You Can't Do It, God Does!

Scripture

Numbers 14:28–45 KJV 1900

Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still. And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

Setting the Scene

If I asked you how long did the children of Israel journey to get to the promised land you would probably say 40 years. That’s not quite right. It is not a far journey from Egypt to Canaan even by way of Mount Sinai. The travel time was probably only a few weeks, with perhaps a year set up beneath the mount, hearing from God, getting the 10 Commandments and building the Tabernacle. Yet we know that it was 40 years from the time that Israel left Egypt until the miraculous crossing of the Jordan river. Before those stories, we have the story of the first time Israel arrived at the promised land. Again if I asked you to tell that story, I think you might miss some details! When they arrived at Kadesh-Barnea on the border of Canaan, Moses sent spies to discover the land. Some have suggested that perhaps Moses did this out of doubt. Perhaps but I don’t think so. He was studying what the best course of action would be. I do not doubt that prayer would have been a key element of the planning had they gotten to that point! 12 spies were sent in, and I think you do know the result of this. 10 came back, and we don’t remember their names. They came back and said we cannot enter for there are giants in the land. 2 came back, we know their names, Caleb and Joshua, and they said it is a good land that God has given us. Let us go in and possess it! The camp was split but most of the people let fear control them in this instance.

I try not to be too harsh on people whose circumstances I have not lived. Yet I cannot help but be a little annoyed by these people. These fearful people are the same that saw God demonstrate His power in 10 plagues upon the Egyptians, each plague taking down and making a mockery of some false God of Egypt. These people walked on dry ground through the Red Sea. They had eaten the manna, and the quail. They had drunk water from a rock, they had seen bitter waters made sweet, they had already watched God win a battle for them over Amalek. They had seen and heard the mighty power of God at Mount Sinai and now they were scared of large humans!

To be entirely fair we have descriptions of Goliath being about 9 1/2 feet tall. We have another giant mentioned who had 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot. Another giant had a 13 foot bed made of iron. Large humans is underselling it a bit, but so too is any attempt to describe what God had already displayed about his power for these people! Yet they were afraid.

They determined to stone Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb. They determined to set up a new captain to guide them back across the wilderness and to offer themselves back up to Egypt as slaves once again. The way before was too hard, so they desired to go back to their captivity.

God was not pleased by their doubting. God determined once again to destroy this people and start over with Moses as He had said before when they turned to the Golden Calf. Again Moses rejected this, and he cried out to God to be merciful to the people that God had entrusted him with. Moses is without a doubt one of the most heroic leaders in all history. While the people were preparing to stone him, he was interceding for God to be merciful to them. God relented but God did not let the people off the hook entirely. Fascinatingly God in speaking to Moses mentions that this is the 10th time that the people had turned from Him. 10 time God had proven Himself in Egypt, and over and over on the journey, and 10 times in the span of about a year had the people turned away from God.

God decreed that these people would not enter. He forgave their transgression once again, but He did not remove all earthly consequence of their doubting and rebellion. Their children would enter, but these rebellious ones would die in the wilderness. I have to wonder how truly repentant were these people. They acknowledged their sin, but turned to it once again. Then I think about myself and how often I have the same thing in my life? How true was my repentance? God had sent them back into the wilderness to die, but in our passage we read, and this is the part that I think is passed over somewhat, they rose up early in the morning, they recognized their sin, and then they promptly, in the same breath rebelled against God and His punishment to them and tried to enter in the land that they had now been barred from.

The people of the land came against the people of Israel and smote them and pursued them out into the wilderness. It turned out the 10 spies were right. They were not able to possess the land.

You Can’t Do It

My message this evening is the message of the 10 spies. You can’t do it. At my parents house there is a little stream that borders our yard. It flows much of the time, but for tiny stream it has dug a deep and wide creek bed. Since there isn’t much water flowing it grows grass so it needs mowed. Now as long as the creek is unclogged the water flows down a stream in the middle of the bank and the ground all around stays dry. You can mow nearly all of it with a mower. However if the creek has a little too much water, or something blocks its passage it will spread and turn the whole creek bed into a muddy swampy mess. Now I like zero turn mowers. They are fast and easy to run. I don’t like weed eaters so much. The mower carries me around, I have to carry the trimmer around. So I always mowed as much as I could on the mower, and used the trimmer as little as possible. In that effort I frequently got stuck in the creek. Growing up we had various mowers, small and progressively larger. The small ones, if you got stuck you could pick it up and get it out of the mud, or at least my dad could. The one I got stuck with most frequently weighed about 1200 lbs. And try as I might I couldn’t get it out of the mud!

I had to go get our truck, hook up the chains, and drag the mower out with the power of the truck. (Still better than trimming!) I couldn’t do it! Everyone is born stuck in the mud in some sense. At some point you might try to get out of the mud! That’s a good thing to do. To get out of the bondage and slavery and get into freedom! Yet you will find that you can’t do it! You can try all you want. And you should. You can determine no matter how many time you get knocked down you will get back up, and you need to! You can repent, and you can make promises to yourself and to God and you can’t get out without that, but you will find that you can’t do it. You will find that the best intensions, the strongest determinations do not get you our of the mud. Our mower had enough power to pop wheelies. You had to be careful going up hills not to adjust the throttle too suddenly or you might tumble back down the hill. It didn’t matter, all that determination and power only dug it deeper into the mud.

