THROUGH THE BIBLE - Numbers..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Numbers chapter 13. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel.

For each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them. 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. And these were their names, from the tribe of Reuben, Shammuah, the son of Zechor. From the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori. From the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.

From the tribe of Issachar, Agal, the son of Joseph. From the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea, the son of Nun. From the tribe of Benjamin, Patti, the son of Raphu. From the tribe of Zebulun, Gadiel, the son of Sodhi. From the tribe of Joseph, that is from the tribe of Manasseh, Gadi, the son of Susi.

From the tribe of Dan, Emiel, the son of Gemali. From the tribe of Asher, Sethu, the son of Michael. From the tribe of Naphtali, Nehbeh, the son of Vophisi. From the tribe of Gad, Gruel, the son of Machi. These were the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land.

And Moses called Hosea, the son of Nun, Joshua. Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, go up into the Negev and go up into the hill country. and see what the land is and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 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 a season of the first ripe grapes. So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near the Lebo Hamath.

They went up into the Negev and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Shishai, and Talmai, and descendants of Anak were there. Hebron was built seven years before Zohan in Egypt. And they came to the valley of Eshkol 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. That place was called the valley of Eshkol because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut from there. And at the end of the 40 days, they returned from spying out the land 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 words from them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 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. 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. The Amalekites dwelled in the land of the Negev. The Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwelled in the hill country, and the Canaanites dwelled by the sea and along the Jordan.

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, Let us go at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it. Then the man who had gone up with him said, But we are not able to go against the people, for they are stronger than we are. So they brought to the people of Israel 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. And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who came from the Nephilim.

And we seemed ourselves like grasshoppers. And so we sing to them. Amen. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord, it remains forever. Brothers and sisters, it's been centuries upon centuries that the people of Israel are anticipating this moment.

From generation to generation, the overarching anticipation of their hearts that was passed down to their sons and their daughters. And it always was in the back of their minds, at least for the loyal Israelites, was when they would finally receive the fulfillment of the promise of Yahweh to Abraham. Now the million plus strong, possibly two million people now in the wilderness are evidence that there has already been a partial fulfillment of that promise. That their number is as great as the sand on the sea or as abundant as the stars in the sky. But now the people were ready to receive the promise that entailed a land flowing with milk and honey.

And now they're at the doorstep of that land. camped just to the south in a place called the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, they could almost smell that promise being fulfilled. And the only thing that is required for them to set foot in that land and to take claim of what God had promised to them was to trust and obey God. Trust and obey. Now, it won't be easy.

It never said, the Lord never said it will be easy. But they will walk by faith and not by sight. Because Yahweh can be trusted. He can be trusted to fulfill all his promises no matter what. No matter what.

Their faith will be tested in chapter 13 and chapter 14. Here in chapter 13, God tells Moses, as we've just read, to have one head, one chief from every tribe, men who would represent the tribe, highly respected men, men who were leaders in that community and highly influential among their people. They were to go out and be spies into the land. 12 in total. They were to cross over the border and enter into the land of Canaan and then bring a report.

Go and examine the land and bring a report back to the people of Israel. They would examine what they saw in relation to the land. They were to see what it was like. What is this land like, the land of Canaan? No one had seen it in this generation.

Is it like a huge flat paddock or is it a forest with many trees? And what about its fruitfulness? Is there a lot of trees? Is there a lot of fruit coming out of this land? And then bring some of that fruit back with you, says Moses.

No doubt that request to bring fruit back was to encourage and strengthen the faith and the resolve of the people in Yahweh. Think about it. Knowing it's a fertile land, a fruitful land that God has given them, would only add to their joy, would it not? Add to their gratitude to what Yahweh is giving them as a people. A land that is fruitful.

And we know already, as we've read through these books, that these people very much loved their bellies, didn't they? But also the spies were to survey not only the land, but they were to survey the occupants of the land. The occupants of Canaan. What were the people like? Were they weak?

Or were they strong? Were they few? Were they many? Were they primitive and living in camps? Or were they living in fortified, built-up cities like what they used to back in Egypt?

What are the people like? Now, having these answers, beloved, do in no way detract from trusting in Yahweh. Of course, Moses recognized the Lord was the one who would bring about the victory. Ultimately, he knew that. But that doesn't mean his people should go into a situation blind, does it?

They were to do their due diligence first, as any faithful army would. And this is a people described from the very beginning of the book of Numbers as the army of the Lord. But beyond the military surveillance, I believe a bigger thing is in view here. That was actually to show that Israel on their own were actually the underdogs in this situation. that they are in over their heads if they think in and of their own strength, they're able to declare war against any of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan on their own, that they would not be able to defeat them if it's their own strength that they're relying on.

