I would like to direct your attention
this evening to the words that we find in the portion that we
read together from Numbers chapter 14 and the report which Joshua
and Caleb bring in verses 7 to 9. Numbers chapter 14, the verses
7 to 9. They, that is Joshua and Caleb,
spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying,
The land which we passed through to search it is an exceeding
good land. If the Lord delight in us, then
he will bring us into this land, and give it us, a land which
floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the
Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land, for they are bred
for us. Their defence is departed from
them, and the Lord is with us. Fear them not. The children of Israel have been
wonderfully brought up out of the land of Egypt, where they
were in bondage, where they were in slavery, and very much and
increasingly oppressed in that condition. They had been there,
of course, they went down in the time of famine, when Joseph
was the prime minister, effectively, under Pharaoh. And yet after
Joseph passed away, we read that a pharaoh arose which knew not
Joseph. And from that time onwards, they
were viewed with suspicion, and increasingly so. And they were
more and more afflicted until they became fairly slaves to
the Egyptians. And yet the Lord delivered them
and brought them up as he had promised, having promised to
them to bring them into the land of Canaan, the promised land,
where they were to be established, where they were to be settled,
and where they might have a proper abode. They have been brought
up from Egypt, delivered in a most miraculous way, delivered by
all those ten great plagues which came upon Egypt, which caused
so much desolation and devastation in the land. Having now then
been brought up, we find them again in desperate straits when
they come to the waters of the Red Sea, And there is this sea
before them, which they cannot pass over, such a great host,
and the Egyptian army now pursuing behind them. And yet the Lord
opens up the way before them, opens the waters of the Red Sea,
and causes them to pass through on dry land. Again, in the wilderness,
they have had troubles. They have been without water,
they have not had food, and yet the Lord has provided for them.
And now they are come to the borders of the land. It is felt
to be prudent, and it was so plainly, to send forth 12 spies
into the land. One man was sent into Canaan
to spy it out from each tribe. We have these names listed at
the beginning of chapter 13 of Numbers. The 12 names of the
spies which were sent into the land of Canaan. These 12 went
into the land and their commission was, in verses 17 to 20, they
were to go up to see the land, what it was, the people that
dwell therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many,
what the land is, whether it is good or bad, what cities they
dwell in. What the land is, fat or lean,
whether there be wood therein, they were to bring back a comprehensive
report of what this nation was like, what this place was like
in every respect. And bringing it back, they were
then to go forwards. And knowing the land as it were,
these spies having sorted out, they were to go forth and to
take it. But we find as these 12 spies
return, Ten of them bring back an evil report. The land is good,
in a sense, a land which flows with milk and honey, and they
bring back that cluster of grapes, which is a great token of the
richness and the wealth and the fatness of the land. But again,
with this, they bring back a great discouragement, and so much so
that it sets the people altogether down. They describe the people,
the Amalekites, and the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites,
and the Canaanites, and the great people, the walled cities, the
children of Anak there, the giants, and they altogether disquiet
the people. It caused them to begin to wonder, what is this? We find Caleb comes and Caleb
and Joshua of course were the only ones who truly held fast
to the law and held fast really to the commission that they had
been given. And they try to steal the people and Caleb tries to
rouse them there in verse 30. Let us go up at once and possess
it. We are well able to overcome them. But all those ten spies
say, we've been not able to go up against them. We can't do
this. They are too many. They are too great for us. It
is too much. We can't go against these people.
And so we find them so much downcast, dejected. And worse, now they
are complaining. We find at the beginning of chapter
14, they begin to murmur against Moses and against Aaron. They
begin to wish that they'd died in Egypt or in the wilderness.
And they even begin to think about returning to Egypt, trying
to go back to that place from which they came, to go back,
as it were. It seems strange. They want to go back into slavery.
They want to go back into captivity. Perhaps they have forgotten what
it was. Perhaps now that they have been
out of it for a little while, the affliction does not seem
so bad. As we sometimes say, do we not? The grass always seems
greener on the other side. Perhaps looking back now, it
doesn't seem so bad. When they were under bondage
and under affliction, were they not crying out because of the
oppression that they were under? Were they not in such distress?
