[Notes of a sermon preached in July, 2020]

So near, and yet so far!

Have you ever been on the brink of a major decision in your life, and then not gone through with it?  Have you ever wondered:

• What if I had gone to that college or university?
• What if I had taken that job?
• What if I had married that person?

In Numbers chapters 13 and 14 we find God’s people, the Israelites, on the threshold of the Promised Land.  So much has happened over the past year or so.  Think Passover, exodus, the crossing of the Red Sea.  Think of the Ten Commandment, the pillar of cloud and of fire to guide them, and the provision of manna to feed them.  One more step, and they’ve made it.  But then they come to a shuddering halt.  They stick their heels in the sand, and refuse to go any further.

So near, and yet so far.

But let’s just pause to ask: Why is this ancient story in the Bible, at all?  How can it be of any relevance for us today?

The apostle Paul puts it like this:

1 Cor 10:11 ‘These things were written down as warnings for us.’

Romans 15:4 ‘…so that through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.’

1. The many who tested God, 14:1-4

 Twelve scouts are sent out on a reconnaissance mission.  Is the soil fertile or poor?  Are the cities unwalled or fortified?  Are the people many or few, are they strong or weak?  Two of the scouts give the thumbs-up:  ‘Let’s go’ (13:30).  The other ten say, ‘Nah.  It’s too risky’ (13:31).  And this negative assessment spreads like wild-fire around the camp.  By nightfall, the entire community has made up its mind.  ‘We’re not going.  We’d rather be back in Egypt.  If fact, it would be better for us to die here, in the wilderness, than be eaten alive in Canaan.’

 This rebellion did not happen out of the blue.  It came at the end of a long series of grumblings.  Only last week, when we were in ch. 11, the Israelites were complaining about their rations, and longing for the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic of Egypt.  In fact, according to 14:22, they had tested the Lord no less than ten times in such ways.

Such dissatisfaction with God easily spills over into dissatisfaction with God’s representatives.  We read in 14:2 that ‘all the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron’, and in v10 that they were even considering putting them to death by stoning them.

What about us?  We may be too polite to let others hear us grumbling about God.  And too squeamish to start throwing stones at our vicars and curates.  But are we faultless in this regard?  Do we perhaps need to be reminded

‘to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord…[to] hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.’ (1 Thess 5:12f)?

There is, of course, a highly effective antidote to grumbling – gratitude.  The two cannot co-exist in the same heart for long.  Let our song therefore be ‘Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits’ (Psa 103:2).  And that song of thankfulness will quickly drown out the dirge of habitual grumbling.

2. The two who trusted God, 14:5-9

As we have seen, twelve scouts went out on their reconnaissance mission.  They all saw the same land, the same cities, the same people.  Ten reported back, saying, ‘No we can’t!’  Two said, ‘Yes we can!’  What did the two see, that the ten failed to see?  They saw God. 14:9 – ‘God is with us.’

Please note: this was not blind faith.  It had a weight of evidence behind it.  They had not forgotten that God had been with his people in the past – giving them his promise, his protection, and his provision – and this was the guarantee that he would be with them in the future.

The same is true for us.  What God has done is the guarantee of what he will do.  See how Paul puts it in Rom 8:32 – ‘He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?’

Christian brothers and sisters, Jesus has given us a great and unfinished commission, to ‘go and make disciples of all nations.’  And we may feel utterly unequal to the task.

But the same Jesus has pledged his very presence as we go.  He gives us his word: ‘I am with you, to the very end of the age.’

3. The one who talked to God, 14:13-19

The Lord is so upset with the Israelites that he is minded to do away with the lot of them, and start all over again with Moses.  But here is a man entirely free of personal ambition.  A man who pours out his heart on behalf of those who have rejected his leadership and who wish he was dead.  Appeal to God’s

• reputation (‘If you turn your back on your people now, you’ll never be able to show your face again!’) v13-16
• character (‘Don’t forget that you are both a righteous and a loving God’) 17-19
• covenant (‘…but you promised’) v16
• past actions (‘You have forgiven your people before, do it again’) v19

God loves to be argued with in this way, to be reminded of his own character, to be shown his own hand-writing.  He relents, and forgives the people, although, to be sure, they will have to live with the consequence of their unbelief for a very long time.

But today who is willing to stand where Moses stood, to converse with the Almighty as he did, and pour out their hearts in intercession?  Well, I know of a few who are willing, bless their hearts.  But these are mostly older Christians.  Some of our finest intercessors have gone to be with Jesus.  Who will take their places?  Who will step up to the plate?  Will you?

Conclusion

So near, and yet so far!  The Israelites had come within sight of their Promised Land, but then turned back.

An entire generation missed their opportunity to enter the Promised Land.  It was left to the next generation, along with Joshua and Caleb, who finally crossed the Jordon and made the land their own.

But even they did not find ultimate rest in the land.  Everything was pointing forward to what we call ‘salvation’, received through simple faith in Jesus, the Son of God.

Some of you are standing on the threshold.  You are on the point of receiving the priceless gift of life – abundant life – from Jesus.  Don’t turn back now.  Come to Jesus, and he will receive you, just as you are.  You will not regret it.

Others have tasted and seen that the Lord’s salvation is good.  But we may be finding the road to be rough and steep.  Don’t turn back now.  Go forward with Jesus. Keep on keeping on.  You will not regret it.

Some of you are nearing the end of your Christian life.  You have received much from Jesus, and there is more, much more, to come.  Don’t turn back.  Walk with Jesus to the very end.  Finish your course with joy.  You will not regret it.

‘Let us make every effort to enter that rest, so that no-one will fall by following their example of disobedience.’ (Heb 4:11)

Thanks be to God for his words of warning and of encouragement.