16 "Pardoned, Yet Punished" Numbers 14:10-45 | Thursday, December 18, 2025

The Numbers chapter 14.

Numbers 14 · chapter mention

Numbers chapter 14.

Numbers 14 · chapter mention

Last week we saw in Numbers 13 that God

told Moses to send out the 12 spies to

check out the land of Canaan. And 10 of

them came back with a bad report and two

of them with a good report named Joshua.

and Caleb. And the bad report of the 10

ended up turning the hearts of the

people and the nation against God and

against Moses. And they rebel and they

complain and they whine and they say, "I

wish we would have just died in Egypt. I

wish we would have just died in the

wilderness." And so, let's make a

captain and go back to Egypt. Let's be

done with Moses and be done with Aaron

and and go back where we came from.

That's what their desire was. Joshua and

Caleb stood up. They said, "Now, the

Lord is with us. Let's go take it. He'll

bring us in." And it tells us as we pick

up our reading now in verse number 10,

"But all the congregation bade stone

them with stones." And the glory of the

Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the

congregation before all the children of

Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses,

"How long will this people provoke me?

And how long will it be they believe me?

for all the signs which I have showed

among them. I will smite them with

pestilence and disinherit them and will

make of thee a greater nation and

mightier than they." And Moses said of

the Lord, "Sounds good. Let's do it."

That's not what he said, was it? See, we

were given that clue back in chapter 12

that Moses was the meakest man that ever

walked the face of the earth. Right

next, of course, to Jesus Christ. He was

not seeking power. He wanted to see God

fulfill who he said he would be. And so

it says in verse number 13, "And Moses

said unto the Lord," then the Egyptians

shall hear it. For thou broughtest up

this people in thy might from among

them, and they will tell it to the

inhabitants of this land. For they have

heard that thou, oh Lord, art among this

people, that thou, Lord, art seen face

to face, and that thy cloud standeth

over them, and that thou goest before

them by daytime in a pillar of cloud,

and a pillar of fire by night. Now if

thou shalt kill all this people as one

man, then the nations which have heard

the fame of thee will speak, saying,

Because the Lord was not able to bring

this people into the land which he swear

to them, therefore he hath slain them in

the wilderness. And now I beseech thee,

let the power of my Lord be great,

according as thou has spoken, saying,

The Lord is long-suffering, and of great

mercy, forgiving iniquity and

transgression, and by no means clearing

the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the

fathers upon the children unto the third

and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech

thee, the iniquity of this people,

according to the greatness of thy mercy,

and as thou hast forgiven this people

from Egypt, even until now. And the Lord

said, I have pardoned according to thy

word. But as truly as I live, all the

earth shall be filled with the glory of

the Lord. Because all those men which

have seen my glory and my miracles,

which I did in Egypt and in the

wilderness, and have tempted me now

these 10 times, and have not hearkened

to my voice. Surely they shall not see

the land which I swear unto their

fathers, neither shall any of them that

provoked me see it. But my servant

Caleb, because he hath another spirit

with him, and hath followed me fully,

him will I bring into the land wherein

where to he went, and his seed shall

possess it. Now the Amalachites and the

Canaanites dwelt in the valley. Tomorrow

turn you and get you into the wilderness

by the way of the Red Sea. And the Lord

spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

How long shall I bear with this evil

congregation which murmur against me? I

have heard the murmurings of the

children of Israel which they murmur

against me. Say unto them, as truly as I

live, sayeth the Lord, as ye have spoken

in mine ears, so will I do to you. Your

carcasses shall fall in the wilderness,

and all that were numbered of you,

according to your whole number, from 20

years old and upward, which have

murmured against me, doubtless ye shall

not come into the land, concerning which

I swear to make you dwell therein, save

Caleb the son of Japana, and Joshua the

son of Nun. But your little ones, which

ye said should be a prey, them will I

bring in, and they shall know the land

which ye have despised. But as for you,

your carcasses, they shall fall in this

wilderness. And your children shall

wander in the wilderness 40 years, and

to bear your whoredom, until your

carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.

And after the number of the days in

which ye search the land, even 40 days,

each day for a year shall ye bear your

iniquities, even 40 years, and ye shall

know my breach of promise. I the Lord

have said, I will surely do it unto all

this evil congregation that are gathered

together against me in this wilderness.

