On the Edge - Numbers 13

Cody Hale

The Big Story • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Introduction

Israel is right on the edge of the Promised Land. It’s a promise that had been made to Abraham more than 500 years earlier, and, now, finally, they were on the edge of seeing it realized. This means that they were on the edge of more than just a new home or some premier real estate. They’re on the edge of a great realization of God’s power and provision. They’re going to have a front row seat to his power going before them to give them the land that He has prepared for them. It means that what they saw as they stood on the edge of the Red Sea when it parted was just the beginning of what they were going to see as God showed the world his greatness by how He blessed his people. So, it seems crazy, it seems ludicrous to think that they had a decision to make as to whether or not they were going to go in to the land long since promised to them. It seems unthinkable to think that they would have the smallest doubts as to what they should do.

From our vantage point, it seems obvious that you would go boldly exactly where God has told you so that you can see with your own eyes, firsthand, his word come true. God’s will always seems obvious to us when it involves someone else though, doesn’t it? But, it’s less obvious when we’re the ones standing on the edge of God’s promises. It’s less obvious when it our doubts and our concerns and our sacrifices that are at issue. You may can look back upon life time of God’s faithfulness to you, but when God calls you to share the gospel with a friend or become foster parents or to leave the financial security of your current job, the decision that you face to obey or not, the decision to receive God’s promise or not, seems far less obvious. It shouldn’t be a choice, but it sure feels like a choice — a big choice. So, you see, we need to read our text this morning from the perspective our doubts, not as those who can obviously see what is right. We need to read it as those who are scared of the opposition, frightened by the unknown, and struggling to believe that God is good for his promises. Because that’s us.

God’s Word

There’s always a ledge for you to step over in order to witness a great realization of God’s power and protection. It’s a ledge that calls you to stop living by sight and to start living by faith. It’s a ledge that steps off of the sure ground you can see on to the invisible promises of God that you know. And, this is the difference between a faith that is alive and a faith that is dead. So, in this way, the edge of God’s promises serve as a test for his people. So, for all of you who are on the edge of God’s promises, for all of you who are struggling to take those next steps of faith into what you know God is calling you to do and who God is calling you to be, and for all of you that will be in that place soon, I want you to see what our tests reveal (headline).

Tests reveal God’s “faithfulness”.

v. 1-2a “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel.” First, I want you to see the primary realization that God’s people are to make in a test: Tests reveal God’s “faithfulness.” The spies are sent by Moses because God told them to go. The question is: Why? Why does God send spies ahead of them to recon the Promised Land? He sent them for a two-fold purpose: He sent them so that they could see the truth, so they could see his heart and so they could see their own hearts. That’s the purpose of a test. And, you can see how God wants to reveal his heart by looking at verse two alone. First, notice how He talks about Canaan. He says, this is the land that “I am giving” you. It’s theirs. The purpose of this mission is not to go and see if it possible for them to obtain the land. The purpose of the mission is to go and see all that God is giving to them. It’s to come back with a report of just how good God has been to them. In other words, it’s to produce excitement and passion and worship because of the goodness of God to his people. And so, they go, and what do they find? Look at verse 27. The only words that they could use to describe the land was the words they had gotten from God. It flowed with ‘milk and honey’. It was abundant with resources. It was fertile. It was an ideal place for a nation to become great, an ideal place to flourish and prosper. They even cut a single cluster of grapes that was so large that two men had to carry it on a pole. Okay, we don’t really live in an agrarian culture so let me bring this into our world. This would be like God walking us into the vaults of Ft. Knox and saying, “You’re welcome.” This is God signing Jeff Bezos’ bank accounts to you. This is you being given a million shares of Apple stock. You get the picture? This is prosperity on a scale that the mind can hardly fathom. These were people who made their livings in vineyards, and here was a single cluster of grapes the size of a Volkswagon.