Yet I think this can be taken further. Not only can you not get yourself out of the mud, you can’t really make it through life if you could! The Bible compares Satan to a lion and us to sheep. Lions eat sheep. Satan is tricky, he either knows or discovers our weaknesses and then he focuses in on that area and puts his strength against our weakness. And as it turns out we lose. You can neither get yourself out of the mud, nor resist the crafty wiles of Satan.

God Can

Now it should noted at this point that Israel did take possession of Canaan. That many are not currently “in the mud” as it were, and that Jesus presents His bride, us, faultless before the presence of His glory. If we look further ahead to Joshua chapter 3 we read how it went when Israel came back to the border of Canaan. In the book of Joshua we read as 2 spies are sent in. They find the land just as good and just as unconquerable as before. There is a walled city that Israel will have to deal with before they can even really begin the conquest of Canaan. Israel is not equipped to deal with that fortress, the river in front of them is too deep and too fast to cross, and the armies that they are preparing to face are mightier than theirs. And there are still giants.

In this passage though we read of a different tactic. This time Israel chose obedience over rebellion. The priests picked up the Ark and marched toward the waters edge. The people marched behind them. The water kept flowing. The people kept moving on. As soon as the priests stepped into the water, and not before, the river parted and Israel marched across. They moved in faith and not fear. They acted in obedience and not rebellion and God gave them the land.

Israel could not cross the Jordan. They could not defeat Jericho, the armies, or the giants. You can’t get yourself out of the mud and you can’t keep yourself out either. God made a way across Jordan. God flattened the walls. God defeated the armies, and the giants. God can pull you out of the mire of sin, break its chains, clean you up and give you the overcoming power to live in obedience to Him. You can’t, God can!

Holiness

Now lets zoom in a bit more theologically on this whole circumstance. The Exodus story is rich with imagery. Egypt, and the slavery there represents sin and the bondage of sin. Canaan represents the fulfillment of God’s promises to us.

Ezekiel 11:19 “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:” A promise of new heart. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” A promise of a new creature! Ephesians 4:22–24 “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” A command, which is a promise that God is faithful to accomplish in us that which we cannot for ourselves but is required of us. A promise of righteousness and true holiness.

Now is true righteousness and true holiness that which is external only? That which is not in the heart? Are we really new, is our heart really new if it still desires to go back the way we came?

As far as I am aware every theologian views Egypt as a picture of the life we are born into. Slaves to sin, unable to do anything to get out. They all view God’s miraculous provision of a way of escape for Israel as representative of God’s miraculous provision for Salvation for wretched sinners. All view the wilderness wonderings, the propensity to rebellion. Now don’t get it twisted. Israel was not forced to rebel against God 10 times, nor even one time, in their wilderness wonderings. They were able to serve Him! God does not call us to do something that He does not enable us to do! There is no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man, and God will, with the temptation make a way of escape! That is true for each and every Christian. And the lie that Satan tells you, that he told me, and that he gets even preachers to present to you is that it is inevitable that you will fail. Satan then falsifies the truth even further telling you that since you will give in eventually, you might as well now and at least the struggle is over. But all of that is a lie. It is a lie built on a lie built on a lie. Slavery is a struggle, so the struggle would not be over. You do not have to give in eventually, that is another lie. So giving in now is the reasonable thing to do? Again a lie!

What is the truth? God provided for Israel. He broke the bondage of slavery off of them. He fed, He led them. He gave them instruction for life. He protected them. And only when they became unsatisfied and rebellious did things go badly for them.

Back to their propensity toward rebellion. Theologians view this time in the wilderness as a picture of the saved life. The doublemindedness and the struggles. It is at this point that various theologians diverge. Many modern theologians say that this is all that God has for us here on this earth. That we cannot enter Canaan, that place of peace, and joy, and spirit rest. That place of true righteousness, and holiness, that land flowing with milk and honey, that the only path there is physical death. Now they almost got it! It requires death, but not physical, rather spiritual.

Scripture is clear that we do not have to be double minded. It teaches that we can be filled with the Spirit and it lays out the fruits of the Spirit. It tells us we can be made perfect in love. That we can have unity with each other and with God. So Scripture is clear that we can enter Canaan here!

So entering into the promised land is a picture of entering into what is commonly termed (though I don’t like the term) entire sanctification. I want to revisit our first narrative in light of this further context on what all this represents.

If you read through Numbers 13 and 14 you find that the Israelites came up to Kadesh-Barnea excited to go in! They were ready. They sent the spies in to discover what was needed to enter into Canaan Land. Then the great difficulty was discovered.

How many people trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. They seek after Him and soon they find, like Israel in the wilderness that this is a hard way! But they continue to follow on, though perhaps their path looks a bit like Israel they determinedly get back up and keep following. They repent of their backsliding, the repent of their doublemindedness, and follow on in spite of the difficulty. Yet when they come up to who they really are and what God really wants to do they go “Oh, that’s impossible!”

