How Long Will They Not Believe In Me?

Introduction

Well, once again, good evening to you all. >> We are going to be in the Old Testament tonight. I’m glad that you’re here. We’re going to get into our study rather quickly so that we can not have any time lost with where we’re going to be headed. I want to make sure we’ve got plenty of room to just think through some things here. We’re going to be in Numbers chapter 13.

We’re going to take straight from the text this evening what you see there on the screen. This question, how long will they not believe in me? You’re going to see how this unfolds here in just a little bit as we make our way about back half of this lesson. But what we’re really going to find ourselves thinking a lot through tonight is just the idea of God’s people and how there is just the constant struggle for them to trust and obey even though the Lord has been faithful all throughout their life. What we find here in the text in Numbers 13 is a case just like you would find today where God has been faithful. man finds himself struggling to just step into what God would have him do.

Been there. And I think all of us can relate to that. So tonight, certainly in light of what we find here in the text, and we’re going to stick to that. And this is from the text that talks of the 12 spies. A lot of you know very well where we’re going this evening with what’s about to happen. And in the study in preparation for this, you were in mind because how do you make something that is so children’s Bible class VBS special fresh?

And I got something for you in case you’ve heard it all. Did you know that Caleb, the name means raging with canine madness? Yes. Kind of makes sense if you know his story. It’s like, oh, there’s that. Okay.

Well, yeah, raging with canine madness. That’s what that means. That’s about all I might have that just light bulbs you. So, here we go. Let’s just kind of go into where we are now. I want us to just think about the question of where we started.

Why is it that God’s people struggle to trust and obey him after he’s demonstrated so much in their life? Why is that? Let’s think about that question. Israel had lived through one of the most extraordinary experiences known to man. From the moment that they cried out to God in Egypt, God hears their cry after 400 years of being in captivity. And he has 10 plagues.

Perhaps you know the story well. Leads them out of Egypt through a dry sea that split open for them to cross. Encapsulates Pharaoh’s army. They’re washed dead. All to say they’ve experienced some incredible things. And where we get to this point in the story, you see that it is going to be another amazing accomplishment he’ll do on their behalf.

Now, day after day after day, you get this ongoing care from God. And it is just something that almost becomes so familiar to them that I think that they just despise it. That’s what you begin to see. How they’ve despised me. He’ll ask that question. And you just kind of think about how impressive it is where there’s times in your life something you see for the first time is so appealing and maybe it’s even precious to you and then over time it just becomes something you just shove aside not think through much of how important it is collects dust over time.

Maybe that’s kind of the idea that a lot of them find themselves in a situation where it’s just another day that God’s sending mana from heaven or it’s just another day that God is doing something to just provide for my need and therefore it’s just what he’s going to do and it’s not any shock that he continues to do it. Maybe that’s what we see there. But here we have the Israelites. They have themselves surrounded by thousands upon thousands of their own people traveling through the desert and they were learning who God was and now they’re approximately about 14 to 16 months away from their escape. So over a year they’ve been in the wilderness. God’s been doing some incredible things.

But now they’re into their journey at this point and they stood at the threshold of Canaan’s land. the promised land. They’re as close as God would have them be get to where they would then go into the land, but they were unwilling to go forward. And that’s where this story unfolds, maybe to a lot of familiarity with you, but we’re going to think through a few things here and see why they’re unwilling to go forward. And hopefully we’ll find something here for ourselves to just be of good reminder. So, if you’re in Numbers 13, we’re going to kind of segment this, piece it together, and we’ll get through most of it as you’ll see.

1. God’s Promise Is Greater Than Any Obstacle

So, let’s talk about this. First is just kind of this big place we’ll land here from the start is that God’s promise is greater than any obstacle. And you’re going to see that come to light. We can agree with that and say, “Yep, we know because we read stories like this that not only confirm it, but perhaps maybe even your own experiences, you can talk God about it.” So, a life with God will have you know that what there is on the screen is true. But what you see in this story is something that they’re going to struggle with and perhaps even forfeit the idea that God would give me what he would promise.

They don’t believe it. So, let’s continue on. Let’s just go Numbers 13. Couple first verses. Verse one. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “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, everyone a chief among them.” So notice how the account begins. God, notice this carefully, verse two, I am giving. go and spy out this land Canaan which I am giving God’s promise. He’s going to do something. God always pulls through on his promise.

This is that transaction of that promise. Do this first because the plan is you’re going to get this. I’m giving it to you. If something is a gift from God, we know that it’s going to come to fruition because he is a person of promise. You go back to Exodus chapter 3. Keep your marker here.

