The Twelve Spies

See the LifeGroups table in the entryway for more information. Our congregation will be divided into three groups. We will have posted there at the table who will be in what group very soon!

In the meantime, don’t miss the next two Wednesdays, as we are looking at a biblical basis for these groups. Last Wednesday was powerful!

Today, we start a new series.

Let’s pray!

Text

Numbers 13:26–33 KJV 1900

26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

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Lesson Connection

Blake got thrown into the pool as a child. He held a grudge growing up.

Fear is a crippling thing. And it has stopped many a man or woman of God from seeing the promises of God fulfilled in their life.

Most of the time we relate fear to our childhood.

I remember as a boy, I used to be scared of being in the church when no one else was here. It just felt spooky. But I came over to learn to play those drums. Many days after school. If I’d let the fear of the dark and quiet take over, I wouldn’t have learned it.

But it goes beyond childhood. There are people today who don’t have the peace of God because they have allowed fear to run them.

Israel Selected Twelve Spies

One of my favorite parts of the whole Bible is Exodus.

Have you ever considered the amount of faith it took to walk out of Egypt and through on dry ground at the Red Sea? A massive divide of water on either side of you? An army coming quickly behind?

Well, after all of that faith and experiencing God’s power in action, just a few weeks later… Israel was finally coming close to seeing the fulfillment of a promise centuries in the making.

There were twelve men. They were frantically getting stuff together for an expedition or adventure, if you will. These twelve represented the twelve tribes.

God had commissioned them:

Numbers 13:2 KJV 1900

2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.

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God Wanted to Show His People the Blessings that Awaited Them

I’m sure that the energy level was high! Each tribe was assembling their leaders.

I mean, hundreds of years before this, God had challenged Abraham to trust Him, and get out of the comfort of his homeland and family, and set out for a land that God would show him. Think of the excitement of his descendants now! They knew what God had told Abraham! I’m willing to say there were likely tears of joy!

But think about how God felt, also:

He had watched the faith of Abraham grow over time.

Abraham had seen the ups and downs in the life of his son, Isaac.

There was thee painful feud between Isaac’s sons, Jacob and Esau. And this placed Jacob to father the twelve sons who would lead the tribes of Israel.

God now was desiring for the twelve spies from these tribes to finally witness and report on the promised blessings from over many years.

It was time for Him to position them to receive the promise.

God Desires to Reveal His Promises to Us

A loving parent hopes that their children will experience the best in life. Mature relationships, spiritual discipline, healthy independence, and financial security usually top the list of what they hope for their children.

And along the way, a parent will share promises of blessings or benefits to come. And part of the parent’s job is to prepare children to receive and manage these blessings and benefits. So they have to teach things like discipline, patience, or lessons in gratitude.

Sometimes… those promised rewards can bring both blessings and curses.

Like a car. A car can give a lot of independence to a teenager. But it also presents possible great danger.

Dating, if it’s approached right, can help a teenager or young adult to one day wisely decide on a life partner when the time is right. But at the same time, it can also provide some large problems if it’s went about unwisely or without safe boundaries.

Life is just full of opportunities and promises. And that preparation to embrace them is usually as important as receiving them.

And God has many promises for His children. Because He knows our nature, God is going to do His best to strengthen our character, mature us, and position us to receive His best.

But this will take time, testing, and experience. We want to be ready and willing to claim His promises when He finally prompts us to go into them. We don’t want to be hindered when it’s time.

And the problem we’re reading of today is fear. When it was time, fear paralyzed some people.

Unfaithful Spies

“Burn the Boats!”

In about 1519, Hernan Cortez and his men arrived in Veracruz, Mexico. And they had one goal: conquest. They were there to take land.

And when they arrived, Cortez ordered his men to burn all of their ships. And the reason he did, is because he didn’t want to lead his men into the challenges ahead while they thought they had any option but victory. And this is where the famous saying of courage comes from: “Burn the boats!”

Cortez understood that human nature has a tendency to lose courage when we go through adversity. And when retreat no longer becomes an option, courage has to overcome the fear we have of moving into new territory.

Ten Unfaithful Spies Expressed Disbelief

So, for the twelve spies, before they went out on their journey they were told to “be of good courage.”

Let’s talk about this 40-day journey they had. It was pretty amazing...

The land they were able to see was every single thing that God had promised.

They brought back a testimony of a land that flowed with milk and honey. They came in carrying grapes, figs, and pomegranates.

But 10 of the 12 spies who were spying out Canaan… returned looking for the boats.

It wasn’t that they didn’t witness how great the land was. And God had positioned them to take it. But these men were drowning in a sea of fear and disbelief. They were looking for a boat - actually a trail - back to Egypt.

Listen to me, because I believe we’re on the verge of walking over into promises… They were blinded by the challenge instead of motivated by the promises!

Fear and disbelief can be contagious. The negative report that these 10 were bringing started trickling through the people… who at one time were excited and motivated.

We Must See through God’s Eyes

A lot of this had to do with perspective. Perspective is powerful.

{PICTURE: NICK SANDMANN}

I’ve mentioned fake news recently. It’s become a real problem in our world. Because of the fact that social media allows people to see certain events and moments as they happen, in short clips and pictures, people get the wrong idea sometimes because they weren’t there to see ALL of what happened.

Nick Sandmann and the Covington Catholic School students a few years ago provided an example. A short video surfaced that appeared as though Mr. Sanmann, young teen, was mockingly smiling at Indian protesters at the capitol. That’s how it was reported. He received death threats and hate. Then more media and testimony surfaced showing that really, he was admiring them and they shook hands and got along afterward.