And this I believe the Lord was sending them out not to instill fear into them, far from it, but rather to show them that against all odds that God's people are to surrender to Him and Him alone. That their trust is to be placed undividedly in Yahweh because victory will come at the mighty hand of Yahweh and not by their own strength. Now the task would be scary, no doubt. But if God has promised that he'll give you the land, then they should be resolved that God will indeed give them the land. Will they believe?

That's the question. Will they trust the Lord? These people had the privilege of actually looking back in their own generation and seeing the infinite faithfulness of God already. And that would give them the utmost assurance that he can be trusted, despite what lies ahead, despite the scary opposition that they will face and the formidable opposition indeed. Keep your eyes upon the Lord God is what the message is.

Trust in him, believe upon him and the blessing will come. Trust in God and the blessing will come. You see, it's no coincidence that in verse 16, Moses informs the reader of Hosea's name is now changed to Joshua. We know him well as Joshua. The book is named after him.

And we know him as Joshua. He'll lead the people in the conquest. And not only do we know the person, but we also know what his name means. What does Joshua's name mean? It means the Lord is the one who saves, or salvation is of the Lord.

So the question that needs to be asked is, from whom does the Lord need to save his people from? The obvious answer is the enemy. The Lord saves his people from the enemy. And it's Yahweh who will save his people from their enemies. So when these men step foot in a strange land and an intimidating setting with mighty fortresses and the opposition of mighty men, even giants as they say, What they need to remember is that point, that salvation is of the Lord.

Now with that in mind, this surveillance mission of these 12 spies is quite unique because God knows. God knows the assessment of these spies. He knows when they come back, what they're going to say. He knows that in their heart, they're going to recognize that this Israel is no way a comparison to any of the cities that they go and confront, that they've seen in the promised land. And I believe that's exactly what God wants them to see.

I believe that's what God intends for these spies to see and the people to acknowledge in order to take them to the next step. And that next step, beloved, is not despair. No, that next step is hope. Hope in Him alone. By faith.

By faith. They were to be convinced that if we, this people who is rescued from Egypt, this people who are not, who have almost no battle training at all, if we are going to take possession of this land, this land that has been promised to our forefathers, this land promised with all these blessings, then we're not going to be able to take it by our own strength, but in the strength of the Lord, the one who keeps His promises. And He's the one who has promised our father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and indeed us, that He'll give us this land. And then from that they are to know that He can be trusted. The mission was one to bolster the faith of Israel, not to sink them into fear or despair, but rather to bolster their faith, that he would see all the more glorious.

How great is your opposition, but how great is your Lord? That's the contrast. So the spies made the journey. They surveyed the whole region. We're told from Zin in the south to Rehob in the north.

Now that's about 400 kilometers each way. So 40 days is about the amount of time you'd want to give these spies to do that journey. They'd probably have a few days left over, but 40 days we're told is what it took them. And for the most part, rather than growing in their trust in Yahweh, we can see that from their report that they gave Moses and the congregation, Fear began to creep in. Fear.

And beloved, fear will always take a grip if you lose sight of Him who is with you. And that's what they did. They lost sight of Yahweh. They lost sight of the One who gave them the promise that He will give them the land. Even though so much of what they experienced in this foreign land that would once one day be theirs through the promise.

So much there that was reminding them of the promises of God. For starters, they finally stepped foot or set foot on the promised land. Now think with me. 18 months earlier, what were the odds of the people of Israel in Egypt under slavery? What were the odds that they would make it to the promised land?

There are about zero apart from faith. Who could rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians? From Pharaoh. And now you have 12 of these spies actually walking into the promised land. And it's no coincidence that one of the first towns mentioned for us that they visited was what?

Hebron. You may have forgotten about Hebron, but I guarantee these men didn't forget about Hebron. How could they forget the place that their father Abraham called home? It's in that vicinity that Yahweh gave the promise to Abraham that he would be indeed the father of a great nation and also that that nation, the posterity of Abraham would actually receive from the hand of God a land flowing with milk and honey, Hebron. The spies were real-life evidence that God is faithful to His promise.

As I said earlier, they left behind some maybe two million Israelites, for starters, and now they walk through Hebron, the very land that Yahweh promised one day would be theirs. That's God's faithfulness, and He will bring His promise to fruition. They only have to have the faith of Abraham to believe and to obey, to receive that promised land. The cave in Mekpela east of Mamre in Hebron was no doubt nearby and I believe that cave spoke to the faith of Abraham also. The very place that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were buried, you might remember.

Why were they buried in that place, you might ask? Well, will you remember, Abraham bought the cave from Ephron the Hittite because he believed Yahweh. He believed God will fulfill his promises. And by his bones and the bones of his family being buried in that place, Abraham believed that one day his bones will be in the midst of his posterity, who have taken possession of a land that God had promised him. Even though that'd be four or five hundred years later, it mattered not.

