Forgetfulness - Wed Night Service

What can we say - I forgot?

We’re such a forgetful people!

What do you think I mean by that statement?

What do you think about that statement, are we are forgetful people? Do you agree??? or not???

Now let me re-phrase the question, do you think the children of Israel were forgetful???

Yes, they were..

We’re not unlike the Hebrews, who saw God’s hand leading them through the wilderness but also forgot about His care when they learned about giants in the land He promised them. He had given His Word to grant them the land—and He had never not kept His word to them in the past—but still they failed to trust Him.

We’re such a forgetful people! We’re not unlike the Hebrews, who saw God’s hand leading them through the wilderness but also forgot about His care when they learned about giants in the land He promised them. He had given His Word to grant them the land—and He had never not kept His word to them in the past—but still they failed to trust Him.

Think about the children of Israel… the Hebrews saw God’s hand leading them through the wilderness but also forgot about His care as He protected and when with them...

Do you remember when they got close to the promised land the first time…

Let me take you to Numbers chapter 13..

Verses 17-20

Numbers 13:17–20 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.

and then verses 25-33....

Numbers 13:25–33 ESV

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. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” 30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Numbers 13:25–29 ESV

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. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

Numbers 13:250

God has brought them all this way,

He delivered them from Pharoah, he drowned all of Pharaoh's army in the red sea, He tool them into the desert of the mountain of God, Mt. Sinai where He entered into a covenant with them, ratifying what He promised through Abraham He has sheltered them day and night, He has protected them, fed them, made sure they had water...

God had done so much ....

And it is easy to remember when everything is going good, when times are easy and our stress very little.

But people often forget when our days are filled with stress, just saying...

Now sadly when the report came back the people grew afraid… they grew worried, they grew terrified...

Didn’t God promise to give them the land? Didn’t he promised to bless them and help them....

Didn’t God promise to give them the land? Didn’t he promised to bless them and help them....

But still fear gripped them… fear paralyzed them and fear made them doubt God...

Numbers 13 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. 4 And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. 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. 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. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” 30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Numbers 13

Do you realize today that fear keeps us from trusting and following after the Lord our God?

Yes it will, that is what the Lord has reminded us that we have not been given a spirit of fear

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:8 ESV

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

Power, love and a sound mind or self control…

When they learned about giants in the land He promised them. He had given His Word to grant them the land—and He had never not kept His word to them in the past—but still they failed to trust Him.

when they learned about giants in the land He promised them. He had given His Word to grant them the land—and He had never not kept His word to them in the past—but still they failed to trust Him.

In :verses 31-32 listen to Moses described the situation this way:

Moses described the situation this way:

“And you saw in the wilderness how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place. But in spite of this you did not trust the Lord your God. . . .” ().

Wow… How often does that happen to us?

I’m stuck today on the words, “in spite of this,” because they so often describe me. Sometimes I struggle with trusting God:

Do you struggle to trust God in every situation?

Let a person hear they have cancer, that a child has died … something terrible has happened… and fear grips our life and we begin to doubt if God can… at times people never move past the fear....

For others it takes a while and then they are very few who will take God at HIs word right away.. time

In spite of His continual care for me

In spite of the fact that I cannot name a time when He let me down

In spite of my claim to believe and follow His Word

In spite of the stories of long-term believing friends who’ve never seen God forsake them

In spite of my belief that God loves me so much that He sent His Son to die for me.

In spite of all this, I still wrestle with trusting. May God forgive us

PRAYER: “God, I need Your help. Help me always to see You rather than the giants in my life.”

Deut 1:30

Deuteronomy 1:30–40 ESV

30 The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God, 33 who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go. 34 “And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!’ 37 Even with me the Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’