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Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word…none of the men…shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers.” Numbers 14:20, 22, 23.

Because forgiveness and consequences are different.

“Woah,” someone might object, “What about when he forgives us and allows us into Heaven. The consequence of sin is death and Hell. He forgives the consequences then.”

No. There consequences of sin were put on Jesus. This is what makes what Jesus did amazing. God didn’t look over the consequences, he put his wrath (consequences) on Jesus.

But, there are more than just “sin causes Hell” consequences. There are the everyday consequences to sin. Like…

Premarital sex that ends in pregnancy or STD.
Gossip that ends in hurt feelings.
Embezzling that ends in jail time.

All of these are sins and thus forgivable by God, but that doesn’t mean that he’ll erase the consequence.

Personal Story…
A large chunk of my life I hung on to a specific sin. My heart remained soft towards repentance for that sin, but I kept going back to it.

Until one day when God’s made his holiness real to me. It was as if he said, “Deal with it, or I will.”

Did God forgive me when I sinned? Yes.
Did I and do I still live with the consequences? Yes.

Scars heal. Scars are to be used to serve others. But scars are still scars. Sin causes consequences.

If you’re dealing with a sin, deal with it. Why? Keep your scars smaller than what they could be otherwise.

Faith sees God’s power.

Every follower of God wants to see God at work in their lives and the lives of others.

But that doesn’t mean they have the faith to actually see his power.

The people of Israel all followed the pillar of cloud and fire. They were following God.

The vast majority of them never saw God’s power to bring them into the Promised Land. But those who did have faith, Caleb and Joshua, they got to see God’s power at work.

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. Numbers 14:24.

Are you standing at the edge of a Promised Land? Is it hard to see how God will provide if you give and pay off debt? Do you wander if he’ll ever send Mr/Mrs. Right? Could you ever make a living living out your passion?

You’ll never find out God’s power to provide the Promised Land by taking a step backwards.

I can’t promise how things will turn out. What I can promise is that without faith, you won’t see God’s muscles.

The greatest thing that we all need to know, even in our rebellion and sin…

God just wants to carry you like Father carries a child.

When Moses retold the story of their rebellion, this is how he described God’s relationship and care for his people…

The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place. Deuteronomy 1:30-31.

All God did for his people was carry them like a father carries a son.
All God wanted was a Father/Child relationship.
All God wanted was them to Hear & Obey based on what he’s done.

At the end of the day, all God wants is a Father/Child relationship. It’s based on Hear & Obey. But it’s also based on God’s power.

The ending verse from last week still rings true for this week…

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. Ephesians 5:1.

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Woah, rebellion. That’s pretty harsh. It’s just a step.

Let’s peek into what Caleb told Israel when they were about ready to step away…

Only do not rebel against the Lord. Numbers 14:9.

Lack of faith is rebellion.

Caleb told the people, “God has provided for us up to this point. He’s not going to stop now. He’s going to fight for us. Let’s take the step.”

In response, the people picked up stones to kill Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb.

When God gives us a glimpse of the Promised Land and asks us to take the step needed to acquire the Promised Land, a step in any other direction than forward is rebellion.

Man, that still sounds harsh, doesn’t it. Well, think of it this way.

Stepping in the opposite direction and then saying it isn’t rebellion is like saying, “I love God, but just don’t want to do what he says.” Which is pretty much silly talk.

The reason we can talk about a lack of faith being rebellion so openly and honestly is because it doesn’t have to end that way…

Sin must have an intercessor.

For the second time, God tells Moses, “I’m gonna kill ‘em all. I’ll make your name great, Moses. I’ll make you the great nation.” There are so many directions to go with that, but the direction we’ll go is with Moses’ response…

But Moses said to the Lord…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. Numbers 14:13, 19.

All sin needs an intercessor. An intercessor is a “go between.” Moses was going between God and Israel and deflecting the judgement.

Moses is a foreshadow of Jesus. Now, Jesus is the intercessor–the go between. He is constantly going between us and God to deflect–really to absorb–the judgement of God.

This is the Good News. Rebellion is serious, but you know what is even more serious? The fact that Jesus intercedes for us. We come into this relationship by just asking Jesus to intercede for us.