They shall be consumed, and there they

shall die. And the men which Moses sent

to search the land, who returned and

made all the congregation to murmur

against him by bringing up a slander

upon the land. Even those men that did

bring up the evil report upon the land

died by the plague before the Lord. But

Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son

of Japona, which were of the men that

went to search the land, lived still.

And Moses told these things unto all the

uh children of Israel. And the people

mourned greatly. And they rose up early

in the morning, and gather them up into

the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we

be here, and will go up unto the place

which the Lord hath promised, for we

have sinned. And Moses said, "Wherefore

now do you transgress the commandment of

the Lord? But it shall not prosper. Go

not up, for the Lord is not among you

that you be not smitten before your

enemies. For the Amalachites and the

Canaanites are there before you, and ye

shall fall by the sword, because ye are

turned away from the Lord. Therefore,

the Lord will not be with you." But they

presumed to go up under the hilltop.

Nevertheless, the ark of the covenant of

the Lord and Moses departed not out of

the camp. Then the Amalocites came down

and the Canaanites which dwelt in that

hill and smokeote them and discomforted

them even unto Horma.

When you go back to verse 20,

the Lord said, I have pardoned according

to thy word.

And then you read the rest of that,

it brings you to ask a little bit, what

kind of pardon was the Lord talking

about?

Because that doesn't quite sound like a

pardon.

On this text, we find a rather simple

truth that's important for all of us to

get as well. The title of the message

tonight is pardoned yet punished.

Pardoned yet punished. I want you to

imagine with me that you are one of the

children of Israel.

After 40 years of wandering in the

wilderness, you're standing on the banks

of the Jordan River about to enter the

promised land for the very first time.

Moses is gone. Aaron is gone. In fact,

all your aunts, your uncles, your

parents, your grandparents, they've all

died off. There in front of the

congregation

is Joshua and an 80-year-old Caleb.

The only two guys over the age of 60

years old in your whole congregation.

You know that it's time to go in. But

before you go, Joshua decides to read

one more time before entering the

promised land all that Moses had

written. It takes several days and

several hours, but he reads all through

Genesis and reveals to you who your God

is. How he created you, how the world

fell apart in sin, how God started over

with Noah only for the world to rebel

once again at the Tower of Babel, but

how he called your father Abraham out of

paganism and said he would restore God's

blessing to all mankind through the

descendants of Abraham.

and you know that as a child of Israel,

you belong to Abraham's seed. You're

part of God's chosen people.

He reads through Exodus about your

departure from Egyptian slavery and how

God brought you out through the the 10

plagues and how he brought you across

the Red Sea on dry ground and and

suddenly some vague memories start to

come back from your childhood when you

were four and five and and seven years

old. You can remember something about

the waves being way up high. I imagine

that's something that would stick in

your brain even from a young age.

You remember this mana showing up out of

nowhere on the ground. Quail swarming in

for you to be able to eat. You remember

when Moses struck that rock and water

came flying out of it. You remember

another time when he struck it twice and

more water came and yet God was angry

with Moses because he didn't obey him.

Now that whole generation is gone.

You're reading through Numbers. You've

gone through Leviticus or maybe Joshua

skipped Leviticus like most of us do. I

don't know now. I'm sure you read

through it. Comes to Numbers, the census

that you remember them taking 40 years

ago when you were about 8 n years old or

15 years old or 19 years old, just

underneath that 20 year old threshold.

And now you are 40 years later and

you're about to enter in. That whole

generation has died off. There's

something in your heart that wonders,

how did we get here? Well, then Joshua

comes to Numbers 13.

And he reminds them of how we sent 10 12

spies in to spy out the land and 10 of

them came back and they said that the

land was good, but then they said, "The

giants are too big, the walls are too

great, the battles, the armies are too

fierce. we cannot go up. But he reads

how Caleb and Joshua stood for God and

said, "No, we can go up. God is with

us." And and as they're reading this,

you're looking at them right there as

they are the last men standing from that

generation.

You come here to chapter 14

and your question is why did this

happen?

See you what it is is that you uh you

find that 40 years ago you were on the

cusp of going in. You were on the verge

of growing up in the promised land.

Instead you grew up in the wilderness.

You're thinking why?

