Wondering
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Have you ever gotten really lost?
I forget if I told this story before or not, but awhile ago Arika and I were visiting family.
And there are always some rough areas you have to drive through, but you are on the highway so it did not matter.
But this particular time, I remember there was a huge backup around Gary Indiana- which isn’t the best area
and the GPS popped up somthing really tempting that said take off 30 minutes by getting off on the exit.
And so Arika was the voice of reason, because she pointing out that it would be a really bad descion to get off the highway and take a short cut through Gary Indiana
And men this is probably a lesson to always listen to your wife.
Because we got off this highway, and I have driven through bad areas but this took it to a whole new level.
The grass was uncut (probably around a foot tall), probably about half the houses had boarded up windows , I mean the area we drove through looked like a war zone.
And I remember the whole time thinking this is not the best choice.
And I of course it seemed like we hit every red light, and it felt like we were driving through this area forever.
But I remember as soon as we got back on the highway telling Arika you were right.
But you know today where we are the Israelites have made some poor choices.
And as a result they are wondering in an area that they do not want to be in.
And this isn’t anything new. Because if you have been with us God has brought this nation out of Egypt, and time and time again instead of trusting God, they choose their own way.
And even where we are today it starts with the Israelites not trusting God for small things like the food they like to eat, and not trusting Him with big things like their need for water.
But today it all accumulates with them not trusting God to deliver on His promise, because of an obstacle.
And like I said because of this we are going to see they end up wondering in a place longer then where they should have been.
And so we are going to be starting in Numbers 13:27-33
And just to set up the context God has promised this land to the Israelites where they could settle down but the issue is there are other people living there.
And so they send spies to see what the land is like and if it would be easy to take and this is the report that the spies give:
It says:
Numbers 13:27–33 (NIV)
Report on the Exploration
27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
So the spies come back saying what God promised is true!
The land is beautiful! It is exactly how God described it.
But here is the issue, because there is an obstacle between what God has promised and where they were.
Because the people who live there are huge and they say we can’t fight them.
And there are a couple who say no we can do it if God is on our side, but the majority of them so no we can’t do it.
And they begin to spread lies about the land and exagerate the streagth of the people.
And really I want you to focus on what they are doing, because they are saying okay God is not as good as we think, and the people are stronger then we think.
Basically our God is smaller and the problem is bigger.
And this summarizes almost all of the Israelites issues that we have seen and are going to continue to see is so often they focus on the problem rather then their God.
You know so often we do this exact same thing.
And I want you to notice what happens because their focus is off and they decide not to trust God.
And God punishes them, but the interesting is in this punishment God does not strike the people down, or give them sicknesses, but He says “Okay, don’t enter the promise land”
But you know so often we blame God for different things, but if we were being honest so much of our issues our a result of decisions we have made.
Its almost like if left for a week and decided to go camping.
But here is the issue because I am having a blast and so I tell Arika I am not going back, but I am going to stay in the wilderness.
And here is the issue because I would probably loose my job pretty quickly
Not only that but my family would be a little upset
And then on top of it all if I was really in the wilderness I would run out of food and water
And then I end up getting angry with God saying God I lost my job, my family and now I am starving and dehydrated.
But you would probably say Pastor you made those choices.
And so often we make these choices in our life and we blame God for them instead of looking at ourselves.
And then we act surprised with the outcome.
And I want to transition a little because they go a full 40 years wondering the desert for a trip that should have only taken 11 days because of this descion, and even Mosses becomes disobedient at some point where God has told him he will not enter the promise land.
And there is so much that happens, but I really want to spend some time on the last part of the section we are in, because Mosses who has led the Israelites is reaching the end of his life and he gives a speech to all the people.
And I want to spend some time here, because if someone is reaching the end of their life and they are giving their final words of advise, its probably pretty important right?
I mean it is something that we want to lean into and listen.
And these words are some of the final words that he gives in a speech as he reaches the end of his life.
Look at Deuteronomy 29:2-6 Mosses says a lot, but I just want to highlight a few of the things he mentions. So look at Deuteronomy 29:2-6 it says:
2 Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. 3 With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders. 4 But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. 5 Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. 6 You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”
You know I love how one of the first thing Mosses says is look where you have been these past 40 years.
You have seen all that God has done to free you from Egypt, but also how He has provided for you in the wilderness.
And I believe Mosses is trying to communicate two things here:
First he is telling them look where you have been.
Do you realize that where you are right now, the fact that you are alive even is not just dumb luck, but you had a God that stuck with you and guided you through the wilderness.
I mean look at your life. It is amazing how God move in our lives and we say “wow, I got really lucky”
And Mosses is saying here no, recognize where God is moving.
But look at the second thing he is actually just communicating on behalf of God at the end.
Because it says “I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”
You know its important to know who you are?
Has everyone seen those ancestery.com commercials where there is a guy that thinks he’s Irish so he travels to Ireland and makes that a huge part of his life
And then down the road he discovers that he is actually dutch?
He thinks his identity is one thing and centers his life around the wrong identity.
But you know the thing is this is a huge issue in our lives and world, because we are people who so often have a mistaken identity issue,
Not where we are Irish and it turns out we are dutch
But where we have a God who created, loves us, cares for us and who we should find our identity in, but somehow we mix that identity with other things.
And I want those last few words to sit with you for a second:
“I am the Lord your God”
I am who you belong too.
I mean this is something we need to understand, that your identity is not found in your money, your mistakes, your ego, but your identity is found in Jesus.
Well let me close by just looking at this last section, because Mosses finishes talking with the people and God calls Mosses up to a mountain.
And it says this in Deuteronomy 34:1-5:
Deuteronomy 34:1–5 (NIV)
The Death of Moses
34 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, 3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”
5 And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said.
So I want you to see whats happening because Mosses has reached the end of his life
And if you remember from earlier he is not aloud to enter the promise-land, because he was disobedient.
But God brings him to this mountain where he can see where they should have been.
Really where they could have been in just 11 days
You can picture him sitting there thinking this beautiful but also wondering, “what would it have looked like if we trusted God,
Would we have had a city built there?
How much joy would we have experienced?
How much heartache would we have missed?
You know so often it seems like I meet with people who have made mistakes or even occasionally someone who reaches the end of their life and they realize they have made some mistakes.
And I really do not want you to hear this from a guilt perspective, but from a place of genuine care.
But I do not want you to be sitting there after a mistake or even at the end of your life wondering what if I did things according to how God had called me to live?
I don’t want you to be questioning:
What would my family of liked like?
Would my life of been joy filled?
Would I have lived differently?
Because God does not want you to just see where He has called you, but He wants to experience it.
And here is the beautiful thing, you might be here and be far from God, but if you are alive today is a day you can make a descion to get back to the place God has called you.
Today what would it look like for you to find your identity in Christ and allow that Identity to shape you to living a life where you do not just know what God wants you to do, but you live it?