NUMBERS 14 WHAT IF I DONT OBEY GOD2021 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Numbers 14 What If I Dont Obey God

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2021. We are in Numbers chapter 14.

this morning, looking at one of the chapters that we read this week, going through the Bible in three years. And on Wednesday, we covered chapter 13. And so this is really Numbers chapter 13, part two, also known as Numbers chapter 14. So we're gonna spend some time considering the aftermath of the spies who were sent into the promised land here in Numbers chapter 14. And so let's begin by reading verses one through 10.

Numbers chapter 14, verses 1 through 10, it says this. So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. And the whole congregation said to them, if only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness, why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword?

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. But Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes. And they said to each other,

And they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land we pass through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 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 forever.

and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them. And the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel. As we look at Numbers chapter 14, it's immediately following the return of the spies in Numbers chapter 13. And as the spies came back,

If you're familiar with the account, 12 spies were sent in to check out the land that God had promised to them. When they come back, 10 of the spies say, you know what? The land is great, but the enemies are strong. There's giants everywhere. There's no way we can take it. We're doomed to fail. Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, came back, same account of the facts, but

Great land, tough enemies, there are giants, but God's with us, and we can take the land, we can conquer the land that God has promised to us. And so here is Israel, right on the edge, right on the border of the promised land, right on the verge of entering into all that God has promised to them, but they're wrestling with who to follow. They're wrestling with what to do.

They're wrestling with the decision. Do we enter in or do we not enter in? And so I've titled the message this morning, But I Don't Want to Obey God. This is where the nation of Israel is at. With a little bit of a whiny voice, a lot of complaining, saying we don't want to do what God has called us to do. And this is important for us to consider this morning because I would suggest to you that every single one of us

have camped at Kadesh Barnea. That's where Israel is camped, right here at the border of the Promised Land. We've all been there. And we will all experience future times of camping at Kadesh Barnea, where there are things that God has said to us.

Israel right here is on the edge of the promised land. They know exactly God's plan for them. They know clearly God's will for them. They know exactly what God has said and what he has promised to do. There's no question about the direction. The only question is whether or not they will decide to obey him. And you and I will find ourselves in that same position from time to time in our Christian walk.

There are a lot of times where we don't know the direction of God and we're wrestling, you know, in a different kind of way. But there are also many times where we know exactly what God says about something we're facing. We know exactly the will of God for a situation that we are in the midst of. We know God's promises to us and we have a clear path ahead, but we're still wrestling with whether or not we want to obey God.

And there's different situations in our life where we experience that battle, that struggle within, where we know what needs to be there, we know what needs to happen, but we're not at the place yet where we're willing to fully trust God and obey Him. We all face times like this. And so in the New Testament, there's a couple parallel passages we're not going to get into this morning, but you can check out later. 1 Corinthians 10.

The Apostle Paul looks back to this specific occasion, Israel in the wilderness on the edge of the promised land and says, look at them as examples so that you learn what not to do. So that you learn from their example to not rebel against God like Israel did, but instead to test yourself, to keep yourself in line with God.

Make sure that you are trusting God. Then in Hebrews chapter 3 and 4, you have the other parallel passage. And there the author of Hebrews is talking about rest and referring to the promised land as the promised rest that God had given to the nation of Israel and explaining that they did not enter into that promised land because of unbelief.

The issue is not lack of military might. The issue is not lack of understanding. The issue is unbelief. They would not trust God enough to obey him. And so they did not enter in.

And the author of Hebrews translates that directly to us, and he says, now you, make sure you don't follow that example. Make sure you enter into the rest that God has for you. That just as Israel had this promised land experience, you have a promised land experience in your relationship with God, a rest from God that only can be received by faith trusting God alone.

As we talked about on Wednesday, faith, it means to obey God at his word. Faith is obedience to God at his word. And that is many times a problem for us. Now, I could not get myself to do a whiny, but I don't want to obey God voice the whole time. So here's the real title of the message this morning. What if I don't obey God?