And then you're looking at the battles

and the armies that you're going to face

that your fathers should have faced for

you and fought for you 40 years ago. And

now you have to fight them. But here's

what you're resolved to do. You want to

fight those battles so your children

don't have to. You want to conquer that

promised land so your children can grow

up in the promised land instead of the

wilderness. But what you know is there

was something that took place on the

verge of going in that led to going

back.

And you want to make sure that you don't

repeat history.

You want to make sure that you do what

is necessary

to enter the promised land, to

experience God's blessing, and for your

children to grow up under God's

blessing.

And so you ask, why did this happen?

And what you find in chapter 14 is that

your fathers failed to believe God.

Because they failed to believe God, they

failed to obey God.

They rebelled against Moses.

They feared the giants and the armies.

They wanted to make a new captain and

they wanted to go back to Egypt. They

were prepared to stone the very two men

who are leading you in.

Your takeaway from this text is that you

must believe God

and you must obey God if you're going to

experience his blessing.

What happens when you fail to believe

and obey God? It's important for us to

ask that question from their perspective

because they are the first generation

reading the book of numbers. It was

written by Moses and it was written for

their admonition that they might be

warned not to live as their fathers live

and end up dying in the wilderness like

their fathers did. But in the New

Testament in 1 Corinthians chapter 10,

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

Paul also relates many of these examples

from the book of Numbers about Israel's

rebellion and their lust and their

idolatry. And he said these things were

examples for us that we should not rebel

like they rebelled. That we should not

lust like they lust. That we should not

fall before idols like they fell before

idols. And so for us to understand what

this text is doing, we must understand

the warning that it served to show that

first generation who read it because

ultimately it's the warning to us today.

I ask you to imagine yourself in this

scenario because you in fact live in a

similar scenario.

You've been redeemed.

God has great blessings in store for

you. And he greatly desires to bless

your life. He wants to bless your

marriage. He wants to bless your family.

He wants to bless your ministry, your

retirement, your career, or your

business.

That doesn't mean that you'll be filthy

rich,

or perhaps even successful.

for God. What his blessing is is that

everything in your life that he gives

you is totally satisfying.

That it's enough. That it's sufficient.

That it's everything you would want for

yourself if you were smart enough to

want it. See, we often want less than

what God has in store. Or we often want

more than what God has in store.

thinking that would satisfy. And yet

what we often fail to miss is that God's

blessing is right there available to us

if only we would look for it. It was

there on the other side of Jordan for

their fathers.

But because they wanted

more food from Egypt,

they wanted more security from Egypt.

They wanted the riches and glory of

Egypt while forgetting totally about the

slavery of Egypt. They didn't believe

God. They turned back.

We can all point to Christian marriages

that have failed.

Christian families who are torn apart.

Believers who have crashed in sin or

crumbled in faith.

pastors who've lost their families and

their ministries

and we like that next generation of

Israelites often wonder how did this

happen

and what can I do to ensure that I do

not follow in their footsteps what do I

do to ensure that I can lay hold of

God's blessing that my children get to

lay hold of God's blessing

what we find is that those who have

fallen

have done so because they failed to

trust God.

And because they failed to trust God,

they did not obey God. They didn't trust

that God's plan works. They didn't trust

that God's provision satisfies or that

God's power was enough. Therefore, they

did not follow God's plan. They sought

satisfaction elsewhere and they tried to

battle on their own.

Thus, this text serves the same purpose

in our life as it did theirs. It

admonishes you to believe and obey God.

Why?

What happens

when we fail to believe and obey God?

It's revealed to us in God's response to

Israel's unbelief and rebellion.

The first thing that we notice in

Numbers 14 is that God was provoked by

Israel's unbelief.

The nation had made this decision to

make their own captain and return back

to Egypt.

Joshua and Caleb sought to instill

belief in them to tell them that because

God is with them, they can know that

he's going to bring them in. They can

trust that he's going to bring them in.

And therefore, they can go in fully

confident that God is going to fight for

them and God is going to conquer and God

is going to fulfill his promise. They

did everything they could to instill

belief. And yet, as we read in verse 10,

they all picked up stones and they're

ready to put Joshua and Caleb to death.

That's how hard they were in their

rebellion.

But before they can, it tells us in

verse 10 that the glory of the Lord

appeared in the tabernacle of the

congregation.

that the cloud that stood over them has

now left and exposed them to the sun and

descended down upon the tabernacle in

the camp.

