The Faithlessness of the Fathers and the Faithfulness of God

Introduction

In 1741, John Wesley was sailing across the Atlantic when a violent storm struck his ship. Waves crashed over the deck, and many passengers screamed in terror, convinced they were about to die. Wesley himself later admitted he was afraid.

What caught his attention, however, was a small group of Moravian Christians aboard the ship. While the storm raged, they calmly sang hymns. No panic. No frantic prayers. Just quiet confidence. Afterward, Wesley asked how they could remain so composed in the face of death. One of them replied simply that they had learned, through many trials, that God had never failed them—and they trusted He would not fail them now.

That moment haunted Wesley. He realized that while he believed in God, he lacked the settled assurance that comes from remembering and resting in God’s past faithfulness. In the months that followed, this memory became part of what led him into a deeper, more confident faith—one that would later spark the Methodist revival across England.

The storm had not changed, but the testimony of remembered faithfulness gave Wesley hope for his own present fears. It taught him that confidence in God is often born by looking backward before it can look forward.

This is what Moses was doing during his first sermon to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 1-3. He was getting them to look backward and remember the faithlessness of their Fathers in their rebellion toward God . . but also how the faithfulness of God still persisted.

Looking backward would help them go forward into the promised land that God had given them.

Just like the Israelites, we also need to look backwards at the faithfulness of God in Christ to walk forward in faith as we journey through the wilderness of this fallen world to eventually reach our eternal promised land.

Therefore, the key point of our text tonight is. . . To have hope in our present circumstances, we must remember God’s past faithfulness and not repeat our father’s sins.

As we walk through these three chapters tonight, I am going to highlight ways that Israel was faithless and God was faithful.

1. Deuteronomy 1: Recounting The History of Israel’s Journey to Canaan and Rebellion Toward the Lord.

Deuteronomy 1:1-19: God’s Faithfulness

As the people stand beyond the Jordan river, fixing to enter the promise land, Moses begins to “explain the law.” (Deut. 1:5)

He recounts what happened 38 years ago, when the Lord commanded the people to leave Mt. Horeb (Sinai) and go into the promise land.

God had given Israel the land as he promised he would do so according to his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Deuteronomy 1:8 ESV

8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

From the beginning of the book, the command for the people to obey is built upon the grace and promise of God to his people.

In verse 10, God’s faithfulness is on display once more, as Moses reiterates how God has made Israel as numerous as the stars in the heavens.

Deuteronomy 1:10 ESV

10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven.

This confirmed God’s promise he made to Abram, how he would bless and multiply Abram’s offspring (Deut. 1:10-11; Gen. 12:2; 15)

Deuteronomy 1:19-34: Israel’s Unfaithfulness

Moses again reiterated that God had set the land before the people to give it to them. All they needed to do was to obey the Lord, trust his promises, and go in and take possession of it. They did not have to fear the people because the Lord was with them and he would fight for them and give them victory.

Deut. 1:25 says When Israel spied out the land, they saw it was a “good land that God had given them.”

However, Instead of taking the land the Lord had given them, Israel feared the people instead of fearing the Lord.

Deuteronomy 1:26–28 ESV

26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.” ’

See what fearing people does.

Sin is ultimately unbelief in God, unbelief in his character and not trusting his promises given in his word.

Despite Israel’s fears, Joshua and Caleb sought to encourage Israel not to be afraid, but to trust in their God. There was no reason Israel should be afraid of the people because God is the one who goes before them, and he is the one who will fight for them (Deut. 1:29-30).

They called on Israel to remember how the Lord did this very thing in delivering them from Egypt and all their enemies in the wilderness (Deut. 1:30). The Lord has carried them as a man carries his son. . . why would they not trust in the Lord? (Deut. 1:31)

Despite these wonderful truths and demonstration of God’s love and faithfulness to his people over the last six months, the people rebelled and rejected the Word of the Lord. They did not believe his Word, and rejected the Lord who had gone before them, provided a place for them to live, and guided them on the way they should go in the day and in the night (Deut. 1:32-33).

Deuteronomy 1:34-46: The Lord’s Righteous Response and Israel’s Continual Rebellion.

The Lord was angry at Israel and it demonstrates his holy wrath and hatred for sin (Deut. 1:34, 37).

Only Joshua, Caleb, and the next generation would inherit the land because Joshua and Caleb were “wholly devoted to the Lord.” (Deut. 1:36-40)

In response to the Lord’s judgment, the people continued in their rebellion to God’s command. Now, they refused to listen to the Lord by not going against the people to fight (Deut. 1:43).

The people acted presumptuously. They thought the Lord wanted them to do something, when he wanted them to do the opposite. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death (Prov. 14:12).

The Lord refuses to listen to his people’s prayers when they live in disobedience (Deut. 1:45).

2. Deuteronomy 2:1-25: God’s Faithfulness in The Wilderness Years

Deuteronomy 2:4–7 ESV

4 “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” ’

Even in Israel’s judgment, the Lord graciously guided his people on which way to go (Deut. 2:2-5) and provided them with money to buy what they needed (Deut. 2:6-7). The Lord provided for his rebellious people and knew what they needed. . . because of the Lord, they never lacked anything (Deut. 2:7).

What a testimony of God’s faithfulness to a faithless people. God never left his people, even in the wilderness after they had rejected him.

God is intimately concerned and involved in every aspect of Israel’s life. So it is with his church today.