God Doesn’t Serve Leftovers

You see, God never overpromises. God always exceeds his promises to us. His faithfulness never underwhelms. His gifts are never a disappointment. This may be a bit too authentic, but Megan and I have this weird habit. This is going to make Andrew’s skin crawl. But, we have this weird habit of making a pot of coffee, and then leaving it in the pot and just warming up in the microwave until it’s all gone. We’re those people. A few years ago, I had some friends over, and, honestly, I didn’t think anything of it and asked them if they’d like for me to warm them up a cup of coffee. Something I’ve asked Megan a hundred times. And, it had never occurred to me how weird we were until my friend responded with, “You can make a pot of coffee.” He was like “I’m not about to drink your leftover coffee, bro.” But, God’s not like me. God never serves leftovers to his children. God only gives his best. Why? Because that’s what’s in God’s heart. That’s what it means that God is love. If He won’t spare his own Son, why would we think He’d be anything less than generous and wonderful in the fulfillment of every, single promise He’s made? If all things work together for our good, then it’s to a greater degree of good than we can comprehend. If we reap the good things that we’ve sown, then we’re going to reap in a proportion greater than our minds can grasp. If the new heavens and the new earth are a paradise, then you can rest assured that eternal life is greater than the streets of gold you’ve imagined. If you’re standing on the edge of God’s promises this morning, go forward and discover God’s best.

A History of Faithfulness

There’s something else I want you to see about God’s heart here. Notice that He doesn’t just emphasize what He’s giving, but who He’s giving it to — “the people of Israel.” Now, this might seem insignificant to us, but He was making a point. Who did He promise the Promised Land to originally? Abraham, right? What else did God promise Abraham? (This is why we’re preaching through the whole Bible like we are so that we can begin to pick up these threads that keep showing up. A unified book written over a 1500 year time period.) He promised to make him a nation more numerous than the stars. So, He emphasizes that Israel is a nation now, a nation of 12 tribes and 2 million people. His word had already been held up in part. Now, He’s going to let them realize the fullness of the promise. When they go back and forth through Negeb and Hebron, they’re literally tracking the same path that Abraham took when the Lord showed him the land. It’s a reminder of his faithfulness.

A House of Faithfulness

You see, our lives are like a house that’s being built to reveal God’s faithfulness. God uses our past experiences with him to form a foundation, and then walls, and then a second story until we reach the end, and our house is complete, revealing how very good God has been to us. Each step seems higher and riskier from the outside, but it’s built upon a foundation. God did that with Israel, and God’s doing that with you. You’ve went through things, haven’t you? And, in those things, what did you learn? You learned that God was faithful time and again. But, then we stand on the edge of yet a new chapter, a new story added to the first story of our lives, and we tremble. We tremble because we don’t just see enormous grapes. We see an enormous enemy. But, God’s faithfulness in the past is nudging you forward. It’s reminding you that He’s trustworthy. As you behold how enormous the threat is, it’s remembering the last time on the edge of the Red Sea, when God made a way. It’s to see the threat, not as a problem for God’s faithfulness, but as a demonstration of it. Look how impressive of a people I’m going to remove for your good — just like Egypt. You see, when you look back and see God’s faithfulness, you can look forward to the future with the very same expectation.

Tests reveal our “faith.”

v. 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.” However, ten of the twelve spies chose to obsess over the size of the threat rather than the proven faithfulness of God. That’s where we’re reminded that tests don’t just reveal God’s heart; they reveal ours. You see, tests reveal our “faith”, or lack thereof. What we see are two different responses among Israel’s leaders to what they should do next. On one hand, you had Caleb, and we learn in chapter 14 that he’s speaking on behalf of Joshua, Moses, and Aaron. He says, “Let’s not miss one second of enjoying God’s power and provision. Let’s go right now. God’s going to take care of us.” Then, you have the remaining ten spies/chiefs, and they say, “Are you kidding? Did you see those people? They’re giants. They’ll step on us like grasshoppers.” Notice how many different times they emphasize the size of their threat. It’s taking the field as the Citadel and seeing the size and speed of Clemson for the first time.