And I would ask you to consider this morning, and especially if you are camped at Kadesh Barnea right now, if you're in one of those situations where you know what God says, but you're not sure if you're going to be obedient or not. You're still wrestling with whether you're going to commit to carrying out and executing what God has declared. It's important for us to consider in those times, what will happen? What if I don't obey God?

Last Sunday, we got to consider the promises of God and the great blessings of God. And that's kind of the opposite of the message this morning, right? What if I obey God? Great blessings, huge promises. Now, we need to consider the other side of the coin. What if I don't obey God? And so we're going to look at four results of disobedience.

Four results, four consequences, four things that happen when I don't obey God. And we're not going to go through the whole chapter in entirety. Instead, we're going to jump down to verses 20 through 25 for point number one. What if I don't obey God? The first result, then I will run out of chances. Here's a reality for us to wrestle with. Sure, you have free will. You have the option. You have the

God commands you to obey. He deserves your obedience, but he also gives you the choice so that you get to decide whether or not to obey. Here's part of the follow. If you choose not to obey, you may run out of chances. Check out verses 20 through 25. It says, "'Then the Lord said, "'I have pardoned according to your word,' "'talking to Moses, "'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 ten times and have not heeded my voice, they certainly shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed me fully, he

I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley tomorrow. Turn and move out into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. Here the children of Israel begin to consider going back to Egypt. In fact, they say, let's appoint a new leader. Replace Moses, get him out of here, and let's go back to Egypt. Better to be back in slavery than

than to be in the promised land. But Moses intercedes for the nation of Israel as God shows up in his glory and says, Moses, let me wipe him out. Moses intervenes, intercedes, and God says, all right, I'm pardoning this people for their desires, their threats, the rebellion of their hearts. But at the same time, God says, but this is the last straw. This was their last opportunity to

This generation will not enter in to the promised land. So when you and I face decisions, whether or not to obey God, when we're camped at Kadesh Barnea and we have the clear direction from God, clear instruction from God, and we're vacillating between whether or not to follow that instruction, we need to understand walking in disobedience brings us to this point eventually where it's our last chance to

This decision might be my last chance to experience the promised land in my life. Now, when we're talking about promised land, I think it's important to be clear. This isn't necessarily talking about, you know, inheriting eternity, losing salvation. We're not necessarily talking at that level. That's kind of a separate discussion, and I don't want to get distracted by that.

The children of Israel here didn't cease to be children of God in their rebellion. Even though they're going to end up in the wilderness for the next 40 years, that doesn't mean they end up in hell. They still got to go forward and God was still with them and led them. They still had opportunity to experience relationship with God and walking with God, but their whole life was a different experience than what God had intended for them.

It was a whole different thing. It was not the land filled with milk and honey or flowing with milk and honey. It was not the land of promise. It was not the land filled with blessings that God had wanted to give them. It was the wilderness for the next 40 years. And so you and I, we need to take heed. Again, there are examples for us so that we might learn to not lust after things like they did. So that we might learn...

to obey God when we come to these crossroads and are trying to work out and figure out whether or not we're going to follow the Lord fully or not. And when I face those crossroads, of course, this particular occasion may not be my last chance, but it also might be. And there's no way for me to know. Only God knows when it's that last opportunity. But one thing is certain. I come to a crossroads and

You know, I choose to ignore what God says on that point. I go a little bit further down the road. Here's another crossroads, another chance to obey God or disobey God. I keep going down the path of disobedience. That path inevitably comes to a point where that was your last chance. And perhaps there's a whole life, a whole differently, completely, fully blessed life that God has in store for you.

But you don't experience that because you at the crossroads continue to say, you know what, I'm going to do this route. I think this route is better than what God has said. This might be your last chance there at the crossroads. It might be your last opportunity to experience that life. And the whole rest of your life might be a whole different experience than what God envisioned and planned for you. This is the reality of deciding whether or not to obey God. How many chances do we get?

