SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them."

"But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."

"Moses said to the Lord, "Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O Lord, are with these people and that you, O Lord, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 'The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.' "

"Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 'The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."

"The Lord replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times-not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea."

"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die."

"So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it- these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived."
"When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. "We have sinned," they said. "We will go up to the place the Lord promised."

"But Moses said, "Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? This will not succeed! Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword."

"Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord's covenant moved from the camp. Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah." Numbers 14:5-45

Through the study of the Exodus…not just the book of Exodus but all the scriptures that have detailed it…we have seen a God who is patient with His people but we have also seen a God who has His limits. We have seen a God who is merciful and compassionate but we have also seen a God who is angered when His people disrespect or disobey Him, particularly if He has given them prior warning and had forgiven them in the past for a like offense. Our scripture today stays consistent with what we know of God up to this point. It’s what makes the Israelites look so foolish in light of their actions…and it should make us feel more than a little foolish in our own right as we compare our personal lives and subsequent actions to those of the people of Israel.

You’ll remember that the advance scouting party that Moses sent out on God’s command returned after 40 days of visiting Canaan with a report for Moses and the people. They began by saying that the land had been just as the Lord had promised it would be, displaying fruit and proclaiming it "flowing with milk and honey". If they had left well enough alone there, everything would have been fine. But then the men began to tell about all the people who were already inhabiting the land and how much danger they would be in if they went to Canaan, despite all the fruit, milk and honey. And this stirred up distress and fear in the Israelites who began to wonder if they would not have been better off returning to Egypt…under new leadership. Once again, the people of Israel displayed their total lack of faith in God and their desire to complain about any and every obstacle that came upon them.

All through the exodus, God had tried to get Israel to change their ways so they might enter Canaan as a faithful, obedient people. But despite His best efforts which included His protection, provision and presence, the people still didn’t get it. And God wasn’t happy about it.

Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb all sensed the urgency of the moment. This wasn’t the first time Moses had to intercede for the people but even his efforts were only slightly effective in convincing God to refrain from severely punishing His people. As our passage begins, we see Moses and Aaron falling "facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there" while "Joshua…and Caleb…tore their clothes." These signs of extreme repentance were followed by Joshua and Caleb saying, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them." Their words were designed to try and turn the Israelites from their sinful attitudes but their efforts were to no avail. We know this because the "whole assembly talked about stoning them." It was their last chance and they blew it. For the Lord was about to arrive.

Scripture tells us " the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites" and the Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they." The Lord was fed up and start over again with Moses. But as we have seen before, Moses stood up for Israel and tried to reason with God. He said to the Lord, "the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O Lord, are with these people and that you, O Lord, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 'The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.' " In other words, the people living in Canaan were well aware that Israel was not entering into their land alone. They had heard all about the God of Israel and knew that this powerful God had promised to give the land of Canaan to Israel. Moses reasoned that destroying Israel before they entered the Promised Land would send the wrong message to Canaan. They would see it as God unable to bring the people into the land He promised.

Moses had more to say. He appealed to God saying, "Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 'The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now." Once again, Moses interceded for his people but the final decision was up to God.

We read that the Lord tells Moses, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times-not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it…Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea"…"How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die."


As we read God’s judgment, we see where the Lord listened to Moses and accepted his plea but still felt the need to impose a harsh penalty on Israel. So God didn’t wipe out everyone as He first wanted to do but devised a plan so that no one who had grumbled and complained against Him would ever enter Canaan. In order to do this, he turned Israel around and back into the desert where they would travel for forty years…one year for each day that the men had scouted Canaan…before being able to enter the Promised Land. This forty year period would see everyone in the current generation die in the desert and their children suffer hardship as shepherds before they were able to finally enter Canaan. And to show how serious He was about the need for punishment, He began with the men who started it all…the ones who got Israel stirred up in fear and worry with their report. These men, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord…this before anything else took place.

Moses had to tell the Israelites about what had happened to the men and when they learned of their fate, "they mourned bitterly". They then decided to "go "toward the high hill country"…to "the place the Lord promised." The problem was that this wasn’t what God had commanded. He had told Israel to turn back to the desert. So the people of Israel still didn’t get it. How much of a frustration this must have been to God and Moses. In fact, Moses asked, "Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? This will not succeed! Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword." But Israel decided to go anyways. Can you see where bad things are going to happen? And they do for "the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah." Indeed, the people of Israel were a stubborn disobedient bunch. They were so close to the finish line…so close to completing their journey and entering the land flowing with milk and honey…so close and yet so far because they couldn’t obey and trust in God to watch over them, protect them and ultimately bless them.

As I thought about this scripture, I couldn’t help but think about my own life and how much it is a struggle sometimes against the sinful nature. Sometimes I feel so close to where God wants me to be and yet so far away. I can relate to the lament of Paul in Romans as he said:

"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:14-25

How about you? Do you go through the same struggles? Do you like Israel and Paul seem to never quite figure it out, constantly failing in the same ways?

Well, Paul leaves us with some good news for we’re all in the same boat. Yes, we’re all sinners and yes we are under constant attack by Satan whose chief goal is to destroy every good and perfect thing that God creates…including us. If it all were to end there, we would be hopeless.

But we have an assurance from God the Father through His one and only Son, Jesus Christ…an assurance that comes and rescues us from our bodies of death. The assurance? "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) And because of Jesus, we can proclaim, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:55-57) Indeed, thanks be to God for although we might be so close and yet so far sometimes, when the Lord calls for us, we will be forever close and never ever again afar…all because Jesus who gives us the victory. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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