I. The Promised Land 00:00
I was looking for a picture for my sermon today, and when I looked up “the promised land,” this is the picture that came forward. Looks pretty good to me. I like that. I don’t know why that was the very first picture that came up, and I don’t know why it’s blinking, but either way, we’ll go to the one I actually chose. I didn’t want anybody to be too distracted. I didn’t want any thoughts of lunch coming up to be interfering with us.
But we’re going to talk today, finally, about the promised land, and it’s going to be fun, because the Israelites have been journeying in the desert, and we’ve been walking through it with them. We know, because we’re really good at Sunday school and our Bible teachers taught us, that the Israelites wandered for forty years. Or maybe you remember the VeggieTales “Forty years in the desert,” like it’s a real thing, this misery they had to walk through. I don’t know about any of you, but none of my trials so far have been forty years long. But I’m only thirty, so we’ve got ten more years to go.
There is something about this long, drawn-out story that calls to something deep inside of us. It’s the same calling as Advent. It’s the idea that where we’re at is actually not where we’re meant to be. Now, you can get this confused. Yes, God put you where you are right now, so yes, you’re meant to be there. But you’re not meant to stay there. There is also a future where we experience the true essence of the kingdom of God, the presence of Jesus.
But I’m here today to invite you not only into the anticipation, the expectation, but to know that you can experience that now. That’s the tension in Christianity. Yes, we will meet Jesus today in this service. And yes, you will meet Jesus when you die. And yes, there will be a coming where Jesus will make everything right and he’ll wipe away every tear (Rev 21.4). So foster that expectation, that hope. We are living, in a way, in the desert with the Israelites, looking forward to the promised land. But the unique revelation of Jesus Christ teaches us that we also can be in the promised land today. So let’s talk through that. I’ll try to flesh it out a little bit.
II. The Journey of Israel 02:16
I hope you’ve taken good notes over the past seventeen weeks. This is our fourteenth sermon in Exodus. There’s a test on the way out; they’re due next week. No, I’m just kidding. I wouldn’t even do that to my worst enemy.
We’re going to talk about what happened to these Israelites that made them from four hundred years in slavery to a promised land people. So they went through this slavery in Egypt (and I’m summing up what we’ve talked about in the past little bit), and then, guess what, they started crying out for salvation. I mention that because there are some of us in here who are in a place where we need God’s help, and we haven’t asked him. I know that because I’ve been in that place, where I try to do it in my own strength and I don’t cry out for salvation. Did you know that the way God operates is such that he wants us to ask him for help? We actually have to ask him to come and save us. Now, he is working all things for our benefit, but if you’re in that place today, don’t forget this necessary point in their story. They were in slavery, and they cried out for help, and God heard them. And God hears you today.
Then, guess what happens? A savior is born, and the king, the tyrant, tries to kill him by killing all of the Hebrew babies. Sounds familiar, right? Hey, that happened at Christmas too. A savior was born, and the king tried to kill him by killing all of the Hebrew babies, all the male babies. We’re in Advent, anticipating our own Exodus. I know we’ve been talking about this for weeks, so you’re like, “Duh, Jesse.” But let’s just go over this. We are expecting God to set us free this Advent, this Christmas. We are expecting to experience the salvation of God.
So then the savior comes and frees the people of God with signs and wonders, the same way that Jesus frees us with his signs and wonders. He takes them through the waters of baptism in the Red Sea, the same way that we entered into the kingdom. And then they’re led in the wilderness for forty years, just like Jesus was led after his baptism into the wilderness for forty days. Keep this in mind: the symbolism is throughout, and it is purposeful. They have been saved, but they have to learn to be a promised land people. And I would argue that we have been saved, and this whole series has been about us learning to be a promised land people, who not only get to the promised land but take the promised land with us wherever we go.