Abraham believed. And when Abraham believed, he acted upon his faith. Abraham believed and he acted upon his faith and these people are walking through Hebron. No doubt those things are walking through their mind as they're walking through this land. So the question now is, will Israel believe and will they act according to their faith?

Next week we'll consider that answer in relation to the congregation, in relation to their response to the spies report. But this week what we have before us is the spies themselves. Now it may seem like it's all bad news that they give, and you might not be wrong if you think that way, but there is a little glimmer of good news. Because they do profess that the land does flow with milk and honey. They said that.

It does. And then they say we brought some of the fruit back to evidence that it is a fruitful, fertile land. In other words, the promise is real. We saw it with our own eyes. And here's some of the fruit.

And what fruit? We're talking about a cluster of grapes. A cluster, that's about as big as I've seen them. But if it takes two men to carry the cluster on a pole, I'll let your imagination run wild. So in other words, what they're saying is the blessing was definitely there.

God didn't misspeak when he said that it's a land flowing with milk and honey, it's a fertile land, that they will reap what they did not sow, that they'll have houses and they'll have vineyards. God did not misspeak. God kept his promise. And they've gone in and they've seen this land. But all they need to do as a people is to trust and obey in order to take possession of that land.

However, most of the spies tend, in fact, lack that faith. And from there, it goes from what seems to be good to bad. Actually, we're told it's a bad report that they give. Yes, the land is real. Yes, it's fruitful.

Yes, it's wonderful. However, there's a really, really big problem. And the problem lies with the inhabitants of the land. They are too big. Giants, in fact.

And they're very strong, stronger than us. They're cities. They are fortified. and they eat up their inhabitants. We have no chance is what they're saying.

Practically what they're saying to Moses and Aaron and the rest of the people is let's forget about this land and move on. We can't take this land. We can't enter. Now going by the word that is used in the original for bad, the bad report in verse 32, in other places it's actually translated evil report. It could be evil report or slanderous report.

False. reporting. So it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume that a lot of these men, these ten, were embellishing their work, exaggerating what they saw in order to emphasize fear in the hearts of the congregation so that they all surrender and say, no, no, no, we can't enter, it's too dangerous, let's avoid it. That's what they're trying to do. But I want to say, even if their report is true, What is missing in their very negative assessment?

Even if all they say is true, what are they missing in their assessment? Sure, these things may be scary and the enemy formidable, but why is there no mention of Yahweh in this? Why is God not mentioned in their report or in their words at all? No mention of God. That's a bit odd.

See, sometimes we're far removed and we may forget that Yahweh is among them. The manifest presence of God is among them. He never left them. The cloud in the day, if it is a day or if it's night, is the pillar of fire. There is always a reminder that Yahweh is among them.

It's always in the back of their mind. But there's no mention of Yahweh. No mention. He's supposed to be in the forefront of their mind, and even just their last 13 or 14 months, they're reminded once again, always are reminded, of the slavery that they were rescued out of Egypt. And they were rescued not because of their goodness, or by their own strength, or by their military maneuvering, or anything like that.

They were rescued by the mighty, miraculous hand of God. That's what they were rescued by. It's Him who provided for their rescue. It's Him who provided for their food. Manna every day, miraculously.

Wake up and it's all over the floor. All over the ground you have manna. Feeding the manna for their stomachs. What about their thirst? It was Him who provided water from the rock to satisfy their thirsts.

They want meat. He treated them with meat. Full month worth of quail. How did that go? He's done all that.

He's done it all before their very eyes. Can you not trust also that this great God will defeat your enemies and give you what He has promised? Is there anything too difficult for this God? Caleb doesn't think so. He raises his voice and he says in verse 30, let us go at once and occupy it for we are able to overcome it.

You love the enthusiasm of this man and we know that Joshua shared it in the next chapter. We'll come to see that. It may sound like Caleb has confidence in his own ability, or the ability of the fighting Israelite men, but far from it that we should think that. Because in verse 8 of the next chapter, Joshua and Caleb, pretty much in one voice, make clear what they mean. And this is what they say, if the Lord delights in us, He, that's the key, He will bring us into the land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk.

and honey. Who will bring them into the land? He. Who will give them the land? He.

It is in the mighty hand of God. As for us, Caleb and Joshua are saying, no matter how formidable the enemy, no matter how scary the opposition, no matter how well built their cities, no matter how many weapons stand against us, we will trust in the Lord because He who is with us is greater than they. So he's looking at the people I imagine saying, will you not trust with us? Has he not proven himself to be faithful? Will you not trust with us that God is able?

