Standing At The Edge Of The Promised Land

Three Choices For Us As We Stand At The Edge Of The Promised Land:

1. OUR VISION: Objective or Obstacles?

A. Objective.

- 13:1-2.

- note the balance of “spy out” (what Israel did) and “giving” (what God did).

- also: 13:17-20 - careful investigation.

B. Obstacles.

- 13:28-29.

- not that noting the obstacles is bad - it’s when the obstacles become our focus that we get in trouble.

- what does that trouble look like? It creates the wrong thing in our heart.. .

2. OUR HEART: Faith or Fear?

A. Fear.

- 14:1-4.

- note that 13:28-29 were big obstacles/the argument is not “C’mon, the challenges aren’t that big” but “Remember: God is bigger than our challenges.”

B. Faith.

- 13:30.

- “at once”

- “take possession”

- “well able”

- “overcome”

- how do we hold onto that kind of faith? Actually, it comes from an unusual source. . .

3. OUR CONFIDENCE: Giants or Glory?

A. Giants.

- 13:32-33.

- this is where their lack of confidence came from/the challenges just looked too big for them.

B. Glory.

- 14:11-12 - God’s ready to start over with Moses.

- what is Moses’ counter-argument? It’s not the first one I would have thought of. . .

- 14:13-16 - Moses’ argument: Your Name and Your Glory is tied to these people.

- 14:20-21.

- God has put His name out there because He had identified Himself with these people/therefore, He isn’t just going to answer in order to bring us joy, but also to uphold the glory of His name.

- when we understand this, it becomes an enormous source of confidence: “Of course He’s going to come through - He’s put His own name at stake!”

GOD’S RESPONSE: Delight or Discipline?

A. Delight.

- 14:7-9.

- “delight”

- “bread”

B. Discipline.

- 14:22-23 - not entering the land.

- 14:39-45 - Israel’s efforts on their own led to defeat.