Let’s look at something real quick just to plug in what we know maybe we’ve passed over and didn’t catch. But if you’re an Israelite in this circumstance, hopefully you recall what you’re going to see right here in Exodus chapter 3. This is Moses and his interaction uh where we find before the in the burn the burning bush scene and you recognize in verse 8 of Gen Exodus 3 where God is telling Moses that I have come down. This is Exodus 3:8. I’ve come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land. So here we are in that promise, a land flowing with milk and honey to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, Amorites, Parizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

So you see God promises that to Moses on the burning bush and Moses acts on that. 10 plagues happen and then we find ourselves in Exodus 23. This is Mount Si. God has his multitude of his people. Moses is up on the mountain and Moses is going to speak on behalf of God here. And notice what he says in verse 20.

I’m not going to read all this. It goes all the way through verse 30. But talking about what’s being promised with this land, God says, “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way.” That’s pretty awesome, isn’t it? To bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice.

Do not rebel against him for he will not pardon your transgression for my name is in him. So all this listen to Moses. If you care carefully obey his voice do all that he says I will be an enemy to your enemies an adversary to your adversaries. So when my angel goes before you verse 23 before the Hittites, Jebusites, Canaanites, you name it. All this verse 24, you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. That’s destroying their cities right there.

You shall serve the Lord your God. He’ll bless you with your bread and water. So basically, all these promises are going to happen. You’re not going to misaryry. Your families aren’t going to go barren. Your feet, your shoes aren’t even going to wear out on your feet.

Incredible promises here. that’s in the backdrop of Numbers chapter 13 verse one. This land I’m going to give you should automatically have them think about what God has already made clear that he’s going to give them right there in the text we just read. So here we go back to the text where we were in Numbers 13. So 12 men are selected. Did you catch what kind of men those were?

Did you notice anything specific about those men? Those men were chiefs. God designated that one man from each tribe, a chief of your tribe. So now we’re talking about someone with influence, someone that you would give greater responsibility to because they’re going to be the man for the job. And they are head over thousands upon tens of thousands of people. And so these are the guys that are leading them.

And just think about this. These were the very men entrusted to lead Israel forward. Whatever they would say, it should champion you. because they’re the ones who are out in front. Well, let’s keep going. Verse 3 through 16 talks about these men, those names, all of them listed there.

Let’s jump into verse 17. Read through verse 20. So Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan. And he said to them, “Go up into the NGB and go up into the hill country. see what the land is, whether the people who dwell there in it are strong, or if they’re weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.

Now, the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. So, it’s a perfect time to go scout out the land, bring back some grapes. And that’s exactly what the people go and do. Their assignment was to go into this land, recognize the people, the cities, and the land. Bring back the report. We want to know what’s all about this.

So, the spies were expected to discover what it was that they would eventually encounter. Now, if you’ve ever wondered why God would tell them to do this, like what what’s the purpose behind this? Well, interestingly, 40 years later in Deuteronomy chapter 1, whenever Moses is recounting the events of what’s happened over the past 40 years, Moses is telling a whole new group of people, basically their children and grandchildren, some information about what took place. And notice what he says here in Deuteronomy 1 and verse 22. He said that all of you, talking about Israel, y’all all came near me and said, “Let us send men before us.” See, it was their idea to send spies.

“Let us send men before us that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go and the cities into which we shall come. and the things seemed good to me. Mo Moses is what he said. So I took 12 men from you, one of each tribe. And that’s when he explains what ended up happening next. So you start to see, well, it was their idea to want to do this in the first place.

Perhaps God would have just said, “Go into it. You know what you’ve been promised. You’re going to turn their cities into rubble and you’re going to take over the land as I said you would.” But they wanted to send people ahead to get a feel for what’s ahead. And so all that to say back in the text of Numbers 13, let’s keep going in verse 25. At the end of 40 days, they returned from spying out the land and they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Pan at Cadesh.

They brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 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.” That is exciting stuff, isn’t it? Mission accomplished. And we even have evidence that this is this is good.

And they said some good stuff about it. So, good news. On the report, they brought back what it is that proved that it was good. But notice what goes on next. Verse 28. However, underline that word, however, there’s the shift.

The people who dwell in the land are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anch there. The Amalocites dwell in the land of the Ngeb. The Hittites, Jebusites, the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the Jordan.

They come back. Full report. These are all facts. But notice, as you see on the screen, that was the objective. And here’s what they found. strong people.

