Crave the Grapes

Trusting God for What You Haven't Tasted Yet

Text:

Numbers 11:1–6 ESV

1 And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them. 4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

Now, turn with me to chapter 13, verse 23…

Numbers 13:23–27 ESV

23 And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. 25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

Point 1: The Fire and the Infection

The rabble's complaining ignites God's fire

and infects the whole camp.

God knows the difference between complaining

and casting your cares on him.

Point 2: Manna Is Not Punishment — It's Provision for the Process

1 Peter 5:6–7 ESV

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

The Manna is a Miracle

Not a Punishment

It is daily provision

during the process

Peter says, there a proper time

that God will exalt you

But you can’t take a shortcut

You’ve got to trust God in the process

And not complain about the manna

He does care about you

and he has grapes in your future

but you will never taste those grapes

if you don’t trust him with the manna.

Point 3: Craving the Grapes — Faith can Taste what the Tongue Does not

The grapes were real before Israel tasted them.

There weren’t made up

They existed before they saw them

before they tasted them

and God already knew about them

Faith hungers for what God has promised

even when your senses have no memory of it.

Hebrews 11:1 KJV 1900

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

You see, they knew what the garlic in Egypt tasted like

And they were able to crave it

because they had tasted it before

but it is real hard to crave something

that you have never tasted before

I want to ask you something tonight.

Not as your pastor

just as a brother who's walked some wilderness too.

What are you craving?

(pause)

Because some of you came in here tonight craving Egypt.

You've been looking back.

You've been telling yourself

it was better before you started following God.

The garlic and the onions have started to smell good again,

and you've forgotten what the whips in Egypt felt like.

Some of you have been despising the manna.

God has been faithful.

He has fed you every single day.

And, yet, you've been complaining about it

because it didn't come the way you wanted it.

Or because these Grapes you’ve been promised

Haven’t come fast enough.

And some of you — some of you are just tired.

You've been carrying something you were supposed to cast on him.

Peter said cast it on Him because He cares for you.

You haven’t been complaining

But you have been carrying what should have been cast…

And you've been carrying it because

somewhere along the way you forgot that He would carrying it for you.

For all of us here tonight,

There's a cluster of grapes ahead

that you have never tasted.

God has been preparing it.

He has been faithful in your wilderness journey

because He intends to be faithful in the promised land.

But you'll never taste the grapes…

if you keep craving the garlic.

So I want to invite you tonight.

If God is dealing with your heart —

if you're tired of complaining,

tired of carrying,

tired of looking back —

I want you to come.

Come to this altar.

Come and let God change what you're hungry for.

Don’t crave the garlic of the past

Crave the grapes of the future