Message Notes

INTRODUCTION

1. Joshua and Caleb

a) They were fast friends

b) They were both tribal leaders

c) They shared much together as Spies

2. Their spirit

a) They had remained resolute

b) They resolved to be faithful to the Lord

c) They shared the same spirit of faith and courage

THE JUDGMENT OF GOD ELABORATED

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

27 “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me.

28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you:

29 The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above.

Numbers 14:26-29

1. A Divine Evaluation of the children of Israel

a) God called it “an evil congregation”

b) It was a chronic complaining congregation

2. The Divine Judgment of God proclaimed

a) The chronic complainers will perish in the Wilderness

b) The guilty ones were more than twenty years old

c) They were held:

i) Responsible for their sins

ii) Accountable for their evil deeds

iii) They cannot offer any justification for their wicked behaviour

d) They will not perish because of a pestilence

e) But neither would they survive in the wilderness

FURTHER ELABORATION OF THE DIVINE JUDGMENT

31 But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.

32 But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.

33 And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness.

34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection.

35 I the Lord have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ ”

Numbers 14:31-35

1. Forty Year Sentence in the Wilderness

a) The Twelve Spies had spent 40 days in Canaan

b) Each day would become one year of punishment

c) They would have to live and die wandering in the Wilderness

d) They would have to bear this guilt for forty years

e) This evil congregation will not be allowed to enter into the Promised Land

f) They will then understand “Divine rejection”

2. The sons of that rebellious generation

a) Their parents declared that they would be “victims”

b) These “victims” would enter Canaan and inherit the land they had despised

c) The sons would learn how to be shepherds in the Wilderness

i) Hard work

ii) Humble work

iii) Honest work

d) They will suffer the brunt of their fathers’ unfaithfulness

DIVINE JUDGMENT CONCERNING THE TEN SPIES

36 Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land,

37 those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the Lord.

38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.

Numbers 14:36-38

1. The Ten Spies

a) They were punished directly

b) They had caused the children of Israel to rebel against the Lord

c) They were duly punished

i) They died by the hand of God

ii) A plague was sent by God

iii) All ten spies perished!

CALEB AND JOSHUA

30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.

38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.

Numbers 14:30, 38

1. God preserved both Caleb and Joshua

2. They remained alive for the plague passed them by

3. God would continue to lead and to bless them

CONCLUSION

1. Divine wrath is a Biblical teaching

2. We are to learn how to fear the Lord

3. Our challenge is to cultivate our spirit of faith diligently