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NUMBERS 13:21-14:38 LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY

The 10 Spies did not have… … Faith (Numbers 14:1-4) God had promised Abraham (Genesis 12:7; 15:18-21) “Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there the built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him there.” (vs. 7) “On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, :”To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates…” (vs )

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY The 10 Spies did not have… … Faith (Numbers 14:1-4) God had promised them (Numbers 13:1-2; Exodus 3:15-17) “ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from every tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” (vs. 1-2)

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY The 10 Spies did not have… … Faith (Numbers 14:1-4) God had promised them (Numbers 13:1-2; Exodus 3:16-17) “Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Ex. 3)

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY The 10 Spies did not have… … Faith (Numbers 14:1-4) They had seen the wonders of the Lord (Numbers 14:20-23) “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 the Lord- because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these 10 times, and have not heeded my voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.” (vs )

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY The 10 Spies did not have… …Courage (Numbers 13:31-33) They were told to have courage (Numbers 13:17-20) “ Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, and see what the lad is like; whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. …” (vs )

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY The 10 Spies did not have… …Courage (Numbers 13:31-33) However, Joshua and Caleb showed this (Num. 13:30; 14:6-9) “ Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” (vs. 30) “.. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” (vs. 8-9)

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY Instead, the 10 Spies… … were distracted (Numbers 13:27-29) “ Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” (vs )

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY Instead, the 10 Spies… … made the Lord angry (Numbers 14:11-12; 26-27) “Then the L ORD 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 the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” (vs ) “And the L ORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “ 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.” (vs )

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY Instead, the 10 Spies… … brought punishment on themselves (Num. 14:36-37) “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, those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the L ORD. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.” (vs )

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY Instead, the 10 Spies… … believed the benefits would not outweigh the work “Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” (Numbers 13:27-29)

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY Applications for us Where is our faith and trust? “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the L ORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” - 2 Chronicles 32:7-8

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY Applications for us Where is our faith and trust? “So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” - Matthew 17:20

LESSONS FROM A MAJORITY Applications for us As the spies did, we have a promise and a reward “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast…” - Hebrews 6:17-19a