AT THE EDGE OF THE PROMISED LAND

Posted on October 13, 2021 by howtobesaved@abiblecommentary.com

INTRODUCTION

  1. Most dogs have something in common.
  2. They like to chase cars.
  3. Another thing they have in common – they never catch them.
  4. Just what would a dog do with a car if he caught it?
  1. People also chase cars – goals, wants, dreams
  1. Some we don’t catch – best that we don’t
  2. Some we catch – gives us problems
  3. Some we catch – find happiness and satisfaction
  1. The children of Israel had been pursuing a good goal – entering the promised land.
  1. Goal God had given them.
  2. Numbers 13-14 describes what happened when the Israelites caught their car – what happened when it came time for them to enter the promised land.
  3. I believe we can learn some important lessons from what the Israelites did at the edge of the Promised Land.

 

  1. ACCOUNT OF ISRAELITES AT THE EDGE OF THE PROMISED LAND
  2. Setting
  3. Camp at Kadesh Barnea, Negev
  4. This place would support their camp, while providing a good attack point.
  5. They were now close to Canaan – the promised land.
  6. God instructs spies to be sent out – one from each tribe (13:1-3).
  7. List of names – only two stand out – Joshua and Caleb (4-15).
  8. Spies are to see what the land is like (17-20).
  9. Productivity – is the land good or bad, fat or lean, are there trees?
  10. Military strength – Are the people strong or weak, few or many – are the cities fortified or like camps?
  11. Bring back some fruit – it was time for grapes.
  12. Spy mission carried out (21-24)
  13. Return and report
  14. Some good news and some bad news
  15. Showed the fruit (26)
  16. Good land – “it does flow with milk and honey” (27)
  17. “But” – big “b-u-t” – strong people, cities are fortified and large (28)
  18. Caleb – we can take the land (30)
  19. Ten spies – we’re not able
  20. Gave “a bad report” (32) – people of “great size” – they are giants and we’re grasshoppers (33)
  21. Reaction of the people (Numbers14)
  22. Wept (1)
  23. Grumbled (2) – “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!”
  24. Rebellion – appoint a new leader – go back to Egypt (3-4) – “Oh, for the good old days!”
  25. Moses and Aaron fall on their faces (5)
  26. Joshua and Caleb (6-9)
  27. Land is “exceedingly good”.
  28. God is with us.
  29. The people are unprotected.
  30. Israelites wanted to stone them (10) – don’t like the message, remove the source – “shoot the messenger”
  31. God’s response to the peoples’ attitude
  32. Greatly displeased – ready to destroy them (11-12)
  33. Moses pleaded for the people (13-19) – pardon the people (19)
  34. God pardons the people, but they will be punished.
  35. No adults will enter the promised land except for two – Joshua and Caleb – they believed the land could be taken – had faith (30-34)
  36. Israelites will wander in the wilderness for forty years – one year for each day the spies were in the land.
  37. The adults will die in the wilderness – their children will enter the promised land.
  38. The ten spies who gave a bad report died by a plague (37).
  39. The people mourned greatly.
  40. They had “fumbled the ball”!
  41. Interesting turn of events
  42. Tried to take the promised land
  43. When God said they could – the Israelites said, “we can’t”.
  44. When God said they couldn’t – said, “we can”.
  45. The children of Israel were very much like children.
  46. Moses warned – “Don’t do it.” (41-42)
  47. The Lord will not be with you.
  48. Israelites attempted to take the land – were defeated.
  49. God had promised the Israelites a land flowing with milk and honey – at the edge of the promised land they got cold feet – seemed to forget that God was with them. Then when God said they couldn’t enter, they attempted to take the land without God’s help.

 