God speaks to Moses

and God threatens to disinherit Israel

and start over with Moses.

Why would he do that? Well, God says in

verse 11 says, "And the Lord said unto

Moses, how long will this people provoke

me?" What does it mean to provoke

someone?

Well, if you're a parent, you've

probably experienced when you tell your

children to do something and they roll

their eyes at you and tell you fine

or they mouth off at you or they talk

back to you or they disobey you. What

does that do in you as a parent? Well,

it provokes you to anger. This word

provoke, it means it means to

disrespect,

to disdain, or to spurn in a way that

provokes a response. That's why it's

translated provoke. But really, what it

has to deal with is they have

disrespected God the way a child might

disrespect a parent. Why does that

parent get so angry? because they know

of everything they have ever done for

those children. And then those children

are going to turn around and treat them

like that. It's provoking.

God has done more for the nation of

Israel than any parent has ever done for

their child. And Israel has provoked God

by their disrespect.

Well, how exactly have they disrespected

him? By their unbelief.

God says in verse 11, "And how long will

it be

they believe me?" Well, why was it so

disrespectful to God that Israel did not

believe him in this moment? He tells us,

"For all the signs which I have showed

among them,"

God is saying, "I have proved myself to

be trustworthy in your life." How had he

done that? the 10 plagues of Egypt.

The way that God delineated between the

Israelites and the Egyptians, the way

the Egyptian cattle were destroyed while

the Israeli ones were perfectly fine.

Of course, the night of the Passover,

the way that the Egyptian firstborn were

killed while the Israeli firstborn

survived.

The way that God led them through that

Red Sea on dry ground, the way that he

provided mana and quail and water from

Iraq, the way that he fended off the

Amalachites when they ambushed them in

the wilderness. God has done great

things for Israel. And yet for all that

God had done to prove himself

trustworthy and sufficient and providing

and protecting, they still did not

believe.

The walls are too big for God.

The giants are too tall for God. We are

too small for God. The land is too great

for God.

Can you see the disdain and the

disrespect that their unbelief

demonstrates to a God who has so proved

himself

trustworthy.

God proved himself to be more powerful

than their greatest enemy, sufficient

for all their needs. He proved himself

trustworthy in their past and yet they

refuse now to trust him going forward.

That is a slap in God's face and he

won't stand for it. He tells is he tells

Moses in verse number 12, I will smite

them with pestilence,

a a a disease, a plague.

It says, "And disinherit them."

The word disinherit

means to take

those who were going to inherit

and to replace them with someone else.

God says, "I'm done with Israel. I am no

longer going to fulfill my promise

through this stiff- necked, stubborn,

rebellious, unbelieving people." He

tells Moses, "I am going to start over

with you. I will make of thee a greater

nation and mightier than they. I am done

with Israel. Why?

Unbelief

provokes God's anger.

When God gave his son for your eternal

salvation,

he proved himself in the clearest terms

possible that he is trustworthy.

He proved his he is loving and kind and

gracious and that he will provide for

all your needs. He will protect you from

the enemy and he will bring you into his

rest. He proved it on the cross. He has

documented and preserved evidence of his

power and his wonders and his miracles

that we have read throughout the book of

Genesis and Exodus and Leviticus and

Numbers. He preserved it for us.

In fact, God has also worked directly in

your life before, has he not?

Times when God has made a way when it

seemed there was no way.

Times when God comforted you in your

sorrow. Times when he showed mercy when

you deserved his wrath. Times he forgave

your sin, cleaned up your life, altered

your family history,

changed it forever.

God worked abundantly in your past, but

you can't trust him going forward.

Can't we often be guilty of the same

thing Israel is doing?

When someone quotes scripture in your

predicament

and you roll your eyes at him,

or when your spiritual mentor calls you

to trust God, but you come up with every

excuse as to why you can't in this

situation. Times when you cast that

aside. This is too big. This is

different. It's too much. It's too hard.

When God has proven himself trustworthy

and yet you fail to trust him, it does

provoke his anger. And for Israel, God's

ready to be done with him. But of

course, we know that he wasn't.

We know that he continues to go with

Israel. He continues to work through

Israel. We know because of our Bible

that God does bring them into the land.

And we know that in spite of all of

their rebellion, God remains faithful to

them. So why did he not disinherit them

at this very time?

