Numbers 14:36-38
36 So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it— 37 these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. 38 Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.
This is the account of Moses sending the 12 spies into Canaan to scout out the land and to see what the Israelite armies would be dealing with. Unfortunately, 10 of the spies came back with a report that convinced the people that they were over-matched. They got the people all worked up that there was no way they would be able to defeat the people living in the land. The people were too big, their cities were too well fortified, and the people were just too strong.
Joshua and Caleb, however, had a different interpretation of the facts. They acknowledged that yes the people were big and strong, yes the cities were well fortified; but God is bigger and stronger. They encouraged the people to trust God to do what He had promised: to deliver the people of Canaan into their hands. They reminded the people that God would fight for them.
Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. The people were already in full-blown rebellion against God and Moses and Aaron. They grumbled once again about how it would have been better for them to have stayed in Egypt. If you are familiar with this account of the nation of Israel from the book of Exodus all the way up to this point in Numbers, you will remember that when the Israelites were in Egypt they cried out to God because of the oppression they were dealing with there. They were a people, not unlike ourselves, who were never happy no matter what God did for them. They cried out when they were in slavery. They grumbled against Moses and God at every challenge once they left Egypt. Here they are grumbling once again because they just did not trust God.
With our Scripture text from above, God makes it very clear that there are consequences for faithless rebellion. The consequences for the 10 unfaithful spies was immediate judgement, God struck them down with a plague.
Here's the lesson for us:
We are just as guilty as those 10 unfaithful spies, at times. We whine and complain. We grumble against God because He hasn't blessed us the way that we want to be blessed. We can judge the Israelites and those spies, but we are no better. Just as those men had no excuse because they had constantly witnessed first hand God's love for them, and His almighty power; we also have no excuse to not trust God. We have the hindsight to see their mistakes and God's reaction to them. We also have the benefit of seeing how God worked out everything for the Israelites, and how all of the problems they experienced from 1500 B.C until today, is entirely of their own making.
The same is true for us. None of our problems in life are God's fault. They are entirely our fault. First, because every problem is a result of sin. Sin came into the world through man. God's creation was perfect until man ruined it with rebellion.
Second, most of our problems are the direct result of us trying to do things on our own, for our own desires. Problems come when we forget about God's plan and invest much, or all, of our time into pleasing ourselves. Chasing after our own ideas and desires.
Finally, there is no greater stress in life than not trusting God to faithfully care for us the way He has promised. God is faithful. We don't need to worry about every little detail of our lives. When challenges arise, we can be sure that God will see us through; as well as, using it for our good. We can trust that God will use this challenge for our good, for His glory, according to His infinite wisdom and divine plan.
The biggest reason we have no excuse: JESUS!
We have seen God's greatest promise fulfilled. The promise of a Savior. The Israelites didn't have that. They had to trust that God would one day send a Savior into the world. So even more so, we have no excuse to not trust God. He has already fulfilled His greatest promise.
Graciously, it is because of Jesus that we can trust God in everything. It is Jesus who gives us that power and ability.
Thankfully, it is also because of Jesus that we are assured that when we do grumble and rebel against God, He forgives us. Jesus has payed for all of our sins. Thankfully, we are forgiven for our selfishness and lack of faith at times.
What a loving God we have who would send His own Son to be the sacrifice for our sins so that we can be saved.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
God bless
Jason Fredrick
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