“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” Numbers 14:3-4, ESV.
Most often, the first thing a drug dealer is tempted to do after being released from jail is to go back to selling drugs. Due to their criminal background they find it almost impossible to get a reliable job to provide for their families. So they go back to doing what they do best. Some women go back to dancing in strip clubs to feed their children. Some go back to the job they hated, to the man that cheated but provided well, and the list goes on and on.
No matter how desperate your financial state is right now, don’t go back to bondage. Slavery in Egypt seemed far better to the Israelites than having to rely on God in the wilderness. At their breaking point they preferred slavery and stability over freedom and uncertainty.
You may be at your breaking point and are tempted to go back to the place God delivered you from because you see no other way, but hear the word of the Lord today: “There’s nothing for you in those old places where I delivered you. Don’t go back to bondage. Hold fast to My promise. If you hold on for a little while longer, I will make a way out of no way for you and your family. If you will obey Me and follow My ways, I will help you reach your place of promise. I will supply all your need according to My riches in glory in Christ Jesus. I am Jehovah-jireh your provider and I will keep My promise to you.”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for speaking directly to my heart. Help me not to go back to my old ways. Help me stick to Your way of doing things even though it’s a tremendous sacrifice. I know You didn’t bring me this far to leave me. I know You are with me and will supply all my needs. Help me Lord to serve You and not money. Help me move forward and trust You with everything in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(Read Genesis 22:14; Isaiah 43:19; Philippians 4:19)
Great devotional this morning. Thanks!
Thank You Jesus!!! This is so on time for me, thank you
YES! Very encouraging to me..its not the money I am worshipping, but worshipping the blessing of the money that is coming from God
Wow, this really spoke to me. I was looking back for a second but now I’m looking straight ahead.
Amen. And awesome word this morning..
In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, God speaks about the Children of Israel in the wilderness, after they had left the land of Egypt and were on their way to the land of Canaan. God called them a “Stiff-necked People”. We read here in 1 Corinthians 10:5-6,
1 Corinthians 10:5
But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
1 Corinthians 10:6
Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Literally, with most of them God was not pleased at all. When someone is not pleasing to God, that person is still unregenerate and under the wrath of God. Yes, they died unsaved, and God says: “they were overthrown in the wilderness”.
What does that mean “overthrown”?
Literally it means that they were scattered in the wilderness: Their dead bodies were scattered, as they wandered throughout the wilderness over a period of 40 years. And God says that these things were written as examples for us, that we should not fall into sin like they did. God says it again in verses 10 and 11:
1 Corinthians 10:10
Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
1 Corinthians 10:11
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
They murmured against God many times, they were grumbling and complaining about what God has done in their lives, and that is a terrible sin. They died for their sin, some instantly and others after a while. They were not allowed to enter the promised land because their heart was not right with God. But God said: These things happened to them for examples to us, and the Greek word translated “ensamples” is the word “tupos”, from which we derive the word “type”. In other words, God says: These things in the Old Testament happened to them as types and figures of what was to come in the New Testament.
Let me give you an example of that. In Number chapter 14 we have the story that Moses sent twelve spies to spy out the land of Canaan, and the bad report that they brought. Ten of the twelve spies said: We are not able to fight those giants of this land.
Why was it that they were so fainthearted?
How was their heart?
God says about the heart of man:
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
And now we can see an application of the fact that man’s heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.
There was Rebellion in Israel (Numbers 14:1-4)
Numbers 14:1
And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Numbers 14:2
And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
Numbers 14:3
And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
Numbers 14:4
And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
Not only were they murmuring against Moses and Aaron, but they were blaming God that God had brought them to this land of Canaan so that they would be killed in battle and that their wives and their children would become slaves of these Canaanites. They were blaming God for deceiving them.
What a terrible thing they were saying?
What a terrible thing was going on in their heart?
Paraphrased they said: O, we wish that we had died in the land of Egypt, and O, we wish that we had died in this wilderness. What a disaster that Jehovah has brought us to this land of Canaan, this land that He has promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. It was all a scam; it was a trap.
What makes people blame God?