But the pardon we receive in Christ, isn’t about us…

Forgiveness is about God’s greatness among the nations.

Moses pleaded with God to forgive the people. Why? Not because they deserved it. But because God’s Name needs to remain great among the nations.

Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, 16 ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ Numbers 14:15-16.

God couldn’t kill Israel because the nations would think that he was impotent to do what he said he would do. His greatness and power would be tarnished among the nations.

We are forgiven, not for our sake, but for God’s Name sake. We are forgiven so that his name can be made great among the nations–those who are not God’s people.

This is the only plan he has for his greatness to be known among the nations. His forgiven people–his church–is the vehicle by which he gets his name to the nations. Our mission is to make his name great among those who don’t know his name. We do this by faith.

A lack of faith is serious, but it isn’t the end of the story. He cleanses us. Then we take him to the nations.

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God led Israel to the edge of the Promised Land. He had shown his power through perfect circumstances, 10 plagues, parting the Red Sea, getting water out of the rock, daily manna and quail, and the pillar of cloud and fire. Short of teleporting the million plus people directly to the Promised Land, God pretty much did everything he could to prove he is trustworthy and get his people where they needed to go.

It still wasn’t enough. Israel didn’t Hear & Obey. They didn’t have faith.

Why?

They looked at their circumstances, not at God’s power.

Moses sent 12 guys to spy out the land. This was to be a reconnaissance mission. The men were supposed to report back on how great the land was. Whether to enter the land or not wasn’t on the table.

Instead 10 of the men reported that the task of taking the land was too hard for them…

27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28  However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Numbers 13:27-28.

The people were too big, too strong. The cities were too fortified and too large. The task was too big.

Are you standing on the edge of a Promised Land?

Reaching the nations is a Promised Land.
Debt free is a Promised Land.
A great marriage is a Promised Land.
A purpose filled life is a Promised Land.

But are the circumstances too big?

Will the people even listen?
Are the payments too much to overcome?
Is Everyone saying your dating standards are just too high?
Will stepping out on purpose pay bills?

What do you do when the circumstances are too big?

Listen to those who have faith.

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.” Numbers 13:30.

Caleb (and Joshua) were ready to go. God said they’d be able to take it. He’d proven himself so far. He’d do it again, as far as they were concerned. They Heard & Obeyed. They had faith.

This is why we gather. We all come together and those who don’t have faith to take the step lean on those who have had faith to take that step. Large Gatherings. Small Groups. Accountability Groups. People need strength. These groups are to provide the strength and develop faith and maturity.

When your faced with a next step towards your Promised Land, do two things…

1. Look to God’s Power.
2. Look to other faithful people.

Because the direction of your next step is vital.

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The reality of someone who doesn’t have faith in Jesus is this…

• Their life is lived attempting to live up to the law, but always falling short.
• Satan is there holding them back from the law.
• Satan is there tempting them to break the law.
• Satan is there telling them how bad they are to not keep the law.
• Without hope, they’ll give up.

The church can respond in a couple of ways. Sure, this borders on overgeneralization, but our response generally is either to…

1. Beat those who don’t have faith over the head with the law that they’re struggling to achieve.
2. Help them understand the grace behind the law, they don’t have to–and will never–achieve it and that Jesus wants to write it on their hearts.

Here is what God says is the relationship the law should have on the nations…

6 Keep them and do them [God's commands], for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples [the nations], who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? Deuteronomy 4:6-8.

God’s initial design for his law was to cause the nations to be jealous of Israel. Israel was to Hear & Obey. Their collective lives were to be a light to the nations. The nations then looked at their god(s) and said, “You’ve never proven you were ever close to me. You’ve never told me the best way to live out my life. What’s the deal?!” Then they smash their god(s) and follow Isreal’s God as the One True God.

In a sentence…

Israel was to pass on their Hear & Obey relationship to the nations.

Jesus says it this way…

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8.

This statement isn’t out of the thin air. This statement has its roots in Deuteronomy 4:6-8. The nations aren’t just the lands far off. The nations are anyone who isn’t a part of God’s people.

Our neighbors who don’t have faith. The nations.
Our classmate who doesn’t have faith. The nations.
Our coworker who doesn’t have faith. The nations.
The people across the world who has never heard. The nations.

