When Dead Men Speak
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17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”
A wrong turn becomes a right turn.... God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”
They had never seen war. They had lived in relative peace, albeit as slaves , for all those 430 years.
18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.
Equipped for battle is not with armaments, it means in a marching fashion.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.”
Hundreds of years earlier, Joseph made his brothers promise to bury him in the promised land.
20 And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.
21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”
God led the people not by the nearest way, but on the way that was best for them.
The truth is, God was correct about Israel turning back. In Numbers 14.4, even though they went the desert way, they wanted to turn back… but the distance was too far.
4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
That seems pretty bad, doesn’t it? But I want you to fast forward. Across the desert wilderness… and I want you to come to the Promised Land, the land that flows with milk and honey.... the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob… the land that was Israel’s.
In Numbers 13 Israel arrives on the edge of that fabled land… and listen to what happens. :
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.”
And what was the response?
1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
Joshua’s report: Numbers 14.5-10
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 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.” 10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.
Then ALL the congregation said to stone them with stones...
Then ALL the congregation said to stone them with stones...
God speaks Numbers 14.11-12
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? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
Moses prays for forgiveness for the people...
God forgives, but Numbers 14.20-38
20 Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. 21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.” 26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.” 36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land— 37 the men who brought up a bad report of the land—died by plague before the Lord. 38 Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.
Note… the men who brought up a bad report of the land- died by plague before the Lord.
This is so important, because of what happens next...
39 When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly. 40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” 41 But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed? 42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. 43 For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” 44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.
The reason this is so important is that they spies who brought out a bad report still didn’t die… remember , they died by a plague (which means they went back out into the desert to die)..... these were the people, the day to day joe’s who decided to go up to Canaan.... and died in the process....
Let’s take a breath. A deep breath. Let’s ask ourselves where is the pastor leading us today?
I’m talking about dead men talking.
Who’s the dead man in this story? joseph.
REmember, he was in the original text that we read… Exodus 13.19
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.”
When Dead Men Talk
When Dead Men Talk
By the time Israel marched out of Egypt in the Exodus, Joseph had been dead over 400 years. Let that sink in.
Joseph.
Coat of many colors Joseph.
Beloved by his father Joseph.
Sold into slavery by his brothers Joseph.
Rises to Power in Egypt Joseph.
Delivers his family (including his brothers) from famine Joseph.
Dies in Egypt Joseph.
That Joseph.
They carried his bones out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, through the desert, back out into the desert.
But men who have died already can’t die again. So they carried those bones.
A reminder.
So what happens. Josh 24.32
32 As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
Remember.... Gen. 50.24-26
24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
And Joseph was rememberd in Hebrews 11.22 because of what? His faith in having his bones carried into Canaan land.
22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
Faith. By Faith Joseph.
Joseph believed God would one day give the land of Canaan to his people.
So he was sold into slavery.
And rose to power.
And saved his family.
And saved all of Israel.
And continued to say that, albeit as a dead man, until his own body arrived in the Promised Land. Those bones were a message of faith that perseveres and speaks even in death.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.
There is an obvious parallel in the person of Jesus Christ.
Jesus lived, died.... and then rose again.
Behind locked doors Jesus appears to the disciples, but one still did not believe. Thomas.
Thomas would ahve been a great spy. He would have said they are too big, let’s go back, let’s jsut get on with life.... but a dead man spoke.
Jesus says, “Thomas, put your hand here. Your fingers, here. Thomas, believe.”
Thomas says, “My Lord and My God.”
And Jesus says, “Have you believed because you see me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.”
Bottom Line:
If Dead Men Speak, Living Men Should Shout.
If Dead Men Speak, Living Men Should Shout.