Now Nick Sandmann has reached settlements with major news corporations over the hurt their family went through due to quick reporting through one perspective, without all of the information.

I’m telling you, perspective matters.

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There are some people (you may know someone like this) who have a knack for seeing a problem in every possibility. You know, the glass is never half-full - it’s always half-empty.

Winnie the Pooh had a friend like that. Eeyore, the donkey. No matter how positive the situation, he would find something negative to say. One of his classic lines is: “I wish I could say yes, but I can’t.”

Here’s what happens a lot: we get into the middle of a life challenge and we lose our perspective. We get so distracted by challenges that we can’t see all the possibilities. It’s kind of like that saying, “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” We get to that point and we become sos blinded that they wish they could say yes, but they can’t.

Those 10 spies didn’t have the right perspective. They weren’t seeing the land as something God was going to give. They should’ve said yes, but they couldn’t.

But here’s what I’ve found… throughout history, God’s people have seen some of the greatest blessings because they refused to be blinded by all of the obstacles.

David said yes to Goliath when everyone else said no because David was convinced of the cause.

Noah tackled the massive task of building an ark, which saved his family, because he trusted God’s Word.

The prophet Elisha prayed that his servant would see through different eyes. All the servant could see was the army surrounding the city, but Elisha could see the hand of God at work.

When we trust God, we are able to see through eyes of faith!

Paul gave us a battle cry that pretty much sums up what our stance ought to be:

Romans 8:31 KJV 1900

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

It’s almost like Paul was saying, “God don’t give empty promises!”

God loves His children and we do face challenges sometimes, but when we do, He wants us to see the big picture! He keeps His promises! Our job is just to be of good courage and say yes!

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Faithful Spies

Two Faithful Spies Expressed Complete Confidence in God

Now… let’s have a little exercise here:

Has anyone in this room heard of a guy named Shammua? (Not to be confused with Shamu from SeaWorld!)

What about Shaphat?

Can anyone tell me the story of Igal or Palti?

Maybe you’ve heard of the great exploits of Gaddiel, Gaddi, and Ammiel.

Or the great faith of Sethur, Nahbi, and Geuel?

No?

Well… I can be sure you’ve heard about Joshua and Caleb. Most of us have heard of Joshua and Caleb. But the other ten names, not so much.

They were the ten faithless spies who didn’t have courage and were overcome by fear.

Fearful and inactive people are rarely ever noteworthy. But courageous people inspire and motivate others.

Joshua and Caleb weren’t distracted by the obstacles. They were motivated by the promises.

It’s interesting how Caleb is described particularly. The Bible says that he had “another spirit” that led him to follow God fully:

Numbers 14:24 KJV 1900

24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

Hmm… so there are at least TWO spirits at work here: the spirit Caleb had, and the spirit of the 10 spies. I wonder what spirit we have working in us?

The one Caleb had caused him to declare in front of everyone that Israel was well able to take the land they had seen.

Numbers 13:30 KJV 1900

30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

Faith is always going to prompt action.

Doubt cripples us. It stops us in our tracks.

Faith mobilizes!

Fear paralyzes; faith marches forward into the promises of God!

When God Makes Promises to Us, We Must Seize Them with Faith

And it’s worth mentioning that a trip that should have taken eleven days lasted forty years! Forty years of wasted time, shattered dreams, unnecessary loss. Because of fear.

If you were 20 or older, you lost the promises. And for those younger, it meant lost time, opportunities, and blessings. To put it into perspective, a 15-year-old would have been 55 before moving into the Promised Land.

It really is possible to miss out on God’s best because we are limited by our own fear. Or disobedience.

But if we overcome fear, there is a slew of promises in the Word that are available to us!

At the most basic level, God wants everyone to experience salvation.

2 Peter 3:9 KJV 1900

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

There is no one whom salvation is not available to. But what often happens is, people allow fear or unbelief or how they feel about themselves prevent them from stepping out in faith toward God.

But we have to. We have to step out in faith, overcome our fear, and find a place of repentance.

Beyond the salvation experience, there are many other promises. But most of them are conditional. They require action in response to the Word of God. We believe it, take Him at His Word, show our faith and trust through obedience, and we will receive His promises.

God is not a man, that He should lie!

Numbers 23:19 KJV 1900

19 God is not a man, that he should lie; Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

You ought to make note of every single promise you find in scripture. Just write out next to it in your Bible: “A promise for me!”

I’m going to read you some today…

He has promises us that the devil will flee from us if we will submit ourselves to God and resist the devil:

James 4:7 KJV 1900

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

We are promised our basic needs will be met if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness:

Matthew 6:33 KJV 1900

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We’re promised wisdom from God, if we ask it:

James 1:5 KJV 1900

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

We are promised that we can do all things… but not with our own strength:

Philippians 4:13 KJV 1900

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

The list is long! Many, many promises of God apply to us today, but we have to seize them through faith and how we act.

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If Israel had stayed the course with God’s plan, they would have arrived in the Promised Land ini about 11 days total. But an 11-day trip turned into a ridiculous 40-year goose chase.

I kind of wonder today - I may never know, but I wonder - how many times I’ve held up myself from walking in God’s promises because I didn’t walk in them from the start? Hmm…

God has promised us some things this year at New Life. There are some promises that are going to be fulfilled individually. And there are some promises in this church we’re going to see…

I wonder if there are any Joshuas or Calebs in here today? Do I have anybody ready to walk over the threshold into the vision God has given?

If you’re going to be a Joshua or a Caleb child of God, I want you to stand today.

We’re headed for a Promised Land!

Conclusion

Internalizing the Message

“Are we walking in the promises or standing on the premises,” someone said!

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