FALLING PREY TO FEAR
Numbers 14:1-15
GOD HAS
YOUR BACK, NO NEED TO FEAR
V:1 That
night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All
the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to
them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3 Why is the Lord
bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and
children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to
Egypt?" 4 And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and
go back to Egypt."
A. Having heard the report of the size
and strength of the people in the promised land,
The entire nation of Israelites who God freed from Egypt, was filled with
fear and doubt.
1. When facing new difficult problems,
it is easy to focus on what you can’t do.
2. When looking at life through our own
eyes, we often time see our weaknesses.
3. It is our weakness that presents us
with fear and doubt.
B. The Israelites knew of God. They had witnessed
the miracles of God repeatedly.
1. They refused to trust God with their
lives.
2. The Israelites had a recent history
of the mighty hand of God providing all their needs
And protecting them daily.
3. You would think they should have risen
and championed victory with God.
4. Satan uses our fears to drive us away
from God.
5. Satan uses our fears to discount the power
of God.
6. For some, it is hard to believe that since
God did it yesterday, He can do it today.
C. It takes courage to move forward in
the face of adversity.
1. The Israelites looked back and saw
only the good old days.
2. In the desert, they didn’t see the
bad in their history
3. In slavery, they had become
comfortable because they didn’t have to take responsibility
For their future.
D. In a desert situation, you must take
responsibility for your existence.
1. You can choose to be positive or
choose to be negative,
2. You can choose to trust God, or you
can choose to fear the unknown.
3. The Israelites chose to trust slavery
in Egypt over freedom in the desert.
4. God has a better future for us, but
it comes by trusting in God’s plan.
5. The grumbling of the Israelites
against Moses was their way of refusing to
To take responsibility
for their future.
1. It was their way of trusting a certain
future in slavery over a future as
God’s people.
6. There are people today who look a the
Covid19 virus as a death sentence.
1. However, it is a desert situation
where we have put our trust in God.
2. God has given us the tools to
survive.
3. We have to take responsibility for
our actions.
4. We are always in a desert situation.
Some are more published than others.
5. It is in the desert that we have
opportunities to grow in the Lord.
LISTEN TO
THE VOICE OF REASON
V:5 Then
Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered
there. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who
had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite
assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8
If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing
with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the
Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow
them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of
them."
A. In the midst of confusion, God sends
a voice of reason.
1. God always has someone who will proclaim
hope and trust in Him.
2. We have to publicly proclaim victory
in the Lord for all to hear.
3. Tearing their clothes was a sign of
grief before the people.
4. We ought to grieve when people refuse
to trust God.
B. During our grief, we ought to proclaim
the goodness of the Lord.
1. What we must understand is that God
does not put us in the desert to die.
2. God prepares desert situations as the
time to grow our faith in Him.
3. The desert is not designed to be an easy
street.
4. The desert is a place to learn how to
work with the tools and skills God has given us.
5. A desert is a place of creativity and
a place to develop new ideas.
6. The desert is time is a time to
explore in our minds all that God has done for us.
a. It is a time to see in the bad, the
good God has placed before us.
b. The desert is the place to see
victory over all our enemies with God leading
The battle.
7. If we rebel against God in the desert,
we defeat ourselves.
8. The Lord is with us when we entered
the desert, He is with us in the
Desert. He will take us
out of the desert.
THE
PENALITY OF UNBELIEF
V:10. But
the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord
appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The Lord said to Moses,
"How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they
refuse to believe in me, despite all the miraculous signs I have performed
among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I
will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."
A. When people get violent against God’s
chosen leaders, God will step in with His arm of protection.
1. God can put fear in a mob so they
with shut up and listen.
2. Every time there is a violent storm,
most people turn their attention to God.
3. While the storm is raging, criminals
hide, gun violence cease, people, pray for safety.
B. When God shows up, He has a way of
making us look at our sins.
1. God showed up in a cloud and reminded
the whole Israelite population of their sins
Of contempt.
2. God reminded them of their sin of
unbelief
C. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the
penalty of unbelief.
1. We anger God with our unbelief.
2. The sin of unbelief brings curses
into our lives
3. Unbelief brings plagues into our
minds which destroys all desires of hope.
D. Our unbelief does not change God’s
plan for future generations.
1. God’s blessing pass from the
unbelievers to those who believe in Him.
2. Those who believe grow strong in the
Lord.
STUDY THE
BIBLE FOR YOURSELF
V:13 Moses
said to the Lord, "Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power,
you brought these people up from among them. 14 And they will tell the
inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O Lord,
are with these people and that you, O Lord, have been seen face to face, that
your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by
day and a pillar of fire by night.
A. The message of what God has done for
those who believe in Him has already been broadcast to all
Unbelievers.
1. The Bible is a living record of the
goodness of the Lord.
2. The Bible is a living record of the
victories of the Lord over sin.
3. The Bible is a testimony that battle
is not ours, but the Lords.
B. It is up to each individual to read
the Bible for themselves and believe it
True for them.
THANK GOD FOR THE GLORY HE HAS SHOWN US
Rev. M. Mitchell.
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