Opening illustration: Mrs. Ima Terror chased her husband through the crowds at the zoo, waving her umbrella and unleashing insults like invisible missiles. Her perspiring and winded husband, seeing that the lock on the lion’s cage had not quite closed, yanked it open, jumped into the cage, slammed the door, pushed the astonished lion hard against the bars, and peered over its shoulder. His frustrated wife shook her umbrella, stuttered in anger, and finally managed to explode, “Ralph, come out of there, you coward!”
Ralph, in this fictitious story, is like the people of Israel that we read about in the book of Numbers. They were confused about whom they should really fear. They saw themselves as grasshoppers when compared to the giants in the land where God wanted them to go (13:32-33). [Mart De Haan, Our Daily Bread]
Let us turn to Number 13 and 14 in God’s Word and find out the fear that prevailed amongst the Israelites and how it was subdued.
Introduction: According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two fear is death. Death is number two!!! Now, this means, Jerry Seinfeld once commented, “to the average person, if you have to go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy!!"
Chapter thirteen is only half of the story; it is continued in the following chapter. We have yet to read of the people’s rebellion, the fuller account of Joshua and Caleb’s report, the Lord’s anger at the people, Moses’ intercession, the Lord’s judgment of the ten scouts and the people for listening to them, and the people’s abortive attempt to undo their error and turn back the clock. We’ll consider all of that some other time. What we have here in chapter thirteen is the first few scenes of this drama. But they are sufficient to make some important points about the great biblical lesson drawn from this history on a number of occasions in the rest of the Bible. Indeed, it is not too much to say that this history we are reading this evening and next Lord’s Day evening is the principal biblical illustration of the sad fact, fundamental to so much of the Bible’s teaching that there are many unbelievers in the church.
In Numbers 13 we read about the 12 leaders in Israel, ten of whom were gripped with fear despite the promise of God. They could not see past their own inadequacies and so rejected what God had offered them. Two others, on the other hand, saw the problems before them, but knew there was a God over them.
What do you fear?
1. Fear of the ADVESARY (13:13-33)
You see, genuine faith is not marked by a lack of any struggle or failure. The life of faith is often marked by intense struggle and frequent failure. But there is struggle precisely because faith knows and cares what it is and ought to be. Faith never forgets that God has made a promise of Canaan. Therefore we see Joshua encouraging the Israelites not to lose hope nor fear the adversary in v. 9.
Canaan was a type of the kingdom of God; the wilderness through which the Israelites passed, of the difficulties and trials to be met with in the present world. The promise of the kingdom of God is given to every believer; but how many are discouraged by the difficulties in the way! A slothful heart sees dangers, lions, and giants, everywhere; and therefore refuses to proceed in the heavenly path. Many of the spies contribute to this by the bad reports they bring of the heavenly country. Certain preachers allow “that the land is good, that it flows with milk and honey,” and go so far as to show some of its fruits; but they discourage the people by stating the impossibility of overcoming their enemies. “Sin,” say they, “cannot be destroyed in this life - it will always dwell in you - the Anakim cannot be conquered - we are but as grasshoppers against the Anakim,” etc., etc.
Here and there a Joshua and a Caleb, trusting alone in the power of God, armed with faith in the infinite efficacy of that blood which cleanses from all unrighteousness, boldly stand forth and say: “Their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us; let us go up at once and possess the land, for we are well able to overcome.” We can do all things through Christ strengthening us: he will purify us unto himself, and give us that rest from sin here which his death has procured and his word has promised. Reader, canst thou not take God at his word? He has never yet failed thee. Surely then thou hast no reason to doubt. Thou hast never yet tried him to the uttermost. You know not how far and how fully he can save. Do not be dispirited: the sons of Anak shall fall before thee, if thou meet them in the name of the Lord of Hosts.
Illustration: Fear is aroused when we are confronted by anything that dwarfs us. It is only natural to fear when a tornado is a hundred yards away or we are swimming and realize sharks are circling us. Man fears things that overwhelm us. Since that’s the case, how much more should we fear God, infinitely greater than creation?
2. Fear of the ALLY (14:1-5)
Due to a great fear of the adversary that prevailed amongst the Israelites, they had a panic attack and became a fear for their own people and the leadership. They could not understand God’s modes operando to vanquish the enemy even though the leadership tried to quell their fear by making them understand the situation. We see right at the end of this passage that God had to manifest and bring an end to all the nonsense.
When things look grim in the physical sense and the enemy looks stronger and intimidating, it is natural to start distrusting the leadership. In fact Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua were in a hot soup with the Israelites. They did not rely on what was physically visible but had complete trust in God who was invisible but the people didn’t. Therefore the Israelites turned against the leadership and became a threat for them. The story unveils with God taking the Israelites to task. Later in the chapter He wants to completely annihilate them but Moses stands in the gap.