For Israel, their opportunity, this generation's opportunity to enter the promised land, God gave them 10 chances. Notice verse 22. 10 times God says.

Listen, I've brought them out of Egypt with great power. I showed myself strong on their behalf, leading them out, leading them through the Red Sea, providing for them in the wilderness, just showing my glory to them. They're descending upon the mountain, the glory cloud by day, the glory fire by night, like just continually showing myself. And they've persistently put me to the test, persistently disregarded my instruction, disrespected

Ten times, God says.

Now, God doesn't list out here the specific 10 instances of this, and so there can be some discussion about those specific instances. Here is kind of a typical understanding of those 10 instances, although there's others you could kind of interchange or swap out or move around. Again, God doesn't tell us, so this is kind of a guess, but there was the testing at the

The children of Israel said, oh no, God brought us out here to kill us when they were trapped between the two mountains and the Red Sea. And they were ready to kill Moses. They were ready to go back to Egypt. They were ready to give it all up. The first test. At Marah, the water was bitter. Exodus chapter 15. Oh no, God brought us out here to let us die of thirst.

God addressed that situation in Exodus 15. Exodus chapter 16, a few situations happened there in the wilderness with hunger and then eating too much and not eating enough, disobeying God in regards to the instruction with the manna. Exodus chapter 17 at Rephidim, they disobeyed or challenged God again at Horeb in Exodus 32, at Tabra in Numbers chapter 11, Kibrath Hatova in Numbers chapter 11 also, and then here at Kedesh Barnea in Numbers chapter 14 also.

The children of Israel collectively defied God, accused God of malicious wrongdoing and behavior and cruelty towards them. Perhaps these are the 10 that God had in mind. You know, though, as you look back through the passages, there's some other occasions you might be able to kind of throw in there. There's some different instances that also occurred. And so plenty of choices there for God to use for those 10 strikes. But whatever those 10 were,

God says, this one, that's the last one. It's the last straw. And so verse 23, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected me see it. God makes a final decision. They are not going into the promised land. They're not going to see any of it. They don't get to experience any part of it. They won't even get a taste of it, except for that little taste the spies brought back. They won't get to taste the fruit.

They won't get to settle down and find a home. They won't get to see the land that is their inheritance from God. God says, that's it. Last straw, 10th chance, that's final. You don't go into the promised land. In contrast, verse 24, but my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit dwelling in him and has followed me fully, I will bring him into the land where he went and his descendants shall inherit it.

Out of the whole generation of the children of Israel, only Caleb and Joshua are going to experience the promised land. The majority of the nation will not experience it. Just these two guys out of the 600,000 get to enter in. Not even Moses is going to enter in, but for different reasons. Aaron's not going to enter in for different reasons. Just two guys out of over 600,000 men are going to enter into the promised land. And why? Why?

God says it clearly here because Caleb has fully followed me. When Caleb comes to the crossroads, all right, this is what God has said. Do I obey him or do I disobey him? Caleb says, I obey him. At every occasion where he hits that crossroads, Caleb says, I obey him. I obey him. I obey him. God says, he's going to experience the promised land. He's going to get the benefit of all the blessings that I have in store. He's going to get to experience that and see that inheritance. The rest of these guys,

They've run out of chances. They've run out of opportunities. That blessed life that I had planned is no longer even an option for them. What if I don't obey God? I may be in my last chance. It may change my life forever. It might be that this occasion is that final occasion, that final chance for me to experience some of the things that God wants to do in my life. Now, again, to be clear,

The children of Israel didn't get to experience the promised land, but they didn't cease to be children of God. They weren't struck down immediately. They still got to, you know, live a life and have opportunity to know God and walk with God. They still had, well, God was still going to do things in their life, but it was going to be a lesser experience than what God desired to provide for them. As Moses interceded for Israel again, now on all those 10 previous occasions, right, Moses interceded.

