Exodus and Wilderness

So, this morning, let's start, if you have a Bible, if you don't have a Bible, it'll

be helpful for you to have one, and there are some extras sitting in the bookshelf over

there.

But let's start with Psalm 95 this morning.

Psalm 95, in some Christian traditions, is prayed every morning as part of morning prayer,

and it happens to fit really well with what we're looking at this morning.

So, which one did you say?

Psalm 95.

O come, let us sing to the Lord.

Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving.

Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise, for the Lord is a great God, and

a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the depths of the earth.

The heights of the mountains are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it.

And his hands formed the dry land.

O come, let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.

For he is our God.

And we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at

Massa in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof

that they had seen my work.

For forty years I loathed that generation and said, they are a people who go astray in their

heart, and they have not known my ways.

Therefore I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.

This psalm sings praises to the God of Israel, who is the rock of their salvation.

And this morning we're going to be looking at the fundamental moment, the fundamental event

of Israel's salvation in the Exodus.

But then in the latter half of the psalm, you have this bit, today if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts, as Israel did in the wilderness.

And we're going to be looking at the wilderness years as well, the time when Israel went astray

in their heart and did not know God's ways.

So, this summer, through the whole summer in this Sunday school class, we're looking

at a sort of big, broad, thirty-thousand-foot view picture of the Old Testament, and especially

the narrative of the Old Testament.

Because it's one big story.

And sometimes we might know individual pieces of that story, but it's helpful for us to be

able to put the whole thing together to see how Jesus is the climax of the whole story

of the Old Testament.

And today, we're looking at Israel's exodus from Egypt and their time wandering in the

wilderness before they enter the Promised Land.

And since, if you've been coming to the sermons, you would know that we are going through Exodus

right now upstairs.

So, we're going to, it's really going to be a thirty-thousand-foot view.

Because if you come to the sermons, you will be getting a sort of verse-by-verse look at

Exodus.

So, I'm a handout.

I have a very, it can't get any briefer than this, outline of the Torah, of the first five

books of the Bible.

I put this on here just because we're going to be finishing up the narrative of the Torah

this morning.

We looked at Abraham's life last week, and that's all in the first half of Genesis.

And then today, we're looking at Exodus.

And Numbers has some of the story of Israel in the wilderness.

And then Leviticus and Deuteronomy, it doesn't have so much narrative in it.

It's mostly just legal codes.

So, we're not really going to be looking at those books at all this summer.

But first, talking about the Exodus from Egypt, where we left off last week, Israel is not

in Egypt.

Abraham is still wandering in the land that God had promised to give to his offspring.

So, I just put down a few sort of citations there if you want to chart out the story of Abraham's

family getting down into Egypt.

We talked about Abraham and Sarah being the parents of Isaac last week, the promised child,

the child that God had promised to Abraham.

And God's promises and blessing to Abraham that we talked about so much last week are

reiterated to Isaac in Genesis 26.

And then they're reiterated to Jacob, the child of Isaac, in Genesis 32.

So, we see this family line of promise, of blessing, emerging in Genesis.

Which is God bringing about and continuing his promise to Abraham that his offspring, his

family, would be the means by which God would bless the whole world.

And that promise is reiterated to Abraham's children.

Then there's the story of Jacob's child, Joseph, who was sold into Egypt as a slave.

Then God raises Joseph to prominence, saving the land from famine.

That's about 10 chapters in Genesis that we're just totally, we're mentioning but not looking at.

And then in this one, I think it might be helpful to look at really briefly.

If we can turn to Genesis 45.

So, starting in verse 4, this is Genesis 45.

Joseph is talking to his brothers years later after they had sold him into slavery,

after Joseph rises to prominence in Egypt.

So, starting, so Genesis 45, verse 4.

Genesis 45:4

Joseph said to his brothers, come near to me, please.

And they came near.

And he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here.

For God sent me before you to preserve life.

For the famine has been in the land these two years.

And there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

And God sent me here before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive

for you many survivors.

So, it was not you who sent me here, but God.

He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over the land of Egypt.

Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord

over all Egypt.

Come down to me.

Do not tarry.

You shall dwell in the land of Goshen.

And you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children and your flock

and all that you have.

There I will provide for you.

For there are yet five years of famine to come.