We don’t have a Hear & Obey relationship with the Father just for our benefit.

Our Hear & Obey relationship is supposed to cause the nations to be jealous that we have a God who will talk with us, be close to us, tell us how to live a hopeful, joyous, grounded life. Jealous enough to come closer to find out about this God.

The 10 Commandments aren’t about following a set of rules. It’s about the grace God has to write them on our hearts. Then it’s about the grace that he has for the nations through our lives.

**BTW, our Hear & Obey relationship is also to be passed on to our children. See the CrossPoint Church blog for a blog post about passing on our relationship with God to our kids.**

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In Genesis 3:15, God promised a seed or a kid who would come that would defeat Satan, sin and death. In every story in the Old Testament, we see that sin isn’t defeated. The 10 Commandments only defeat sin if we can follow them perfectly. Only one tiny problem with that.

We can’t follow them perfectly.

So when we get to the New Testament, we’re longing for a guy to defeat sin. And this guy must follow the 10 Commandments perfectly.

Jesus is that Guy.

But we still don’t match up and that’s a problem. If he is the standard by which we are graded, we don’t make the grade.

Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world with his life. He came to save the world with his life. Paul describes it this way…

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Jesus put sin on so that we can put his righteousness on.

God through Jeremiah predicts this…

This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. Jeremiah 31:33.

There is something better than living the 10 Commandments perfectly. Them being written on our hearts is much better. It’s much more permanent.

The 10 Commandments are to permeate our lives. Jesus takes out his sharpie and writes them on our hearts, then they just start oozing out of us. When Moses retells the 10 Commandments, he surrounded them with this permeating thinking…

Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they [the commands] depart from your heart all the days of your life. Deuteronomy 4:9.

5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:5-9.

Why do we read the Bible? To learn about what is written in our hearts.
Why do we hear teaching? To learn about what is written in our hearts.
Why do we hang with other believers? To learn about what is written in our hearts.
Why do we pray? To learn about what is written in our hearts.

There is grace behind the 10 Commandments. The grace is that we don’t live up to them. Grace is letting God tattoo them on our hearts.

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Whatever you give the most power in your life, you’ll give the most attention to.

Before God gave his 10 Commandments, he established his power.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Deuteronomy 5:6.

So many think that the 10 Commandments was God flexing his muscles, showing his power and oppressing people. No.

God already showed his power. But notice, his power wasn’t about him oppressing people. His power was for the benefit of others.

This is what he’s done since creation.

• God used his power to provide through creation.
• God used his power to provide Abraham a son.
• God used his power to put Joseph in a great position.
• God used his power to free his people.

He wants his people to Hear and Obey. But he first wants his people to know that he’ll go to great lengths to be in relationship with them.

It is all about faith. Seeing things the way God sees them and acting on it. Faith to see God’s power, his relationship and trusting him with all of our lives.

But, there is a greater power than just following a bunch of rules. God wants to permeate our lives.

I like the prophets. We get the image that they are these angry people representing an angry God. It is true that God is coming in justice through the prophets. It is equally true that God seeks repentance through the message of the prophets.

What is the biggest theme from Jeremiah?

Will Jeremiah and Judah hear and obey despite the message being counterintuitive?

God shows up to Jeremiah as a youth and tells him that he has a message for him to speak to his people. Would Jeremiah listen even though he was so young?

Students and Young Adults, know this, if you hear and obey, God will use you to accomplish his purposes even now.

Jeremiah’s key message is for the people to go to Babylon and volunteer exiles. This was counterintuitive. God told the people that they would save their lives if they heard and obeyed. Instead the king and most of the people bowed up. They were prideful. They decided to stay and stick it out. The result was a 2+ year siege and awful carnage that was preventable.

God wanted to bring life to the people. Instead they chose death. Why? Because they refused to hear and obey.

Despite being counterintuitive, hearing and obeying God brings life. This is a lesson I’m learning daily. He is our Father and desires our good, but also his glory from our good. Hearing and obeying brings strength through the drought.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 says it best…

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Yeah, that’s right. Things got worse. If you have been around the church at all, you’re familiar with this story. But we think about the big things. We think about the burning bush. We think about the 10 plagues. We think about the Red Sea. We don’t see what happens between the burning bush and the Red Sea.