No one said the journey would be easy. But Yahweh said he will be with us. Yahweh said he will fight for us. Yahweh said he'll give us the land. What more do we want?

He has spoken. Beloved, like the ten spies, if they take Yahweh, if they take God out of the equation, what are they left with? Their own abilities, their own intellect, their own strength. And that is inevitably going to lead you into despair and into fear because we're fallible, broken. We have no strength in and of ourselves.

That's the natural outcome when one relies on their own strength. Fear and despair. But the blessings of God are not attained by our own strength or our own ability. We can't attain the blessedness and the blessings that God has promised through our own abilities. Rather His people are simply to trust and obey.

Trust and obey. And right now the situation seems impossible but But has God not already proven that he is the God of the impossible? If anyone has seen it, these people have experienced it already. Caleb's words may have had no impact on the ten spies. They weren't interested in what he had to say.

They've already made up their minds. If they had If those words did have an impact, if these men actually were thinking about the promises and the faithfulness of God, then as they were actually uttering the name of the cities that they visited in verse 29, like the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites and the Canaanites, those cities that they were speaking of that they had visited, they should have been reminded of a very important point. And that is that those exact cities were actually mentioned by God previously, not even 12 months ago in the promise that God had made to his people on the base of Sinai. In Exodus 23-23 God says that he will go before his people in battle and he says, I will blot them out. Blot them out.

Eradicate. Annihilate. I'll destroy your enemies And then he says it's the Hittites and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, and more are listed in that passage in Exodus. And he said, I will give the land, he will give the land to his covenant people. Beloved, those cities are named by God for a reason.

The 10 spies, and sadly we'll see next week, the whole congregation of Israel at this time refused to believe. They fell in unbelief. And that's a scary place to be. The consequences of unbelief are devastating. Because if you think about it, the very thing, the very thing these 10 spies had probably feared the most about going into the land of Canaan in battle, the greatest fear would be the ultimate fear, which is, we will die.

They'll kill us. They'll destroy us. Beloved, that's the exact outcome that they'll experience not long from now, almost immediately in the next chapter. that their end will be death. But it won't be in an honourable way, fighting on behalf of God's army.

And it won't be in the land promised, that God promised, land flowing with milk and honey, rather. It will be in a barren wasteland, under the judgement of God. He'll pour out a plague upon them and destroy them because of their unbelief. The thing they feared most, befell them by the judgment of God. What a lesson.

As we read these books of the Old Testament and the story of God's redemption that works its way through the people of Israel, we're always to put 1 Corinthians 10 in our mind. You remember the text, the Apostle Paul saying, now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction. We're not to look back and just point the finger or look back and learn that we are to learn from their demise. That we are to acknowledge that we are to have faith in our God. That we are to place our hope in Him alone and not to draw strength from our own ability or anything that is within us.

That the blessings of God are found in Him, not in us or in our own abilities. We're also to acknowledge the word of Hebrews 3. and four, that tells us that the blessedness and the rest that these people so desperately desired never came to fruition, not only because they were denied entering into the promised land, but the ultimate rest was also denied. Because that's not found for those who don't believe. The rich and the wonderful blessings of God And the final rest cannot be attained by human effort.

It cannot be attained by human exertion. We can't flex our muscle and think that we can take it by force. any more than the strength of the Israelites could have attained for them the promised land. That would have been an impossibility on their own. The true blessings of God are the result of a supernatural work of God that we know is fulfilled, not in a place that you and I can point our finger to on a map called Palestine.

No, the infinite blessings of God upon his people, including the eternal rest, is found only in trusting in the person and in the work of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Beloved, we've said this over and over again, and we say it over and over again because it's important. The things of old are all pointing to the consummation that is found in Jesus Christ, the fulfillment that is found in Christ. They can be types and they can be shadows, but the anti-type, the one who fulfills all the types and the shadows, is Christ himself. apart from believing in this Jesus, the outcome is inevitable.

It's the same outcome that these spies experienced, death under the judgment of God. Because the true inheritance, the true rest, All the spiritual blessings of God cannot be attained through human means or human effort, but only through faith in this Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. Because as our brother read earlier in the call to worship in Ephesians chapter 1, in whom do we find all those blessings? Ephesians chapter 1 says all the spiritual blessings in the heavenlies and that includes beloved the eternal rest is found in Jesus and in Jesus alone. I pray and I hope that if there are any of us who are holding on to the things we know or our own strength, our own intellect, our own ability.

Thinking that these things, even our own righteous acts, beloved, thinking that these things will attain us favour with God or blessing with God that we think again. Yes, we have been called to live holy lives. But those blessings are found in one person, in one person only. If we've been united by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, that's where all the blessings of God are found. And it's only there that we can indeed trust and obey.

Let's pray.