III. Provision and the Ways of the Lord 04:30
So they have to learn a few lessons along the way. They have to learn (and remember this) to look to the Lord for their provision. That’s why they get the manna from heaven, water out of the rock, quail that literally falls out of the sky. That’s pretty awesome. They have to learn to look to the Lord for their provision. There was no place in this whole desert where God couldn’t provide. Did you know that there’s no story of the Israelites getting to a place in the desert where there’s no water, no food, and some of them die because they’re starving? We don’t get that story. The story we get is that God provides. No matter how bad the desert gets, he provides.
Then they have to learn to act according to the ways of the Lord. They’re given the Ten Commandments. And what are those about? That’s not God saying, “Here, this is my pronouncement. Do this or I’ll be angry at you.” No. What they’re about is this: they learned to live a certain way as slaves in Egypt. Each of us has learned to live a certain way, living in the world as slaves to hunger, as slaves to consumerism, as slaves to our own puffed-up ideas of ourselves. We have learned to live some kind of way. And the call of Advent is: prepare the way of the Lord in your life. Repent, the kingdom is at hand. Repent, the promised land is at hand.
So we have to learn to live. And the Ten Commandments are actually the ways God breaks the hold of the gods of Egypt on the people of Israel. He breaks the hold when they submit themselves to living according to his principles, his commands. And he’s bringing them to a land that flows with milk and honey. But you know what? If you find a land that flows with milk and honey, you’re going to have to be the type of people who can protect the cows or the goats, who can nurture them, who can milk them. And they’re going to have to be the type of people who are strong enough to go into the lair where the bees are and get that honey. Slaves don’t do that of their own free will. They had to be taught how to be a people who could support themselves as a promised land people. They look to God for their provision, and they know how to live in the world such that they can harvest the milk and harvest the honey God has put in their way.
That’s an interesting idea for us. I think God has given us milk and honey that we’re not harvesting, or that we’re not protecting. Ask him, “Where have you provided in my life, and I’m ignoring it? I’m not paying attention to it, or I’m too lazy to go out and get it.”
IV. Worship, Community, and Authority 07:40
They had to learn to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4.24). There are chapters and chapters of this book that we skipped, thank the Lord, because they were these prescriptions of how they’re supposed to worship God in minute detail. Now, we skip them because that’s not the way we’ve been taught to worship, but there are some principles in there we need to know. And I’m going to sum it all up by saying: you have to orient yourself such that you worship the highest thing, which is God. That’s what worship’s all about. When we sing these songs, where we declare the goodness of God, the power of God, his saving grace in our life, what we’re doing is changing our perspective.
There are a lot of songs out there that will change your perspective. I can’t even quote most of them, because they will change your perspective to follow what they hold as the highest thing, whether that’s sex, power, drugs; sex, drugs, and rock and roll. There’s a reason why we have to come and actually worship God, not just in our music but in our actions and the words we say, because the whole world is trying to orient you towards its highest good, which is to get you to spend your money on their things, to get you to give your attention to their things. The enemy is seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet 5.8). And so they had to orient themselves through the practice of worship. So if you’re asking why God gave chapters and chapters of instructions on how to worship him, it’s because they needed to change the way they lived, such that they were oriented towards God. All of this so that they could go into the promised land. And I’m telling you today: all of this so you can go into the promised land.
And then they had to learn to be the people of God together. One of the most difficult things in all of Scripture is how to be the people of God with other people. We can sometimes get hold of the idea, “Well, God is so big, I should be holy towards him. But Bob over there, who’s just getting on your nerves, he doesn’t deserve to be in the people of God.” We can really get ourselves twisted in knots if we’re not careful. And so, again, there are chapters of rules about how to love your neighbor well. Jesus told us the whole Law and Prophets is: love God and love your neighbor (Matt 22.37–40). So to be the people of God, you also have to be the people of God together, warts and all.