Is there interacting with the Lord and the Lord is listening and allowing Moses to intercede on their behalf. And I would suggest inspiring Moses to intercede on their behalf and forgiving them. And so they're forgiven again and they're forgiven again and they're forgiven again and they're forgiven again. Finally, to this 10th time, now they're forgiven again. But this time the forgiveness comes with a change in course. Now it's a new course. Up to this point, they were forgiven of their rebellions.

Now stay the course and keep going that way and keep going this direction. But now this time, nope, it's a new course. Verse 25. Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley. Tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. New course, new direction, Moses. They're forgiven, but the course isn't changing. I'm sorry, the course is changing.

They have to turn around, go into the wilderness. It's going to be a whole new experience, a different experience. Again, still opportunity to walk with God and worship God, but out of the promised land. This is something for us to consider as we wrestle with decisions. When we know what God says, we know what God wants, and we're trying to figure out, are we going to obey or not? What if I don't obey God?

I will run out of chances if I continue down that path. And we never know. This current decision that we're facing might be that last chance. And if I disobey God now, that might mean a whole new course, a whole new life, my last chance to enter the promised land. Henry Haley says it this way, within sight of the promised land, they turned back.

For them, the opportunity never returned. God could no longer turn away from their continuous rebellion. Because of their disobedience to undertake the conquest of Canaan, this group forfeited their entrance into the promised land. I would encourage you to really consider that. Don't forfeit your entrance into the life that God wants to give to you.

Don't throw away the good things that God has in store for you. All the blessings and things that we considered last week, don't throw all of that away because of this one decision that you're facing right now. And you know what God says, but boy, it's a hard thing. It's a difficult thing. But listen, no matter how hard God's instruction to you is, no matter how difficult to you it is, there's something more difficult than obedience to God.

In fact, I would say it this way. There's one thing that's more difficult than obedience to God. You know what it is? Disobedience to God. As difficult as obedience to God can be, disobedience to God will always be more difficult, lead to more hardship. It will end up being more trouble. And everything that you fear in obeying God will be much worse in disobedience to God.

Are you willing to risk forfeiting God's good plans for you over this decision that you face right now, camped out at Kadesh Barnea? You know what God says, but you're wrestling whether or not you will be obedient to him. If I don't obey God, well, then I will run out of chances. Secondly, as we continue on, verses 26 through 29, then I will wander in circles. Let's read verses 26 through 29. It says...

And the Lord 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. Say to them, As I live, says the Lord, just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will do to you. 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 20 years old and above."

Here the Lord says, this entire generation will be wandering around the wilderness until every last one of them dies off. Essentially, they're going to die from old age, you know, and other various causes living out in the harsh conditions of the wilderness, right? But they're going to basically die of old age out in the wilderness, and they're just going to be in limbo land for a while, camping out, waiting around until every last one of them dies.

except for Joshua and Caleb, those two die. And so the congregation is going to be going in circles in the wilderness. God says, I'm going to do what you said I was going to do. You accused me falsely and used that as an excuse to not obey me. In verse 28, as I live, says the Lord, just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will do to you. You accused me of bringing you out here to leave your dead bodies in the wilderness.

God says, I'm going to do that, except for I'm not going to leave the dead bodies of your children in the wilderness like you accuse me of. I'm just going to leave your dead bodies, and your children are going to come in and inherit the promised land. The next generation will enter in. The next generation will get to experience. But you, because of your disobedience, you're out. You're just going to hang out in the wilderness until your life comes to an end. I'm not going to take away your life right now. Again, it's not an immediate, you know,

rejection from God at all or from eternity. That's what the forgiveness is about. They're forgiven, but there are consequences. And for the next 40 years, the generation is going to experience the consequences of that decision, that moment of decision that happened here at Kadesh Barnea. Quickly consider the geography a little bit with me.