Moses recounts three pieces of land that Israel crossed during their wilderness wonderings. The Lord did not give Israel the land of Mt. Seir (Deut. 2:4-5), Moab (Deut. 2:8-15), or Ammon (Deut. 16-25) because he had already “promised” and “given” it to others.

By this command, God is showing Israel their foolishness in not trusting in God’s faithfulness to give them the land he promised. . . but also demonstrating his faithfulness to always protect the people to whom he has promised land.

The rebellious generation died off during these journeys (Deut. 2:14-15) and God was faithful to fulfill his promise of judgment upon his people.

In Deuteronomy 2:25, The Lord put his fear and dread upon the surrounding nations, to protect the Israelites as they went and defeated the Kings of Sihon and Og. . . continuing to show his faithfulness to provide for and protect his people.

3. Deuteronomy 2:26-3:29: Preliminary Defeats of Sihon and Og as a Affirmation of the Canaanites Future Defeat.

In Deut. 2:26, God showed mercy to Sihon and offered them peace with Israel, but they refused.

As a result, God gave Sihon into Israel’s hand, and they utterly destroyed them and left no survivors.

Ultimately God in his sovereignty. . . further hardened King Sihon’s hard and rebellious heart so that he could give them into Israel’s hand.

Deuteronomy 2:30 ESV

30 But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.

In chapter 3, Moses recounts another victory God gave his people over the King Og.

The defeat of Sihon and Og before entering the promise land was a preview for the people that God would be faithful to give them victory over the Canaanites.

Deuteronomy 3:21–22 ESV

21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. 22 You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’

What grace the Lord gives his people that he would be willing to reassure them of their future victory!

God commanded complete destruction of all the people of Heshbon and Bashan because of their idolatry and unrepentance. All members of a community, or even of a family, are blessed or judged together (see Num. 16:1-35).

Deuteronomy–Ruth Comment

The conquests of Canaan are the same concept as the judgments of Revelation. At the conquest, the sins of the Amorites were complete (

Deuteronomy–Ruth Comment

It is no more appropriate to refer to the wars of conquest as genocide than it is to refer to the irrevocable gift of land as genocide. Armageddon is not a genocide. All of these are divine actions of judgment in which God irrevocably claims for himself that which is his own. The difference in the conquest is human involvement, but that does not make it different in concept.

The chapter closes by reminding Israel that sin can be forgiven but still has earthly consequences. Moses desperately wanted to go into the land, but God refused his request because of his previous disobedience (See Num. 20:7-12).

However, God graciously allowed Moses to see the land that Israel was going to enter, but made clear that Joshua would be the one to lead the people into the promised land.

The law cannot bring us into the promised land, only grace.

“Moses could not conduct the people into the promised land. Nor can the law bring anyone to heaven. The law may lead someone out of the Egypt of his sin, and it may bring him into the wilderness of conviction. There it may provide him with food and nourish him with some little comfort, but the law can never give rest to the spirit in Canaan. This was left for Joshua, whose name is but another form of the name Jesus. Jesus alone can give rest to the heirs of heaven. Moses cannot do it. He may see the promised land, but he can never enter it. Legal convictions may be accompanied with some desires toward divine things, but the ultimate enjoyment, the rest that remains for the people of God, can only come to the believer through Jesus Christ.” -Charles Spurgeon

Unlike Israel, we have a better mediator who has already entered the promised land for us and made a way for us to be with him.

Response

Remember Our Faithlessness and Repent for Our Rebellious Hearts

Israel was given grace from the very beginning. . . through the Exodus. . . through the wilderness. . . through the land. . . all they had to do was open up their hands and receive the land by faith. . . it was already theirs. . . but they closed their fists and looked to themselves to conquer the promised land.

Their lack of faith in God led to fear of people and rebellion toward God.

In what ways are you doubting God’s promises and not believing his Word?

In what ways are you resisting and rebelling against God’s commands?

In what ways are you trusting in your self to get you to the promised land?

Don’t close your hands to God tonight like Israel did.

Remember God’s faithfulness in the past to have hope in the present.

Romans 8:32 ESV

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

All of God’s promises are yes and amen in Jesus. . . Jesus’s death, resurrection, and ascension are the fulfillment of all God’s promises.

Look to the Cross. . . Look to baptism. . . Look to the Lord’s Supper

Example of Israel facing Pharaoh’s army at the cusp of the Red Sea

Remember Our God Fights For Us

Israel was guaranteed success when God was with them and fought for them. He is the one who gave them victory.

When he was not with them, they failed miserably.

The same God that fought for Israel is with us and fighting for us today in Christ.

Colossians 2:13–15 ESV

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Yet, for Christ to fight for us, we must trust him. . . this is more than a mere belief that he can help us. . . but actually trusting in him with our lives. . . many people believe airplanes can fly but they never board them because they are too afraid. . . they believe, but don’t trust the plane with their lives. . . for Christ to save us and work in our lives. . . we must not only believe he has the power to do so. . . but actually trust him by surrendering our will to his. . . we must let him do his work in us. . . we must let him fight through us by faith so we can conquer sin, overcome temptation, and walk in the way of righteousness.

Jesus has faithfully gone before us through the wilderness. . . to the cross. . . into death. . . and into life. . . therefore, we must remember God’s faithfulness exhibited in Christ to be infused with the living hope we need press on in the wilderness in this world, and finally reach our promised land of heaven where we will dwell with our Triune God forever!