Surely they were, but all that now seems to be forgotten. And
we find them corporate gathering together and saying, let us make
a captain and return into Egypt. Moses and Aaron here, in this
very desperate case, set us a very fine example Verse five, they
fall on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation
of the children of Israel. They knew that there was only
one remedy to this case. After all this, having come so
far and the people now being strangely irrational in a sense,
desiring to go back to Egypt, and yet so bent upon this, so
reluctant to go in and so discouraged Moses and Darren know that there
is only one place that they can go, the throne of grace. And
so they fall upon their faces in the sight of all the congregation,
that the congregation may be reminded that there is a God
in heaven whom these men serve, whom these men have been following
when they have led them forth. It has been the hand of the Lord
that has been with them, that has guided them and brought them
thus far. And so they will appeal to him first. And then we find
Joshua and Caleb making another effort, as it were, to rally
the people again, to speak to them and to encourage them and
exhort them and to speak of the land. And yet more than this,
Moses and Aaron, as it were, are there praying. Joshua and
Caleb are there preaching. Here they are. If the Lord delight
in us, then he will bring us into this land. He will give
it to us, a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel
not ye against the Lord, neither fear this people. Their defence
is departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Fear them not. What encouraging words these
are. What strengthening words these are. Oh, that the Lord
may grant that they may be strengthening to us tonight. They may not fall
upon deaf ears as it seems that they did in this case. Such an
encouragement, such a glorious hope and a prospect before the
people, and yet what do we find? The response says, in verse 10,
all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And yet, notwithstanding,
the Lord owned these faithful men. The glory of the Lord appeared. Even as the congregation was
speaking of stoning them with stones, the Lord appeared for
them in the tabernacle with all his glory, and speaks to Moses,
and speaks terrible words to the people. He had had these
amongst them, men sent to them, as we find, do we not, in the
Scriptures time and time again. men sent to them to tell them
and to exhort them to follow the way of the Lord, to walk
in his ways, to obey his word and his will. And yet they would
not. And since they would not, judgment
is bound to fall upon them and much of the remainder of this
chapter is taken up with the judgment that should fall upon
them. They should be condemned to wander in the wilderness a
year for every day that the spy spent seeking out, searching
out the land. They were to wander for 40 years
in the wilderness. All those who were above 20 years
old at the time of this rebellion were to be killed in the wilderness.
They would pass away. And only their children, whom
they had said would be a danger, would merely be sacrificed if
they went into the land. They would be the ones who were
brought in. They would be the ones who were
spared. They would be the ones who were helped through. And
we find, so sadly at the end of the chapter, and we did not
read it, but all of a sudden, when all these terrible things
are declared upon them, the people turn and now, see how fickle
man is. Now they will go up. Now they
will go into the land. and yet the Lord would not. And
so they sinned and many of them fall. The Amalekites came down
and the Canaanites and smote them and discomforted them even
unto Hormah. Let us come down more particularly
to these words of the text. Caleb and Joshua come and they
commend to the people this land which they have passed through.
