THE ROAD TO CANAAN
INTRODUCTION
God has blessed us in so many ways. We have a beautiful place to worship that is furnished with songbooks, pews, and Sunday school rooms. God has blessed us with leaders, teachers, and workers. We have everything that a church needs to be successful for Christ. We can truthfully say that we have plenty to be thankful for, but the road to the Promised Land is a treacherous one and we should never become complacent with what the Lord has blessed us with.
Yes, we should look back at what God has given us and thank him, but we also need to keep an eye on the road ahead and be prepared for what is to come. Let’s look at what happened to the Israelites as they prepared to enter Canaan. It would be wise to examine their actions and take notice of how we can apply their situation to ours.
A. WHO IS IN CONTROL? God is. Numbers 13:1-16
In verse 2, God tells Moses to send some men to explore the land of Canaan; then he makes a statement that ensures their success in taking it over. God says, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.”
Did you catch the most important word in the sentence? It’s right at the end of the verse. God was giving this land to the Israelites. The land already belonged to them; God simply wanted them to know what it looked like before they took possession.
God was in complete control of this situation. There was never a doubt in his mind that Israel would dwell in the Promised Land.
Why would God tell Moses to send out spies to explore the land if he was going to give it to them? Why didn’t he just smite those dwelling there and hand it over to the Israelites?
God was challenging the Israelites to stretch their faith. He not only wanted them to have a desire for the land, but he wanted them to take a good look at their adversaries. He wanted them to turn to Him in faith in order to conquer these powerful people.
In like manner, God challenges us in our Christian walk. I can think of at least two ways he has laid the challenge before us:
• God challenges us as individual believers. Maybe God has challenged you with a new ministry, but it seems impossible. Maybe God has challenged you to do something for your family but it seems impossible. Maybe God has challenged you to give money, time or resources you don’t have. Rise to that challenge! God will provide.
• God challenges us as corporate believers. As a church, we believe that God has challenged us to be a light in our community. If that is true, then we don’t need to be afraid. If we really believe that God has led us to this decision, then he will GIVE us everything we need to make it happen. We will have to work and sacrifice, but God will make it happen.
B. WHAT SHOULD WE DO NEXT? Explore the land. Numbers 13:17-20
God told Moses to send out spies to explore the new land. If we honestly believe that God wants us to be a light in our community, then I believe we should follow a similar pattern.
In Numbers 13:17-20 we see four things that Moses told the men to look for as they explored the land of Canaan. Let’s examine each one individually and see how they could apply to us.
1. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.
Most of us have lived in the same place for a very long time. We know what the land is like, but thinking in spiritual terms, what do we know about the people that live here? Within a 5-mile radius of this building there are thousands of people. What do we know about their spiritual condition? Are they strong or weak in their relationship with Jesus Christ? How many of those people go to church? How many of them know Jesus Christ at all? How many could care less?
If we are honest, we have to admit that, for the most part, this community is a community without Christ. Yes, there are some Christians living here, but not as many as there should be.
2. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad?
The word good in this passage is the Hebrew word Tov. An important meaning of this term is moral goodness. Some other definitions of the word include: pleasant, beautiful, excellent, lovely, delightful, convenient, joyful, fruitful, precious, sound, cheerful, kind, correct, and righteous.
The word bad in this passage is the Hebrew word Ra. The essential meaning of the word is the inability to come up to good standards that will be of some benefit. Some other definitions of the word include: bad, of inferior quality, wicked, evil, malignant, injurious, hurtful, unpleasant, mischief, misfortune, adversity, a bad thing which someone does, a calamity which happens to someone, and sadness.
So, which definition does our community fit into? Is it good or bad? Does it fall into the category of moral goodness, or does it fail to be of benefit to anyone? These are questions that we need to ask.
I believe that we could be deceived by what we see. The definition of good (moral goodness) could be very misleading. There are a lot of people that feel they are morally upstanding but fall miserably short of being a Christian.
I’ve had people tell me how they live a good life. They provide for and spend time with their family. They contribute money to various charities. They are nice to the homeless and always help when someone needs a hand. They tell me all the good things that they do, then ask me if God would allow such a good person to go to hell. My response is an emphatic, “YES!”
What makes someone good? Jesus Christ said in Matthew 19:17, “There is none good but one, that is God.” Is it performing good deeds or simply having “moral goodness?” Is that how someone gets to heaven? If that is true then there was no reason for Jesus Christ to die for our sins. If we could do it ourselves then he was a fool to suffer on the cross.
