Sermon Tone Analysis

Just a Misunderstanding

Have you ever heard a song and thought you knew the lyrics to it, only to find out later that misunderstood them?

I think about the little boy in Sunday School who was asked what his favorite Hymn was.

He said the Laundry Song.

Bringing in the Sheets.

I had an adult who tried to convince me that the song was Bringing in the Sheep.

That is what a good shepherd does, he brings in the sheep.

Even when we are paying close attention we sometimes miss the point.

This happens to us as adults.

Have you ever been given instructions to do something only to find out that you were doing it wrong?

What happens when we don’t understand the instructions or don’t follow the instructions?

Things can get really messed up.

There is nothing like getting down to end of putting the bike together and realizing you have extra pieces left over.

Then you have to take it all apart and start over, only paying attention to the instructions this time.

As we look at today’s passage, ask yourself, “Did they misunderstand what they were supposed to do, or did they just get it wrong?”

We left off last week with Israel escaping through the Red Sea as God wiped out Pharaoh and his army.

This week we want to turn our attention to Israel as they are being prepared to enter into the Promised Land.

Moses has led the people up to the Jordan River, they are standing at the brink of the promised land; a land flowing with milk and honey; a land that God promised to give to them.

As they prepare to enter they find that God had a Project for them.

Num 13.1-2

Numbers 13:1-2 (NASB95) \\ 1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 2 “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.”

These twelve men were charged with checking out the land, they were the scouts.

These men were not spies in the sense that they were sneaking around the land.

Pretty large party and they went from one end to the other for 40 days.

They were not trying to conceal themselves.

They probably looked more like tourists on vacation.

They were supposed to be out gathering data for the military campaign that was coming up.

Moses gives them pretty specific instructions:

Numbers 13:17-23 (NASB95) \\ 17 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country.

18 “See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong /or /weak, whether they are few or many.

19 “How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad?

And how are the cities in which they live, are /they /like /open /camps or with fortifications?

20 “How is the land, is it fat or lean?

Are there trees in it or not?

Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.”

The men were to report back what they found.

They were not charged with making a judgment on what they saw.

Their job was to report the facts.

The goal of their mission was not to decide whether entering the land was possible or desirable.

Look at verse 2 again:

 

Numbers 13:2 (NASB95) \\ 2 “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.”

The Lord had already reminded Israel that this was the land he was giving to them (13:2).

All they had to do was receive it as a gift.

Look at what Moses told the men.

He is gathering intelligence on the best way to take the land.

Every good major military undertaking requires good intelligence so that the best strategy can be evaluated.

God’s promise did not eliminate the need for responsible action.

We are assigned tasks to do, not judgments to make.

We are to share the gospel and minister to people; not to judge and not to pick and choose.

Their *project* was pretty straightforward.

Check out the land and bring us back some food samples.

After roaming through the land for 40 days they returned to give Moses the picture of what they saw.

Let’s look at their *picture *of the promised land.

Num 13.27-33.

Numbers 13:27-33 (NASB95) \\ 27 Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

They showed Moses a cluster of grapes so big that it took two men to carry it.

As a bonus they also brought back pomegranates and figs.

It’s everything God said it would be and then some!   BUT

28 “Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified /and /very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.

These were the descendants of the Nephilim, the giants.

It’s a great place, but we can’t take it.

It’s impossible.

30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.”

32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of /great /size.

33 “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The scouting committee couldn’t come to unanimous conclusion.

Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

The committee brought back a majority and a minority report of what they found.

Everyone agreed that it was a great place, but ten of the members believed they could never overtake the people in the land.

The people were too big, the cities were too strong.

No way!

But two holdouts wouldn’t go along with this.

Joshua and Caleb went to the same places as the other 10, but they had a different take.

Numbers 14:7-8 (NASB95) \\ 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.

8 “If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey.

This isn’t just a good place.

It is *exceedingly good*.

God isn’t just moving us into a place to scrimp by in life.

He is giving us a place that is exceedingly good.

How can these two have this attitude in spite of what the other ten said?

The ten were focused on what they saw in front of them.

Couldn’t get past it.

Giant men, fortified cities and strongholds.

No way man can win against this.

But Caleb and Joshua were focused on what God had said.

Maybe they remembered what God had done.

Remember, God wants to make sure that He gets the credit for what happens.

He wants to leave no doubt about who delivered them, who fed them, and who would be responsible for getting them into the Promised Land.

When we focus on God we are okay.

It is when we take our eyes off of Him that we get in trouble.

Matthew 6:33 (NASB95) \\ 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

We go through life so fast, hurrying from one thing to another; putting out fires, that we can only focus on what is in front of us.

When that happens God gets pushed to the back burner.

He gets the left over time, the left-over energy.

God doesn’t want our leftovers; He doesn’t want our second best.

We are a living sacrifice, a living offering to Him.  God doesn’t accept second class sacrifices.

No blemish, fault, defect.

God is saying don’t bring me your rejects, bring me your best.

God knows how we are.