"Silent But Deadly”

I. A Generation of Complainers.

A. Joshua was now in charge, Moses has passed on and the mantle has falling on Joshua to take the children of Israel to the Promise. Joshua was in charge of a new generation this was not the same group that Moses started out with in the Exodus.

1. Moses had a generation of complainers. They spent 400 years in slavery; God would raise up Moses to lead them out of Egyptian captivity. Here was a group of men and women that saw the hand of God move. They witnessed a show down between God and Pharaoh, God would send 10 plagues, some scholars believe that each plague represented an Egyptian god; that proved that God was the only God and that there was none other. He was proving Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: before Isaiah ever penned those words.

2. This was a generation that would take the spoils of Egypt, they would cash out a 400 year old savings bond not only did they cash out they collected 400 years of interest on top of that. God had them waiting, they did not see that they were fulfilling the Abrahamic Promise of becoming a people that could not be numbered with the stars and sand. They could not see that God had a trust fund that was about to mature that would finance and secure them as a nation.

3. Here is a generation that watched the red sea part to reveal a hand paved land bridge that started them on their journey to the Promise Land. Along the way they would see water from rocks quail flying into the frying pan and angel food cake that would just appear from nowhere. That is not to mention the cloud of pillar by day and pillar of fire by night that was leading them.

B. They witnessed all these acts, saw firsthand just how awesome God was, but that was not good enough they still ran their mouths. Php 2:14 ¶ Do all things without murmurings and disputings: another version says, In all that you do, avoid grumbling and disputing,

1. The first sign of trouble they were saying “that they had it better in Egypt”, the first time their stomachs growled they were saying, “for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger”. The first time their tongues felt a little dry they were saying, “Wherefore [is] this [that] thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” The first time they had to fight for their Promise they were saying, “And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey?”

2. While Moses was having church on top of Mount Sinai, the people got tired of waiting for service to end and the Bible says, And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us.

3. That same attitude can be found in the Church today. Never satisfied; always complaining always comparing to the former. Don’t get me started; always talking about how it used to be, always looking back. You need to know that your looking back causes you to miss what is ahead, your standing still robs you of your next step, but if you move forward you will be taking into the unknown and into the deep things of God.

C. It was that attitude of doubt and complaining that said that they would not take the Promised Land because of giants. You know the story 12 spies went in and brought back a Promised Land Sampler, but as soon as the 10 spies said “giants in the land”, they turned on God and Moses.

1. Only 2, Joshua & Caleb said they were able. The People broke down, not because of what they saw, but what they heard.

2. They doubted God and to doubt Him is a slap in His face. It’s to suggest that God is impotent and cannot do what He promises. It’s to accuse God of being a liar and a hypocrite. The Bible says, God cannot lie … God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? …Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:…The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever…Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.