Israel reacted that way. On the one hand they wanted to go in. Moses, Aaron, Caleb, Joshua all trusted God. But the camp was divided. A part of them said we need new leadership! This is not possible. They recognized that it was the only way forward, and that it was too hard so they determined to sell themselves back into slavery.

How many have come up to that point in their life. God’s spotlight turned inward, and self crucifixion revealed to be the only way forward! How many have seen what God asks of them and turned back to slavery to sin, not because of the failures in the wilderness but because they finally crossed the wilderness and realized the truth that these Israelites realized. They couldn’t do it! It was too hard, too difficult! And please do not think I am downing anyone for that attitude! It’s the truth! Israel couldn’t take possession of Canaan! There were giants in their way! Neither can any man take possession of that which God has promised! It’s too hard!

The wilderness is no place to live. You can’t enter Canaan. So I guess we should all go back to Egypt?

Again, God Can!

Of course not! We must enter in! But again lets look at this story in the lens of its allegorical meaning. “And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised:”

Now it would seem that their attitude was right! They were confronted with their unbelief, and after an internal struggle they determined that no matter what they were going in, and they were going in now! One problem. It wasn’t in God’s way or in God’s time. So they strove to enter in. They went to war with the enemy and they lost.

How many have come up to this idea of Holiness, of Sanctification. They have spied it out. They have determined that it does exist! And they determine to go in, only to be put to flight before the enemy.

Satan doesn’t especially like it when we are making spiritual progress! He attacks severely just before, during, and after we make significant growth. He works all his tricks. One of his favorites is confusion. I don’t think I can clear up all confusions you have this evening. In fact, I am not going to try to clear up any! But I do want to say that one of the hardest lessons I learned in my life, was that I was not in control of the timing even of my own spiritual growth. As long as I sought to retain control of the means and the timing, I could not grow. When I let God control the means and the timing then He worked.

So Israel wondered in the wilderness for 40 years. What were they doing? They were preparing! God was making them ready to be able to posses that which He had promised to give them! Why does God work the way that He does? I can only answer that His ways are higher than ours! That He knows and sees things things that we do not. In that 40 years they learned to trust in God. They learned to obey God. And every bit of rebelliousness was killed off by God. He was growing them, teaching them, and purging them so they would be ready next time they came up to Canaan. When they came to the border again, they did it in God’s time, when He lead them there. This time it looked even more impossible. An impassible river lay in their way. They couldn’t even get to enemy to fight him much less win. Yet this time they humbly, and without complaint, did things God’s way. They had finally learned the lesson that they couldn’t, but God does! I believe that is the key to entering into Canaan in your spiritual life. Surrender every aspect of it to God and walk in humble obedience to Him. He has promised it, He will do it! He will not withhold any good gift from His child, so trust Him. His way is the only way, and the best way. It may not be how you envision it. It may not be how some preacher preached it, but if you are walking after His leading you will find that He is leading you in the to and the way of Holiness.

Ai

As I near the end of this message I want to offer one more thing we can learn from this story. It continues with Israel conquering Jericho and then being put to flight before Ai. Crossing the Jordan on the one hand means peace and rest, yet on the other hand the land must be possessed and then kept safe from outside attackers. Just like for Israel crossing the Jordan was not the end of the story, neither is it for us. First Jericho. They had entered Canaan, yet they had to get rid of enemy strongholds in the land. Now admittedly at this point I really begin to push the allegory, perhaps beyond what is intended. When we enter Canaan God gives us a new and clean heart. Not just cleaned up on the outside, but made new within. Yet there are old habits, old friends, old mental pathways. Strongholds if you will. Salvation is the same way. Old ways of life try cling on to you and drag you bag. You have to get rid of them then. Saved people neither sin nor live in sin and so all these things dragging them back into sin must be destroyed! Yet when God makes us Holy we realize the depth of the corruption that sin caused and how much work that God has left to do! Perfect in love, not in head or body! We find that there are strongholds as it were that must be destroyed. Old habits and thought processes that though perhaps not sinful, still damaging to our spiritual lives, and if not taken care of they will lead to sin. So, just like Israel, with God’s help we get rid of them. Then far too often we find ourselves confronted with Ai. With some measly little things that we don’t even need to bother God with at all! We just crossed the Jordan and conquered Jericho after all! Then, just like Israel we find out once again that we can’t do it. How many have run from Ai all the way back to Egypt? Some little defeat in habit or attitude, some disturbance, some spiritual setback that Satan uses to convince it was all a sham anyway. No, act like Joshua. Turn to God, and realize again that you can’t do it, but God does! This possessing and maintaining of the land continues, in God’s strength, until the day we meet Him face to face.

Conclusion

So this evening, I do not know where you are. I do not know what you are facing. I don’t know if you are in the bondage of Egypt, if you are in the struggles of the wilderness, if you are trying to enter Canaan on your time, in your way, or if you are trying to deal with Ai on your own, but I want to remind you tonight that you can’t. But I remind you also that God Does!