And through that, God also had to teach them a thing or two about authority. We had a whole sermon on authority and the spiritual authority God puts in our life, and that you have to work as unto the Lord in your job (Col 3.23). That might be the most important thing we have to start with, because you see your boss every day, and he’s making demands of you, and how you orient yourself towards that will change your life. If you’re angry and bitter and doing just enough to get by, or you’re wheeling and dealing and trying to get ahead by your own plotting and maneuvering, you’re living enslaved to your own will and desires. But if you live and submit yourself and say, “I’m looking for godly ways to submit to authority. I’m working as if Jesus was my boss” (that means if your boss tells you to lie, you don’t lie; it does come with places where you can say, “That’s not good,” right?), we live in such a way as to serve Jesus even in our secular jobs, with our secular bosses.
All of this is about learning to be the people of God in community and in relationship, because God had a bigger plan. He was going to bring this people, this Israel, into the promised land, and he was going to make them the type of people who could invite other people into the promised land. So not only am I inviting you today to orient yourself towards being a promised land people, I’m inviting you today to experience, to taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps 34.8), so that you can invite the world into that salvation as well.
V. Bringing the Presence of God 11:57
And that’s where we get to this last part: they had to learn to bring the presence of God with them. Last week we talked about Moses, and his defining moment was when God said, “I’ll make you a great people. I’ll send you into the promised land, but I’m not going to go with you.” And Moses said, “No. Why should I go to the promised land if you’re not going to be there?” (Exod 33.15). He chose God over the promise. And so that’s why we have the section on the tabernacle, the house of God, bringing the presence of God with them, so that even in the desert (what did we read in our Old Testament?) there would be streams in the desert, roses blossoming in the wilderness (Isa 35.1–6). I mean, the promises are actually out of this world: that even in the place of death, God could bring life. That’s what it means to bring the presence of God with you.
VI. Spying Out the Land 13:03
And so we talk about all this, but there’s actually a story I want to get into. This is what happens when the Israelites encounter the promised land for the first time. I’ll give you a quick warning: they don’t respond well. Let’s just start there. As we’ve seen this pattern through every sermon, the Israelites don’t respond well at first. So we’re going to talk about this encounter real briefly, and then we’ll wrap it up and talk about what that means for us in Advent.
We’ll start in Numbers chapter 13, beginning in verse 1. This is after the Ten Commandments, after Mount Sinai. God has led them to the brink of the promised land.
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” Num 13.1–2
So this is the plan. God says, “Hey, the promised land’s right there. Let’s go scout the territory.” Not a bad idea, right? There are still people in this day, I believe, whom God sends out to see his promises. This is a little side note here. There are prophets, there are apostles, there are leaders in the Church to whom God gives revelations of what he wants to do. That’s part of the reason why the whole “me, Jesus, and my Bible” thing doesn’t work. God has built the Church such that we get to look to our bishop, to our prophets, to our leaders in our church, to help us see the promises of God in our life. Just a side note.
God’s sending these chiefs out into the land. But there’s another element to this, because, you know what, the spies don’t do a good job here. And so I just want to say: those people God has put in that position, to prophesy, to see the promises of God, to help lead the people of God, have a great responsibility to bring the good report, the report God wants.
Okay, so the spies go into the land. Moses says, “Get some fruit.” And in fact, this picture is an artist’s representation. You see, between those two men (you might not be able to see it) is a huge bunch of grapes that’s about as big as they are tall. This is an artistic representation of how good the promised land is, right? Could you imagine? You’ve been in the desert eating bread and meat, and somebody comes in with a huge bundle of grapes. How good would that be? That moment where you’re like, “Oh, God was telling the truth. Pretty good of him.”
So at the end of these forty days they come back with this fruit, and the spies give the report:
26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” Num 13.26–27
However… They could have just stopped there, man.
28 “However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” Num 13.28–29
And they damned themselves with that one word, “however.” “I see the promise of God, but…” “I see the goodness of God, but…” How often do we live our life based on that “however”? “I see the promise of God. However, it’s not for me.” Or, “It’s too hard.” Or, “It’s not what I expected.” There’s an implication that God has somehow misled them, that God’s tricking them: “Yes, he showed them the promises, but look at all these bad people.” Well, guess what? Back when God was making the promise, what did he say? You might not remember. He said, “I’m going to kick out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites. I’m going to get rid of them all, the Jebusites.” He warned them. He said, “I will give it to you.” And yet when they saw the fortifications, when they saw those people arrayed against them, they gave in to fear.
