Avoid Doubting
Notes
Transcript
Songs:
All My Oil
Way Maker
The Blessing
Holy Spirit
Intro
Welcome
Introduce myself
We Like it when you’re here!
Bible in 5 years
Today we are going to continue following the Israelites through the wilderness.
We have seen the Hebrews:
Complain
Covet
Criticize
and today we will see them Doubt.
Websters | Doubt: a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction
In a biblical context,
Doubt is a lack of confidence or assurance that God will keep His promises.
To fully grasp the ramifications of the doubt put on display in this story, it’s important that we take a moment to remind ourselves where the Israelites have come from. What is their story in 60 seconds?
Brief history of the Israelites
Genesis
Creation of the world and mankind
Sin enters the hearts of humanity
~1600 years later, Noah has built his boat and the Great Flood waters rise
~300 years after this Great Flood, we watch the nation of Israel begin with a covenant between Almighty God and a man named Abraham.
This covenant is passed down through Abraham’s son, Isaac, and Isaac’s son, Jacob.
Jacob has 12 sons that will eventually father the 12 tribes of Israel .
One of those sons was named Joseph, and he was sold into slavery in Egypt by his own brothers.
After a wild story that mirrors Jesus at every turn, Joseph is rewarded and named the most powerful man in Egypt, second only to Pharoah.
He uses his power to rescue the surrounding people groups from famine and solidify Egypt as the regional super power.
He forgive his brothers and shelters them in Egypt. This means that for the next 300-400 years, all of Israel is living within Egypt. Surely that won’t come back to bite them.
Exodus
Joseph dies and the Israelites/Hebrews are enslaved shortly after.
400ish years go by and we meet Moses who speaks to God in the form of a burning bush and tells Pharaoh to “Let my people go!”
10 plagues and an army of chariots later and we finally see the Exodus, God rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt; Parting of the Red Sea; all that
Along the way, God provides them with dew and manna.
Leviticus - A rule of law is given and written down
Numbers - Story of Israel in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. Led by God as a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.
Called Numbers the book begins and ends with a census of Israel. ~625,000 people
We pick up the story of Israel today, 2 years after their triumphant exit from Egypt.
They have crossed the desert in the wilderness and now they sit perched across from the Promised Land, looking into the land of Canaan.
They’ve made it, and it’s time to move in to their new home....only it doesn’t go as smoothly as that, as we will see today.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Prayer | Hear your wisdom for our own personal lives, buried in the text of an ancient story.
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
1. God places regular tests of faith before His children
1. God places regular tests of faith before His children
Why is this a test?
Because God loves when we give Him glory and draw near to Him.
When we face impossible odds, only for Him to overcome on our behalf, it should drive us closer to Him.
Another reason this is a test...
Because the children of Abraham have had homework to study for several generations!
God has been foretelling this story for years!
7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”...
And He goes on to define the geographical boundaries of this land.
13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
So the test should have been easy, they had the answers the whole time.
The test was open note.
Let’s see what happens after these 12 spies spend 40 days scouting the Promised Land, shall we?
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community...
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.
Then comes one of the saddest words in the Bible:
But | Nevertheless | However
Hebrew: Epes | Despite all of that...
We say this word to God all the time, don’t we?
God you tell me to trust you with my finances...
but...I don’t want to use it the way you want me to.
God I love my wife, thank you for her...
nevertheless...I want to let my eyes and maybe my hands wander from time to time.
God, I want to be part of what you’re doing, I want to do things that have eternal consequences....
however...I sure do care alot about right now.
28 But [despite evidence of the promise] the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.
Who are the descendants of Anak?
We will get to that just a moment.
The point is, these spies introduce doubt into the equation.
The land is great, BUT, we don’t have the strength to succeed.
Let’s keep going:
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.”
Caleb did his homework.
“Hey guys, it doesn’t matter what you’ve found. God already promised us this land. Let’s go take 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.”
Who were the Nephilim?
Long story short: Offspring of demons laying with human women; Giants.
Genesis 6 calls them the “Mighty men of old, men of renown.”
Goliath was a descendant of Anak.
Go study the Hebrew for “Sons of God”, it’s worth the investigation.
Bottom line: Scary.
We have 2 starkly different perspectives shown in this story
10 spies
The challenge is too great for us.
2 spies (Joshua & Caleb)
I can’t wait to see our God topple giants.
2. Doubt sees obstacles, faith sees opportunities
2. Doubt sees obstacles, faith sees opportunities
Allow me to show you an illustration to help drive this point home:
Illustration: “You’re Aiming at the Wrong Target”
Illustration: “You’re Aiming at the Wrong Target”
Setup
Setup
Everyone in the room should have a ball
“Your goal is simple: try to throw the ball into the bucket.
How many of you think you can accomplish that task?”
Likely doubt
“Okay, give it your best shot.”
Audience throws balls
Now the Reveal
Now the Reveal
Pick up a ball and ask:
“Raise your hand if you failed.”
“I want to tell you something.
You didn’t fail.
In fact, you did exactly what I wanted you to do.
You threw the ball.
I never needed it to land in the bucket.”
Pause. Let that sink in.
“You were stressing over a target I never actually set for you.
You doubted yourself over a task I never asked you to complete.
And while you were focused on what you thought the goal was,
the real goal was happening without you even realizing it.”
Driving the Point Home
Driving the Point Home
“This is what doubt does.
Doubt blinds us.
Doubt convinces us that God’s expectations are heavier,
harder,
more impossible
than they actually are.
We focus on the bucket —
the thing we think we have to accomplish for God…
And God is simply saying:
‘Just throw the ball. Just take the step. Just obey. Just walk into the land I promised to you. I have made it yours.
I’ll take care of the results.’”