Here's a map of the land that God had promised to Israel, the land there of Canaan, and the surrounding regions up north and south of that, there on the Mediterranean coast. They had spent a lot of time down at the bottom in the south at Sinai, and that's where they, you know, the whole book of Leviticus, that's where they received the tabernacle instructions,

They moved up from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea, right there at the southern border of the land. They were camped there, sent in the spies. That was chapter 13. The spies went all through the land, explored it, checked it out, came back with their report. Really good land. Tough battles ahead, though. And so God says, all right, here's what's going to happen. You're going to walk around in circles. Between Sinai, where you were in the south, and between the southern border at Kadesh Barnea, you're just going to

Loop around. That's not necessarily the exact route they took, right? But you get the idea that they were going to be wandering. I mean, God was leading them. The cloud would still lead them and take them forward and rest down and have them camp. And God would still lead them. But essentially what they were doing was wandering around in circles, just passing the time while this generation died off.

Just passing the time until God could bring the next generation into the land of promise. This generation, they could not enter in because of unbelief. Because they could not believe that God could help them defeat those giants. They could not believe, they would not believe that God would help them with the difficulties and the battles that they were about to face. And so they chose instead the route of wandering. Wandering away.

Commentator F.B. Meyer says, We have the key of faith. And there's so many blessings, so many promises, so many good things that God has promised to you.

But they're only accessed by you when you use that key of faith. What is faith? Again, it's obedience to God at his word. That is either the general instruction that we have in the word of God to all believers or God's specific word to you, ministering to you by the Holy Spirit. God instructs you. And faith is obeying God. We talked about this on Wednesday. Faith is not just the fact that you don't know the outcome of something and so that makes it a step of faith.

It's not a step of faith. Whether or not you know the outcome is irrelevant. A step of faith is related to whether or not God instructed you to do it. If God didn't tell you to do it, then whether you know the outcome or not, it's not a step of faith. If God told you to do it, if you know the outcome, and if you don't know the outcome, then it's a step of faith because you're doing what God instructed you to do. Faith opens the door, the cupboard, the divine treasury, everything that God has for you.

It's accessed by faith, by trusting God. Notice he says, with our life. Trusting God enough to actually do what it is that he says. That's what it means to trust God with your life. We want to say that we trust God with our life and then not do what God says because we don't trust God with our life. I don't actually trust him. I mean, you think he's really going to protect me? Like, no, no. Trusting God with your life means you actually do what he tells you to do because you know he's got you.

And you can rest in his protection. You can rest in his promises. He told you to do it, so you can do it. And so he says, if we don't use this key, if we don't actually trust God with our life and step forward in faith, well, similar to Israel, we will be left to perish in the wilderness of drought. We'll be left to perish in the wilderness of restlessness, left to perish in the wilderness of peril. And so really, as we come to those crossroads, we have two options.

Option A, faith. Believe God at his word and go forward in what he has said. Option B, disobedience. Find a different route that we think is better. Choose a different path that we think is more profitable, more safe. This is our options. These are our only two options when we come to the crossroads at Kedesh Barnea. You know what God has said. Either you walk by faith or you rebel.

That's the only two options. Option A, face giants and conquer the promised land. Option B, wander aimlessly around in the wilderness. Option A, face giants, go to battle, trust God, conquer land, receive your inheritance. Option B, live in a spiritual drought. Don't experience the blessings and promises that God has for you. Miss out on great things that God wants to do in your life.

Have no purpose and just wait out the time until you die. Option A, conquer giants. Go forward. Believe God. Obey him. Option B, rebel and wander round and round and round and round and round. Have you ever had your eyes examined? The optometer says better A or better B? Better one or better two? These are your two options.

This is what we get to choose. We're camped at Kadesh Barnea. We know what God wants. We know what God has said. What will we choose to do? If I don't obey God, then I'm going to wander in circles. I'm going to wander around. Now, of course, we're going to say, well, can I get an option C? How about a third option? Why not? I want a life of purpose and meaning and blessing, but I don't want to obey God on this. Option C is not available, guys.