You can’t get to heaven by performing a million good deeds, but you can get to hell by refusing to do one thing, accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life. Speaking of Jesus Christ, Acts 4:12 says - Neither is there salvation found in any other, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, and his shed blood on the cross is the only way that you and I can have any kind of “moral goodness”.
The people of our community need to know that moral goodness is not a justification for entrance into heaven. They need to know Jesus Christ is the only way, and I believe that God want to use our church to share the good news with all who live around us.
3. What kinds of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified?
In a spiritual sense, this is a question that may scare some. Are there walls up around those in our community? What kind of walls could there possibly be?
Instead of the words unwalled or fortified, the King James Version of the Bible says, tents or strongholds. That word stronghold gives me a strong image of demonic activity. Have demonic strongholds been established in our community that need to be torn down? I can’t answer that question by telling where they are or how long they have been there. However, I can say that we would be foolish to believe that there haven’t been any strongholds set up.
1 Peter 5: 8-10: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethern that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.
Our adversary, the devil, walks about seeking whom he may devour, and he would love to devour us along with the entire community. We have a responsibility as Christians to be on guard against the enemy and do battle to keep him from building strongholds.
I’m sure a lot of you have heard 1 Peter 5:8 before, but I quoted up to verse 10 because the passage makes such a valid point for us all.
V. 9 tells us to resist the adversary and realize that the same afflictions that affect us also affect other Christians in the world. We never have to think that we are going through something that others have never faced. We are never alone in our trials.
V. 10 says that God has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus and that after we have suffered a while he will make us perfect by establishing, strengthening, and settling us. Notice that he said after we have suffered a while. There is no doubt about it; we will have to suffer. The Christian life is not a cakewalk and everything is not handed to us on a silver platter. Read the entire book of 1 Peter and see how many times the word suffer shows up; you may be surprised at what you find. God makes it clear that suffering is a natural part of Christianity and we can’t be silly enough to believe that we are going to start a new work without having to suffer some.
But thank God the rest of v. 10 is there. God is going to establish, strengthen, and settle us. I heard another preacher explain those three words in a way that changed how I saw this verse.
All three words can be looked upon as having strong military meaning. By applying them to an army taking over a city we can see their implication.
The first thing the army has to do is establish their presence in the city. They do so by going into battle. A battle has to take place for the army to move in. That stronghold has to be broken down. A city isn’t going to surrender without putting up a fight.
Once their presence has been established, they strengthen the city by building up the walls and placing guards to ensure the enemy doesn’t come back. They may even bring in more troops to fortify their presence.
Finally, after it has been established and strengthened, the army can settle in and begin to enjoy the new city.
That’s what God wants us to do here. We need to defeat the enemy, establish our presence, strengthen ourselves, and settle in. You can be sure that the enemy isn’t going to fall without a battle. You can be sure that our presence isn’t going to be appreciated by all. You can also be sure that if God is in it, we will settle in.
4. How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not?
It doesn’t take a theologian to see how this applies to our community. Is the soil fertile or poor? Without question the fields are ripe for harvest. The real question is what are we going to do about it?
C. WHEN SHOULD WE TAKE ACTION? When God wants us to. Numbers 13:26-33, 14: 1-9, 26-30, 39-45
The report on the land came back favorable; it was indeed a land of milk and honey. It was the report on the people dwelling there that made the Israelites uncomfortable. They were excited to see the fruit that had been brought back, but the news that the people were giants was disturbing.
Caleb was ready to possess the land because he knew that God would be with them, but the people couldn’t see beyond the giants. Because of their unbelief and murmuring, God would punish them by not allowing the adults above 20 to enter into the Promised Land. After they heard this news, they decided to act. Unfortunately, it was too late. God was not in it and they were defeated.
So, when should we take action? The immediate answer to that question is, “Right now!” However, I think the more appropriate answer is, “When God wants us to.” The children of Israel were defeated because they tried to act without God. The Bible says that Moses and the Ark of the Covenant remained in the camp when they charged the enemy. We have to get on track with God and act in his timing, not ours. The only way to do that is to bathe our church in prayer and seek his guidance. How can we possibly succeed if we are running toward the enemy but God is still in the camp?
CONCLUSION
This brings us full circle to the very first point in this message. Who is in control? God is. He needs to be the one that we take our orders from. He needs to be the one that directs our every step. What to do next and when we should take action depends on God. I believe our first step is to move forward in our community and explore the land. We need to be prepared to do battle, establish the church and settle in. I also believe that we need to pray like never before and act on his timetable.
We have a challenge before us, one that is not going to come without its share of suffering. If we try to do it alone we are doomed for defeat. If we allow God to lead us we will enter into Canaan and we can go in shouting victory.