Moses did everything God said, but things got worse.

Pharaoh got ticked. The Israelites were lazy. That’s why they wanted to worship. He’d fix that. Make things harder on them.

Israel’s elders got ticked. Life was hard before Moses arrived, but things got harder after he opened his big mouth. They basically asked them to go back from where they came.

This wasn’t exactly how it was supposed to go. Why?

Because Moses hadn’t learned the last lesson of powerful faith.

Powerful faith preservers. Exodus 5:17-23; 6:1, Hebrews 10:39.

Moses had to learn that powerful faith preservers. It’s one thing to hear and obey God when everything goes up and to the right. But what if it goes down and to the left? What will we do then?

Moses went back to God to ask him a few questions. A few pointed questions…

O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.” Exodus 5:22-23.

Aka…”I did my part, God, why didn’t you do your part?!”

Have you ever had that moment? The moment where you’ve done what you thought you were supposed to do, but nothing happened. What do you do next?

My wife and I have gone through that. We weren’t perfect, but we do feel like we heard and obeyed God to plant a church. Even though we heard and obeyed, everything fell a part after two years. God, why did you even send us if this was what was going to happen?

Here is God’s answer…

But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” Exodus 6:1.

Aka…”You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

This was the moment of trust for Moses. I don’t think it was the burning bush. It was important. It started the journey. But this was it. Was he going to go back home? Or was he going to stick it out and see what God had up his sleeve? He could get impatient, dormant or reluctant again. Or he could move forward.

Moses decided to hear and obey. God was right. They hadn’t seen anything yet!

We didn’t stay in the same city/context we tried to plant a church. However, by God’s grace, we kept hearing and obeying and he kept leading us. He lead us right into the perfect situation for us. But the temptation to be impatient, dormant and reluctant continues. We must always hear and obey.

The writer of Hebrews explains it like this…

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

The people were being tempted to be impatient, dormant or reluctant. The writer was saying, “Keep going. Persevere. There are tons of people who went before you that had faith. Hear. Obey.”

This is what being a disciple is. It is hearing and obeying.

One.
Step.
At.
A.
Time.

Moses heard God and he obeyed. Exodus 4:18-20.

Moses was convinced enough to get up and request permission from his Father-in-Law to take his family back to Egypt to rescue God’s people.

I can’t prove it, but I think Moses was still a little reluctant. Maybe I’m projecting myself on the story. Why else would Moses request permission to leave? Maybe he was hoping Jethro would say, “No you’re not going to Egypt. You’re not taking my daughter and grand kids. Get back to tending sheep.” Then Moses would be able to say to God, “Well, I tried.”

In the end, Jethro gives Moses his blessing to leave and now Moses has zero excuses. He hears and obeys.

The faith of a disciple hears and obeys. The is the foundation of the relationship that we have with God. It doesn’t matter if we start out being reluctant about hearing and obeying. What matters if we actually hear and obey.

You want mountain-moving, Red Sea-parting faith? What is God saying to you today? What small thing does he want that you’re reluctant about?

Hearing and obeying isn’t about acting on every whim or “voice.” We have to filter through God’s Word, prayer and other Christians who you know have this type of faith.

And another thing. We have this perspective that if we hear and obey God that he’ll send us to a place we don’t want to go. Yes, Moses was reluctant and didn’t want to go to Egypt. However, God equipped Moses for this role. Maybe you’re reluctant, but God will equip you to fulfill the role he has for you. Part of that equipping is a love, passion, desire for what he has. Moses ended up taking a lot of crap from a lot of people. He did this because God gave him the ability to take it.

God’s message is progressive.

This is a vital point to remember. God will not tell you everything right now. God is smarter than that. He’ll reveal things in a progression.

He told Moses that Pharaoh would let his people go. God didn’t tell Moses that it would take him looking like a fool to Pharaoh and his own people and 10 plagues to get the job done.

God isn’t going to give you every detail now. For a couple of reasons…

1. He wants to know if you’ll trust him. What is there to trust if he has the entire path cleared out before you start?
2. He doesn’t want to freak you out. If God told my wife and I the journey we’d go through in church planting, we wouldn’t have signed up. But I wouldn’t want to go back and exchange the journey we’ve been on. He will take you through this to equip you.

