Numbers 13:17-20, 26-32; 14:26-35 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Advent Midweek: Exiles Wednesday, December 13, 2023 “Exiled by Fear and Unbelief”
The people of Israel had come out of Egypt, released from slavery by God’s mighty hand. They had traveled through the sea on dry ground. They had paused at the Mountain of the Lord to receive his law for their lives, their worship, and their nation. They had taken a census of the people and had seen in that count the blessing of the Lord on his people, that now mighty nation with abundant young men ready to serve as soldiers. And the Lord led that people near to the land he had promised to give to them as their very own, their home. And from there, just outside the land of promise, the people, according to the Lord’s decree and the direction of Moses, were going to send spies to better understand that land and the final portion of their journey. That ever-so-brief summary of whole chapters and even books of the Bible introduces the text of our sermon for this midweek Advent service. Here is how Numbers 13 and 14 record what took place: (Read Numbers 13:17-20, 26-32; 14:26-35) How gut-wrenching and how heart-breaking! This mighty people of God with a God even mightier, was standing near enough to their promised land to send spies in to explore it. But instead of entering the land, they would make an about-face and leave it behind. For forty years, one year for each of the forty days that the spies had explored, the people would be wilderness nomads without a permanent home. And everyone who had been in a position to contribute to the decision for which this chastisement came would die. We can’t possibly in the time of a single sermon today address every aspect even of what we read, not to mention all the parts of these chapters that we skipped over, but it is worth a review of some of the highlights. The spies found the land just like God had described it. It was flowing with milk and honey. It was at that very time producing abundant fruit. The men had even picked a cluster of grapes that was so large they hung it on a pole so that two of them could carry it back. The cities were large and wellfortified. The people were large as they lived off the wealth of the land. And Caleb and Joshua, two of our spies, looked at the situation and said, “what a wonderful land God is giving us. He is providing for us generously by allowing us to take it.” But the other spies, all ten of them, said that the people were too strong and the cities were too well-defended. Even for God’s people they thought the Promised Land was a lost cause. And the people gave into their fear. The scary stories persuaded them. The strong people of the land and the high walls intimidated them. They wept and mourned and grumbled. After such a long journey away from Egypt and Sinai and all the way here, would they now be put to death by the sword? Would their families and children be captured or slaughtered? Would that be the end for the Israelites? The Bible tells us that this was a new beginning in a way. This was the beginning of an exile that would change God’s people forever. This event, the wilderness wandering, would define God’s relationship with his people once again. They refused to listen to God’s promise. They refused to set out to win the land from its pagan inhabitants. So God sent them away from it. They became exiles because of their fear and unbelief. In spite of God’s track record with them and in spite of his promises to them, they surveyed their situation and refused to push ahead. They refused to listen to God’s direction. They gave in and gave up. Their wilderness wandering would reflect how their hearts had wandered from God. And that is a dire warning for the people of God who gather this Advent. God has an amazing track record with us. He has brought us this far. He has seen us through ups and downs. Some of the things he has brought us through we have in common. Others are very individual. We could talk about the families into which we were born, the nation in which we live, the church in which we worship and the
congregation members that support us. We could talk about the jobs and careers and relationships with which God has blessed us. We could talk about all the times he protected us and provided for us. And I have no doubt that you could add some very personal examples to that list. But what about the other list? What about the times when you were like the ten spies instead of the two? What about the times when you made excuses for not following God’s commands and directions and even urged others to join that sort of rebellion? What about the times when you surveyed the situation around you and instead of having confidence in God and his promises and his power, confidence enhanced by that very track record of which we have been speaking, you gave in to fear? And what are the scary monsters, the giant enemies in our lives? Maybe a germ, and illness, a virus? Maybe a diagnosis of a deadly or debilitating disease? Maybe our neighbor, who we can talk to about anything—anything except our church and our Savior. Maybe fear and unbelief raise their ugly heads in our lives when we think of the offering plate and we can’t imagine how God would take care of us physically if we gave with a wholehearted generosity. And I have no doubt that you could add to this personal list as well. The exile of the Israelites was a reflection of their