So that you and your household and all that you have do not come into poverty.

So, in this way, Israel ends up going down into Egypt.

And at first, it's not, they're not enslaved at first, right?

This is a good thing for them to be going to Egypt.

And Joseph even says God sent him there.

But just as God had told Abraham in Genesis 15, which I put on the page there,

know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs

and will be servants there.

And they will be afflicted for 400 years.

But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve.

And afterward, they shall come out with great possessions, just as God had assured Abraham.

So it happens.

A pharaoh, a new pharaoh comes up in the beginning of Exodus, who doesn't know Joseph's family.

And out of fear of that family that is increasing greatly, he enslaves them.

And they are afflicted for 400 years, as God had told Abraham.

And like I said, it's because it's the sermon series upstairs.

I have just a few notes here, like a really broad view of the book.

And on the second page, I have an outline of the book of Exodus,

which might actually help you follow the sermons upstairs.

You can place any particular sermon within the broader outline of the book.

But in short, the book of Exodus starts with God calling Moses and saving Israel from slavery in Egypt through Moses.

Then there's this, God brings them to Sinai and makes a covenant with them and gives them some laws.

That's where we are upstairs right now.

Then Israel fails, breaches the covenant, worships the golden calf, but God renews, restores the covenant.

And even from this really, really broad outline of the book of Exodus,

I think we can learn a lot about the life of faith just from that very basic structure of God saves Israel,

God makes a covenant and gives them laws.

Israel fails miserably, worships the golden calf, even while Moses is up on the mountain receiving laws and talking to God.

And then God restores the covenant.

I think from just that very broadest outline of the book, we can learn a lot about the life of faith.

For one thing, just as God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt,

God saves us, his people today, from a kind of slavery to sin and death.

Jesus says in the Gospel of John, and I put these on the handout,

Jesus describes sin as almost a kind of addictive behavior.

If you engage in it, and we all do, you become enslaved to it in a sense.

I can, I can, how many times have I, has a word come out of my mouth,

an unkind, cruel word come out of my mouth before I even realize it?

It's, it's, it's, it's as if I cannot help but do wrong to God and my neighbor.

I, I am, in some sense, a slave to sin.

And, and Jesus says that is, that is our condition.

But he, the Son, sets us free, and we are free indeed.

Um, so, there is that kind of correspondence, um, that, that we see in the life of faith

between the Exodus and, and, um, us today.

And then, this, this bit from Hebrews.

Since, therefore, the children, uh, human beings, share in flesh and blood,

the Son himself, likewise, partook of the same thing.

Becoming flesh and blood, that is.

That through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.

And deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Um, there, there is a, a sense in which we are slaves of, of death and the fear of death.

Uh, that, uh, the, the, the fear of death limits what we are willing and able to do.

Um, but Jesus, in defeating death,

uh, frees us from that.

To be able to serve him, uh, live for him, uh, and, and say with Paul,

for me, to, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Whether I, whether I live or die ultimately is not the thing that matters,

but whether I belong to Jesus is the thing that matters.

Uh, and I want to be part of what he is doing in the world.

Um, for, to, to be this conduit of blessing, uh, to the whole world.

Um, so just as God saved Israel from Egypt,

so also Jesus saves us from, from a kind of, a kind of slaver.

Um, and just as God saved Israel apart from anything they did beforehand,

so also God saves us irrespective of what we've done.

Uh, the, the law is not given to Egypt, right?

So that big, broad outline of the book of Exodus,

God doesn't tell, uh, God doesn't tell Israel how to live,

uh, giving them commands to live by,

until after he saved them from Egypt.

Um, and it, and it's the same, it's the same way for us.

We don't, Israel didn't have to earn their, their freedom from Egypt

in the same way we don't have to earn our, uh, relationship,

our freedom with God.

Uh, by grace you have been saved through faith,

and this is not your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not a result of works,

so that no one may boast.

Um, so you see what I'm doing here.

I'm looking for these correspondences between, uh,

the book of Exodus, and it's, it's big, broad outline,

and the life of the Christian.

Um, because there is this, the, the, the,

the big, broad outline of Exodus is a picture of,

of salvation in Jesus.

Um, and then just as God gave Israel his law at Mount Sinai,

um, after, after saving them,

God gives us direction on how to live.