It's because Israel had an advocate.

Moses

brokers a pardon between God and Israel.

I want you to notice that Moses Moses

brokers first on the basis of God's

reputation. It says in verse number 13,

"And Moses said unto the Lord, then the

Egyptians shall hear it."

See, the Egyptians, "Thou brought us up

this people in thy might from among

them." They saw your plagues. They saw

the Red Sea parted. They saw it fall

down and drown their army. They saw the

wonder and the glory of God right in

front of them. And yet, what they're

going to do in verse 14, they will tell

it to the inhabitants of this land.

See, the inhabitants of this land, the

Canaanites and the Perizzites and

Jebusites and the Hivites and the

Hittites and the Amalachites, all those

itites,

he they had heard of what God had done

in Egypt. They had heard of how God's

cloud mo you could read it here. Moses

says they've heard of how God's cloud

has covered his people. A cloud by day

and a pillar of fire by night. That God

is among them. That God meets face to

face with them. They know that Israel is

directly connected to you.

He says in verse 15, "Now if thou shalt

kill all this people as one man, then

the nations which have heard the fame of

thee will speak, saying, because the

Lord was not able to bring this people

to the land which he swear unto them.

Therefore, he hath slain them in the

wilderness." God,

if you wipe out the whole nation and you

disown them and disar inherit them and

destroy them, then the Egyptians and the

Canaanites will all hear and speak that

you weren't able.

You weren't powerful enough.

How does that bring glory to you among

the nations? Remember why God said he

was raising up Israel and delivering

them by his high hand. It was because he

wanted all the nations to know that the

Lord, he is God.

This will ruin all of that. And so he

says, "God, for the sake of your glory

and the sake of your reputation,

you must not destroy them as one man."

But then Moses also brokers on the basis

of God's revelation.

It says in verse 17, "And now I beseech

thee thee, let the power of my Lord be

great according as thou hast spoken."

This is referring back to Exodus 34 when

God put Moses in the cliff of the rock

and covered him with his hand. And as

the glory of God passed by, he removed

his hand and he let Moses see his back

parts. And God said and he proclaimed

his name. He said, "The Lord, the Lord

God, gracious and merciful,

long-suffering and abundant in goodness

and truth, forgiving iniquity by by no

means clearing the guilty a and visiting

the the the iniquity upon the children

and upon the children's children from to

the third and the fourth generation."

That's who God had declared himself to

be to Moses. And now Moses says, "Be

according to the greatness of your power

as you have spoken." verse 18 saying,

"The Lord is longsuffering.

He is slow to anger.

He is of great mercy." The idea of this

word mercy here is the way that God

remains steadfast and faithful in his

covenant love in spite of Israel's

rebellion. That's why it's called mercy.

It's not what they deserve, but it's who

God is.

You're of great mercy. forgiving

iniquity and transgression. God, you

have revealed yourself to be a faithful

and forgiving and long-suffering God.

You have revealed yourself, however, not

to clear the guilty, visiting the

iniquity upon the father of the fathers,

upon the children of the third and

fourth generation. God, you have

revealed yourself to be one thing.

And if you wipe out the whole nation and

you disinherit them and you start over

with me, that is inconsistent with who

you've revealed yourself to be. And so

Moses says in verse 19, "Pardon, I

beseech thee, the iniquity

of this people, according to the

greatness of thy mercy, as thou hast

forgiven this people from Egypt even

until now."

Forgive them. Pardon them.

question.

Does God need to be reminded

of who he is?

God knows who he is.

Then why is this set up to look like God

is flying off the handle and Moses has

to step in and calm God down and remind

him about his glory and remind him about

his character.

It's not for God's sake.

What God is doing is by this exercise,

he is demonstrating to that generation

that is about to go into the promised

land who has just witnessed over the

last 40 years their grandparents and

their parents and their aunts and their

uncles be picked off slowly dying

falling corpuses in car carcasses in the

that was a cool combination of corpus

and corpse and carcass. Anyways,

they've they've fallen down dead in the

wilderness.

And it just might be that as they enter

the promised land, they wonder if God

took them out, how can we be confident

God's going to bring us in?

