This past week, I received a message from one of our members, Pat Donaldson. The message contained a link of last week’s service at the Times Square Church in New York. There was a sense of urgency in my spirit about getting to the video she sent, so I clicked on the link immediately. One of the associate pastors, Tim Dilena, delivered a message that impacted me greatly. He investigated a passage in Numbers 14 and teased out part of the passage that in my 51 years of being a Christian, I had glossed over. He did a deep dive to uncover what this portion of Scripture is referring to, and as I listened to the message, I heard the Spirit say, “Tell it to the Church.”
So, I need you to understand, what you are going to hear today, in my own words, is a message that was first delivered by someone else, but it is a word, I believe is meant for all of us to hear. I believe God wants to raise up an army of people who will hear His voice and walk out His will on this earth, people who will trust Him, seek Him and obey Him in every circumstance.
But sadly, too often, believers are wandering through life, walking in circles, just living to make it through each day or to make it to the weekend. I see many believers who allow the stresses of life to overtake them and to overturn their faith. Many believers are spiritually anemic and are living below their inheritance in Christ. How does that happen? We’re going to learn about it this morning.
Let me set the stage. It is now just one year from the Exodus. Say “one year.” It is just one year after God liberated Israel from the slavery they had experienced in Egypt. It is just one year from the time that 2-3 million Jewish people were delivered by God through a series of signs and wonders. Ten plagues had been leveled against Egypt while God’s people had been kept safe. It was just one year since the Jewish nation had witnessed, firsthand, the magnanimous power of God. Their final Exodus was brought about with a huge exclamation point, the parting of the Red Sea. And after just one year, God’s people had traveled to the edge of the Promised Land.
Moses, their earthly leader, decided to send 12 spies into the Promised Land to scout things out, and ten of the 12 came back and said, “There is no way we can take the Promised Land. They admitted the land was exceptional, overflowing with milk, honey and fruit, but the people who lived there were strong and the cities were fortified. They were out.
Numbers 13:30-30 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.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “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, “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.
Little did Israel know, this was a last straw for God. This was a last test He had given them to develop them, to ready them, to teach them to walk by faith, and they failed the last test He was willing to give. There wasn’t going to be a re-do. There would be no extra credit. This was it. God had, had enough.
Numbers 14: 11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”
20 Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. (I have forgiven them just as you asked.)
21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these TEN TIMES and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
Here God said to Moses, “I’ve forgiven my people, but they won’t get what they have been promised.” They were going to wander in the wilderness for 40 years and die without getting in. God alleged that the people had tested God 10 times (it was really God who tested them 10 times, and they failed each test.). He brought them to the Promised Land to be warriors, to conquer, to occupy the land, but instead of being warriors, they would be wanderers. That is tragic. They came so close, and they missed it all.
Notice something, the wanderers were forgiven people. They were forgiven, but the privilege of experiencing the Promised Land would be missed. This tragic turn of events happened just one year after the great deliverance by God. How, in one year, did God’s people disappoint Him so much that He withheld the Promised Land from that generation?
God gave them ten tests during that year, and they failed each one. They didn’t take the tests seriously. They didn’t welcome the lessons God was trying to teach them. They were willing to be led by God to the Promised Land, but they weren’t open to changing along the way. They didn’t appreciate that tests from God, moments when we can choose to trust Him or when we want to exert our own will, become opportunities for spiritual growth, the kind that make us ready for the privilege of Promised Land living.
What were the ten tests? These are the tests that Tim Dilena did the work to uncover.
1. Exodus 14:10-12 details what happened at the border of the Red Sea. Pharoah had surrendered and released God’s people from slavery. The Jews had seen everything God did to convince Pharoah to let them go. It had been epic! I can think of no other time in biblical history that the power of God was so dramatically and systematically displayed. There would have been no doubt in their minds regarding what God could do, and there would have been no doubt that it was Him. God had been using Moses to help Him accomplish His work, but it wasn’t Moses who pulled off any of the ten plagues. God brought the world’s superpower at that time, to its knees.
But they got to the Red Sea and lo and behold, Pharoah reneged on releasing them and sent his army to recapture them. When they looked ahead at the water and behind them at the ensuing army, they were sure they were going to die. Where was their faith?
Now, if God could cause that to happen through the dramatic and explosive ways He did, could He not take care of parting the Red Sea so that they could escape Pharoah’s army one last time? Listen, God never delivers us partway. He will always part the waters for us so that our deliverance is complete!