Uh, God expects us to, to live in a certain way

after he's, you know, saved us from this kind of slavery

and, and brought us into a relationship with himself.

Uh, just going on, right, uh,

so the previous thing that I read was Ephesians 2, 8, and 9.

Very next verse, uh, we are his workmanship,

God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Uh, in the same way that Israel is expected to live in a certain way

after God brings them out of slavery,

so also God expects us to live in a certain way

after, after God brings us into relationship with himself.

Um,

and then just as God forgives Israel

and restores his covenant with them,

after they fail miserably in, in, in worship of the golden calf,

so also God forgives our sin

and restores our relationship with him

when we genuinely turn back to him in, in, in faith.

Um, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves

and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just

to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Uh,

so as, as, um,

as we are, uh,

going through the rest of the book of Exodus upstairs,

I hope, I hope I'm not rehashing too much

what, what our pastors have been saying

in sermons so far.

Um, but as we go through the rest of the book of Exodus,

uh,

it can be helpful for us to look for ways that,

uh,

the story of Israel in, in the Exodus is,

is our story too.

Um, which we should expect if we are,

as, as we were saying last week,

if we are Abraham's offspring,

uh, then we should expect the story of Abraham's offspring

to be our story too.

Um,

if, if you, uh,

if you know this word,

the, the approach that I'm doing there

is called typology.

If you've heard that word before,

that's why I'm saying it

just so you have something to,

to grab onto.

If you don't know that word,

forget it.

It doesn't really matter.

It's a seminary word.

Um,

you don't,

you don't need that to follow God.

Um,

so that,

that's a super,

I, like I said,

the,

I feel like I'm doing violence to the text

by skimming that briefly through it.

But, um,

I don't,

I don't want to steal,

steal anything from the pastors upstairs,

uh,

and,

and sort of belabor the point.

Um,

I want to spend most of our time

on something we,

we are not going to be talking about

so much upstairs

when we look through Exodus,

and that's Israel's wilderness years.

Um,

but before we move on to that,

uh,

are there any thoughts,

questions?

Um,

I don't think you can do Exodus too much.

I mean,

I thought you could come back to it

probably several times in your life

and come back to it

and find more.

There's,

there's a lot here for us.

Um,

you're fine.

You can't talk to us.

Amen.

All right.

So,

um,

after Israel leaves

Mount Sinai,

uh,

God sends them away,

uh,

into,

into the land that he had promised Abraham

all those years before.

Uh,

we were looking last week in Genesis,

uh,

God promised Abraham,

I'm going to give your offspring this land

that you're wandering about in.

Well,

now God's doing it.

Uh,

finally,

after 400 years,

God is,

is taking Israel into this land.

Um,

and,

it's,

if we look,

there's this verse in the beginning of Deuteronomy

that tells us that

it's only an 11 days journey.

Um,

the second verse of Deuteronomy,

it's only an 11 days journey

from Mount Sinai

to the edge of the land

that God had promised

to give to them.

Uh,

but it takes Israel 40 years to get there.

Uh,

and you think,

what gives?

Well,

it's because Israel is

once again disobedient.

Uh,

and,

and this entire time,

so most of Israel's time in the wilderness,

uh,

is in,

uh,

is recorded in the book of Numbers.

Um,

in the,

the Hebrew name for the book called Numbers.

See,

we call it Numbers

because it begins with some census data

and we think the whole book

is just a bunch of numbers.

It's,

it's not,

uh,

it's,

it's a story

and,

and the Hebrew name for it

is actually a lot better.

It means in the wilderness,

uh,

which is really what the book is about.

Um,

so most of this,

most of the story is in the book of Numbers.

Uh,

and their whole time in the wilderness

is characterized by disobedience.

Uh,

it didn't end with the golden calf.

They grumble about lack of food and water.

Uh,

they grumble about,

uh,

the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

Um,

and then later on in,

in Numbers 25,

they worship the pagan god Baal,

uh,

which comes up again and again

in the rest of the Old Testament.

Um,

but I want to focus on one incident in particular,

uh,

in Numbers 13 and 14

that sort of captures,

uh,

the whole,

um,

that really captures the whole thing.

It's,

it's maybe the most striking incident

of,

uh,

of Israel's disobedience in the wilderness.

Um,

and,

once again,

I think this shows us a great deal

about,

um,

our life of faith.