Faith is the Difference Between Passion and Paralysis

This is the difference between faith and unbelief. Faith says, “Look at how small the threat is in comparison to my God.” Unbelief says, “Look at how huge the threat is in comparison with me.” It’s the difference in anxiety and excitement, the difference between passion and paralysis. You see, as all of us stand on the edge of God’s call on our lives, as all of us are called to apply God’s promises to ourselves, there’s a revealing question that we have to ask ourselves, and it reveals the nature of our faith: What do you believe in most — the power of your God or the size of your threat? Do you distrust your weakness more than you trust God’s power? I wonder what “howevers” your pointing out to justify why you can’t obey God. “However, the people are strong. However, the cities are fortified. However, I’m too young. However, I’m too busy. However, my family won’t understand. However, I’d be all alone. However, I can’t afford it. However, look at the age of my children.” What “howevers” are standing between you and the realization of God’s promises in your life? Will you trust him? Will you take him at his word?

God’s Plan = Not Easy

Earlier, I said that God gives only his best to his children, and that’s true. The difficulty comes in with the definition of what “best” looks like. It’s natural for us to assume that “best” means easiest. That’s the problem with Israel taking the Promised Land. They suddenly realized that it wasn’t going to be easy. There were giants standing between them and the Promise. God had promised them Canaan, but He’d never promised them it would be easy. The wanted a path of least resistance, but such a path doesn’t exist in a cursed world. God’s plan for you is wonderful, but it’s not easy. God’s plan for your life is better than your plan for your life, but it’s not nearly as smooth. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most quoted verses when people are asked their favorite verse: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” And, by that, we typically mean that God will give us a happy marriage, two and a half kids, a white picket fence, good health, and a satisfying career. That’s the American version of the Promised Land. But, what we miss is that Jeremiah 29:11 was written down by a man called the weeping prophet to a nation living in exile, an exile none of them would live to see the end of. However, the promise was true. God did have plans for them. They did have a future and a hope. Because He would send them a Messiah, who would live as an exile among his own people, and then suffer the cross ACCORDING TO THE WONDERFUL, LIFE-GIVING, PROSPEROUS WILL OF GOD.

Hardship Reveals God’s Glory (easy does not equal God’s will)

We stand to see more of God’s glory through hardship than we would ever glimpse through ease. That’s how God’s will for you can be better and harder at the same time. We tend to evaluate God’s will based on difficulty level. Here’s what I mean: We usually think that if things suddenly get hard then it must meant that we missed God’s will. Marriage gets hard, and so it must be God’s will to end it. Seminary gets hard, and so it must be God’s will to drop out. Our health goes awry and so it must be that we can quit on the work God has given us. Ministry gets hard, and so it must be God’s will to move on. Working with teenagers gets discouraging; so, it must be God’s will to hand over the misery to someone else. Money gets type; so, never-mind on the adoption. But, what’s best for you is not an easy life. What’s best for you is to come to the end of your self-belief. What’s best for you is to have your character forged into the image of Jesus. What’s best for you is to have your whole well-being and identity entirely hinged upon Jesus. And, that happens best through your poor health and hard marriage and difficult job and financial woes. So, don’t stand on the edge of God’s promise looking for easy. Stand on the edge in faith, trusting in God’s power.

Who Will You Trust?

So, we land this morning wondering who Israel will follow? Who will they trust? Will they follow Caleb and the Lord, or will they follow the ten spies and their own eyes? But, the bigger question is: What is in the hearts: faith or unbelief? And, this is the same question thats before you this morning as you stand on the edge of God’s promises. Basically, the entirety of the Christian life is lived on the edge of the Promised Land, on the edge of a new heaven and a new earth. Who will you trust? Your eyes, or God’s promises? What’s in your heart — faith or unbelief? That’s what will determine how you live now and where you end up forever.

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