They had seen the ten plagues. The ten plagues weren’t only sent to deal with Egypt, but they were meant to build the faith of the Jews as they watched. They saw the world superpower, Egypt, bow to God’s plan. If He was getting them out by His power, wouldn’t He deliver them completely by His power? If God had sent all of those plagues against Egypt to deliver the Jewish nation, couldn’t He take them through the waters? Was God now all of the sudden not bigger than the Sea He had created?
Test number one was a FAITH TEST. Child of God, you need to know that God is bigger than any obstacle in front of you. If God can bring nations to their knees, He can make a way through the Sea. Oh, and God did part the Red Sea. God’s people did cross safely, and then as the Egyptian army got into the dry riverbed, the waters came back together, and Pharoah’s army was drowned! Pretty strategic of God to lure that army to go after the Jews. They saw with their own eyeballs that God would not only deliver them, but He would also destroy their enemy in the process!
Do you know what happened on the cross? On the cross, Jesus paid the price for the sins of humanity with His life’s blood AND He triumphed over Satan, removing any legal claim Satan had to humanity because of our sin, Colossians 2:15. Yes, God can kill two birds with one stone. Hallelujah!
Test two is found in Exodus 15:22-24. It involved the bitter waters of Marrah. Three days after the Red Sea crossing, they found themselves by another body of water. They were thirsty and needed to drink, but when they sampled the water at Marrah, it was bitter. The text says that the people started grumbling against Moses. What good was that going to do? Was Moses in charge of the water quality in the Middle East? Moses at least knew what to do. He cried out to God, and God led Moses to throw a log into the water, and when he did, the water became sweet.
Instead of complaining to Moses, why didn’t the people remember the God who three days before parted an entire sea? If He had authority to split a sea, surely He had authority to season the water. Here they failed a GRATITUDE TEST. Here, they had an opportunity to come to God with thanks, to thank Him for how He made a way for them and to express that they trusted Him to do it again. But instead of inquiring of the Lord from a heart of gratitude, they complained to Moses.
Exodus 16:1-3 details test number three. Instead of remembering the way God turned the waters from bitter to sweet, they complained to Moses again. They wanted food. You would think they would have realized who their Provider was by this time. It wasn’t Moses, but instead of praying and asking God to provide for them, they complained to Moses. This was a PRAYER TEST.
Test number four took place at Rephidim. The story is in Exodus 17. They were thirsty. God told Moses to strike the rock with his staff and water would come out of it.
Isn’t it interesting that so many of the tests involved water? Listen, if the same test keeps coming to you, it might mean you haven’t passed that test yet. Pay attention to the things God allows over and over in your life and learn what He desires for you to learn.
This is the INTROSPECTION TEST. When there are repeated tests in your life, don’t look around to see who you can blame for what you are going through, look within to see what needs adjusted in you and look up to God to help you pass the test.
Test number five comes from Exodus 32-While Moses was in an extended meeting with God up on the mountain, the rest of the people built a golden calf and worshipped it. They had grown restless. Moses and God were taking too long. This was a PATIENCE TEST. Moses was taking too long in His meeting with God. Things weren’t moving fast enough to suit them. Have we ever been guilty of abandoning God, of quitting on God, rather than waiting on Him to communicate and move in the ways He is planning to move? Anyone here ever failed a patience test?
In Leviticus 10, the priest’s sons were offering “strange fire,” unauthorized on the altar. God had just laid out what was expected as incense was offered as part of worship, and Aaron’s sons disregarded what was required and did their own thing. His sons were killed immediately. This was an INDEPENDENCE TEST. When we know what God desires, when we know what God has said, but we choose to do things our own way, we have failed the test. Church, we don’t get to rewrite the Scriptures. We will never know better than God. Our will can never trump God’s Word.
In Numbers 11, the people were tired of eating the manna God had provided. They wanted variety in their diet. They were never content. This was a CONTENTMENT TEST. Is your relationship with God enough or are you always looking to add something else to fill in the perceived gaps?
In Numbers 11:16-30, God touched 70 elders and enabled them to prophesy. These elders were going to be a help to Moses. He needed help to lead the people. Well, the people didn’t like that all of the sudden there were other people speaking for the Lord. They were used to hearing Moses speak for the Lord. They were comfortable with Moses. They were used to Moses. They liked things the way they were. They didn’t want to hear God speaking in new ways. This was a COMFORT TEST.