Uh,

and that's,

and that's the lens I,

I want to,

uh,

bring to it.

Um,

and it's,

it's quite a lot of text,

so that's why I left a lot of time for it.

So let's,

uh,

look at Numbers chapter 13.

Numbers 13 · chapter mention

Um,

um,

so by this point,

they've gone on that 11 day journey.

Israel has,

uh,

they're at the promised land.

Um,

and

God tells Moses

to send people

into the land

to check it out.

Um,

so let's start in,

in,

I'll start reading in verse 17.

Um,

all right,

since this is Numbers chapter 13,

Numbers 13 · chapter mention

I'm going to start in verse

17.

Great.

All right.

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

and 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 the season

of the first ripe grapes.

So they went up

and spied out the land

from the wilderness

of Zin

to Rehob

near Lebo Hamath.

They went up

into the Negev

and came to Hebron,

Ahaman,

Sheshai,

and Talmai.

The descendants

of Anak were there.

Hebron was built

seven years before

Zoan 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 down from there.

At the end

of forty 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

word to them

and to all

the congregation

and showed them

the fruit of the land.

They said to them,

We came to the land

to which you sent us.

It flows with milk

and honey

and this is the 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

dwell in the land

of the Negev.

The Hittites,

the Jebusites

and the Amorites

dwell in the hill country

and the Canaanites

dwell by the sea

and along the Jordan.

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.

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.

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

and there we saw

the Nephilim,

the sons of Amak

who come from

the Nephilim

and we seemed

to ourselves

like grass humpers

and so we seemed

to them.

Then all the congregation

raised a loud cry

and the people

wept that night

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 that we had died

in this wilderness.

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?

And they said

to one another,

Let us choose a leader

and go back to Egypt.

Then Moses and Aaron

fell on their faces

before all the assembly

of the congregation

of the people of Israel.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

And the Lord said to Moses,

How long will this people

despise me?

And how long will they

not believe in me

despite all of the signs

that I have done among them?

I will strike them

with the pestilence

and disinherit them

and I will make of you

a nation greater

and mightier than they.

But Moses said to the Lord,

Then the Egyptians

will hear of it.

For you brought up

this people in your might

from among them.

And they will tell

the inhabitants

of this land,

They have heard

that you, O Lord,

are in the midst

of this people.

For you, O Lord,

are seen face to face

and your cloud

stands over them

and you go out before them

in a pillar of cloud by day

and a pillar of fire by night.

Now if you kill this people

as one man,

then the nations

who have heard your fame

will say it is because

the Lord was not able

to bring this people

into the land

that he swore to give them,

that he has killed them

in the wilderness.

And now please let

the power of the Lord

be great as you have promised,

saying the Lord

is slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love,

forgiving iniquity

and transgression,

but he will by no means

clear the guilty,

visiting the iniquity

of the fathers

on the children

to the third

and the fourth generation.

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.

Then the Lord said,

I have pardoned

according to your word,

but truly as I live

and as all the earth

shall be filled

with the glory of the Lord,

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

shall see the land

that I swore

to give to their fathers.

And none of those

who despise me

shall see it.

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.

Now, since the Amalekites

and the Canaanites

dwell in the valleys,

turn tomorrow

and set out

for the wilderness

by way of the Red Sea.

And then God repeats

in verse 28,

As I live,

declares the Lord,

what you have said

in my hearing

I will do to you.

Your dead bodies

shall fall

in this wilderness

and of all your number

listed in the census

from 20 years old

and upward

who have grumbled

against me,

not one shall come

into the land

where I swore

that I would

make you dwell.

So,

the spies go into the land,

they're told to be

of good courage,

but they come back

in fear.

They bring a bad report

and their fear

goes viral

and the people

want to even stone them,

Caleb and Joshua,

with stones

for having faith

in God.

And God ends up saying,

you ask to die

in the wilderness

and that's what's

going to happen.

It is a chilling narrative.

And it characterizes

really Israel's

entire time

in the wilderness.

God saves them

from Egypt,

makes this covenant

relationship with them

and yet they fail

repeatedly again

and again

and again

and they hear,

even though they're

on the cusp

of the land of promise,

the fulfillment

of all these promises

to Abraham

400 years earlier,

even so,

they refuse to go in

out of fear,

really.

