worked their way north.
# Note the length of time that these 12 spend in the land spying it out- 40 days.
# The Valley of Eschol is a dried up riverbed with Eschol meaning “cluster”. That area is still famous for its grapes today.
# The land was plentiful and bountiful but there were ten spies who spread the report that the land was inhabited by giants. This may have all been true, but how sad that the people have come this far with Yahweh’s help only to get cold feet right at the door-step of the Promised Land?
# The difference between the 10 naysayers and Caleb? Caleb had faith that God Almighty would see them through his promise.
# So the order to send out spies has been issued but the key part of this passage is in verse 2 where it says to send spies into the land of Canaan, “which I am giving to the people of Israel.”
# Out of the 12 spies sent into Canaan the two that you need to remember are Caleb (from the tribe of Judah) and Joshua (from the tribe of Ephraim).
# The spies started in the Negeb (the desert just south of Canaan) and worked their way north.
# Note the length of time that these 12 spend in the land spying it out- 40 days.
# The Valley of Eschol is a dried up riverbed with Eschol meaning “cluster”. That area is still famous for its grapes today.
# The land was plentiful and bountiful but there were ten spies who spread the report that the land was inhabited by giants. This may have all been true, but how sad that the people have come this far with Yahweh’s help only to get cold feet right at the door-step of the Promised Land?
# The difference between the 10 naysayers and Caleb? Caleb had faith that God Almighty would see them through his promise.
Numbers 14:1-19
They did what? Grumble!
# After hearing the report of the faithless the people reverted to their favorite play in the playbook; the grumble.
# Okay everyone it’s time to sing along, we’ve definitely heard this one before: “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! ”
# This time they add a piece about their children being in danger which comes into play later on.
# Caleb and Joshua know the full promise of the Lord and believe so in a sign of mourning they tear their clothes while the people threaten to stone them.
# The Lord is once again upset with the people and is planning on wiping them out (which we have heard just as many times as the grumbling about being brought in the land to die).
# Moses tries to be the face of reason (again) and reminds Yahweh that if he kills the people that the rest of the world will think that the Lord isn’t powerful enough to follow through on his promises.
# After hearing the report of the faithless the people reverted to their favorite play in the playbook; the grumble.
# Okay everyone it’s time to sing along, we’ve definitely heard this one before: “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! ”
# This time they add a piece about their children being in danger which comes into play later on.
# Caleb and Joshua know the full promise of the Lord and believe so in a sign of mourning they tear their clothes while the people threaten to stone them.
# The Lord is once again upset with the people and is planning on wiping them out (which we have heard just as many times as the grumbling about being brought in the land to die).
# Moses tries to be the face of reason (again) and reminds Yahweh that if he kills the people that the rest of the world will think that the Lord isn’t powerful enough to follow through on his promises.
Numbers 14:20-45
Judgment:
# The people will be allowed to continue on according to plan but they have to suffer the consequences of their actions.
# This is the ultimate proof that faith has absolutely nothing to do with sight- these people saw the ten plagues, escaped Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, survived in the wilderness, were shown the Promised Land and told that they would possess it, and still doubted.
# Everybody that has doubted every miracle along the way and still grumbled is not going to see the Promised Land.
# Everyone 20 years old and up that was counted in the census will die in the wilderness except for the faithful Caleb and Joshua.
# Forty years (1 year for every day of the wasted spying) the children that the people were so worried about have to suffer for their faithless parents.
# The judgment against the faithless spies is brought about immediately with a plague, not so for the hundreds of thousands that they influenced with their bad report.
# The people will be allowed to continue on according to plan but they have to suffer the consequences of their actions.
# This is the ultimate proof that faith has absolutely nothing to do with sight- these people saw the ten plagues, escaped Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, survived in the wilderness, were shown the Promised Land and told that they would possess it, and still doubted.
# Everybody that has doubted every miracle along the way and still grumbled is not going to see the Promised Land.
# Everyone 20 years old and up that was counted in the census will die in the wilderness except for the faithful Caleb and Joshua.
# Forty years (1 year for every day of the wasted spying) the children that the people were so worried about have to suffer for their faithless parents.
# The judgment against the faithless spies is brought about immediately with a plague, not so for the hundreds of thousands that they influenced with their bad report.
Judgment Fulfilled:
# A day late and a dollar short the people decide that they will turn and try to take the land that they had just refused.
# This action is doomed to failure because the Lord has said that he is not going to give them the land and they will not live in it.
# More than likely instead of there being a plague, the people decided to attack so that Yahweh could complete their judgment in this way. The people brought the judgment down on themselves.
# A day late and a dollar short the people decide that they will turn and try to take the land that they had just refused.
# This action is doomed to failure because the Lord has said that he is not going to give them the land and they will not live in it.
# More than likely instead of there being a plague, the people decided to attack so that Yahweh could complete their judgment in this way. The people brought the judgment down on themselves.