Faith over Fear equals Promise

Promise

video

Numbers 13:1–3 ESV

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel.

Numbers 17:1–3 ESV

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers’ house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff, 3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers’ house.

pray

Genesis begins with the creation of the world, but then heavily focuses on the OT patriarchs, eventually ending with their (Israel’s) move to Egypt.

Exodus tells us how they get out of Egypt and get to Sinai, where the receive the law.

Leviticus, which contain some of these laws, is heavily about how to worship and how to live.

Numbers, which also contains some of the laws, summarizes the 40 years in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy, the sequel to Numbers, is at the end of the 40 years and has Moses addressing this new group of Israelite adults, reminding them of the laws issued by God, and concludes with his death.

Notice, I said he was “addressing this new group of Israelite adults.” What does that mean, and why is it important? Let’s see...

“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel.”

If God is already giving the people the land, then why send out scouts? He has all power, and demonstrated it with the plagues in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, refreshing the bitter water w/ a tree, gushing water through a rock, and delivering victory against the Amalekites. I don’t remember God having Moses to tell Joshua, “assemble your best group of fighters, meet me back here, and let’s come up with a game plan to defeat these people that are attacking us...”

On the contrary!

Exodus 17:9 ESV

9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

Exodus 17:8

We had already learned that GOD will deliver the victory, but we must be willing to enter the arena. They already discovered this when in fact they were victorious against the enemy. Their willingness to enter and fight was really a declaration of their faithfulness in God. It’s probably one of our first lessons of faith being more than a noun.

God has allowed some of us to get a scouting report on a promise He has for us, too. But we’re too busy throwing shade / hating on people, we miss the point of what God’s wanting us to see. He wants you to see where you’ll be in 1, 5, or ten years from now. It’s precisely why that person was put in your life! You’re worried about the wrong thing!

“Look at them… she’s probably only with him because he has money...” I’ve heard fellas say that. Nah, bruh… she’s with him because he respects her as a daughter of the Most High. She’s with him because he sends her flowers for no particular reason. She’s with him because he puts her before his boys, football, and/or video games. She’s with him because he pushes her intellectually and isn’t intimidated by her ambition or independence.” Quit hating, and see that God’s only trying to show you what could be yours.

Ladies quit assuming she has her position because she slept with someone! God only wanted you to see where you could be if you stopped showing up late to work, and actually stayed late at work sometimes. He’s already put in your heart what could be, or has maybe given you a visual of what should be, but you’re too busy gossiping to see it.

I’ve seen couple go to someone’s house for game night, and all they can do after leaving is talk about is how small that person’s house is compared to theirs. You’ve missed how loving and happy that house is, and how debt free that couple is. You’ve missed how God is using this family to serve as a light in their community, and is showing you how He can use yours if you put Him first.

The reality is that suggests that the reason to send the scouts was to strengthen the faith of the Israelites.

Back to the text

Numbers 13:17–23 ESV

17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, 18 and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19 and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. 21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 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.

Numbers 13:17

Genesis begins with the creation of the world, but then heavily focuses on the OT patriarchs, eventually ending with their (Israel’s) move to Egypt.

Exodus tells us how they get out of Egypt and get to Sinai, where the receive the law.

Leviticus, which contain some of these laws, is heavily about how to worship and how to live.

Numbers, which also contains some of the laws, summarizes the 40 years in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy, the sequel to Numbers, is at the end of the 40 years and has Moses addressing this new group of Israelite adults, reminding them of the laws issued by God, and concludes with his death.

While the books are distinctive in their themes, don’t confuse the the thematic distinction with separate time periods. There’s a lot of overlap between the historical events that occurred, as they cover events from the mid 15th century BC to the time of Moses’ death.

Notice, I said he was “addressing this new group of Israelite adults.” What does that mean, and why is it important? Let’s see...

We saw in this video clip, and have read

plagues against Pharoa and people of Egypt

cross the red sea

bitter water made sweet

manna and quail

water from the rock

Amalekites