It didn’t state whether they had many or weak. They just got straight to the fact that they were fortified. They were strongholded. They mentioned that the land was basically good and rich because it was flowing with milk and honey. And you get that indication that also the land was filled with men, people everywhere, which indicates that civilization has landed in the sweet spot of the land. There’s plenty of it.

All that is said in that one big statement. It was facts. But with people, you also begin to see that facts will vary. Facts depending on how you present them matters. Am I right? You could say something exactly like the person next to you, but your inflection and the way that you ex use yourself and your expressions can completely change the the cal the the climate of that.

And so he mentions that there are nations, but he never mentions cities. What is that doing? That’s amplifying how big of a deal that this is, that this is dangerous. And he also mentions that the inhabitants, all of the people that are in the land, well, they’re giant. And that’s concerning. Now, these were genuine obstacles.

Think about it. That’s a fair result of what you go and find and report back. But Israel faced powerful enemies who’ve occupy or who are occupying well-defended cities. That’s proven. They see that. But what else is true about what’s happening here?

This is where we go back to where we started is that God’s promise is greater than any obstacle. It shouldn’t matter what the report is. But what else is true? Let’s just kind of get to the brass tax of this. It’s just whenever you begin to start to get people together, you start to collect their opinions, you start to hear what they have to say. Again, you’re going to begin to have some different shifts in how one would present facts.

So, it depends who you listen to. You might have people who are going to fuel that fear that’s already kind of stirring in the room. And then you might have the oneoffs or some hopefully a larger sum of people who are going to fuel that faith of yours who are going to maybe remind you of what you see there on the screen. That’s what you start to recognize. But let me ask you, where would you have been in this? Not if you were one of the chiefs.

What if you were one of the people hearing the chiefs? What if you were hearing your chief [snorts] and he’s downgrading what it is that you’ve heard about what God intends to do and now it seems almost impossible because he just made it sound that way. How would you feel? You’d feel terrible. You’d feel full of fear. You believe in your tribal leader.

Numbers 13, let’s start in verse 30. So Caleb, he quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are able to overcome it.” 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.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land of which they have 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 the land are of great height.” And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anch, who come from the Nephilim.

And we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers. And so we seemed to them. You got Caleb. We can do this. We can occupy it. All coming back to what he knows is true is that we are able to overcome it.

But then the other 10 were not able to go up against it. They are stronger than us. And then of course you get that extra segment in verse 32 and verse 33. And it’s like they added in that extra layer. And here’s what’s wild about that. Consider the difference.

If you’re in the multitude hearing this from Caleb and then also from the other guys and m think of the difference. They both and went and saw the same thing. They both went had the same objective. They both also had the same history with God. Know exactly what God has made clear to them. But they have two entirely different conclusions.

Again, Joshua and Caleb believed what you see on the screen is that God can overcome it all. But then the 10 people, they measured their ability against the strength and against the sight of their enemy. Caleb was willing to proceed. He knew what was going to come up next, but God sees his promises through. And that’s the whole entire idea that he has in his mind. I would imagine that one would find themselves hearing what they’re being said in this situation and begin to think, well, the loudest voice might win.

The majority of guys here are saying what I probably should follow because everyone else seems to be listening to them, too. And it would make it very hard for you to do the one thing that everyone else is unwilling to do, which is to side with the one guy who’s speaking against what God can do. And that’s not easy. We’ll talk more about that here in a little bit, how that applies to us. But again, just think about what God had already done previously. What he had done beforehand with Pharaoh.

What he had done with the plagues. He had also had assisted in this battle against Amalecch in Exodus 17. That’s when Moses was holding his arms held up by Joshua and Aaron. And whenever he held them up, they advantaged. When he let him down, they kind of receded back. So all that to say they fought before but they had every reason to acknowledge danger in this situation but they had greater reason to recognize what God could do within this very situation.

You think of David. I love it. It kind of exemplifies what one would end up becoming when they trust God’s promises. So David is after this event. David is one who perhaps remembers well what God has done for his people. And like David when he was before King Saul, the the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, he says, will deliver me from the head of this Philistine.

So what you get here are from the hand of this Philistine. All that to say, the idea of verse 33, we seem like grasshoppers. Well, in your eyes, you might have felt that. But what about what he said after that? Did you catch it? We seem like grasshoppers and so we seemed to them.

How in the world did they get their perspective? Did they go and talk to some of them giants? I doubt it. They’re scared. But yet they insert a statement from as if they experienced what they think. As if they knew what the giants were thinking.

