Minimized Faith
Sermon Notes
Introduction
Now today we’re continuing our teaching series called The Story, where we’re going through the biblical narrative from the very beginning in Genesis 1 to the last amen in Revelation 22, and today’s text brings us to the story of the Israelites scouting the Promised Land. They’re scouting the land that the Lord promised after freeing them from Egyptian slavery. It’s a story about fear, which means everybody can all relate with it since everybody has fear. Some of us fear things like covid, we fear losing our health...Some of us fear things like inflation, we fear not providing for our family...Some of us fear things like the death of our family members, or even our own death...Everybody fears something, and today’s text is about fear, but it’s also about courage! It’s about overcoming fear with courageous faith! So let’s turn to Numbers ch 13 and get into it. You’ll find the book of Numbers in the first quarter of your bible, and we’ll start in Numbers 13:1-3. Title of today’s message is Minimized Faith, and the big idea is we magnify our fears, when we minimize our God...We magnify our fears, when we minimize our God.
Context:
Here’s your context. The book of Numbers was written around 1450 B.C., and it records roughly 40 yrs of Israel’s history. It records the history of Israel preparing to enter the Promised Land, which is the land the Lord promised he’d give Abram and his decedents. It’s the land the Israelites have been waiting for with great anticipation, since they’ve been lin Egypt for roughly 400 yrs, and have been experiencing harsh slavery. They know Egypt isn’t a land of prosperity, it’s a land of slavery! The book of Exodus records the history of their deliverance from that slavery, and heir receiving of the 10 Commandments. The book of Leviticus that Alex preached on last week, records the history of their priests receiving instructions for leading people in worship, holy living, and atonement for sins. Numbers records the history of the Lord prepping them to finally enter the land he promised. The first 10 chapters are full of excitement, there’s over 2 million people ready to enter the Promised Land, and here’s the events that happen next.
The Word:
Numbers 13:1-3 states, “The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 ‘Send men to scout out the land of Canaan I am giving to the Israelites. Send one man who is a leader among them from each of their ancestral tribes.’ 3 Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran at the Lord’s command.” In vs 4-25 we learn that Moses sends out 12 scouts, 1 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. They scouted the surrounding land, roughly 250 miles in 40 days. They covered about 12 miles per day roundtrip, which is a lot even for us Crossfitting, P90xing, Shaun T people. But these are the Navy Seals of Israel, so they’re able to cover this ground, and they return giving this report.
Vs. 26, “They brought back a report for them and the whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They reported to Moses, ‘We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit.’” They report the land is “flowing with milk and honey,” meaning it’s very fertile and prosperous like the Lord promised. They even take some grapes, some fruit to show as evidence. So at this point it’s a great report!
Vs. 28, “However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev; the Hethites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.” So it’s a great land like the Lord promised, but it’s also full of “strong” warriors and large “fortified” cities. What’s interesting is archaeologists have confirmed that many of the cities were in fact large and heavily fortified like the text states. Some of the cities they discovered were surrounded by stone and brick walls 25 ft high and 20 ft thick. The decedents of Anak were known as having larger genetics, and some scholars estimate they were around 7-9 ft tall. Some believe this is where Goliath’s family lineage came from. They were much taller and stronger than the average Israelite. So the report’s accurate, the land was fertile and prosperous like the Lord promised. But it was also a land full of strong warriors and heavily fortified cities, which strikes fear in all the scouts except for Caleb and Joshua.
Vs. 30, “Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, ‘Let’s go up now and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!’ 31 But the men who had gone up with him responded, ‘We can’t attack the people because they are stronger than we are!’ 32 So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: ‘The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. 33 We even saw the Nephilim there, the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers...’” Their fear causes them to give a “negative report,” an exaggerated report to the rest of the Israelites. They don’t ever mention anything positive about the land being fertile and prosperous. Instead they say it’s a land that devours its inhabitants and is full of giants that make them look like grasshoppers. Not the pep talk you want before a cage fight. “You’re a tiny grasshopper about to get devoured. Good luck Rocky!” Their fear makes them poor cornermen for battle, for strengthening the Israelites faith. Their fear is understandable, but it’s become exaggerated and irrational, and it breeds more fear.
Ch. 14:1, “Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. 2 All the Israelites complained...3‘Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ 4 So they said to one another, ‘Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.’” Their fear is now causing them to panic, to the point where they want to go back to Egypt. They want to go back to the very place that was enslaving them, the very place that was killing their male babies to control Israel’s population. The only reason you’d want to go back to a place like that, is if your fear has turned into panic, and you aren’t thinking rationally. They’re panicking, they aren’t thinking rationally, and what we’re learning is there’s 2 things that can increase our fears.
#1 Forgetting God = Our fears can increase when we forget what God’s done in our lives. The Israelites are forgetting all the Lord’s done in their lives, including the miraculous ways he delivered them from Egypt. The Lord says in vs. 11, “How long will they not trust in me, despite all the signs I’ve performed among them?” The Lord’s saying they’re forgetting all he’s done for them. They’re forgetting their deliverance! They’re forgetting the 10 plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the manna, the quails, the water when they were hungry and thirsty in the desert. They’re forgetting all these things, just like we sometimes forget what the Lord’s done for us. When we face hardship, tough times, unanswered prayers, we often get frustrated with the Lord forgetting all the things he’s already done for us. We forget all the answered prayers, our salvation, our own deliverance like the Israelites! We forget every day is a blessing for all of us, including a skeptic, because the Lord’s still allowing us to breath despite continually forgetting, rejecting, rebelling against him. We all forget like the Israelites! Our fears will always increase when we forget that the same God who delivered us in the past, can deliver us in the present. The Israelites need to remember that the same God who defeated the Egyptians by parting the Red Sea, is the same God who can defeat any obstacles they currently see. But they’re forgetting instead of remembering, and it’s increasing their fear. The 2nd thing that increases our fear is...
