Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro: story, father and his little girl.

But in her little two year old mind she now was just far removed from the big box that had the food in it.

So she would trow a temper tandrum and cry a river of tear and wiggle her way out of the chair and the march and stamp the little feet back across the floor

One day on a farm, was a little boy who began to cry during dinner.

One day on a farm, was a little boy who began to cry during dinner.

And they wanted to know why he was crying, he said, “I don’t want no beans.”

And they wanted to know why he was crying, he said, “I don’t want no beans.”

And they wanted him to eat his beans but he continued to protest eating the beans and so they finally took the beans away.

And they wanted him to eat his beans but he continued to protest eating the beans and so they finally took the beans away.

Whether

Whether they did the right thing or not remains to be seen.

But a little bit after that he began to cry again and as he cried they asked, “what is the matter, why are you crying for now?”

He said, “I want some beans.”

Now my father and mother hadn’t heard about this kind of psychology when I was small,

He said, “I want some beans.”

Now my father and mother hadn’t heard about this kind of psychology when I was small, I don’t think It would have happened the same way if they would’ve taken away the beans, because I didn’t like beans either which way, regardless of the psychology.

I don’t think it would have happened the same way if they would’ve taken away the beans,

because I didn’t like beans either which way, regardless of the psychology.

I discovered when I was small that the things I had to eat, I didn’t want to eat...

and to my surprise after I was married, and started cooking whole lot more,

I found a whole family of foods, including beans, that I love today, that I didn’t like before.

And the reason I like them to a great extent is because I don’t have to eat them anymore.

Well this has something to do with what we want to say today.

See if you can find out where it shows up because we are following the children of Israel from Egypt to the promise land.

And more specifically today we are following from Mt. Sinai to a place called Kadesh-Barnea.

Our Scripture passage begins with .

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 1.

As you know, Deuteronomy is the review of the wonderings of the children of Israel by Moses on the borders of the promise land just before he died.

So you have Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers which share much of the story of the Exodus and its background…

then you have Deuteronomy as sort of a summary view of the whole thing.

I will begin reading in verse 19.

Read .

So notice the Lord has done what with the land?

He has given it to them.

The promise land was a promise, a gift.

It was called the promised land on purpose and do you fight for a gift?

Not only was this true with ancient Israel, but with modern Israel who are headed for the heavenly Canaan.

Do you fight to gain what has been promised?

Well from Mt. Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea was about 150 miles.

They figured about 11 days journey from point A to point B. So it wasn’t that big a deal as far as distance is concerned.

And when they got to Kadesh-Barnea they were right on the borders of the land of Canaan.

But let’s notice a couple of interesting things that took place between Mt.

Sinai and Kadesh-Barnea as we go.

Turn with me for our story to .

Read .

Now something happened 3 days into their journey from Mount Sinai.

“The ark was of the covenant of the Lord went before them during those 3 days to find a place to rest.”

This we will continue to follow in (READ).

Now this had begun with the mixed multitude that the NIV calls the rabble..

and the mixed multitude were the people who had been Egyptians...

and who had followed the children of Israel because they were impressed by what had happened...

and the mixed multitude chose to go to the promise land but their hearts were still in Egypt.

So they chose to complain over the menu and God heard their complaining…

and verse 10 of says that Moses heard the people as well.

Everyone was weeping at the door of his tent and it says that the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly and Moses also was displeased and troubled.

And verse 33 tells us that God in His anger struck the people with a severe plague.

as God’s anger burnt against the people, and struck them with a plague and many were buried who craved other foods and rebelled against God.

When people get tired of angels food, is the problem with the people or with the food?

Let me ask that again!!!

Well we say that the people must’ve gotten tired of manna muffins and manna mush, and manna hotcakes and…

manna milkshakes, and manna cookies, and manna roast and…

manna baked, and manna fried, and manna boiled...

And I suppose that there is something to that.

But there are deeper issues here than just variety.

What was the real issue?

The real issue was rebellion.

And I suppose that rebellion is the bottom line for many of the issues that we grapple with only on the surface.

There are many stories in the Bible that speak of rebellion

.

King Saul is a prime example of someone with a rebellious attitude...

and the prophet Daniel is an excellent example of faithfulness, the opposite of of rebellion.

Turn with me to and here in this context, God asks king Saul to punish the Amalekites for all their wickedness.

Part of the punishment was to not spare any of the animals as spoils of war.

Yet, Saul rebelled against the will of the Lord, and let his army keep the animals for themselves.

The story of Samuel and Saul in .

Let’s pick up the story with God speaking to the prophet Samuel regarding Saul’s rebellious heart.

, (READ).

Now Samuel had the unfortunate task of confronting Saul about his disobedience.

And notice how Saul welcomes Samuel.

( READ).

It is interesting that how Saul tried to convince himself and Samuel that he actually carried out God’s instructions.

When he actually did the opposite.

And that is one of the problems with rebellion.

It leads to self-deception.

But notice Samuel’s response, ( READ).

Sounds like Samuel has a sense of humor even in a tense situation, but pay attention to Saul’s response again (Verses 15, 20 READ).

Saul not only excuses his sin, but makes it sound like he is rebelling against the command in order to worship the Lord.

And notice the punchline by Samuel (Verses 22, 23 READ).

Rebellion is like the sin of divination, another translation says, it is like the sin of witchcraft.

Rebellion puts us under the spell of self-deception... and

we excuse our sinful behavior, and try to make it sound like we are not rebellious but actually serving God.

The prophet confronts him with his rebellion and instead of repenting...

he tells the prophet that he has it all wrong, it is not rebellion, but true worship.

Story of dad and little girl with the big box with food in it.

This story reminds me of both Saul and the Israelites…

and how God was putting them in the right positions to receive His blessings,

but they would try to wiggle out of God’s plans and throw a temper tantrum in the process.

There are many positives examples of individuals who chose not to rebel but to submit and obey to the will of God.

One such example is the life of Daniel.

Turn with me to Daniel chapter 9 and let us listen in to one of Daniel’s prayers.

Let’s begin by reading the context of Daniels prayer in , .