Besides the way the secular world functions, this has become a scenario in the churches too. When the leadership doesn’t do what the congregation wants or when the leadership can see beyond the physical realm but the congregation doesn’t and doesn’t desire to know, understand and see beyond it, then they tend to become a threat for the leadership. This either results in the congregation quitting or the leadership quits or God shows up and cleans up the act. Fear of one another may result in non-transparency, non-vulnerability and distrust; therefore we go to the next level that is the fear of God. If everyone had the fear of God and practiced it, we would not be having similar issues of what the Israelites faced in the desert. They were Bedouins in the desert practicing ‘no fear of God’ and we who are call ourselves to be civilized, educated and living in cities do the same thing. How are we different from them?
Illustration: Couple of weeks now after the initial revelation that the United States may have monitored the cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, there's little doubt that the story has been damaging for this country and for the National Security Agency, which earned the wrath of even longtime defender Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who oversees it as the Senate Intelligence Committee chair. At the same time, though, the initial anger appears to be giving way to debate: Is it, in fact, a bad idea for the United States to spy on friendly foreign leaders such as Merkel?
The simplest case for spying might be that the United States and Germany, despite being allies, still compete with one another, sometimes on quite substantive issues. If spying can give them a leg up on those issues, then aren't their leaders obligated to sanction it? President Obama's job, after all, is to further American interests, Merkel's to further German interests. Those conflict more than you might think; when they do, both leaders are potentially better served if they spy on the other. [By Max Fisher and the Washington Post Foreign Staff]
The simple rule of spying is to spy without getting caught otherwise face the ugly consequences. Fearing the ally for any nation has been one of the top agendas so that they know whose side the ally is really on. Will their interest be of any value to their nation or even whether betrayal is on the cards? Though distrust may not be a visible factor, spying helps protect nations from one another.
3. Fear of THE ALMIGHTY GOD (14:6-10)
The fear of everything else other than God was keeping the Israelites locked out of the land of milk and honey. With the fearlessness of everything and the fear of God would unlock the gates of the Promised Land for them. Were they willing to trust and fear the Almighty alone?
I doubt very much that Joshua and Caleb didn’t have moments of doubt when looking at the thick and high walls of the cities of Canaan and when looking up to men much taller and more imposing than themselves. But they dealt with themselves, and when push came to shove they knew what faith should think and say and should do and they thought it and they said it and they did it. They wouldn’t invariably do that; they will stumble like everyone else, but they did it when it mattered most when the issue was being joined and they did it regularly enough to demonstrate that their faith was the real thing, the genuine article. They had a God-ward perspective and they acted on God’s presence, power and promise. True faith always does. They knew the fear of God was the key to procure wisdom in possessing the Promised Land.
Caleb and Joshua continue to remind the people not to rebel against God but fear Him and be fearless of the adversary because God was with them. If God was with them, then who could be against them? Most people would be against them but would not prevail as they did not have God’s protection which the Israelites possessed (v. 9). Fearing God was not a negative notion but involved reverence, heeding and adherence to His Word and obedience to His every command, knowing what power God has and what He is capable to do with the enemy and His people. This fear of God emerges with our love and adoration for Him.
Illustration: A child may deeply love his parents, but in most cases his willingness to obey them is rooted deeper in fear than in love. For example, mom and dad prepare to leave for the mall but Junior stays home. His parents restrict him to the yard until they return. After they leave, Billy, the next-door neighbor, spots Junior and says: “Hey Junior, come over and we’ll play basketball.” Junior says: “I can’t, my parents instructed me to stay home.” Billy responds, “Oh, come on, they’ll never know.” Can’t you imagine Junior’s response? “Billy, because of my great love for my parents, I can’t come.” No way! Billy’s obedience is rooted in a dread of the consequences. He realizes the repercussions of a whipping or restriction.
Fear is the primary reason Christians obey their Heavenly Father. That’s why Solomon said: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Application: We all face a variety of fears; that may include public speaking or death. Your fears may involve concerns for your children, your job. Your fears may focus on what others think of you or what you think of yourself. Your fears may heighten when confronted by a superior or questioned by an underling. What is the problem with those fears? We may not be immobilized by them, so what harm do they present? It is not as though we can’t function, so why worry about them? The problem with our fears is not the fear itself, but what they reveal about our concept of God.
If we are so afraid of people that we stop following the Lord, we do not trust Him. It shows that we have doubted His plan, His power, and His promises. We have failed to recognize that He, above all others, is the One to be feared - which means that He is to be reverenced, trusted, loved, and obeyed.
Father, forgive us for fearing what we should not be afraid of, and for not fearing and trusting You. Fear keeps us from repentance but faith keeps us from fear. At the end of the day, the choice is yours! Fear God, and you'll have nothing else to fear.