What God is doing is he's working in

this previous generation in a way that

will instill hope and confidence and

belief in the next generation as they go

to enter the promised land. God doesn't

need to be reminded who he is. But what

God is revealing here is something about

himself to his covenant people. and that

is that he is faithful to his word and

that he is gracious to his people and he

is steadfast in his covenant love toward

Israel and he has every intention of

fulfilling every single thing that he

promised to them.

And so Moses brokers that for the sake

of God's glory and his reputation, he

would pardon the nation just as he

always has to this point. Understand

tonight that unbelief

provokes God's anger.

And the only reason God does not disown

you is because you have an advocate.

And that advocate is the Lord Jesus

Christ.

1 John chapter 2 verse one John writes,

1 John 2 · chapter mention

"These things write I my little children

that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we

have an advocate with the father, Jesus

Christ the righteous. And he is the

propitiation for our sins. The word

propitiation means the atonement, the

covering that he is the one who it's

actually the the word literally the

mercy seat from the Old Testament that

covered up the law of God. The one on

which the blood was sprinkled to cleanse

and atone for the sins of all of the

people. That is who Jesus is for all who

believe on him. And he says, not only

for us, but for the sins of the whole

world. Every single person on the face

of the world is is is able to be atoned

for if they trust in Jesus Christ.

And what John recognizes that there are

times when in spite of God's proven

trustworthiness, we're going to fail to

trust him. And because we fail to trust

him, it's going to lead to disobedience

and it's going to lead at times to

rebellion. And in that moment,

understand believer, God would be

perfectly just to disown and disar

inherit you.

He has proven himself trustworthy.

And yet when you fail to trust in him

and thus you disobey and rebel against

him, he would have every right to disown

you. And yet he doesn't because of the

advocacy of Jesus Christ.

because he stands there at the mercy

seat with his nailpierced hands and his

nail-pierced side pleading his blood for

your sake. And because of that, God

forgives your sin. His blood atones for

every act of unbelief. I'm thankful that

God mercifully pardons us through the

brokerage of Jesus Christ.

But we must not forget what else God

reveals about himself. And that is this.

He will not clear the guilty.

What that means is although you are

pardoned by the advocacy of Jesus

Christ,

it does not mean that you will be left

unpunished

for your sin.

God is going to pardon the nation, but

he will punish the generation.

Everyone, we don't have the time to read

through everything, but but what he says

is that everyone who refused to believe

and obey will not see the land. And it

says in verse 21, "But truly as I live,

all the earth shall be filled with the

glory of the Lord." Understand since

Israel did not defend God's glory, God

must defend his glory. How does he do

that? First of all, by pardoning his

people by demonstrating that he is a

faithful, gracious, long-suffering,

merciful God to rebellious people.

That's one of the ways he demonstrated

his glory. But now he's going to

demonstrate his glory by justly

punishing the guilty.

He says in verse 22, "Because of all

those men which have seen my glory and

my miracles which I did in Egypt and in

the wilderness and have tempted me now

these 10 times and not hearken to my

voice. Surely they shall not see the

land which I swear unto their fathers,

neither shall any of them that provoked

me see it." Every person who was a part

of this rebellion

will die in the wilderness.

He says in verse 24, "But my servant

Caleb, because he had another spirit

with him, and he hath fully followed me,

him will I bring into the land wherein

he went, and his seed shall possess it."

And so now God tells them that because

the Amalachites and the Canaanites dwell

in the valley, you need to turn back by

way of the Red Sea. Go back into the

wilderness. You will not see this land

because you have rebelled.

Then notice in verse 26

says, ' And the Lord spake unto Moses

and Aaron, saying, 'How long shall I

bear with this evil congregation which

murmur against me? I have heard the

murmurings of the children of Israel,

which they murmur against me. Say unto

them, as truly as I live, sayaeth the

Lord, as ye have spoken in my ears, so

will I do to you. What had they murmured

and spoken in his ears?

I wish we would have died in the

wilderness.

Our little children will be a prey for

the giants.

Look what God says in verse 29.

Your carcasses

shall fall in this wilderness.

As you have spoken,

so will it be.

He says, "Everyone in that first census

back in chapter 1, 20 years old and up,

will not go in to see the land."