Listen, God is always doing a new thing. We have to be ready to hear it differently, to see it differently, to experience it differently. In every generation, God will use new voices and new methods to communicate His heart for the world. Life with God isn’t stagnant. It isn’t predictable. It is dynamic because it is led by the Spirit. If your life with God has become predictable and routine, you better check who you are really following.
Well, they didn’t past the comfort test. We don’t either sometimes, do we? God was more concerned about their character than their comfort. He wanted to prepare them for Promised Land living and hearing from Him through the same person, the same way, wasn’t going to cut it. Moses wasn’t even going to lead the people into the Promised Land. They were going to have a new leader. Joshua would take them in. If they were going to be part of the group that conquered, they were going to have to trust whoever God put in leadership.
In Numbers 12, Miriam and Anna tried to elevate themselves. They asserted that God spoke to them, too. They were interested in a new level of leadership. They were puffed up and thought it was time for their turn to lead. Church, this was a PRIDE TEST. When you lose respect for leadership, when you lose the ability to submit to those God has placed in authority over you, when you try to undermine what God has established by promoting yourself, you are on dangerous ground.
And in Numbers 14, God had, had enough. The ten spies came back with a negative report about their ability to take the Promised Land and the people said, “Let’s go back to Egypt.” Go back?! After what God did to bring them out? Go back?! After all God had done to get them to this point?
They weren’t thinking about moving forward. They were literally thinking about going back to Egypt. They wanted the Promised Land without a fight. They wanted a red carpet rolled out. They wanted the inhabitants of the land to surrender without any effort on their part. This was the EASE TEST. Folks, the Christian life isn’t an easy life. It is a fight to move from low living to inheriting the promises of God, but God has said He will be with us and will take care of every enemy if we walk with Him with a spirit to conquer.
Do you see that the ten tests they underwent were the fight before “the fight?” The ten tests were fights they were personally meant to fight. They were to become warriors along the way to the Promised Land, but instead of becoming warriors, they were whiners. Instead of becoming dependent on God they became doubters.
And because of those failed tests, God kept them from entering the Promised Land. Oh, there were two people who did become warriors. They were Joshua and Caleb. They were the two spies with a positive report. They weren’t going to miss the Promised Land. Though it would be some time, they were going to possess the land.
Church, we need to learn to value the tests God allows us to take. We need to search our hearts and minds, to evaluate our habits and commitment, and to learn to lean on the Lord at every turn. Before God can take us on, He wants us to deal with where we are. People who live in the Promised Land are people who take their tests seriously.
Grumbling, complaining, disobedience, entitlement, doubt, none of those attitudes belong in the Promised Land. God was trying to remove some things from His people so that He could in turn give them everything they needed and could dream of, but they didn’t let God have His way along the way. Let God have His way along the way as you move through life. As you do, you’ll become a warrior and escape becoming a wanderer.
Are you tired of walking in circles and getting nowhere? What bad attitude do you need to let go of? What sin needs to die in your life? What habit needs replaced with something holy? Is God your all in all? Is He enough for you? Do you have the spirit of Joshua and Caleb? The Bible says that Caleb had a different spirit. He followed God wholeheartedly, Numbers 14:24. You need a different spirit to make it to the Promised Land. Your tests aren’t meant to crush you, but to mold you and prepare you for something better. Evidently Caleb had been pliable along the way.
Hear I Corinthians 10:1-13 from the Message-10 1-5 Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.
6-10 The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—“First the people partied, then they threw a dance.” We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.
11-12 These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
13 No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
Hallelujah, Church. We have hope. We have help. We can become soldiers and not wanderers. We can pass the tests. We can develop as believers. We can grow in faith. Listen, the best way to miss your future is to keep walking in circles. We can stop walking in circles. We can march into Jericho. We can live forgiven and wander or we can be forgiven and learn to conquer.
God wanted His people to take the tests they went through seriously. He wanted them to learn something. He wanted them to be transformed by their trials. He wanted them to see God differently as they walked through some times of testing. Listen, what hinders you today shouldn’t hinder you this time next year. What trips you up today shouldn’t trap you six months from now. What is creating weakness and compromise in your life shouldn’t persist into the next decade. Stop wandering and become the warrior God says you can become.
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