That’s not possible. And I think that just adds a little bit more to what we see here is they assume their enemies saw them the same way. We don’t get that. It’s not true. So here’s the idea before we move on. That was a long big first kickoff to where we’re headed here.

This whole chapter begins with this promise. We saw that God has a gift to give them, but it ends up ending with man’s assessment of what man is incapable of doing on his own. And man is right. On their own, they can do this. God said, ‘I’m going to give. Man said, ‘We not able.’

2. Fear Started and Rebellion Began

And that’s where the fear started to come before the entire congregation. And that’s when rebellion began. Go to chapter 14 verse one. Then all the congregation raised a loud cry. The people wept that night, 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? Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” Lots of questions. And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

So just to notice verse one, two, three, and four each has something. They wept, they grumbled, they accused, and then they wanted another leader. It’s just kind of echoing what’s already been taking place prior to this moment with all the times they’ve mourned, cried, were embittered, had themselves just upset. And every single time they wanted to find a way to get back to Egypt or they reflected back on what was good in Egypt and they really wish they could be back there again instead of experiencing what they had going on in that moment. So just think about that. Whenever following God resulted in becoming painfully uncomfortable, they wished to return to Egypt.

When following God got to the point where they no longer wanted to do it anymore. or they wanted their old life back. Oh Christian, may that never be of our heart. Their judgment had become so distorted by fear that night. I’m guessing it was next day. We don’t catch what exactly was the duration, but it seems like they cried all night and wept in their homes and woke up the next day and met again.

And so here they have themselves all night living with this fear and they prefer to go back into bondage rather than just do God’s will, which is just to trust him. But notice how easily this stuff, this rebellion can develop. The unfaithful, influential men did something powerful to these guys. It created this rebellion. And we’ve seen this pattern before. Go back to Numbers 11.

the same exact scenario unfolded into something terrifying. Numbers 11:4. This is whenever the people complain, they have all these misfortunes that they’re expressing about. They’re crying and wailing about that. Verse four. So the rabble, a group of men who just wanted to create problems.

The rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh, that we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt and that cost nothing. The cucumbers, melons, the leaks, and onions, and the garlic, but now our strength is dried up, and there was nothing at all but this mana to look at.” So there you have it. Notice what happens when people complain.

Others get bent out of shape. When you express something that has your dissatisfaction become so vocal that it’s over those who are satisfied, you begin to have themselves receive what you’re saying in a way that they start to become critical as well. They start weighing your words and it’s effective. Complaints become contagious like a yawn if you’re not careful. Discouragement will begin to spread. People begin reinforcing one another with their distrust, talking about someone only to realize that person can’t even be there to stand in for their half of the story.

But God’s goodness, whenever we find this happening around us, God’s goodness gets distorted and eventually we’ll start to despise what’s good. Happens all the time. So, let this sit for a second. Who’s influencing my heart? And whose heart am I influencing? I’m around people every day.

Our words, when you think about them at work, when conversations become dishonest or people just get bitter or people just get immoral, what’s the result? If someone’s getting critical about your friend, do we start to just listen and participate as if we’re just guilty by association? Are we someone who begins to stand in a way that helps the situation turn for the better? We have the power to do that. Or how about with our families? When we’re sitting around the table and there’s resentment going on or there’s some gossiping going on, what’s the next step?

People’s lives are at stake here. What do we do next? You see, our words dominate. As if we don’t know that. We talk about that a lot here, but we know that they dominate in ways that they can carry consequences, and we must be careful about that. So, take responsibility, my friends, especially when someone’s listening to your report.

3. Joshua and Caleb Speak Faithfully

You’ve got something to say about something or someone and people are all ears because you’re leading the conversation. So watch Joshua and Caleb verse 6-10 going back to Numbers 13. I got to get moving here. This is um this is going to be verse six again. Numbers 14. So Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Japthuna who were among those who had spied out the land tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land which we passed through to spy it out is an exceedingly good land.

If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into the land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bred for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” Then all the congregation said, “Stonone them with stones.”

But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. So it’s just as if God said, “Uhuh, stop. Wait, wait.” But did you notice what God was going to be doing? And he made it very clear through these guys like their defenses are going to be down. God’s going to do everything for us.

There’s nothing but just to step into what God is saying to step into. And they were unwilling to the point that we wanted to shut them up. That reminds me of Stephen in Acts chapter 7 whenever he’s just pouring out truth before the Jews about this Christ that they crucified and the next thing you know they got tired of hearing his words, killed him. So he says in verse 9 only don’t rebel against the Lord. They stood apart from everyone else that day. And again I guess just to wrap this and move into our last point our responsibility in all of this is we can take from just that one section right there.