And,

like I've been asking,

I want to ask

of this text,

what does it show us

about our life

of faith now?

I think it's

at least a few things.

One is this,

be of good courage.

That's what Moses

tells these spies

right towards

the very beginning.

Are we making

our decisions

out of fear

or based on faith

in what God

has promised us

in scripture?

Israel's disobedience

here,

which excludes them

from the land,

excludes that

entire generation,

their disobedience

emerges from fear.

So I think it's good

for us to ask ourselves

on occasion,

what are you afraid

of in life?

Um,

and I don't mean

like spiders

or snakes,

you know,

uh,

or,

uh,

your closet

when you leave it

open and you're

in bed and the lights

are off.

That,

that's something

for me.

I don't mean that.

Um,

I,

I mean,

I mean the big

things.

Uh,

afraid of being

alone.

Um,

and yet,

Jesus has promised

to be with you

to the end

of the age.

church and,

and he's given

you a family

and,

and brothers

and sisters

in,

in the church.

All,

all of us

adopted it.

Uh,

uh,

financial insecurity.

Um,

you know,

big,

the big things,

you know,

um,

the big things

that shape how we,

how we live our

lives.

Uh,

what,

what,

what are we afraid

of?

And,

and how might

these fears

lead in the same

way to rebellion

against God

just as,

just as it leads

Israel to rebellion

against God here.

Israel was afraid

that if they went

into this land,

these tremendous,

uh,

tremendously strong

people in the land

would,

uh,

would destroy them.

And yet,

they,

they had seen

God taking care

of them,

bringing them out

of Egypt,

and God had promised

to give them the land.

So,

Caleb says,

of course,

if,

if we,

if we don't rebel

against God,

we'll certainly

be able to go in.

Um,

as a side note,

one might wonder,

you know,

driving them out

of the land,

this is very violent.

Uh,

well,

Nick will be,

uh,

telling us all

about that this morning.

Uh,

uh,

and if this is

something that troubles you,

come back next week

because we're talking

about the book of Joshua.

Um,

we seemed to ourselves

like grasshoppers,

and so we seemed

to them,

um,

the spies say.

Uh,

I,

I think this shows us

we need to,

we need to understand

ourselves

and our circumstances

not based on,

on,

uh,

we need to interpret

ourselves and our circumstances

based on

who God

has revealed himself

to be

and what he says

about us.

Uh,

and not the other

way around.

Um,

here,

Israel looks at

their circumstances

and says,

this is such a scary,

disastrous situation.

We feel like grasshoppers.

Therefore,

uh,

then,

you know,

they project that

onto,

um,

the people in the land.

If you look at the

beginning of Joshua,

actually,

it's the other way,

it's the other way around.

Uh,

at the beginning of Joshua,

I put the Joshua 2.11.

Uh,

the people in the land

are actually really scared

of Israel.

Uh,

it's,

it's not that

they seem like grasshoppers.

Um,

it's that they were actually

really scared of them.

Uh,

yeah,

I,

I think,

um,

you know,

it's only,

it's only Joshua and Caleb

who understood their,

their situation

and who they are

in,

in the Lord,

uh,

correctly.

Um,

and so I think this,

this text would have us

ask ourselves,

uh,

is,

is our sense of self

in our,

in our sense of our circumstances,

uh,

based on what God says about us?

Or is it overly inflated

or overly deflated

because of,

uh,

a fixation on self,

a kind of prideful fixation

on ourselves

and what we're thinking

and feeling?

Uh,

God,

you know,

it,

God made you

in his very own image,

uh,

as we were talking about

a few weeks ago.

Uh,

you are of inestimable value.

If you belong to Jesus,

you,

you are a,

a,

a brother or sister

of the very son of God,

right?

Uh,

there,

there's,

having a sense of self

that is like,

well,

I am,

I am worthless

or I am nothing,

uh,

as,

as so many of us

sometimes fall into,

uh,

is not really grounded

on,

on the truth.

It's not grounded

on what God says about us.

And if we have this sense of,

I,

I'm,

I'm the man

and I'm better than everyone

around me,

uh,

well,

no,

you're a creature.

Uh,

you're not God.

You're,

you're a creature.

Um,

God made you.

Uh,

you came from the dust

and from the dust

into the dust

you will return.