Option A, option B, faith, rebellion. Those are your choices when you know what God has said. Of course, I want all the benefits of a life of faith without actually having to live by faith. If I don't have to trust God with my life, but I still get all the blessings of a life of faith, that's option C. That's what I want. But that option is not available. Of course, we all want that option.

That's not an option that God gives to us. Pastor David Guzik says, what Israel rejected here was a walk of faith. If God was going to lead them into a deeper trust than they had before, they wanted no part of it. If he made it all easy, that was fine with them, but they did not want a walk of faith. It's a challenging thing for us because when it comes down to it, many times we don't want a walk of faith either.

But if it was easy and blessings and all just flowers and unicorns and candy and rainbows, whatever, sure, yeah, I'll take that. God says, I want to give you a walk of faith. And that walk of faith, that life of faith, it comes with all the blessings promised last week. It comes with all of the things that I have in store for you. But you really have to trust me and follow what I say. What if I don't obey God? Then I'll wander in circles.

I'll keep going round and round and round and round because I will not trust God and what he has said and what he has promised to me. Moving on to consider the third result of disobedience in verse 29 and 30. Point number three this morning is, then I will hold back the faithful. If I don't obey God, it doesn't just impact me. It also impacts the faithful in the congregation. Again, verse 29, it says,

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 20 years old and above, verse 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. All of you except for two, God says. This whole generation, 600,000 plus men,

You will not enter in except for these two, Joshua and Caleb. You know, there's something that I continue to share. It's something I refer back to often, and that is there is a reality to God's design of the body of Christ, and that God has designed us to be intertwined, and our lives are bound together as a church.

as a body of Christ. God has designed us, intertwined us, so that our lives and our spiritual health, our walk with God, impacts not just our own selves, but it impacts the rest of the congregation. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 16, Paul says, "...the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share."

Every joint, that's the coming together of different members in the body of Christ. Every part, that's every member, that's every person in the body of Christ doing its share, coming together, joining together. As there is this cohesive working towards the work of God and the will of God,

Paul says that's what causes growth in the body. That's what brings edification to the body, the edifying of itself in love. Now, the earlier part of Ephesians chapter 4 is talking about the leaders that God has appointed within the church. And notice that he's not saying that the whole responsibility for the growth of the body is the leaders.

He's saying the growth of the body happens partly by the leaders, but just as much as every member does its share. And so as believers, we grow as we grow. Our spiritual life individually is impacted by our spiritual life collectively. We grow as we grow. And we don't grow when we don't grow. Individually, I'm impacted by the congregation individually.

And the congregation is impacted by my individual spiritual life and walk with God. So that the congregation experiences some things as a result of my obedience to God. And sometimes the congregation is withheld from some things as a result of my disobedience to God.

This is how God has designed us. We're attached together. And you might be going, okay, wait, I don't know about this, Jerry. I mean, this is kind of like, you're maybe pushing this a little bit too far. Listen, we have an example of this from our reading this past week in Numbers chapter 12, where Miriam and Aaron come against Moses, challenge his authority as a result of their rebellion against God in that way. They experience a temporary leprosy. Moses intercedes, God heals them, but...

It puts pause on the progress for the congregation. Numbers 12, verse 15, it says, So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again. And afterward, the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran. She was healed of her leprosy, but she was unclean as a result. So she had to be out of the camp for seven days. That was the normal procedure for being unclean. And so here's what God says.

While Miriam is unclean out of the camp, nobody can go forward. Now this was before chapter 13 and 14, right? This was between Sinai and the promised land. They're journeying to the promised land. They're on their way to the promised land, but they have to stop. They have to pause. The whole congregation has to delay their arrival to the promised land while Miriam sits out at camp for seven days waiting to be fully cleansed from her sin.

