Numbers 14:11-25

Okay, it's awkward. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every weekday morning you and I, we have a little bit of coffee. Want some coffee? I'm gonna make coffee drinkers out of all of you. Oh, you don't want it? Okay. We have some coffee.
We get to God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2020. What year is it? 2024. We'll make it through the books of Numbers, Deuteronomy, Hebrews. Good job. Why don't we have some coffee? We'll pray and we'll get into God's word. I'm sure you don't want any coffee. Okay, okay. It's always there. It's ready for you. Alright, let's pray. God, we thank you so much for this day. Please help us to understand your word. Please apply it to our hearts. Lord, we pray that we would follow after you and love you all of our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen. Okay, so we are at Numbers chapter 14, beginning at verse 11. Numbers 14, beginning at verse 11.
So, in the last parts, they sent out the spies into the land. Caleb and Joshua said, yo guys, it's good, let's go for it. The people in the other ten spies said, nope, we're like grasshoppers, we're going to... Squish us like bugs. So people said, let's get a new leader, let's go back to Egypt. And they're getting ready to stone Moses. So that's what we're going to pick up in verse 11. How about you read 11 and 12, I'll read 13 through 19, and you can read 20 through 25. Dad, I thought I heard you reading the same exact passage yesterday. Let's go ahead and pick it up. Go ahead.
Then the Lord said to Moses, How long will these people reject me? And how long will they not believe me? With all the signs which I have performed among them, I will strike them with pestilence and disinherit them. I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they. Okay, so what do you think the Lord is saying to Moses there? that he's going to make a nation out of? Out of Moses. He says, get away from the people, I'm gonna whack them all off. I'm gonna start over just with Moses. Alright. I'm guessing he'll be like... Well, that's exactly what's going to happen. Alright, verse 13. And Moses said to the LORD, Then the Egyptians will hear it.
For by your might you brought these people up from among them, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, LORD, are among these people, that you, LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands above them. And you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. Now if you kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of your fame will speak, saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring these people to the land which he swore to give them, therefore he killed them in the wilderness.
And now I pray, let the power of my Lord be great. Just as you have spoken, saying, Jehovah is long-suffering and abundant in mercy, 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 fourth generation. Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray. according to the greatness of your mercy, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now. Alright, so what does Moses say there?
Don't kill them because then the nations will think. Maybe the Lord just wasn't able to give the land to them so he killed them all. Yeah, right? So people are going to, instead of glorifying God and fearing Him, they're going to think that He's kind of a wimpy God. Right? He couldn't actually deliver on His promises.
So that's the first part. What's the second part of what He says? What does He tell God to remember? Remember how you... This begins really at verse 17. He reminded him that the Lord said that he was long-suffering and abundant in mercy. Yeah, right. Moses reminds God of who he is. Long-suffering, gracious, abundant in mercy. You think it's probably a good idea to tell God back what he said about himself? I think it's probably a good idea. Okay, well go ahead and read 20 through 25. Okay.
Then the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word, but truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of God, because all these men who have seen my glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness have put me to the test now, these ten times, and have not heeded my voice.
They certainly shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed me fully, I will bring him to the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. Now the Alchemites, Amalekites, and the Canaanites dwell in the valley. Tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.
All right, so what's the Lord say here? He says, I'll pardon but those people who who were bad still aren't going to get off like free. Good, good, right? They're not going to get off scot-free. Good, right? But I love verse 21. But truly as I live all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Okay, I'm listening to you. I'm going to fill the world with my glory. But those people who didn't believe want to go back to Egypt. What's gonna happen to them? They're still gonna die. Yeah, they're gonna die in the wilderness.
What do you think is the best verse to summarize all this? 21. 21. Oh, okay, you like 21. I have 21 underlined. I have Moses' prayer, specifically 17, 18, and 19. 19 I have double underlined.
Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of your mercy, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now. Alright, did God forsake the people entirely? No. No, did he pardon their iniquity? Yeah, he did. Were there still present consequences in this life? Oh yeah, but did he forsake his covenant entirely? No, the next generation, what did they get to do? They got to go into the land. Yeah, they got to go into the land. They got to take it over, right?
So God is a covenant-keeping God, right? He remembers his promises. Good. Specifically to those who believe, right? There's a big blessing. Because what happens with Caleb? What does Caleb get to do? He believed the Lord. He was one of the spies. Doesn't he get to like a... He gets to go into the land? Yeah, he gets to go into the land. And even as an old man, he fights against the Canaanites. He actually fights against the giants, the Amalekites. And he wins. Alright, so...
Well, what do you think? As we've gone through this, what do you think that this is teaching us to do? What are we called to do? We're called to yawn. That's why we drink coffee first. I don't know. Like, believe in him, I guess? Yeah, I think that's a great application, right? We can believe in him. We can trust him.
One of the things for me is, like this is a real practical application, maybe if there's something really hard going on in my life, or there's difficult things and I don't understand what's going on, I can remember what Moses did with God here in verses 13 through 19, praying to Him and reminding God of His nature and His promises.
We're like, God, You're this way. You've shown us You're this way. You've told us You're this way. You've also made promises this way, so please keep Your promises. God, please remember You're a God of justice, but also a God of mercy. You are God, right? So sometimes in my life, like right now, there's some stuff going on when I need wisdom. And so crying out to God, God, you say you give wisdom to those who ask. So please, Lord, do it. Right? Because when God makes a promise or He tells us something, we can show our faith by going to Him. So, is that good? Are we done? Do you want to pray or do you want me to pray? Me. Okay.
Lord, we thank you so much for this day. Father, we pray that we would believe. Lord, we thank you that you do not forget that you are a covenant-keeping God. That you remember your promises. that you are the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. You are still the same God who revealed yourself to Moses, but you have shown us even more your mercy and your grace and your justice in Jesus Christ. And so, Father, we pray that you would please help us to trust in you all our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May you walk in the joy and peace that comes from Jesus Christ. And I'll see you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.