The twelve spies were sent into the Promised Land as a reconnaissance team. This was the big day, the day Israel had been waiting for. This was the reason God brought them out of Egypt and why they made the long trek through the wilderness. The time had come for Israel to go into the land of Canaan. God was ready, but He needed to make sure Israel was ready. So the 12 spies go in.
Ten bring back an evil report. Only 2 men out of the entire congregation were ready. Israel’s faith was not ready. The task ahead looked too difficult, so they chose the path of least resistance. God commands them to go back into the wilderness. The act that follows is not readiness, but rebellion.
BE READY WHEN GOD IS READY (Num. 13:26-33)
1. God is preparing you to be ready
God did everything He could to prepare Israel to enter the Promised Land. He provided for them, He protected them, He guided them, He taught them about Himself and the tabernacle.
Perhaps God is preparing you for something ahead; He’s preparing you for trial, for that family, for that transition, for that change, etc.
God always does His part to prepare His men for the task ahead.
—God prepared Noah to build the ark
—God prepared Joseph for his high position in Egypt
—God prepared Moses to lead His people
—God prepared David to be king
—Jesus prepared the disciples to be preachers
2. You must also prepare yourself
But you must do your part too. When you take a test, you must prepare yourself for that test. The teacher prepares you by teaching and making the material clear; you must prepare by studying. If you do not prepare, you will not be ready for the test.
How do you prepare yourself for the Christian life?
—prepare your faith
Psalm 78:19, “Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?”
Psalm 78:22, “Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.”
Psalm 78:32, “For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.”
God worked all those miracles for Israel, and yet we see that they took it all for granted; they did not apply their experiences in order to grow their faith.
—prepare your mind
Psalm 78:11, “And forgot his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.”
Psalm 78:42, “They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.”
Israel should have taken those memories of the miracles God performed and stored them away in their minds; instead they forgot what God had done for them. Keep your mind ready by meditating on what God has done for you in the past.
—prepare your will
Psalm 78:10, “They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law.”
Psalm 78:36-37, “Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.”
Israel had a rebellious will, a selfish will. They refused the commandments of God and made a mockery of God by giving Him hypocritical lip service.
WHO IS NEVER READY TO DO WHAT GOD WANTS?
—the sluggard is never ready
Proverbs 10:5, “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.”
—the scorner is never ready
Proverbs 13:1, “A wise son heareth his father’s instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.”
—the simple one is never ready
Proverbs 22:3 and Proverbs 27:12, “A prudent man forseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.”
Job is a good example of someone who was ready. Job was prepared for the trial that came upon him. How could he be prepared?
Job 1:1, “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”
Job had prepared himself by living right.
DON'T BE READY WHEN GOD SAYS TO MOVE ON (Num. 14:36-45)
Illustration: father prepares his son for college. He goes off and is expelled. He comes home and repents, ready to go back, but he cannot; it is too late.
Don’t get ahead of God’s schedule
Ex: Peter got ahead of God
Matthew 16:21-23, “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”
Sometimes God may have to stop you because you’re too eager to get to that place He has for you; God has a time for that place. He knows when you’re ready for it.
Illustration: a teenager is ready to drive at the age of 16, but the parent knows he will not be ready until he gets some experience and teaching.
DON'T GET BEHIND GOD'S SCHEDULE
That’s what happened to these Israelites right here. God wanted them to go into the wilderness; that was His command. Moses makes it clear that their “act of valor” was really just an act of rebellion; we see this in the words “transgress,” “turned away,” and “presumed.” They forfeited God’s perfect plan by delaying to do it.
Proverbs 19:3, “The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD.”
Ex: King Saul in I Samuel 15. He spared Agag and some sheep; he could not wait for Samuel, so he offered the sacrifice. On the surface, these look like good things, but it was all an act of rebellion.
These Israelites were rebelling against God. They chose to go up because they did not want to go back into the wilderness. They did it out of their own selfish desires; they did not do it for the glory of God. They assumed that God would bless their efforts despite the warning from Moses.
Sometimes we can get caught up in doing a “good thing,” but it is really an act of rebellion because it is not the right time. You are ahead of God, or behind God, but you are not with God. You are doing this “good thing” out of your own selfish desires, and you are assuming that God will bless you.
CONCLUSION
After France was invaded and destroyed during World War I, the country decided to build the Maginot Line, a huge wall that would protect the country from further invasion. Troops were positioned along the wall, with orders to keep close watch for coming armies. However, the many years between WWI and WWII caused the soldiers to become lazy and wasteful. Many French soldiers on the Maginot Line were drunk and careless throughout the day. One British Army officer described them as thus: “Seldom have I ever seen anything more slovenly and badly turned out. Men unshaven, horses ungroomed, clothes and saddlery that did not fit, and complete lack of pride in themselves or their units. What shook me most, however, was the look in the men’s faces, disgruntled and insubordinate looks, and although ordered to give ‘Eyes left,’ hardly a man bothered to do so.”
When the Germans invaded France at the beginning of WWII, the Maginot soldiers were not ready, and were defeated quickly. As a result, France was invaded and destroyed again. The fault was not that of the Maginot line, nor of the artillery, but it was the fault of the soldiers.
The fault for Israel’s failure to enter the Promised Land was not on God, nor on the size of the nation, but it was on the people themselves. They did not prepare themselves properly, so they were not ready to go in.
Christian, what is God preparing you for? Are you preparing yourself, or are you simply wasting your life? Are you ready for that trial, that transition, that call? If you are not ready when God is ready, you will miss out completely, and there is no excuse for you not to be ready.