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Doubt worries about the bucket.
Faith is throwing the ball even when you’re not sure where it will land,
Faith trusts the One who told you to throw it.
Let’s bring this analogy back around:
Real‑World Example #2: A Failed Relationship That Prevents Future Heartbreak
Real‑World Example #2: A Failed Relationship That Prevents Future Heartbreak
I was engaged for 2 years. Not to my wife.
I had my whole life planned out.
Then, is a flash, it ended. It was over and I couldn’t go back.
I felt like I missed the bucket.
Then, I met Gio. And we had 3 kids. And here I am.
Right where God wants me, I think.
Real‑World Example #3: The Business Deal That Falls Apart
Real‑World Example #3: The Business Deal That Falls Apart
Maybe you have a similar story.
Maybe you have interviewed countless times, only to be passed up for the job again and again.
But then one day, you don’t get passed up. And that job is 50 times better than what you were applying for.
You didn’t miss the bucket.
Maybe you spent your senior year applying to all of your favorite colleges, only to be denied to each one. Then, a college no on your radar lets you in, and you create relationships that mold you into a more mature follower of Christ, and uncover opportunities that propel your life in a totally different direction.
You didn’t miss the bucket.
Let’s see what happens next in our story:
1 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.
2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!
3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
Doubt is contagious
Doubt is contagious
We know how many people were a part of God’s caravan: >600k
10 people was all it took for doubt to get a foothold in the whole nation.
How much doubt can one mouth spread with a cell phone?
Let me rephrase that: How much faith can one mouth spread with a cell phone? Amen?
You’re words matter, people! What you choose to believe in has a tangible effect on those you interact with.
This story shows us that:
Doubt can lead to despair
Doubt can lead to despair
What happens when God’s people start to doubt?
They want to run back to Egypt. To slavery. To bondage. To sin.
We [humanity] were built to worship SOMETHING.
When you doubt the truthfulness of God, your spiritually choosing to worship yourself, your own plans, your own strength, leaning on your own understanding.
You are ultimately choosing sin over God. Because there are only two sides. That’s It.
30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
That’s what is happening here. These 10 are scattering the flock.
And this leads to despair. They want to run back to their captors.
So what is the answer here? What do we do when we are faced with overwhelming doubt?
Doubt that tells us...
You’ll never make it; You can’t do it
You’re too far gone
Forgiveness is too far away
We have broken too many promises to Jesus
You aren’t enough
Doubt must be replaced with faith
Faith in what?
Jesus Christ.
20 ...It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live... I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Some of us need to be reminded that if you were the only sinner alive, Jesus would have still given his life for you.
Replace your doubt with faith in THAT man.
Watch what happens as we close out our story:
Tanner come up
20 The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.
In the following verses, God sends the Israelites back into the wilderness to wander for 40 years.
None of them, except for Caleb and Joshua, will ever enter the Promised Land.
Did you know that God is still enforcing this same rule on the earth?
Here is a modern translation:
I have forgiven them. But despite my forgiveness, they treat me with contempt.
I have shown them my glory, cared for and led them while they were at rock bottom, lost in the wilderness. When they had no where else to turn, I was there! Yet they treat me with contempt.
I performed miracles for them! I defeated the gods of Egypt for them! And they want to run back to them! Time and time again!
On the cross...
I defeated lust for them! Yet their hearts are full of it. They crave it because they are constantly indulging it.
I defeated murder for them! Yet they burn with so much anger.
I gave them Truth! And they choose to follow lies.
I showed them what marriage looks like! Yet they want to create their own version.
I gave them my one and only Son! And they refuse to give me their hearts.
As surely as I am the God in Heaven, Creator of the Universe, no one who has shown me the contempt of rejection will ever see the land I have promised them. The land I have prepared, just for them.
But....despite all of the rejection,
despite all of the backslides,
despite all of the broken promises and 2nd chances,
despite all the failures and the missteps and the mistakes and the regret and the wake of ruin that stains your past....
NEVERTHELESS!!!
*
...because MY SERVANT [name] has a different spirit living inside them,
...one that follows me...
* repeat?
...not for anything you’ve done...
not because of your church attendance record...
not because of your total donations to soup kitchens...
not because you sin less than your friends...
not because of ANYTHING you’ve done...
...No...
Because there is a DIFFERENT spirit that lives inside of you.
And it follows me.
He/she gets to come.
They are allowed in, adopted into my royal family.
Let me give you scriptural evidence (OT & NT) of this so-called “different spirit”
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out ... and give you a heart of flesh.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
If you are sitting here this morning and you don’t have this different spirit inside of you, then you are in the same position as this generation of Israelites:
They were saved from the bondage of slavery,
Did you know you’ve been saved from the bondage of slavery?
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners ... to set the oppressed free,
They had the promised land in their sights, backed by a promise from the Lord of Heaven and Earth...
So do we!
We have been promised that on the other side of that door that we all have to walk through, that door called death, on the other side of that is paradise.
8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
He knew that when he drew his last breath on earth, it would be immediately followed up by his first breath in heaven.
If you are sitting here this morning and you don’t have this different spirit inside of you, then you are in real trouble, because look at what ultimately happens to these people.
They die in the wilderness. They aren’t allowed in.
You need the spirit that follows HIM.
And many of us in here do have this spirit. But we have him stashed away in the back.
We have him turned down, volume on night settings.
Dangerous!!
Later, when Moses gives his farewell address in Deuteronomy, he uses this story as a warning: Take care lest you forget.
10 “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage [slavery].
11 Now these things [judgements in the wilderness] happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
The end of the ages has come.
This is a warning for us all.
This is our time and the clock is ticking.
What side of the fence are you on?
Doubt? Or Faith?
Prayer