It is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then
he will bring us into this land. Well, how can it be? He has done
great things for them. He has brought them up wonderfully
and marvelously. They have seen all his power
and his glory displayed. They have seen a demonstration
of what he can do. They have seen a demonstration
of how great he is. on so many occasions. But still, even before this time,
they have not been an obedient people. Still before this time,
they have grumbled, they have murmured against Moses, even
immediately after they have been brought out. This has not altogether
been an obedient people. We cannot speak well of them
thus far, and we know very well from the accounts in Scripture,
and particularly in Numbers, how that throughout their wilderness
wanderings they continued to be in this state, and they continued
to grumble and to complain against the Lord because of their hard
lot. If the Lord delight in us, how can this be? We might come
tonight. Can it be that the Lord can delight
in us? How can this be? Is it even possible
that the Lord can delight in us? What are we? Sometimes we might think ourselves
to be so great, so good, doing everything just so. And yet in
our hearts, I trust we all know very well, we are sinners. We
were born sinners. Born with a bent towards evil. It is said very often, many times,
you never have to tell a child to do wrong. We have to train
it to do right. It does wrong naturally. Its
inclination is to do wrong. As it were, automatically it
does wrong. And so we continue. And all our
days, unless there be a change in us, we continue doing wrong. That is our natural choice, the
natural way that we are. And so we find some may have
a measure of common grace more than others. Some may outwardly
appear to be more moral and upright. Some may appear to be very strict
and very careful, very moral about how they live their lives
and very legalistic. They may have a set of principles
or morals. They may not be professing Christian,
I'm speaking generally of people now in the world, but they may
have a set of morals or principles which they stand by. And they
may outwardly seem to be very decent folk. very moral folk,
upright folk. It may not seem, perhaps, that
there is much wrong with them. Perhaps they have great kindness.
They are more willing to show more compassion even than sometimes
we are. And altogether, they seem to
outstrip us in morality and zeal. Are these people so sinful? Well,
sure they are. Even if a man is morally upright
by the law of God, Even if a man lives his life very strictly,
and he seeks to observe every smallest, slightest thing from
the Ten Commandments and the Word of God, yet if that man
does not know Christ, the Lord will not delight in him. If that
man does not have Christ, he is still a sinner. He is still
dead to God. He is still dead in his trespasses
and sins. Why, you say? Because his heart
is not right. He can do everything he possibly
could outwardly to be moral and upright and decent. But if his
heart is not right with God, all this is in vain. All this
is for nothing. A person whom the world would
consider to be a good person could quite possibly, very reasonably,
be cast into everlasting flames. It would not be unjust. would
be very just. The only way that the Lord may
delight in us is through Jesus Christ. If He is our righteousness, then
we do not stand before Him in ourselves. If Christ is ours,
then we are not seen as it were. All our sins are not seen by
God. But when He looks upon us, what does He see? He sees the
image of His Son. And in seeing the image of His
Son, Jesus Christ, Well, surely he is delighted with the image.
He loves his son. The father loves the son. And it is, we might say it is
a perfect love. The relationship between the
Trinity is perfect. There is perfect unity between
the persons. There is great love in its fullest
expression between the persons. and such great love as the father
has for the son is bestowed upon those who bear
his image, those who have Christ in their hearts by faith, those
who have him and hold him dear and hold him to be everything
and would have nothing besides. And he will cry out, give me
Christ or else I die. are willing to cast off everything
else. You're willing to sacrifice everything
that they have ever known in life, everything in this world,
their very nearest and dearest relations, their nearest and
dearest possessions, all they are content to be parted with
them, if only I may have Christ. And so the apostle, I count all
things but done that I may win Christ. Such God will delight in. They are not perfect. They fall short. Many a time,
you can find them falling into sin, grievously and sadly. We sin daily, even as believers,
but the great difference is Christ. The great difference is the interest
in the Son of God, who died for his people, who died for sinners,
who there bore the wrath of God against their sin and caused
that that sin should be cleansed, it should be purged, the punishment
which it deserves should be borne and taken away. And now, our
iniquities are separated from us as far as the East is from
the West. What a mercy this is. What a
mercy that a holy God, a thrice holy God, who cannot bear the
sight of sin might ever look upon us with delight. But this is the word of scripture.
This is the good tidings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This
is the glory of it, that we may be right with him, not merely
neutral with him, not merely on a footing whereby there is
no harm to be done, but neither no good. But it is altogether
the very best, more than heart could ever expect. A man might
hope being condemned in a court, and it might be the case that
one comes in for him and says perhaps he is owing a great sum
of money and has no means to pay it off. One might come in
and say to him, I will pay off all your debts. I will clear
you so that you can go forth from this quarter of a free man.
