The Lord is with You - Numbers 14

Introduction

Given virtually any circumstance, you can have two different people face the same circumstance with two different responses. What’s the difference? The difference in response is indicative of a difference of belief.

The Holocaust is a portion of history that fascinates me, and I’m especially interested in hearing accounts from Holocaust survivors as to the means they used to survive such torturous experiences. And, there are two experiences that come into my mind in which I think illustrates well how two people can face the same circumstance, even of unimaginable hardship, and respond totally different. Elie Wiesel was 15 years old when he was taken Auschwitz with his whole family. Upon arrival, his mother and little sister were immediately executed in the gas chamber, while he and his father were sent to hard labor until their bodies couldn’t bare it any longer. Eventually, he would be forced to listen to his father being trampled under the feet of other prisoners without enough strength in his body to intervene. And so, Wiesel writes of the night of his arrival at Auschwitz as he saw the cloud of smoke from the human incinerator billowing against the clouds these words: “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.”

Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch-reformed Christian who had a similar experience. She, along with her elderly father and sister, felt resolved before God that He would have the hide and protect Jews who were being collected and burned by the Germans. They built a secret room in their house where they hid them until it was discovered in 1944 because of a neighbor who betrayed them. Corrie managed to smuggle a Bible into the concentration camp by the kindness of God and would hold worship services. Because of their faithfulness to imitate Jesus’ cross, Corrie lost her entire family, like Wiesel, to the incinerators of the camp. But, unlike Wiesel, her faith in God was strengthened, not shattered. Corrie was released on a clerical error at the camp just a week before every woman in her age group was sent to the gas chamber. She wrote: "You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have." She would go on to open a home for mentally ill children and to minister to others over the course of her life. So, here are two people facing the same crucible in their lives, with essentially the same experience, but responding in totally different ways — one by deleting God and one by drawing near to Him.

God’s Word

And, it’s the same for you and me when we’re diagnosed with cancer or when we miscarry or when our spouse betrays us or when God calls us into the frontier of missions. It’s the same experience we see as Israel stands on the edge of the Promised Land hearing the report of the spies. All 12 spies saw the same fertility and the same giants in the land, yet ten of them responded one way while two of them responded another. So, it’s these crucible moments that teach us the difference between a convenient faith and a convictional faith. It’s these moments that teach us what our hearts truly believe. Let’s look this morning at how we can know if we have a convenient faith or a convictional faith (headline). We’ll focus on a convictional faith this morning.

A convictional faith “counts” on God’s “gifts”.

v. 8 “If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into the land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.” First, a convictional faith “counts” on God’s “gifts”. It’s hard to imagine that Joshua and Caleb’s blood pressure wasn’t through the roof as they listened to their friends and neighbors begging to go back to Egypt, back to slavery. You see, there were two perspectives that were facing Israel, and it’s the same perspectives that often separate those who see great movements of God from those who don’t now, too. You can either view the Promised Land as what you’re getting or what you’re facing. Caleb and Joshua’s point is that Israel is worried about what they’re facing rather than celebrating what they’re getting. Notice what they begin by saying. “an exceedingly (exceedingly) good land”, “the Lord’s delight”, “He will give it”, and “a land that flows with milk and honey.” Here’s Caleb’s point: they’d seen for themselves that everything that God had said was true. They’d seen fo themselves that God had delivered them from Egypt and provided for them through desert. They’d seen for themselves that the land was as good as God had promised. In other words, he’s highlighting the goodness of God’s gift as proof of God’s character. That’s what God’s gifts are to his children. God’s gifts are glimpses of his character. “An exceedingly (exceedingly) good land” reflected an exceedingly (exceedingly) good God. God giving it to them, despite the giants that they faced, was evidence of just how deeply generous God is. That is was a ‘land flowing with milk and honey’, as they saw with their own eyes, proved that God was trustworthy and dependable.

A Realist with Real Hope

In other words, Caleb isn’t a pie in the sky optimist who refuses to acknowledge that there are giants in the land or that it’s not going to be easy. But, Caleb is a realist who sees the whole picture. He doesn’t just see how big the enemy is; He sees how good God is. And, if God has said it, then they can believe it. After all, God’s track record proves his character. He was a realist, and it wasn’t going to be easy. But, his hope was even more real.