hearts. Fear and unbelief take us away from God. They undermine our faith. And if we are left to wander on our own, we would wander into destruction. But God’s promises are bigger than our fears and bigger than our doubts and bigger than all our sins. God did not abandon his people even after the vast majority of them had abandoned him. 40 years would be a long time for wilderness wandering. The death and destruction that God was threatening was real. Only 2 people from the vast number of men that had been counted shortly before this would enter into the promised land. But God’s people would indeed inherit the land he had promised. The children of those men and women and the generations after them would have their place. God would not leave the people alone even in their wandering. He was still going to be with them and to see them safely return. God’s track record on behalf of his people was going to continue. That track record has continued all the way to sending his dear Son into our world on a holy, silent night. His track record has continued all the way to sending his Holy Spirit into hearts from generation to generation. Here’s his track record for you: he made you his own in baptism and feeds you the body and blood of his Son Jesus Christ in Holy Communion. He preaches his Word through the mouths of his spokespeople and has given you that word on your bookshelf and on your screen and in your heart as you hear and read and learn it. And there is really only one promise that he has yet to fulfil. That’s the last one reserved for the last day. God has one more promised land in store for us. And maybe he will allow some of our souls to enter that land a little sooner than others, but his promise stands: Jesus Christ will return and call all believers, body and soul, to his side in the joy and the glory of heaven. If we could send a spy into that promised land, he couldn’t even explain it to us when he returned. This isn’t a land flowing with milk and honey or laden with clusters of grapes so large we would need a pole to carry them. This is a land where God dwells with his people. This is a land where sin and death and fear are no more. This is a land from which we want to let nothing exile us. And that is God’s gracious Advent promise to us. May our souls, with Mary, proclaim the greatness of the Lord who has remembered us, his people.
The Text: Numbers 13:17–20 (EHV) 17Moses sent them to scout the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up this way through the
Negev and go up into the hill country. 18See what the land is like. See if the people who live in the land are strong or weak. See if they are few or many. 19See if the land that they live in is good or bad. See what kind of cities they live in. See if the cities are camps or fortified places. 20See what the land is like. See if the land is fertile or poor. See if there are trees in the land or not. Be courageous and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” This happened at the season of the first ripe grapes. Numbers 13:26–32 (EHV) 26They came back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire community of the Israelites at Kadesh in the
Wilderness of Paran. They brought back a report to them and to the entire community. They showed them some of the fruit of the land. 27They reported to him and said, “We went to the land where you sent us. It really does flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit. 28However, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. We also saw the descendants of Anak there. 29The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites are living in the hill country. The Canaanites are living by the sea and along the Jordan.” 30Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should go up now and take possession
of it, because we can certainly conquer it!” 31But the men who had gone up with Caleb said, “We are not able to go up against the people,
because they are stronger than we are.” 32So they spread a negative report to the Israelites about the land that they had scouted. They said, “The land that we explored and scouted is a land that eats up its inhabitants. All the people we saw in the land were huge. Numbers 14:26–35 (EHV) 26The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, 27“How long will this wicked community grumble against
me? I have heard the Israelites’ constant grumblings against me. 28Tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you just as I have heard you say. 29In this wilderness your corpses will fall. All of you who were registered in the census, every one of you twenty years old and up who have grumbled against me, 30I swear that none of you will go into the land where I promised to settle you, except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31But your children, whom you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will experience the land which you have rejected. 32But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years. They will have to endure your prostitution until your corpses perish in the wilderness. 34You will bear the consequences of your guilt for forty years, based on the number of days that you scouted the land, forty days, one year for every day. You will experience my opposition.’ 35I, the Lord, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to this entire wicked community, who are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will perish. There they will die.”