He says in verse 30, "Doubtless ye shall

not come into the land concerning which

I swear to make you dwell therein save

Caleb the son of Japana and Joshua the

son of Nun." And so we realize that

those two spies who promoted the glory

of God and and trusted in God and tried

to instill belief in the people, they

will get to see the land. Why? because

they live by faith and not by sight. And

so they will see the land by faith and

not by sight. Says verse 31, "But your

little ones which ye said should be a

prey, them will I bring in, and they

shall know the land which ye have

despised. But as for you, your

carcasses, they shall fall in this

wilderness.

You will not see the land. You will die

in the wilderness if you as you have

spoken." And those little ones that you

thought I wasn't powerful enough to

protect and bring in, I'm going to bring

them in. They'll know and experience my

blessing. But here's what your decisions

have done in verse 33. Your children

shall wander in the wilderness 40 years

and bear your whoredoms. A graphic word

that speaks to the faithlessness

of that generation.

Because of your actions of

faithlessness,

your children, instead of growing up in

the promised land, will grow up in the

wilderness. Your children who should

have had you fighting their battles will

now have to go and fight those battles.

The repercussions

extend beyond you.

says in verse 34, "And the number of

days in the which ye searched the land,

even 40 days each day for a year shall

be shall ye bear your iniquities, even

40 years, and ye shall know my breach of

promise." God says, "I will do it. You

will die in this wilderness." God

punished the entire unbelieving

generation who rebelled against him in

unbelief.

The 10 who led the rebellion

died immediately.

It says in verse 37, "Even those men

that did bring up the evil report upon

the land died by the plague before the

Lord. But Joshua the son of Nun and

Caleb the son of Japona, which were of

them that went to search the land, lived

still." Do you see what God's saying?

I've pardoned the nation. I'm not going

to disinherit my people as a whole.

But those who are guilty of unbelief and

disobedience and disrespecting my name,

they will face punishment and the

fallout will land on their children.

When Moses reveals what God has spoken,

they appear repentant,

but they continue in rebellion. It says

in verse 39, "And Moses told these

things and all the children of Israel

and the people mourned greatly." That,

my friends, is a great start

to weep before God because of your

unbelief,

because of your sin.

That's a great start.

But we need to make sure that we are not

just weeping

because of what we've lost.

but because of what we've done.

The reality is it says in verse 40, they

rose up early in the morning and gap

them up into the top of the mountain,

saying, "Lo, we be here. We're right

here, and we will go up to the place

which the Lord hath promised, for we

have sinned." They acknowledge that

their unbelief has led them to sin, and

it has led them to rebellion, and now

has cost them the promised land. But now

they're saying, "Hey, we're here. We're

ready to go. let's go and take the land.

But it says in verse 41, and Moses said,

wherefore now do ye transgress the

commandment of the Lord.

Even when they appear repentant,

they are still fighting God. Why? What

did God say? Turn back by the way of the

Red Sea into the wilderness. God's mind

has been made up. And even though they

have the appearance of repentance, even

though they are weeping, even though

they are going up to the mountain and

supposedly expressing faith in God, what

we realize by this is they're not really

upset about the way they dishonored

God's glory. They're upset about the

fact that they've got to go back into

the wilderness when the promised land is

right there. They are more upset about

what they've lost than who they've

offended.

Moses tells them it shall not prosper.

Verse 42, he tells them, "Go not up, for

the Lord is not among you, that you be

not smitten before your enemies, for the

Amalachites and the Canaanites are there

before you, and ye shall fall by the

sword because ye are turned away from

the Lord. Therefore, the Lord will not

be with you, but they presumed to go up

unto the hilltop."

See,

isn't this what happens

that when somebody fails to believe in

God

and they act in disobedience to God

and they learn the consequences of their

disobedience and unbelief

that they then become further rebellious

against God.

I don't care what God says. I'm going

up.

I'm going to do what I want to do. I

don't care if God is not with me. I

don't care if it's not what God wants me

to do. I'm going to go and do it.

That's how many people live in light of

the consequences.

While God is merciful to pardon,

he is also just to punish.

When you fail to trust God and it leads

to disobedience and rebellion, he'll

pardon you, friend. He'll not take away

your salvation.

He'll not disown you as his child. He'll

not remove the Holy Spirit. He'll not

condemn your soul to hell. Once again,

once God saves you, you are saved no

matter your rebellion. And that is not

because uh you are doing good. It is

because God is merciful. God is faithful

and steadfast in his love and in his

decision to call and choose you as his

own through faith in Christ. He's

faithful to that though you may not be.

But he will not just clear you either.