What God has said is more certain than what you have seen. That gets to the essence of what it means to live out a convictional faith. A convictional faith is believing what others can’t yet see because God has said it. We have the same inclination as Israel, don’t we? Our hearts are inclined to believe at every turn that God has finally forgotten us or that we’ve finally found the proof that He’s not real. We stand between a rock and a hard place, with a desert on one side and giants on the other, with betrayal on one side and loneliness on the other, with dissatisfaction on one side and joblessness on the other, and it’s easy for us to become convinced that God’s character has finally been proven flawed. But, He is a God of dependable character and of surprising greatness.

God’s Character Never Proves You a Fool

Let me ask you: Who gets proven the fools in this passage? Are the fools those who do what appears smart and turn back, or are the fools those who trust what God has said and press forward? You see, the character of God will never prove you a fool. There’s nothing more dependable than banking your well-being on his promises. You can count on his gifts well before you receive them. You can live today with the type of joy that can only come by knowing it’s going to turn for your good. You can live like that even if things aren’t good right now, even if they are awful right now. Because you can count on God’s gifts. Did you know that Paul tells Timothy that your crown is already there waiting for you in heaven? It feels like a long way off, but you can live today like it’s already yours. And, when you begin to live by the conviction that God’s promises are already yours, then, you’ve set yourself up to have your breath taken away time and again by his surprising greatness. I wonder what you would do for God this morning if you were convinced you could trust God’s promises. I wonder if you’d surrender to the ministry or if you’d share the gospel with one of your kids or if you’d start an addiction recovery ministry. I wonder if you’d adopt a child or lead a connection group or give a young mother a new friend. You see, whatever apparent giant that’s standing between you and God’s gift is God’s opportunity to surprise you again with his greatness. Will you trust him?

A convictional faith “depends” on God’s “power”.

v. 9 “Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” Next, a convictional faith “depends” on God’s “power”. There’s only two ways to live — by conviction or by fear. Everybody faces the same obstacles and the same concerns and the same issues, but you have to decide whether you’re going to live by the conviction that God is trustworthy or if you’re going to live a safer, more convenient life, avoiding what scares you. You’ll notice that in verse 9 that’s the exact decision facing Israel. (show w/an =)Notice that the Hebrew parallelism makes a one-to-one comparison with “rebellion” and “fear”. That’s interesting, isn’t it? We don’t often equate fear with rebellion, but here he says, “Do not revel against the LORD” and, then, he restates his same thought with slightly different phrasing when he says, “Do not fear.” So, how can living in fear be viewed as rebellion against God? You can figure this out by the rest of what he says in verse 9. He says on one hand, “Don’t be afraid of these people. They’re just people. They’ll be like food to us. God consumes his enemies. He’ll devour them.” That’s what leads to the second major thought that He gives to us: “The LORD is with us.” In other words, do you not believe that God is with us who is able to totally consume his enemies? Do you not know what it means to live in fear? Living in fear means that you overestimate your enemies and you underestimate your God. It means that you live as a practical atheist — someone who professes belief and relationship with God with their lips but then lives practically as though He doesn’t exist. That’s how living in fear is rebellion. It’s to trust the instinct in you to run from your enemies more than you trust the word of God that He will protect you and deliver you and bless you.

God’s Will Depends Upon God

The key to unlock much of the anxiety in your life is to stop overestimating your enemies and underestimating your God. Man, there’s a life-giving message here for you in the words that Caleb speaks, when He says that “The LORD is with us.” Do you see it? They’re afraid to go and take God’s promises because they’re afraid they aren’t strong enough to take them. That is, they’re afraid to live out God’s will for their lives because they’re afraid they will mess it up; they’re afraid that they aren’t able enough; they’re afraid they aren’t strong enough. It’s just like why you haven’t had children yet or accepted the promotion yet or went on the mission trip yet — you’re afraid that you’ll mess it up. So, you’re anxious and miserable and joyless. But, goodness, listen to what Caleb says, and live with this conviction: “The LORD is with you.” You see, the answer for real peace is as simple as it is deep: God’s will depends upon God, not you. If God is calling you into a land of giants, it’s not because you’re awesome; it’s because He is. If God is calling you forward to a new chapter in your life, you can stop overestimating your enemies because it doesn’t all rest on your shoulder or ride on your ability. God is with you, and God is able. Don’t underestimate him. The LORD is with us in ways that Israel couldn’t have even imagined. With them, He may have dwelled in a tent in their midst. But, for us, He inhabits us as his very Temple. God is with you, church. He’s with you!