It might be so. But if we carry the picture on,
very seldom would there be a case, I suppose, when one would come
in and say, I will pay off all your debts. There will not be
a penny left owing. But more than this. I will give
to you such great possessions, such great riches, such great
wealth, as you may live comfortably for the rest of your days, as
you may live in great luxury in this world, so to speak. And
so he goes forth from the courtroom. He had gone in a debtor, but
he goes out, a man who is the owner of great wealth. This,
my friends, is the picture that we have before us. not merely
sent forth as a free man, but truly blessed in Christ. As we have Christ, we may be
poor of this world's goods. We may have very little. We may
be called to give up all that we have to follow Christ and
to serve him. Yet if we have Christ, then surely
we may be content. Is he not the Son of God? Have we not heaven signed over
to us? Have we not such an eternal glory
to look forwards to? Is not this set in our eye? Is
not this in our mind, in our view before us? What glory that
is. If the Lord delight in us, he
will bring us into this land. What is this land? Ultimately,
we could look at it as a picture of heaven itself. If the Lord
delight in us, we shall be brought thence. What is the sense of
that? Surely is it not? We shall be
carried safely all the days of our pilgrimage here on earth.
We shall be brought safely through every storm and trouble that
will come to us. Every uncertainty and every trouble
which assails us. Every fierce attack which we
are under. Everything which might try to
take us out of the way. Every foe which might stand before
us. Every giant that might set himself
up. Every walled city that seems
to be before us. Every mountain that rise it up
in our way. All shall be laid low if the
Lord delight in us, and we shall be helped through. Troubles times
may come, great difficulties may come upon us, deep troubles
and deep waters and fires to pass through. Ah, but see this, if the Lord
delight in us, he will bring us to glory. He will take us
safe there, We need not fear the passage. A rough way it may
be, a turbulent way it may be. But if Christ is for us, who
can be against us? This was Joshua and Caleb's confidence. This was their hope. He will
bring us. Fear ye not, they say, the people
of the land. They are bred for us. They seem,
perhaps, a slightly strange illustration to give. Yet the sense here is
it is almost that this great people, and it seems very contradictory
to a rational thought, this great people, these giants, these walled
cities that were before them, these hostile warlike nations
which were currently inhabiting the land, these to be bread for
us? Surely, they should be so quickly
devoured and consumed as bread is, so easily taken in, so easily
destroyed, so easily consumed. This is the sense of it. It seems
almost trivial to describe them in that way. It seems almost,
you might say, ridiculous. It is a very plain example, and
it seems almost too easy. How can it be? It is because
of this. Their defence is departed from
them. They've had some kind of a defence thus far. Till this
day, they have had a continuance. They have been kept, they have
been preserved, they have been helped as nations. They have
kept the land and do we not find that this itself was a mercy?
if you'll forgive a slight aside, because this people, they were
keeping the land free of wild animals. They were keeping it
to some extent cultivated. It was looked after. It was preserved.
They were not going into some wild jungle, not going into some
wilderness of a place which needed controlling, but it was a place
that had been inhabited. And the people had, these nations
had dominion over it. And thus the Lord, as he would
have his people to inherit the land, drove them out by portions.
And the people were not driven out until the children of Israel
were ready to come in. Thus far, they had been kept
for a purpose. They had a work to do for God
in that place, and so they were preserved. But see this, their
defense had gone. their defence now having gone,
the Lord having now sent Israel into their midst, the Lord having
sent Israel to conquer them, they no more had any defence.
All that strength that they had had, all the success that they
had seen thus far in this matter, all had gone from them. The Lord
had turned against them. And who now fought he for? Their
defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us. What a comfort if we can hold
to that by faith. We can claim that as it were. We can hold fast to that. The Lord is with us. Surely if
we have an interest in Christ, it is so. If Christ is ours,
then it is so. If we be in him, it is so. And if it be the case with us,
surely the Lord will delight in us, and he will help us right
through. He will bring us on our way.
He will keep us on our way, and he will bring us safe to glory. Even now, we may be helped through. Even now, we may be blessed.