Uh,

so that's,

that's what I mean.

Are,

are we,

are we constructing our,

are we understanding ourselves,

um,

in light of what God

says about us

or,

or,

uh,

does it come just out of a,

uh,

a fixation on ourselves

and our own feelings?

Um,

then perhaps the most chilling

line in this entire

bit that,

that I,

that I read here,

God says to Israel,

what you have said

and my hearing

I will do to you.

Um,

Israel cries out,

if only we had died

in Egypt

or in this wilderness.

And God says,

okay,

if that's what you want,

this entire generation

will die in this wilderness.

Uh,

ultimately,

I think this teaches us

that God gives us

what we really want,

either God

or not God.

Um,

we see this dynamic

in Romans chapter one.

Uh,

there's this refrain

of God saying,

uh,

he,

he,

Romans one describes,

um,

the pagan world

that worships idols.

Uh,

and,

and there's this refrain

of God gave them up.

Um,

they exchanged the glory

of the immortal God

for images

resembling mortal man

and birds

and animals

and creeping things.

Therefore,

God gave them up

in the lust of their hearts

to one period.

Uh,

God

ultimately gives us

what we really want,

whether God

or not God.

Uh,

C.S. Lewis

has this,

has this great quote.

I actually,

I put a citation for it,

but I actually couldn't

track it down yesterday.

Um,

so,

forgive me.

Uh,

it's either from somewhere

in the great divorce

or from near Christianity

and I couldn't find it,

but it's great.

Uh,

there are only two kinds

of people in the end.

Those who say to God,

thy will be done

and those to whom God says

in the end,

thy will be done.

Um,

and so this week,

will we choose

to live for God

or for lesser things?

Uh,

because God will say to us,

uh,

in the end,

thy will be done

and either it'll be,

uh,

our will to,

to walk with Jesus

and live for him

and love him

and be loved by him.

Uh,

or,

or,

uh,

for things that ultimately

in the grand scheme of things

don't,

don't really matter,

um,

in comparison.

Uh,

in Numbers 13 and 14,

what we just read

takes us through

a challenging aspect of that.

Israel chooses not God.

Uh,

but then there's this,

uh,

in,

in Luke 11,

um,

this,

this ask and it will be given to you,

seek and you will find,

knock and it will be opened to you.

Uh,

and,

and Jesus says,

uh,

if,

if human parents,

uh,

like to give gifts to their children,

how much more then will the heavenly father

give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

Right?

So,

take heart,

right?

If,

if we want to,

to know,

God

and,

and know his spirit,

he will give them to us.

Um,

so it's,

it's not just this,

I'm not trying to just be super dour

with,

with this passage in Numbers 13 and 14.

There's also this,

a beautiful,

amazing aspect of,

if we want to be with God

and know God

and love God,

then God says,

yes,

great.

Um,

and,

uh,

this last bullet that I put on here,

and there's more than this,

surely,

of what this can,

passage can teach us about the life of faith.

Um,

but God,

God will accomplish his purposes for the church.

Uh,

God accomplished his purposes for Israel.

Israel enters the land,

ultimately.

This generation dies in the wilderness,

wandering around for 40 years,

but ultimately they enter the land,

and we're going to be talking about that next week.

Um,

God had promised.

God,

God follows through on his promises.

And God will follow through on his promises for the church.

Nevertheless,

an entire generation of Israelites excluded themselves,

disqualified themselves,

from,

from enjoying God's purposes,

uh,

and from resting in the land.

Um,

and in the same way,

uh,

we can disqualify and exclude ourselves

from God's purposes for the church

through faithless disobedience.

Um,

I,

we started this morning looking at Psalm 95.

Uh,

there's this bit in chapters,

in Hebrews chapters three and four,

I put a citation here.

I'm not going to read it now,

because it's really,

it's,

it's pretty dense,

and it would take more than 10 minutes to really unpack it.

Um,

well,

that bit in Hebrews,

uh,

takes this,

um,

this time,

this disobedience in the wilderness,

and applies it to the church,

and says,

uh,

that,

um,

he,

he,

he connects Israel's rest in the promised land,

from which a whole generation of Israelites excluded themselves.

And he connects that to the Christians' heavenly rest,

and says,

uh,

therefore strive to enter that rest,

that,

that you might not fall by the same sort of disobedience.