Notice verse 16. And afterward, the people moved. Afterward, the whole congregation, all the people, verse 15, did not journey. And then afterward, then the people moved. The whole congregation had to stop. But then afterward, then the congregation could move forward. I'm not sure if I can say this any more clearly. The rest of the body of Christ is impacted by your spiritual life.

And there are some things that the body of Christ goes forward to experience because of your obedience to God and your trust in Him and your faithfulness to Him. And there are some things that the body of Christ does not experience because of your rebellion against God, because of your refusal to listen to what God has said and to allow Him to lead you. What if I don't obey God? Well, if I don't, if I make that choice,

then I will hold back the faithful. Now think about for a moment, how would you feel if you were Joshua and Caleb at this moment? I mean, on the one hand, yes, we still get to enter into the promised land. On the other hand, 40 years later, what if I told you there's a great promise for you, you know, billion dollar retirement for you in 40 years? It'd be like, I mean, I could have had it today or I could wait 40 years for it. What's that like, right? Right?

Here's Joshua and Caleb. They're faithful to the Lord. They get to enter into the promised land. But you know what? They don't get to enter into the promised land right now. Not for anything they did, but because their fellow members of the congregation would not obey God and trust Him. And so they're kept out of the promised land for an additional 40 years. That's the reality. God has intertwined us and tied us together. We like to think, and sometimes...

We convince ourselves it's okay for us to disobey God in this area, disobey God and disregard what he says here. We're at Kadesh Barnea. We know what God says, but you know what? I'm going to go this way. I think I've got it under control. I think I can handle it. I think this is better. I think it's not that big of a deal. All the ways that we convince ourselves to disobey God and we just convince ourselves, it's only my life I'm affecting anyways. God says, no, you're tied to one another. Your lives are intertwined in a way.

that your growth, your progress, and your hindrances impact one another. So they held back the faithful. Now, of course, they didn't just hold back the faithful. They actually attacked the faithful. Back in verse 10 here of Numbers 14, the congregation tried to stone Joshua and Caleb with stones. They tried to put them to death, execute them, for encouraging them to trust God and go into the promised land. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, when we walk by sight and not by faith,

We don't have sense enough to know who our real friends are. And we turn against those who can help us the most. When we're walking by sight, not trusting God, not only do we hold back the faithful, but we turn against them. Those who would come alongside of us to help us, to seek to help us, to trust God and obey God. Those who would come alongside of us to perhaps correct us in our disobedience to God. Very often we will turn and attack.

Because we've been blinded by our rebellion and sin. Because we insist on walking by sight and not by faith. What if I don't obey God? We get those choices from time to time. We stand at the crossroads and we have to decide what are we going to do? We know what God says. His instruction is clear. Will I obey or will I disobey? And so what will happen if I disobey? Well, eventually I'll run out of chances.

I'll run out of opportunities to disobey and miss out entirely on the life of faith and promise and blessing that God had intended for me. Then I'll wander in circles, going round and round and round and round, not much meaning, not much purpose, just waiting out the time. Then I'll hold back the faithful, hinder the progress of others around me. And finally, verses 31 through 33, if I don't obey God, then I will burden myself

I will burden the people I love if I don't obey God. Verse 31 says,

God says, let's talk about those little ones that you're so worried about. They said, God brought us out here to kill our little ones out in the wilderness. God says, no, your little ones, they're going to enter in. They are going to experience the promised land, the blessings, the bounty of it. But he says in verse 33, for 40 years, they will bear the brunt of your infidelity.

One of the ways that we avoid dealing with sin is by convincing ourselves that it's only affecting ourselves. But have you stopped to consider, parents, have you stopped to consider your children and the impact of your choices on the next 40 years of their life? Your obedience to God and disobedience to God is going to have an impact. It's not just you we're talking about.