There are consequences that remain

when you fail to trust God to provide.

You rack up a bunch of car credit card

debt. You may repent, but doesn't mean

God's going to take all the interest

away.

Or

if you get into shady business dealings

instead of earning an honest day's work,

though you may repent and God will

pardon you, there are still legal

ramifications.

When you fail to trust God in marriage

and you end up with an unbeliever, it

can end in a broken heart.

When you cheat on your spouse, it can

lead to an ugly divorce and your

children can end up bearing your

unfaithfulness.

A failure to follow God by faith in

ministry can lead to compromising

situations which can destroy your

ministry and destroy your family.

The consequences for sin can have

lingering effects on generations to

come.

your children may continue in your sin

which leads to further punishment on

them. Your refusal to glorify God can

embitter your children toward God.

Understand they will be punished for

their own sin. But God makes it clear

that our actions can be perpetuated in

their lives

and then they'll be punished for

choosing to follow in your steps.

See, those who bear God's name and

reflect God's glory, uh, those who bear

God's name must reflect God's glory by

faith. Or else God will be compelled to

defend his own glory.

And while he does so by mercifully

pardoning your sin, he also does so by

justly punishing your sin.

When you continue in rebellion in the

face of God's punishment,

you'll be soundly defeated.

That's heavy.

I realize that.

But that's exactly and I believe me,

I try everything I can in every message

to turn it toward the positive.

But sometimes God wants us to feel the

weight of unbelief,

the weight of disobedience, the weight

of rebellion, the weight of punishment.

He wants to make clear to us that that

he will not disown us,

but he wants to make clear that he will

chasen us.

And sometimes, church family, we need to

feel that weight.

Why?

So that as we stand

on the banks of the promised land

with God's blessing just on the other

side

and we look back and we wonder how did

that happen to them?

And we learn how God works.

that he pardons yet he punishes.

It would move us to not do as they did.

That rather than responding to the

giants and the walls and the battles

with tremendous fear,

we would respond

in deep faith.

that instead of being like the faithless

10, we would be like the faithful two.

That we would be like Caleb who fully

follows God. I love the way that that is

worded. When you study it in the

original language, it means to get fully

behind.

What it means is that Caleb backed up

God while everyone else was backing up

the sp the 10 spies.

He got behind God and he said, "God's

leading the way and God's going to bring

us forward and God's going to give us

victory." And so have faith. Believe and

obey God. That was Caleb's call. That

was Joshua's call. The Lord is with us.

He will surely bring us in. And so

believe and obey God. That is the call

of this text to that next generation as

they enter the promised land. And then

as they live in the promised land is

that if you will believe and obey God,

you will live under his blessing.

But it comes with that warning.

And that warning is the same to us

today. And that is this. Believe

and obey God

lest though you be pardoned,

you also be punished.

Believe and obey God, lest though you be

pardoned, you also be punished.

See, God wants you to experience his

blessing in your life. But his name will

not be disrespected

by unbelief.

He will defend his glory.

I'm so thankful that Jesus faithfully

advocates for us, that he brokers our

pardon, lest we be disowned.

But unbelief and disobedience can also

bring God's punishment. And that

punishment can have lasting effects not

only on you, but those around you.

So believe

and obey God.

If you can trust God with your

redemption, you can trust him dayto day.

If you can trust him to get you all the

way to heaven, you can trust him to get

you all the way through this battle. You

can trust him to overcome the giants.

You can trust him to overwhelm your

enemy. You can trust him to faithfully

provide for you. You can trust him to

faithfully protect you. You can trust

him with your future. and you can trust

him with today.

So believe and obey the one who has

proven himself

to be absolutely worthy of your trust.

Our father, we come before you tonight

feeling the weight and the gravity

of this pivotal message in the book of

Numbers.

It's the hinge point.

It's the key part of the book that asks

us which direction will we go? Will we

go into the promised land? Will we

venture into your blessing by faith or

will we turn back in fear?

Thank you for the pardoning work of

Jesus Christ.

But thank you for the admonishment we

receive tonight

that punishment can still come

if we do not believe and obey.

So would you please help us in this

moment? Whatever it is that is causing

us to dread,

fear,

and to potentially move and turn back.

Help us to lay that at your feet and to

trust absolutely in you because you are

trustworthy. In Jesus name I pray.