They did what was right. Even though the people refused to listen. They did their part and they left it at that. God stepped in right after that. So the challenge to you is to speak faithfully. Even if you know it’s likely going to get rejected, speak faithfully.

We can urge people to obey God, but you don’t force them. You can lead a horse to water. We’ve heard that saying all of our lives. None of us can make the decision for that person. So speak up. If it’s rejected, step aside and let God handle the heart.

4. How Long Will They Not Believe in Me?

You did the part by sharing the word. Let him do the rest because watch again who intervenes next. Verse 11, the Lord said to Moses. So God’s glory appeared at the end of verse 10. Now God is actually speaking. So God responds to their unbelief here.

And he goes on to say, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me in spite of all the signs that I’ve done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them and I will make of you, he’s talking about Moses there. He said this once before and he’s saying it again to him. I’ll make of you a nation greater and mightier than they. I’ll just wash my hands, start clean, start fresh.

I could do it. I’m God. Time means nothing. It is eternal. So I’ll be fine having this live through again. That’s kind of what you get there.

Let’s just start over. Hit the reset button. And then Moses intercedes. God will stop. But God responds to the way that people are behaving here. He’s responding to the way his people are behaving here.

Again, his question is, how long will this people despise me? But more so the question after that, how long will they not believe in me? It’s almost a weird thing to ask because they followed him this far. Don’t they believe in him? Reality check. The same goes for every single soul that’s sitting in this room.

You’re here, but it doesn’t mean you believe in him. It’s just the truth. So the God’s assessment in this is that they don’t believe in me. So notice the underlying message in this for us today. We can know what God has said, even be able to tell it to others, but refuse to follow it ourselves. See that all throughout scripture.

We see that all throughout our life. We can acknowledge God’s power. We can sing about it in these songs. We can throw it up in our prayers, but then not even acknowledge his authority over my life. Isn’t that wild? the understanding that we’ve got of scripture, you can know it all and still despise him.

Jesus says Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you?” You see, people do that. And I think that that question should trouble anyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ is I can knowingly resist God’s word just like what we’re reading about tonight. So again, verse 13, it actually goes through verse 19, Moses intercedes for Israel and he does as he’s done before appealing that God is merciful. He’s steadfast. In fact, another thing he adds to that, if you do this, all the nations will hear about it.

I mean, that’s a very that’s a very important thing for God is that the other nations know. If the other nations know, I mean, that’s almost like protection for them. And you get to see that later in the narrative. It is Rahab and Jericho that has heard all about what God has done to Egypt and Pharaoh. And the list just becomes this rolodex of all the things God has done. And all the nations fear him.

One of the reasons that God would soon have a temple placed in the place that he calls it to be placed is because the nations will come to see that you are my people. It’s about what others know of this God that they follow. Okay, I got hung up there. Let’s keep going. Verse 20. The Lord said, I’ve pardoned according to your word, but truly as I live and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.

So all of his plans to make himself known is still going to happen. He just said that. But notice what he says about these people that didn’t believe in him. Verse 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 10 times and have not obeyed my voice shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. and none of those who despise me shall see it. 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.

Now, since the Amalocites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow, set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea. Reverse, go back where you came from. Boy, you talk about taking the wind out of the sails if you’re those who’ve been traveling for 14 months already. Again and again, these 10 times they’ve wanted to go back to Egypt because of the challenges that are found out in the wilderness. And now they’re reversing their tracks. They’re going to be there longer is what that means.

They’re not going to like that news. We read about that. But what you get here, I want to just share this. You may have heard this kind of thing before on the screen though. Did you catch that God would pardon them? He’ll let them live, but only for a little while because the plan is to bring their children into the land, which means God’s going to wait until all these people die first.

So, just using the men with what I can collect for you, Israel’s 40-year death rate, this is an average by way of what numbers you get from chapter 1 of all the tribes. So let’s just say the men only who were over 20 years old are 603,000. So over 40 years, you recognize at the very bottom you’re going to have 41 people die per day. That’s just the men. So there are others. And now you just think about the mourning that would go on because they’re not supposed to die.