Even now, we may have a foretaste. of that which is to come. We
could take a picture, I don't want to stretch it too far, but
we could take this picture of these fruits which were brought
back from the land of Canaan. Here was a taste of the blessings
of this country that they were to come into. Here was something
of a sense of what it was to be like. Is it not glorious when
we have something of that now? when before the Lord we are visited
in our souls by Jesus Christ. He comes tenderly and sweetly
to us, perhaps through the words of Scripture. We are much blessed
in the reading of them. Perhaps it is with fellowship,
with believers. Perhaps it is through the ministry
of the Word. Perhaps it is through reading
some book on the Scriptures, and the Lord visits us. brings
a phrase or something to mind and presses it upon us. Is not
this to us a sweet foretaste of that which is to come? This
glorious land for which we are bound. What are we to do with
this then? May the Lord grant that we may
not be as the rest of the congregation in hearing these words. May he
grant indeed that we may heed the words of Joshua and Caleb
as they stood before this people. Their exhortation was this, rebel
not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land. Two things. In the first place, we not rebel
against the Lord. as he makes his will known to
us, as we are taught in the way that we ought to go, as we are
given direction in the way that we ought to go. And this again,
in two senses, we may take it. Instruction in morality and holiness,
which we are to desire and to long after. Like this to Christ,
we are given instruction concerning this in the scriptures. And yet
in the second sense, instruction concerning the specific way that
we must go. We each have a different pathway
in this world. We have a different way to walk.
We cannot say that we all will have the same way, for we shall
not. Thus far, we have all had different experiences. Thus far,
we have all been brought different ways. And yet now, as we go forwards,
we must seek that we do the will of God. Seek to go where he bids
us, to go where he calls us to go, and to follow after him. This we perhaps will not have
in plain instruction of scripture, such as instructions for holiness. But we must seek the Lord for
both of these, most earnestly, that he would teach us the right
way to go in this world and that he would lead us by his hand
and show us plainly the way. But the second thing here, if
we seek and we strive in prayer, seeking to go forth in the strength
of the Lord, that we might not rebel against him, but that we
might go with him. The second instruction is this,
neither fear ye the people of the land. We do not know what is before
us in the way. We can look back and we can see
all that we have been through. We can see what kind of troubles
and trials we have been through thus far. Looking forwards, We
might expect more of the same, and yet we must not be forgetful
of blessings and mercies and times of refreshing. But as we
do so, we can thank the Lord in his mercy that the future
is not altogether revealed to us. Else, I fear we should lose
heart at once. If we soar all the way before
us, we are so often more affected by troubles than we are by blessings.
And if we saw all that was before us, we should doubtless be overwhelmed
and so cast down that we would not be able to bear it. But in his mercy, he has kept
it hidden. But is it not sometimes that
we desire to know what shall be? What will become of us? What we must pass through? The
word of scripture comes to us on this. Fear not all this. even though we were to know that
there were the greatest of troubles and barriers and obstacles in
the way to heaven before us. Yet we may rest confident in
this matter. We need not fear them if we fear God. If such divine heavenly power
is working all things for our good, If all things in Providence
are being directed for our blessing, for our encouragement, for our
preparation to enter into this land, how can it go wrong? If such a hand, such a great,
mighty work has been wrought for our salvation, if the blood
of the very Son of God has been shed that we might be spared
from hell, and it has been applied to our souls, How can it miscarry? How can it be that we shall not
be brought safe through to glory? It is impossible, but that we
must be brought there. Let us be encouraged to go on
in this way. This is the way that the Lord
has appointed. May God grant that we may be
obedient to his word, hear his voice, And as he delights in
us, in Christ, may we be kept humble before him. May we not
fear all the troubles that may come upon us, but rest confident
in this, the Lord is with us. May it be so for every one of
us, that the Lord is truly with us. And may we be blessed. May the Lord even be pleased
to delight in us. to bring us home to glory at
last. For Christ's sake. Amen.