When you stand at the crossroads and God's given you instruction to obey, to disobey, it's not just you that you need to evaluate in that choice. Maybe you're like, yeah, I don't care about myself. I'll live in the wilderness for the next 40 years. No big deal. God says your children will bear the brunt. Put it another way, the people that you love the most will bear the brunt of your disobedience to God. Punishment for your sin is never applied to others, but consequences of your sin are

do overflow and impact your family. Do impact the church as we talked about. It does impact your workplace. It does impact the people that you care about and love. Your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness for 40 years, God says. Their whole life just changed.

You know, they had envisioned their kids going to college in Jerusalem, and it's like this whole career, you know, path ahead of them is going to be great, but they made one decision, and now that whole plan, that whole course, that's gone. There is no chance for them to be in Jerusalem because the next 40 years, think about that. Their kids, you know, 15 years old. They're going to be 55 when they enter into the promised land. Their career is done. They're about to retire. You know what I mean? Their whole life decided that.

for them changed at that moment and instead they chose for their children a life of shepherding in the wilderness son you could have had a life in the promised land flowing with milk and honey there would have been battles but god was working on our behalf it would have been dangerous but god was protecting us son you could have had this but you know i really didn't know if i could trust god so instead we got the wilderness and you're going to be wandering around in the dust

for 40 years as a result. God said he forgave the people. He told Moses, I forgive them. Sure, done. They're forgiven. That means they still have opportunity to know God, to walk with God, to hear God, to experience God's work in their life. But the path to the promised land, that was permanently closed. That was their last chance. That was their last opportunity. It changed their life. It changed the life of the congregation and even the faithful within the congregation. It changed the life of their children.

Because they would not trust God in that moment. And so again, it's quite the contrast. Last Sunday, Numbers chapter 6, blessings from God, the promises of God, they're incredible. But remember, those blessings and those promises were given by the priests at the tabernacle as people came seeking the Lord.

to spend time with God, to worship God at the tabernacle in obedience to God, right? The receiving of all of those promises and blessings is part of our attachment to God, our walk with God, our relationship with God. And there are many occasions in our life where we hit the crossroads. We're at Kadesh Barnea. We know what God wants, but it's a struggle. It's a hard thing God's asked us to do. But there is one thing that's more difficult, and that's to not obey God. And so consider,

the consequences. Consider the fallout. What if I don't obey God in this instance? Whatever you might be facing, whatever decisions you might be coming across. Again, there are some things where the will of God, the word of God is not clear. That's a different scenario, right? We don't have to try to fit that into this, but there are also those times in our lives where we know exactly what God wants. We know exactly what God says about the subject. We know exactly the direction that God has set. What if I don't obey God in that situation?

Well, then I'll run out of chances. It may not be this time, but it might be this time. This might be my last chance. It might not be. I don't know. God knows. But if I continue down that path, that's a certainty. I will run out of chances, run out of those opportunities for the life that God wants to give me. If I don't obey God, then I'm going to wander in circles. Everything that I fear, all the reasons why I give that I don't obey God, I'm going to experience in the disobeying of God, wandering around aimlessly in the wilderness.

I'm going to hold back the faithful and hinder their progress, hinder their blessings, hinder the life that God wants to work in them as well. And I'm going to burden the people around me. Obviously, the better path is to trust God. It's a hard path. It's not an easy path. But the better path is to trust God and obey what he has said. Let's pray. But I pray for each of us as we come to our own Kedesh Barnea's.

Lord, as we have our crossroads of decision and we, Lord, know what you want and know what you desire, but Lord, we struggle to submit. We struggle to obey. Help us, God, as we evaluate, as we wrestle with that decision. Help us, Lord, to consider not just our own selves, not just that moment. Help us to consider the full impact, Lord, that we might be reminded of the importance of trusting you.

and walking in obedience to you. God, I pray that you would help us. By your Holy Spirit, Lord, give us boldness to take steps of bold obedience to you. Lord, not just jumping out blindly because we have a feeling or we think, but jumping out boldly because we know what you've said. Trusting you with our very lives and allowing you to accomplish your purposes in us and through us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.