They’re supposed to go into the promised land, but they forfeited that by despising God. So, I’m going to take you quickly to the New Testament because it talks about this very thing we’re seeing here. And that becomes a warning for every person who’s sitting in this room, Christians, because the New Testament writer connects it back to this very account for us to learn a very important lesson. So, let’s see it. Hebrews chapter 3, and it’s only a couple verses. And so prior to what I’m about to read here, it speaks about how Israel’s unbelief gives us this example that whenever people harden their hearts against God, it can lead to something terrible.

And so the warning in Hebrews chapter 3 begins in verse 7. If you hear his voice today, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness where your fathers put me to the test and saw my work for 40 years. Go down to verse 12. Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God. So there’s the idea. You’re sitting here.

You’re someone who hears it, knows it, but you still find yourself unbelieving. It leads you to fall away. So exhort, verse 13, exhort one another every day as long as it is called today. So again, notice the responsibility we have here. Christians, exhort one another every day. do it daily.

So to exhort, it means to come alongside someone, you encourage them, you urge them, you correct them if there’s something that’s a little misaligned. You’ll hear it in their words, you’ll hear it in their complaints, you’ll hear it whenever they talk to you because the heart tends to pour out over time the things that’s going on through those words. And when you start to hear the discouragement or you hear the dismay or you hear the drift from what it is that their faith once held tightly to when that starts to fade, you got something that you can say, you can encourage. We need people who will remind us of God’s word daily because of the warning that’s here. If it happened to them, it could happen to me. And we have a responsibility to be that person for someone else.

Conclusion

So, what does this mean for us? Close this down. God asked, “How long will they not believe in me?” After all, God has demonstrated. He’s made it very clear that he cares, that he loves, that he’s not going to forsake them or abandon them. But the moment the moment they got their opportunity to do what it is that God said go and do, they didn’t listen.

In fact, they refused. And the Hebrew writer just warns us of that same unbelief that can happen in our hearts if we’re not careful. So, there are two big questions to take home. Little reflection in between with some more questions, but two big questions. The first one is this. What has God already said that I’m still refusing to do?

Is there sin you’ve continued excusing rather than repenting of it and moving on? Just growing up and maturing. Is there someone you need to forgive or seek reconciliation with? Relationships are critical in this life. If you can’t get along with someone here, how will you get along with someone there? God’s not going to forgive us if we don’t forgive them.

If we hate our brother, how can we love our God? All of those arguments are presented in the scriptures. Seek reconciliation. Your life depends on it. Is there’s something you’ve repeatedly postponed because you know that the day that you obey, it’s going to cost you something. It’s going to require you to maybe set aside a bit of who you are.

That identity we hold so tightly to, is it going to alter that? And when I change, does that concern me so much that I’m unwilling to change? James 1:22, “But be doers of the word and not hearers only.” He says, “Also, don’t look intently at a mirror, seeing what you need to do to change, and walk away and forget about it.” What good is that? How much longer will you put off responding to what you know God is requiring of you?

And the second big question to take away for tonight, who is influencing you the way we think and the way we live? Who’s influencing the way we think and live? Are the people closest to you strengthening your faith? Everyone that is in your social circle, those that you have the right to let in or to push out, you have that control. Are they encouraging you in your faith or are they encouraging you to compromise? Have you been accepting attitudes or even allowing for certain conduct that you know is contradicting God’s word?

Are you allowing that to happen? And whenever others are drifting towards sin, are you willing to speak up and encourage them to get back? Are you exhorting one another daily? Again, exhort as long as it is called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. I heard a quote this past week It says that salvation happens at the intersection of divine initiative and human response. So that’s God doing his part and then we come in and we do our part and that’s when it reveals what God had intended all along for your life.

That’s when salvation happens. And so Israel stood at the edge of the promised land. God told them clearly what he was going to be doing and even affirmed it through Caleb by adding more to what God would be doing. They witnessed the power. They’ve experienced his faithfulness. They could taste it in the mana.

And now they had a responsibility to respond. And they didn’t. They cowed and they despised him for it. So for us today, God has done his part. He’s acted in grace. He sent his son as one who would stand in for your wretched life through all the sins that you’ve committed.

He comes in place because that’s a debt you can no longer have a chance of covering. No way. But that gift that he gave, how will we respond? What will you do with what God has revealed to you? Again, salvation happens at the intersection of divine initiative and human response. Do you need to take that first step and get yourself in the position that you know you need to be in order to be a true believer who stands up for God at any cost?

I’d urge you to come and let us know if you have a need tonight. You’re amongst friends. And if we can help you in any way, even if it’s time for you to accept the call and become a Christian, and if you need to talk more about it, let’s do that as well. Let’s offer this song as an encouragement if you need to come forward as we stand and sing.