VII. Be a Caleb 17:27
But Caleb (ooh, I like this guy!):
30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Num 13.30
If you don’t have a Caleb in your life, get you one. Get somebody who, when you’re praying for the promises of God, will agree with you and say, “Yeah, let’s go do it,” because none of us can do it alone. If all you have are the people telling you how impossible it is, it’s going to be really hard to hold on to that faith in what God’s spoken in your life. We are meant to encourage each other. And if you have a Caleb, imagine how good it would be if you were a Caleb too, if you went out and were a Caleb for somebody else. Somebody in this room needs you to tell them that God is going to fulfill his promises, and not to be afraid.
Caleb was paying attention. Caleb was thinking, “God already slew Egypt. God already provided us food and water in the desert. He came to us in his glory on Mount Sinai. We are well able to overcome the enemies in the promised land.” But you know what? The Israelites were living in a different story. Here’s what I think was going on in the minds of the Israelites: “We were slaves in Egypt. This guy Moses showed up and rescued us from the Egyptians and brought us to the desert, probably to kill us. And sure, we have just enough food and water to survive, but we ate better in Egypt. We were more comfortable in Egypt. And now we come to find out that Moses was promising us that God was going to give us this land, and now there are all these enemies occupying it. This is just disaster after disaster after disaster.”
And you think, “That’s not what I read in Scripture.” But how often do we do that to God? How often do we think, “Sure, God provided me a job when I asked for one. Sure, he gave me a place to live. And yeah, I haven’t gone hungry. He’s provided everything I’ve needed. But you know what? I hate my job now, and I have to buy bargain food instead of the good stuff because of the prices in the grocery store. I have to go to the society and get free food because I can’t afford to get my own stuff. And I can’t afford the place he gave me to live in, and I don’t even like it anyway. And the house I was promised is insanely expensive due to the housing market, and I’m just stuck”? I don’t know; it sounds pretty similar to some of the thoughts I get.
And yet buried in there is the same story as the Israelites in the desert. I needed a job; God gave me a job. I needed more money; God gave me more money. I needed to eat; God provided food. I needed to live; I have a place to live. I could tell that story completely in reverse: “Man, if God has done all these things, why couldn’t he give me a house? Why couldn’t he give me a new place to work? Why couldn’t he give me that car,” whatever it is you’re praying for.
Our story needs to change. We’re telling ourselves the wrong story. If you’re walking around depressed and anxious, it’s because you’re telling yourself the wrong story. The truth of Advent is: Jesus is coming, Jesus has come, and Jesus will come again. And we have everything we need, provided by his riches in glory (Phil 4.19). So what’s the deal with Caleb? Is he blind? No, he’s just living in a different story. He’s living in a story where God shows up and provides everything they need, where God grants them the victory. Where, yes, God asked them to follow him, to submit to him, but then he gives them the victory. “So why wouldn’t he do that again?” That’s what Caleb’s thinking.
VIII. Like Grasshoppers 20:33
And then the men hear Caleb, and they say, “Hey, hold on”:
31 “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, Num 13.31–32
So not only are they telling Moses and Aaron, they’re whispering in the minds of the people. They’re walking around telling everybody:
“The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim, and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” Num 13.32–33
It’s all about perspective, isn’t it? They have a problem. They have two problems, actually. One: they think the land God has promised them is not good enough. It’s a land that devours the people. Two: they think the people in it are too hard to overcome. They’re giants. They’re even the sons of Anak, who were this great people. They’re supposed to be strong; they have some reputation in the area. They’re really big and strong. And then, lastly, they actually have a third problem: “We are like grasshoppers.” They think of themselves as bugs, not the people of God. How different is that from the story we love, the story of David and Goliath, where he goes up to Goliath and says, “You dare to question the people of God?” Completely different stories going on in their heads.