What a terrible inconsistency is this, if we believe that there is a benevolent Being, God, who created this entire universe, and us, and then accuse God for deceiving us and bringing a disaster in our life, for no good reason at all. God could have prevented this.
But, did you notice that this is what people still do today?
Haven’t you heard people say: “O, why does this happen to me? I do not deserve this. Why did God do this to me?”
What they are actually saying in a hidden way is this: “This is unfair! God did this to me, but God could have prevented this. I do not deserve this kind of treatment, but God brought this disaster in my life for no good reason.”
And now they wanted to return to Egypt. Think of it now!
Is this a general trend of Congregations to go back into bondage?
Yes! Absolutely! They tend to drift into works gospels, because the Gospel of Grace alone is repugnant to most people. And how hard it is to be in a works gospel! They will have a long list of things they HAVE to do, in order to appear righteous in God’s eyes. I must say the sinner’s prayer, I must be very sincere, I must accept Jesus into my heart, I must pray to get things done, I must work for the Church, I must work to abolish abortion, and so on. And they always feel guilty for not having done enough. The list gets longer instead of shorter. It makes great workers in the Church, but they always feel burdened, and the ones who are not saved eventually give up.
Works gospels are all rebellion against God.
How do we plead with rebels? (Numbers 14:5-9)
Numbers 14:5
Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
Numbers 14:6
And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
Numbers 14:7
And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
Numbers 14:8
If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Numbers 14:9
Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
How do we plead with rebels against God?
First of all, we do not pretend that we are better than they are. The two highest officials in the nation, Moses and Aaron fell on their faces, humbling themselves before the Congregation, and pleading with God that He will forgive these rebels their blasphemy. Joshua and Caleb who were chiefs of the tribes of Ephraim and Judah, and who were the only two of the twelve spies who brought an honest report, they too pleaded with the Congregation to go forward and conquer the promised land, as the Lord had promised to give to them.
They described this exceeding good land. And how good was that land?
It was flowing with milk and honey.
Does this mean that they were wading through rivers of milk, and that the honey was flowing down from beehives all over the place?
No. Of course not. God defines His own terms.
Many years later God defined this expression when Ezekiel wrote in Ezekiel 20, verses 6 and 15, that it was “the land flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands”.
Which land can claim the title that it is “the glory of all lands”?
Which land is more glorious than any other land on this earth?
Of course, it is the Kingdom of God. In the Old Testament God speaks in types and figures. The land of Canaan was a type of the Kingdom of God, and therefore the milk and honey are a type of the Gospel of the Kingdom. The milk and honey are flowing like the Word of God is flowing. That same Hebrew word for “flowing”is used for the waters that gushed out of the Rock when Moses struck the Rock in the wilderness. In the New Testament God says:“that Rock was Christ”. Furthermore, in Psalm 19:10 God says that the Word of God is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.
Therefore, when Joshua and Caleb were pleading with the Congregation to enter into the promised land, it was a picture of one of us pleading with someone unsaved to enter into the Kingdom of God.
Can we plead with those who rebel against God?
Yes, we are commanded by God to do so. But they are spiritually dead. Only by the Grace of God will they hear. Look at the evidence!
They were ready to stone Joshua and Caleb.
God’s patience was running out (Numbers 14:10-12)
Numbers 14:10
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.
In other words: No one wants to go to the promised land that God offered as a free gift. Every one prefers to go to the land of Egypt, the land of bondage, as their promised land.
Is that not strange?
No! It is not strange at all. God is painting a picture here. The picture is that the natural man, the unsaved man, does not want the Kingdom of God. The true Gospel is an offense to the natural man. They do not want God’s plan of salvation. They prefer their own plan of salvation, and they prefer to choose their own leader. The natural man does not like the God of the Bible. He wants his own god.
Here in Numbers 14:10 they preferred to kill their faithful leaders and choose their own leader to go back into Egypt. Never mind all the signs God has performed to bring them out of Egypt. Never mind the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night they witnessed every day. Never mind the miraculous manna that rained from Heaven every morning and the water that gushed out of the Rock at two different occasions. Never mind that they heard God speaking at Mount Sinai, and that they trembled at God’s voice. Never mind that the mountain burned with fire, and that Moses’ face was brightly shining when he came down from the mountain.