  1. THIS IS AN INTERESTING STORY, BUT HOW DOES IT APPLY TO US?
  2. Many times, we face the prospect of entering the promised land – great rewards lie ahead.
  3. Often, we don’t enter the promised land – view ourselves as grasshoppers, the challenges are the giants
  4. We may assume we are all alone – forget that God is with us.
  5. Somewhat like the dog who chases cars
  6. We pursue our promised land, but when we get to the edge of it, we don’t know what to do, we become fearful, afraid to enter.
  7. We need to examine our goals.
  8. If our goals are wrong or not the best, we should not pursue them.
  9. But if the goal is right, if we believe God wants us to pursue the goal, we shouldn’t stop at the edge of the promised land.
  10. What are some of the giants we face?
  11. Evangelizing the world
  12. If all the unsaved people were to line up single file at your door, the line would reach around the world over thirty times. To make matters worse, the line would grow by twenty miles each day. If you were to drive at fifty miles an hour for ten hours a day, it would take you four years and forty days to get to the end of this line of lost souls. And by then it would have grown by 30,000 miles!
  13. The task of evangelism seems like a giant
  14. But we know God wants us to evangelize.
  15. If we do, the rewards are great – souls are saved.
  16. Jesus gave a command – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations”, but he also gave a promise, “I am with you always”.
  17. The task is huge, but God is on the side of the evangelist. We will take the gospel to the world, when we decide to make the effort.
  18. Eastern European Missions, etc. – great opportunities, great challenge
  19. Work of the church – evangelism as well as other phases
  20. Look out, see a land flowing with milk and honey
  21. We see an opportunity that offers great rewards – saving of souls, church growth, helping the poor, and edification of members.
  22. But we also see the obstacles – concentrate on the negatives – say, “How can we grasshoppers overcome the giants?” – Sometimes we don’t enter the promised land.

Some giants the church encounters

“We can’t afford it.”

“We’re not big enough.”

“It’s never been done before.”

“We tried that and it didn’t work.”

“It might not work.”

“It can’t be done.”

  1. Listen to these examples of inventions and ideas which some people said “couldn’t be done” so they resisted the new.
  • The first successful cast iron plow, invented in the United States in 1797, was rejected by New Jersey farmers under the theory that cast iron poisoned the land and stimulated the growth of weeds.
  • An eloquent authority in the United States declared that the introduction of the railroad would require the building of many insane asylums, since people would be driven mad with terror at the sight of locomotives rushing across the country.
  • In Germany, it was proven by “experts” that, if trains went at the frightful speed of fifteen miles an hour, blood would spurt from the travelers’ noses, and passengers would suffocate going through tunnels.
  • Commodore Vanderbilt dismissed Westinghouse and his new air brakes for trains, stating, “I have no time to waste on fools.”
  • Those who loaned Robert Fulton money for his steamboat project stipulated that their names be withheld for fear of ridicule if it were it known they supported anything so “foolhardy”.
  • In 1881, when the New York YMCA announced typing lessons for women, vigorous protests were made on the grounds that the female constitution would break down under the strain.
  • Men insisted that iron ships would not float, that they would damage more easily than wooden ships when grounding, that it would be difficult to preserve the iron bottom from rust, and that iron would deflect the compass.
  • Joshua Coppersmith was arrested in Boston for trying to sell stock in the telephone. “All well informed people know that it is impossible to transmit the human voice over a wire.”
  • The editor of the Springfield Republican refused an invitation to ride in an early automobile, claiming that it was incompatible with the dignity of his position.

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(“It Couldn’t Be Done” Parables, Etc., October 1984, p. 5)

  1. As individuals we confront giants.
  2. God would have us share our faith with those around us. But when we go next door to invite our neighbor to church, we feel like a grasshopper and the neighbor looks like a giant – we must overcome the “grasshopper complex”.
  3. God wants us to give – we think of why we can’t.
  4. Jesus tells us to put the kingdom first – we put everything else first – Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
  5. Moral purity – “How can I be pure in such a wicked world?”
  6. Even in the decision to become a Christian – “How can I live for Christ? It’s just too hard to be a Christian.” – Jesus has made our salvation possible. He will help us live a life pleasing to him.

Jesus helps us overcome the giants we encounter.

Philippians 4:13 – “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

 

CONCLUSION

 

  1. We live in a world where many feel like grasshoppers – we see lots of giants – many people never enter their promised land.
  2. Do we view ourselves as grasshoppers called to conquer a land of giants?
  3. We should not if we’re doing God’s will.
  4. “God and one person make a majority” – really God makes a majority – if God says do it, we can do it.
  5. Tom Southall was a student at Colorado College – like many young men he played football. Tom played well. That’s not so unusual, except that Tom had only one arm. Tom could have said, “I can’t play football. The field is a land of giants. They all have two arms.” But Tom didn’t let his handicap stop him.
  6. We don’t have to be grasshoppers afraid of the giants. Let God help you with the giants you face.

 

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