The Narrow Path

v. 10 “Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones.” Now, if you sense that God is calling you away from a faith of convenience and into a faith of conviction, then it’s important that you note the fullness of the reality here. It’s important that you count the costs of a convictional faith. If you’re looking for this to be an inspirational Lou Holtz pep talk where everybody changes sides and charges into Canaan, you’ve come to the wrong story. It says that they hear what Caleb and Joshua say, and with Moses and Aaron on their faces before God, the people begin to pick up rocks to throw at their heads. Standing firm often means standing alone. If we are taking up our crosses to follow Jesus, we must remember that Jesus’ cross was a lonely one. All of his disciples abandoned him. That’s what Jesus shows us when He teaches us the other path we can take: “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” If you are going to follow Jesus, you must put to death the majority mentality that lives in your heart. The question of your life has to shift away from “What does everybody think?” to “What has God said?” It has to shift away from “What does everyone else — my parents, my friends, my teachers — want for my life?” to “What does God want for my life?” Because when that’s the case, it doesn’t matter the odds that you face, and it doesn’t matter the impossibility of God’s call on your life — “the LORD is with you.” John Knox once said, “A man with God is always in the majority.” Are you willing and ready to live with that conviction?

A convictional faith “enters” through God’s “kindness”.

v. 11 “And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?” Lastly, I want you to see that a convictional faith “enters” through God’s “kindness”. God intervenes by shining his glory to spare the lives of Caleb, Joshua, Moses, and Aaron. He summons a meeting with Moses to ask a question, as some of you last week astutely pointed out how strange it is when God asks a question. He asks a question as though He doesn’t know how long his people will rebel against him. But, God doesn’t ask questions so He can know things; He asks questions so that we can know things. So, God makes a proposal to Moses. He’s going to strike his people with a plague and disinherit them, and, instead, He’ll make a new nation out of Moses. But, Moses doesn’t accept. Moses intercedes. He places himself between God and Israel, and He asks God in verse 19: “Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” So, Moses calls on the character of God — the very same character that had been so vividly revealed through his good gifts in Canaan. He was calling on the kindness of God, the “steadfast love” of God to forgive his people in the same way that He had always done and would always have to be. You see, it was the proven character of God that his heart was more inclined to mercy than it was to wrath. It was the proven character of God that He was more inclined to remain filled with love and compassion than with vengeance and anger — just as either of those are. What good news for you and for me as we find the same inclinations of Israel in our own hearts.

We are Pardoned

God is painting us a picture with Moses. He says in verse 20, “I have pardoned, according to your word.” And so, He lovingly pardons Israel of their sins, and He provides the way through which their children — along with Joshua and Caleb — will enter into the Promised Land after all. Y’all, Joshua and Caleb don’t enter into the Promised Land (primarily) because of how strong their faith is; they get to enter into the Promised Land (primarily) because of how kind their God is. Do you see Jesus here? Jesus intercedes on our behalf. He stands between us and God. But, Jesus doesn’t ask for God’s judgement to pass; Jesus asks that God’s judgment be poured upon him rather than us. He mediates and intercedes, and then He atones. That is, Jesus says, “Let the judgement they deserve fall upon me so that the kindness that I deserve may fall upon them.” You are never saved because your faith is so good; always saved because your God is so kind. So, if you will repent of your sins and call on the name of the Lord, you will be ‘pardoned, according to your word.’ This is how you’ll enter the Promised Land — through the life-altering conviction that Jesus is standing in your place.