Um,

and I think there's more to it than just this,

you know,

heavenly rest thing.

I,

I don't want you to go away this morning and think,

Alex is beating us over the head with a fear of hell or something.

Um,

because I,

I think there's,

there's even more to it.

Um,

God is doing amazing things in the world.

Uh,

the gospel is bearing fruit and increasing in the whole world,

Paul writes in Colossians,

and,

and how much more so today?

Paul's world was pretty small.

Our world is much bigger.

Uh,

I,

I'm reading a book right now,

um,

for a seminary class about,

um,

the role of,

of the American church in the global mission of the church.

And,

and this author who has spent decades,

uh,

doing missionary work around the world,

and working with missionaries and pastors around the world,

is telling these incredible stories about what God is doing around the world,

what he's seen God do around the world.

Uh,

and,

and it can be hard for us to,

to realize,

uh,

sometimes in,

in New Haven,

uh,

the whole global scope of what God is doing.

Um,

he,

he talks about,

uh,

walking down a street in Nigeria and,

and just hearing worship and praise of God booming in the streets.

You walk down the streets of New Haven,

you don't hear on,

on a Sunday morning,

uh,

unless you're right on State Street,

right outside this church,

you don't hear worship on Sunday mornings.

But,

he talks about in Nigeria,

uh,

there,

there,

the,

the,

the gospel is going out and increasing so much,

uh,

that you just hear booming worship.

Of course,

partly it's a PA system and speakers.

Uh,

but partly there's just so many people coming to,

to know and love the Lord.

Um,

he,

he talked to a,

a pastor friend.

I,

I'm not,

I'm not going to go on and on and on,

but,

uh,

this one I found really striking and challenging.

He,

he,

he taught,

he,

he tells about a story.

He was talking to a pastor friend of his in,

in Nigeria.

And,

uh,

he,

he asked him how he,

how he became a Christian.

He said,

well,

uh,

God raised me from the dead by the hand of a missionary.

And so then,

then I became a Christian.

I'm like,

I'm reading this.

I have to put the book down.

Like,

do I believe that God is actually working like that?

I,

I don't know.

That's,

uh,

that's,

that's something challenging for me.

But,

uh,

nevertheless,

I can,

I can say God is doing things around the world and not just around the world,

but here in New Haven too.

Um,

uh,

pastor Matt sermon a couple of weeks ago,

uh,

he was talking about all of these ways that,

um,

that people in this very congregation are,

uh,

working to,

to care for and include,

uh,

the marginalized and,

and the poor and the outcast in,

in this city.

Uh,

in the,

the church is being the church here,

here in New Haven.

Um,

and,

and,

and,

and accomplishing what God wants for the church to be doing.

Uh,

will we,

through fear,

uh,

and a faithless disobedience exclude ourselves from the,

the joy of participating in,

what God is doing in,

in the world and in New Haven?

Um,

I,

I think,

I think that's,

uh,

I think that's a question that Israel's wilderness years would have us ask

ourselves.

Um,

will we lift up our eyes to see what God is doing?

Uh,

just like how Jesus says to his disciples in John four,

lift up your eyes and see the fields are white with harvests.

Uh,

God is doing amazing things.

Will,

will we participate or will we through fear?

Um,

stand on the sidelines.

Um,

all right.

Uh,

that was much more pontificating this morning than,

than I actually,

um,

so we have about five minutes.

Um,

so are there any,

uh,

questions,

comments,

concerns?

Um,

okay.

Okay.

Well,

um,

let,

let us,

God,

you are the rock of our salvation and,

you saved your people,

Israel from Egypt and you have saved us from sin and death and have brought us into this

relationship with you to know you and love you.

Um,

um,

Lord,

help us to,

um,

to be a part of,

of what you are doing,

um,

through your people.

Um,

help us to,

uh,

put aside,

um,

fears and uncertainties,

uh,

about you.

Um,

and today when we go upstairs and hear your voice,

um,

keep us from hardening our hearts to your word,

um,

as it's being preached,

um,

but soften us,

um,

that we might,

um,

be receptive in knowing and loving you and in,

in walking in,

in the ways that you've,

um,

appointed for us to do those good works that you have prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Through Christ our Lord we pray.

Amen.