Take the step he has cleared off for you. That’s all he wants. Powerful faith takes one step at a time. So often we want a powerful movement of God, but we just want to pray it into existence. Will it take prayer? Yes. But faith requires action. What is he saying is your first step in making that happen? I’d hate for your weak, impatient, dormant, reluctant faith to get in the way.

Think of it this way. You can’t hit a Grand Slam with no one on base. You need 4 ordinary actions (4 singles or 4 walks) to make a Grand Slam possible.

So…What’s your next step of hear and obey faith?

Every Christian wants a powerful faith. Jesus said that if we had small faith, like a mustard seed, mountains will be moved. We can have small but powerful faith. But most Christians have never seen mountains moved. What does it look like to have powerful faith?

Moses’ life is a great picture of powerful and weak faith.

Let’s take a look at the weak faith first.

Weak faith is impatient. Exodus 2:11-15.

Moses knew that he was placed on earth for a purpose. Actually, he might have been too aware of this.

He grew up in the palace of the Egyptian Pharaoh as a prince. He had position, training and prestige. God was going to use him in great ways.

One day he was walking through the Israelite work zone and saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite. He knew this wasn’t right. He knew his purpose to bring relief to his people. This was his opportunity to show his people his purpose.

So he killed the Egyptian.

He was careful. Like coming to that stop sign and not really stopping, he looked all around to make sure no one else was looking.

Then the police lights come on in the rearview mirror. Moses wasn’t as alone as he thought he was.

When Moses confronted two Israelites when they were arguing, one asked him if he was going to kill one of them like he did the Egyptian.

He was found out. Pharaoh heard. Moses ran.

Weak faith is impatient. It is taking God’s role into our hands. Even though it may look powerful to take your purpose into your own hands, in the end impatient faith is weak faith. I’ve seen it in my own life. While church planting, I was impatient, but I chalked it up to faith. Really, I was taking on God’s role.

Weak faith is dormant. Exodus 2:21.

Then Moses took the opposite approach. He killed a man, so his opportunity was over with God. Moses ran, he settled in with a job, wife and kids.

As Moses retells his own story, he says…

And Moses was content to live with the man [his Father-in-Law].

Moses was content to live out the rest of his life in the desert tending sheep. He had a great Father-in-Law. He had a wife. They had kids. He had a secure job. What else would someone want?

Maybe you find yourself inside content/dormant faith. You love God. You go to church. You provide for your family. You even tithe.

But a life lived with faith is more than that. In our jungle illustration, it would be like going through the jungle, having a good enough clearing to see the waterfall and sitting down. You tell Jesus, “Hey, this is close enough. I’m good with the view right here.” Then Jesus thinks (or even says), “But if we go just a little farther, the view is amazing. You will be close enough to even touch the waterfall. Just follow me some more.”

Don’t be content to see the waterfall from the distance. Push through. Follow Jesus so you can touch the waterfall.

Weak faith is reluctant. Exodus 3:11-12, 13-14, 4:1-9, 4:10-12, 4:13-17.

This is where we find Moses when the burning bush happens.

He’s complacent to live out the rest of his life. When we become complacent, we need a burning bush to break through to us.

God says to Moses, “It’s time. It’s time to fulfill your purpose. I’ve heard the cries of my people. Go back to Egypt and free my people.”

We see that Moses was not only complacent, he was reluctant.

But God, who am I?
But God, who are you?
But God, they’ll think I’m crazy.
But God, I can’t speak.
But God, send someone else.

God dealt with all of Moses’ objections. That is until Moses said, “Send someone else.” Then God got mad.

When God moves and speaks, there needs to be a sense of “I can’t handle this.” That’s healthy because it causes us to depend on God.

But reluctant faith ends up saying, “I’m fine where I am. Send someone else.” This is when God gets upset.

Dormant faith will always lead into reluctant faith. Life will be just fine. You have everything you need. Living in faith is just too risky. You might lose everything. So you become reluctant to move on. Instead of following Jesus to the waterfall, you adamantly tell him that right here is as far as you go.

If God is rocking you and showing you that your faith is impatient, dormant or reluctant, there is hope. Moses found his way to powerful faith. Wednesday and Friday we’ll see what powerful faith looks like.