The Search For But-Pickers
Numbers 13 & 14
Numbers 13:17-33
Have you ever met those people that no matter what the proposition or statement, the first word out of their mouth is “but”? I believe that we have a but-load of those people sitting in our churches today. Those without vision; those afraid to take a step of faith.
In our everyday life, we all make decisions based on a vast range of criteria. And if we don’t come at our situations, possibilities and problems with the right perspective, it would be easy to miss out on a hidden blessing or promise.
Its easy for us to pick on the children of Israel, since we have read the end of the story but if we look at the story found in Num. 13 & 14 we may find some characteristics that can be applied to the church today.
Israel was God’s chosen people. We are God’s chosen people (1 Pet. 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…”)
God delivered them from captivity in Egypt. God has delivered us from bondage and slavery of sin.
God had promised them a land of “milk & honey.
God had provided for their every need on the journey to this “promised land. (2 Cor. 12:9 sufficient grace)
The children of Israel had seen God’s power, protection and provision first hand.
I. THE PROSPECTING: 12 SPIES
17) When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through Negev & on into the hill country. 18) See what the land is like & whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19) What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20) How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes)
II. THE PROOF : BIG HONKING GRAPES
21) “So they went up & explored…23) When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates & figs. 24) That place was called the Valley of Eschol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25) At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.”
26) “They came back to Moses & Aaron & the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them & to the whole assembly & showed them the fruit of the land. 27) They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land which you sent us, & it does flow with milk & honey! Here is the fruit.”
BUT…!
28) “But the people who live there are powerful, & the cities are fortified & very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29) The Amalelkites live in Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites & Amorites live in the hill country; & the Canaanites live near the sea & along the Jordan.”
III. THE PROBLEMS
POWERFUL PEOPLE
FORTIFIED & LARGE CITY
DESCENDANTS OF ANAK
THE AMALEKITES
THE HITTITES
THE JEBUSITES
THE ANIMALRITES
THE AMORITES
THE ELECTROLITES
THE CANAANITES
A) PERSPECTIVE #1 Caleb says “Let’s do this!”
30) “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses & said. “We should go up & take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
WHAT DID CALEB KNOW?
Ex. 3:7) The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of the My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of the their slave drivers, & I am concerned about their suffering. 8) So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians & to bring them up out of that land into a good & spacious land, a land flowing with milk & honey-the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites & Jebusites.
HE KNEW JEHOVAH:I AM
HE KNEW THE PROMISES OF GOD
HE KNEW THE POWER OF GOD
HE KNEW THE PROVISION OF GOD
HE KNEW THE PROTECTION OF GOD
Exodus 3:14
“God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.’”
I AM=JEHOVAH/ADHONAI
Jehovah: “to be” “I was in the past, I am presently, & I will in the future.”
Jehovah-Jireh: “Lord will provide”
(“I have provided in the past; I am providing now & I will provide in the future.”)
Too bad we have placed our God of today into our own personal “Ark of the Covenant”. We have placed limitations on our unsearchable God. Leaning on our own understanding.
B) BUT…PERSPECTIVE #2
31) “But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32) And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33) We saw Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes & we looked the same to them.”
HOW THEY SAW IT: BIG PROBLEMS
BIG LAND “It devours…”
BIG PEOPLE
GIANTS IN THE LAND…”Nephilim”.
HOW THEY SAW THEMSELVES:
“We seemed like grasshoppers in OUR own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
THEIR PREDICTION: “ We’re toast!”
14:1) “That night all the people of the community raised their voices & wept aloud. 2) All the Israelites grumbled against Moses & Aaron, & the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3) Why is the Lord bringing is to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives & children will be taken to plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?
THEIR PLAN: “Let’s take our “buts” back to Egypt!”
14:4 “And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
HOW THEY SAW THEIR GOD:
INADEQUITE GRASSHOPPER
HOW THEY SAW THEIR SITUATION:
IMPOSSIBLE
Isn’t it curious how we tend to make our problems bigger than our God? Our cancers, our bills, our relationship problems are bigger than the Creator of the universe. We’ve gotten into the habit of looking at God’s word through the eyes of our problem rather than looking at our problem through the promises found in the Bible.
JOSHUA’S PREDICTION: “God is with us, not them!”
14:8) “If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk & honey, & will give it to us. 9) Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
BE A “BUT” PICKER, which one would you pick?
“But the people who live there are powerful, & the cities are large & fortified…”
“We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes & we looked the same to them.”
“But the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
In life we will be faced with many decisions. We will have many opportunities to bring glory to our God. Pay attention to how many times you say the word “but” just in one given day. We use it so often we don’t even know we’re doing it. Before we go I need to point out the biggest greatest “but” of all.
Romans 5:6-85:6-12
6) “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless(lowly grasshoppers), Christ died for the ungodly.
7) Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man; though for the good man someone might possibly dare to die.
8) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Isn’t our God awesome?!
You may be thinking in your subconscious right now… “But you don’t know what I’ve done…” “But you don’t know what I’m going through…” “But God can’t use me…”
BUT God knows!
BUT with God all things are possible!
Rom. 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”
2 Cor. 12:9,10 “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That’s why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in “hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
1 John 4:4 “You dear children are from God & have overcome them because the One who is in you is greater than the one that is in the world.”
We need to stop making excuses for why God doesn’t answer prayer and start believing in the unsearchable God.
Isn’t it shameful that we seem amazed when God answers prayer? Shouldn’t we be more amazed when He doesn’t?
The Bible says our lack of faith is rebellion against God (HEB. 3:15-19).
Today you will come face to face with a decision, we make hundreds of them a day. Most decisions pose a "but" which “but” will you choose?
