40 years.

That’s how long it took the Israelites to cross a section of land that should have taken days. They didn’t more real fast! 😛

So why did the trip take so long?

(Audio file of this sermon can be found on the PRV webiste)

Initially it was not supposed to be that long. God had them stop at Mt. Sinai for a few years so that He could talk to them and mold them into a nation that followed Him. After those few years, they traveled across the wilderness towards the land of Canaan- the land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

When they got there, they send out 12 spies to check things out – what was the land like, how many people lived there, were there any armies, ect.

After 40 days the spies came back carrying with them a “single cluster of grapes” so big it too two men to carry it!! That is some big grapes!

The spies told the people that the land was amazing – fertile land filled with milk and honey (sounds sticky!). However, they also told them that there were giants in the land that there would be no way they could defeat them.

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” –Numbers 13:26-29, 31-33

Well, 10 of the spies said that – two of them, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh. These two men understood that God Almighty would fight on their behalf – that if God told them to go into Canaan then He would provide the strengthen to conquer the land.

30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” –Numbers 13:30

We have the same choice…God invites us to join Him on His mission and we come to a point of crises where we can either trust God and go with Him or we can listen to fear and turn our backs to God.

Sadly the Israelite people choose to listen to the doubt and fear of the other 10 spies. They refused to follow the leading of Moses (shoot, they even talked about murdering him!) and the Lord despite everything they had seen – remember, just a few years before this they had seen God destroy the largest and strongest army in the area, the army of Egypt. The people in Canaan were just a bunch of kids play acting compared to Egypt – but the people refused to remember, they refused to follow God into the land.

As a result God told them that they would wonder in the desert for 40 years – until the last people of that generation had died. Their kids would be the ones who would go into the land – they would experience God since their parents refused to obey.

20 The LORD replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.” –Numbers 14:20-23

So they waited. And they wondered around, staring at the same rocks and sand….a constant reminder of their failure to obey.

Now this is important… write this down:  God did NOT abandon them in their failure.

Yes, He was disappointed. Yes, there were consequences – the Israelites had to walk a harder path…their children had to grow up in the desert instead of on a farm stead in the middle of fertile land.

But God still walked with them. He still took care of them. He did NOT abandon them. He loved them, He lived with them.

We MUST remember this.

Yes, it is better to obey God – as Jesus once said,

“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” –Jesus, Luke 11:28

But if we got scared – and everyone does at one point or another – and did not walk the path pointed out by Jesus – know that Jesus is still there with you. He doesn’t give up on His children – He is there with us through the consequences.

He is there encouraging us to follow Him. However, know that your journey may look different than it would have – let us return to Numbers 14:39-45

39 When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. 40 Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the LORD promised. Surely we have sinned!” –Numbers 14:39-45

The day after the Israelites decided to not to obey God, they changed their minds. They decided that the consequences of not obeying God were more than they could handle so they decided to attack the Canaanites on their own.

The problem was that God had already told them to leave the area:

25 Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.” –Numbers 14:25

What may have sounded like obedience was actually disobedience!!

41 But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed! 42 Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, 43 for the Amalekites and the 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.”

44 Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah. –Numbers 14:41-45

It is not enough to simply repent and tell God your sorry – and then go off and do the thing that God told you to do previously. When you cry out for forgiveness and tell God that you will obey Him, you must then listen!!

You must not assume that you know that to do. You must listen and obey what He says at that point.

Yes, sometimes God tells you to go back and finish the task you originally started. Jonah is a prime example of this. God originally told him to go to Nineveh and instead he went the opposite direction. After a facing some hardships, Jonah told God that he would follow Him – and God told him to do the same thing that He had originally told him to do.

However this is not always the case.

As we have just seen, the older generations of Israelites were not to go into the promise land. God had another mission for them. They didn’t get to sit on the bench for 40 years and not play – they just had another path to following.

In that path they fought many a war with the neighboring countries and taught their children to listen to God. They spread the news about who God was throughout the surrounding nations.

So much so that the next time they set spies into Canaan, they heard the following from a local gal:

“I know that the LORD has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.  11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” -Joshua 2:8-11

The nations not only heard about what God had done to Egypt, but what He did through the Israelites to the other nations that attacked them during those 40 years of wondering.

Keep on following Jesus.

No matter what has happened in the past – today is a new day. Tomorrow is coming.

Walk after Him, listen to Him, and obeying Him.  It may be a different path – but Jesus is still there walking beside you.