Numbers 14:11
And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them?
Numbers 14:12
I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
God’s patience was running out. There are those who believe that God has infinite patience with the Congregation of Israel, or that God has infinite patience with the New Testament Church. It is true that patience, or longsuffering, is an attribute of God. It is also true that God has infinite patience with those who have become saved, who have become the building blocks of the Eternal Church, which is the Body of Christ. But not every one in the corporate Church is a saved individual, and God does not have infinite patience with the corporate Church. Last week we looked at the Church at Ephesus from the vantage point of Revelation 2:1-7.
Did God warn them that His patience was running out?
Yes! He did.
Has God been patient with the children of Israel?
Yes, He has been. But the majority of them rebelled again and again. They murmured against God many times.
What does that indicate?
It indicates that they were never saved. They were a stiff-necked people!
And God Rejected that Congregation (Numbers 14:26-30, Hebrews 4:2)
They did not want to enter into the promised land. Paraphrased God says: Have it your way!
Numbers 14:26
And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
Numbers 14:27
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.
Numbers 14:28
Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
Numbers 14:29
Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,
Numbers 14:30
Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
Only Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter into the promised land, but no one else of 20 years and older. It was as if God had rejected that entire Congregation except Joshua and Caleb.
In all fairness, we have to recognize a few individuals who were definitely saved people, besides Joshua and Caleb. There was Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam, and undoubtedly some of the faithful Levites who were on the side of Moses, and remember there was Bezaleel, and Aholiab who built the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle, and there may have been a few more. None of those were allowed to enter into the promised land.
Had God rejected those people also?
NO! Of course not.
But God was drawing a picture, or types and figures of what the New Testament Church would be like. God rejected the Corporate Body for rejecting Him. They heard the Gospel through Moses, but they were not saved. Yes, that is a surprise to many that they too heard the Gospel. God says in Hebrews 4:2,
Hebrews 4:2
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Could God have given faith to most of the children of Israel?
Yes, God could have done it. God could have prevented all of the catastrophes in history, but God chose not to do so, because God was carrying out His plan that gave Him all the glory.
God showed us in this story that He is capable of rejecting an entire Congregation, without actually harming the eternal security of some who were chosen by God unto salvation. And God did this again when He rejected the Northern Kingdom of Israel, but God preserved a Remnant chosen by grace. And God did this again when He rejected the Southern Kingdom of Judah, but God preserved a Remnant chosen by grace.
Every time, why did God reject them?
Because they have not hearkened to My voice(Numbers 14:22-23, Hebrews 3:17-19)
Numbers 14:22
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 ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
Numbers 14:23
Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
God rejected this Congregation because, God says, they have seen my glory and yet they have not listened to my voice.
How did they see God’s glory?
Did they see it in bright colors and sparkles?
NO! They saw that God was victorious over evil.
Have we seen God’s glory?
I hope all of you have seen God’s glory. The Bible says: “And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Those words are speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Have we seen Jesus Christ?
Not with our physical eyes, but with our spiritual eyes. With our spiritual eyes and ears we have believed that the Lord Jesus Christ was victorious over sin and evil, by nailing our sins to the Cross and binding the power of Satan. That is how we beheld His glory, because we have listened to His voice.
Thank you God and Thank you DOTK Family for this word today Amen 🕇
Thankyou Heavenly Father, for the powerful word today…
Very timely.. thank you for your passion to help remind and encourage others. Bless you all!
Thank you Father for your unconditional love and promises.
Who can say I deserve salvation I’ve been so good and haven’t stumble I certainly can not I am depending on my Savior grace and great mercies I love you Jesus
Father god I thank you for your kind words this morning I Receive it in your nameAmen. God bless Dotk family.
Standing on Your Promise LORD JESUS🙌🙋👑💯 🎁💝🎉YOU DIDNT BRING US THIS FAR TO LEAVE US!!! 💜hallelujah❗💃💃💃👏👏🙏🙏🙏