#2 Minimizing God = Our fears can increase when we minimize God. The Israelites are forgetting what God’s done, but they’re also minimizing who God is! Their fears and problems get magnified, when their belief in who God is gets minimized. They don’t believe the Lord’s their Savior, they believe Egypt’s their savior. They believe going back to Egypt is the answer to their problems. They’re viewing Egypt as their life raft, and we all have life rafts we’re clinging to instead of the Lord. Some of us view vaccines or no vaccines as a life raft, but death will pop a hole in that life raft, because eventually something will get us...Some of us view money as a life raft, but inflation and the stock market crashing will pop a hole in that life raft...Some of us view vacation as a life raft, but work or school will pop a hole in that life raft, because you’ll still have a heavy workload when you return...Everybody has a life raft they’re clinging to instead of the Lord, and they all eventually pop. The lie inside everybody is there’s a greater life raft than the Lord, and when we believe that lie we minimize the Lord and magnify that thing over the Lord. We’re saying “Lord you’re too small to be my life raft. This fear, this problem I’m facing is too big for you to handle. I need a bigger life raft.” What’s that thing for you?...What’s that life raft you’re clinging to, thinking it’s a better savior than the Lord?...For the Israelites it was going back to Egypt, but what’s your life raft?...Our fears and problems get magnified, when we minimize God, and cling to other life rafts...Unlike the Israelites, Caleb and Joshua cling to God.
Vs. 6, “Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite community, ‘The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us. 9 Only don’t rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don’t be afraid of them!’” Caleb and Joshua cling to the Lord and are full of courage. Now just like we learned there’s 2 things that can increase your fears, we’re learning there’s 2 things that can increase your courage.
#1 Remembering God = Our fears can increase when we forget what God’s done, but our courage can increase when we remember what God’s done. When Caleb and Joshua say the land’s flowing with milk and honey, they’re remembering the Lord’s promise to Abram and the Israelites. They’re remembering the Promised Land. The reason they have courage when others didn’t, is because they’re more focused on the promise than the problem. They’re more focused on the power of God they’ve seen displayed in the past, than the problem they’re seeing in the present. They’re remembering the Lord’s with them, and it gives them courage.
#2 Magnifying God = Our fears can increase when we minimize who God is, but our courage can increase when we magnify who God is. The reason Caleb and Joshua have courage is because they’re magnifying who God is. They believe he’s their greater life raft whose power can deliver them from whatever fears or problems they face in life. Moses reiterates this when he pleads to the Lord saying in vs 17, “May my Lord’s power be magnified!” Caleb, Joshua, and Moses are each refusing to let their fears and problems control them. They aren’t ignorant to the problems they’re facing, they’re just refusing to give their fears and problems more power in their life than God. They’re looking at the size of their problems and saying “Our problems are minimal compared to the size and magnitude of our God.” The reason they have courage when others didn’t, is because they remember who God is and what God’s done. They minimized their fears and problems, by magnifying the Lord. City Awakening remember God is so much bigger than any fear or problem you’re magnifying in your life right now. So let your faith in God change how you’re viewing your fears and problems, instead of letting your fears and problems affect how you’re viewing God. If you magnify the Lord, you’ll have the courage to keep going in life. It’s because you know his power, is far greater than your greatest fears and problems.
Now in the rest of ch 14 it says Caleb, Joshua, and the Israelite children will eventually get to enter the Promised Land. But as for those who turned their backs on God and turned to Egypt instead, they end up wandering in the desert for 40 yrs. The Lord basically gives them what they wanted, which is the desert instead of the Promised Land. He was ready to give them a much better land and a much better life, but they rejected it. So the Lord gives them a hard desert land life, instead of a prosperous Promised Land life. They eventually try taking the Promised Land without the Lord’s help, but they fail. It’s because they didn’t trust the Lord for deliverance, instead they tried controlling their own deliverance, and that life raft failed like all the rest.
The Big Idea:
The big idea of the message is that we magnify our fears, when we minimize our God. The Israelites magnified their fears and problems, when they minimized their faith in God. The way to minimize your fears and problems, is to remember to magnify the Lord. It’s to remember the gospel, remember that Jesus died for our sins on the cross so we could enter his heavenly Promised Land, instead of the much harsher land of eternal hell. Just like the Israelites needed faith in the Lord to enter the Promised Land, we need faith in Jesus to enter his heavenly Promised Land. We need faith in Jesus as our deliver, our Savior, our greater life raft who will never sink! Jesus is our greater life raft who will never sink, and if you cling to him, you’ll never sink!
So cling to Jesus for your eternal salvation, and for everyday life!...If you’re fearing failure at something, cling to the success of Jesus as your greater life raft. If you’re fearing the loss of your health due to medical issues or the loss of your wealth due to the economy, cling to the eternal health and wealth of Jesus as your greater life raft! If you’re fearing death and eternal hell, cling to Jesus’ death on the cross and the power of his resurrection for eternal life. If you’re a believer cling to Jesus as your greater life raft not just for your salvation, but in everything!...If you’re a skeptic you can try clinging to other life rafts, but eventually they’ll all pop leaving you to die and drown alone. It doesn’t have to be that way, if you turn to Jesus as your greater Savior, instead of trying to be your own savior. Let’s all turn to Jesus as our greater Savior, instead of trying to be our own saviors. Jesus says in Matthew 6, “Oh you of little faith?...31 Don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’... 33 Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” If you magnify Jesus...you won’t have to face those troubles on your own.