Fear is the enemy of faith. Don’t give it a place in your heart. We also do this one thing: we get afraid of something, and then we start coming up with all the reasons why we have every right to be afraid. Something enters our heart: maybe somebody I love is going to get in a car accident. “And you know what? There are this many car accidents every year. And then it’s raining, and people don’t know how to drive.” And you build a case in your head for fear, instead of, “That’s not my story. My story is one of faith. My story is one where I trust God.” It doesn’t mean bad things don’t happen, but it definitely means you live in a different story. You live in a story where God shows up when the bad things happen, where God redeems you when you need it, when you need him.
IX. The People Wept That Night 22:44
So the people of Israel respond to this story, and as you might expect if you’ve been following along, they’re pretty angry, they’re pretty despairing. And it says:
1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. Num 14.1
They’re on the threshold of the promised land, the place where they’ve been journeying, the place where God has been bringing them, and they’re weeping, and they are depressed and despairing. How many times have you been on the threshold of the promises of God, and you’re crying out against him: “God, why did you bring me here?” How many times has he been like, “I’ve gotten you so close,” and you’re crying out, “Why did you bring me here?” It gets worse:
2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Num 14.2–4
This is pretty bad. This is about as ungrateful, untrusting, unfaithful as the Israelites are bound to get. And you know what? This response cost them the promised land for forty years. This is when God says, “Because they have responded that way, I will not bring them into the promised land until this entire generation that came out of Egypt dies.”
I feel convicted, because I’ve been the Israelites. I have complained to God about the places he’s brought me, the places I want to go, the places where I am. We all need a humble pill today. But buried in that humility is a trust in the joy that is coming.
Now, here’s the problem with Israel. I’ll sum it up real easy: they chose the wrong person to listen to. And in our world, where everyone’s screaming their message at you (“Listen to me! The world is ending!” “Listen to me! Do it this way! Everything’s falling apart!”), who are you listening to? Because they chose to listen to the spies, not to Caleb and not to Joshua, who also had a good report. Who are you listening to on your podcast, or YouTube, or whatever? Or maybe you’re just watching the movies. Because trust me, they’re trying to get your attention. They needed a complete transformation to become a people who could go into the promised land, who could conquer their enemies, who could harvest the milk and honey, who could protect and witness to the world of the kingdom of God.
X. They Are Bread for Us 26:07
And Caleb and Joshua are the only ones out of that generation who are allowed to enter, because they contradicted the report. Here’s Joshua’s response, and we’ll end shortly:
7 “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us.” Num 14.7–9
I love that line. They’re served up on a silver platter. They’re bread. We’re going to go right through them.
9 “Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” Num 14.9
Saint Michael’s, today, as you look on the landscapes of the enemy in the world, who are out to get you, who are out to destroy freedom, to destroy the people of God: do not be afraid. They are bread for us. Their protection has been removed. God is for us; who can stand against us? (Rom 8.31).
10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. Num 14.10
Man, they just don’t get it. So what happens? They wander the desert for forty years. God grinds them down. He makes them who they’re supposed to be. And Joshua leads them into the promised land. You know what Joshua’s name is? Yeshua. You know what Jesus’ name is? Yeshua. It’s a symbol, once again, that we are the people who get led into the promised land by Joshua, by Jesus, by Yeshua.
Everyone here today: I don’t know where you’re at, but I bet you know what it’s like to be in the desert spiritually. (Sometimes the desert’s really nice, you know. But spiritually, we’re talking about the desert.) And I’m inviting each of you, today and in this Advent, to get rid of the stuff that’s clogging you up, that’s blocking you, that’s blinding you. Put it aside. Come into the promised land. We can live there. Jesus has made a way.
And that’s what brings me back to our collect this morning, and we’ll end with a prayer:
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.