12 Men Scout out the Promised Land (Numbers13-14)

After Miriam was cured of leprosy, the Israelites journeyed to a city called Kadesh in the wilderness and set up camp. God spoke to Moses there. “The wonderful land that I promised you is just beyond the hills. I want you to send out 12 men to scout out the land.”
 So Moses chose one man from each of the tribes. He gave them a checklist of information that he wanted them to bring back. “Find out what kind of people live there and how many. What kind of land is it? Good for planting? A lot of trees? What do their towns look like? Do they have walls? Oh and, if you can, bring back a sample of their fruit.” Moses instructed them.

 So the 12 men headed north over the hill country and passed through Hebron, a city where the grandchildren of Anak lived.  Anak was a giant and his grandkids all took after him! Then the 12 men came to a valley. The valley was overflowing with fruit! The men took a cluster of grapes that was so big, they needed two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They named the valley “Eschol” which means -cluster-. They also gathered pomegranates and figs to bring back with them. All together they stayed in the promised land for 40 days then they returned back to the Israelites camp to report what they had seen.

 All the people came out to hear the scouting report. The 12 men stood before Moses, Aaron and all the people. They held up the huge cluster of grapes and the people were amazed!
 “The land really is a magnificent land!” One of the 12 men spoke up. “There are clusters of grapes and fruit like this everywhere! BUT,"...... Everyone got quiet and one of the other 12 men finished his thought. "BUT.... Some of the men that live there are giants! Their cities have huge walls with guards on them!”
Caleb was one of the twelve scouts and he could see that the Israelites were getting discouraged. “Let’s go at once and take the land.” He shouted. “We can certainly conquer it!” Joshua, one of the other scouts and Moses’ right hand man stood with Caleb. “Yes we can!”
 But the other 10 scouts agreed that the land was magnificent, but the people and the cities were too strong to conquer. They continually spread the discouraging report among the Israelites. "The land will
swallow up anyone who attempts to enter. We felt like grasshoppers next to those giants and I’m sure that’s what we looked like to them!”

 The Israelites all went back to their tents. Many of them cried all night. In the morning they confronted Moses. “We came all this way to get slaughtered by a bunch of giants?! We wish we would have stayed in Egypt and died there! We are tuning back.” The people decided to choose a leader and head back to Egypt.
 Joshua and Caleb tried to change the people’s minds. “The land is a wonderful land! The Lord will bring us safely into this magnificent place! Don’t rebel against God and don’t be afraid of the people. God is on our side and He promised the land to us!”
 But the whole community shouted insults at Caleb and Joshua. They picked up stones and were ready to kill the two men. Then God appeared to all the Israelites. “ How many chances can I give you? How many signs and miracles do you need? Time after time you doubt me and turn your back on me! I am so angry right now that I should just destroy you all and start over with Moses, Caleb and Joshua!”

 Moses pleaded with God. “Please Lord, spare these people. The Egyptians know the power you displayed when rescuing the Israelites from slavery. They know how you led the people with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. If you destroy all the people now, the Egyptians will think to themselves, ‘Well their God got them all the way to the hill country, but he couldn’t bring them into the promised land'.”
 God said, “I will spare all the people except the 10 scouts that stirred up the people against me. However, now only your children will be the ones to enter the promised land along with the 2 scouts, Joshua and Caleb. Tomorrow you must head back to the Red Sea.”
 Moses prayed for the people and God answered. Is there anyone that you need to pray for?

 Sometimes we focus on our situation instead of on our powerful God. It is easy to do if our situation or problem is right in front of us. The closer we are to something the bigger it looks. That’s why we need to constantly keep close to God. "When we draw near to Him, He draws near to us.” (James 4:8)

 Here is a little experiment.  Take a penny and a quarter. Which one is bigger? Right. The quarter :)
Hold the quarter in on hand and the penny in the other. Close one eye and slowly move the penny closer and the quarter farther away from your face. The penny looks larger than the quarter! Now, keeping the coins at the same distance, move the quarter behind the penny. Now you can’t even see the quarter even tho it is bigger than the penny! Cool!
 That’s how it is when we focus on our problems. They get bigger, God gets smaller. And pretty soon God disappears and we feel like we are left to take care of it on our own. God says that He will never leave us or turn His back on us in times of trouble. (Hebrews 13:5)

Why did God get so mad? He proved time and again that the Israelites could trust Him, and still they didn’t. God loved them and He wanted the best for them. God loves you and He wants the best for you too. He wants us to trust Him and not ourselves. He knows what is better for us than we do! Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in God with all your heart and not on your own ideas, and He will point you in the right direction. ( Mr. BibleHead paraphrase)
 So how do we focus on God, get close to God and trust Him more? By reading His book, the bible, and praying.

The Israelites Get Tired of Manna (Numbers12)

When the Ark of the Covenant was finally completed, they placed it inside a large tent. God would hover over the tent like a cloud in the daytime and like a flame a night. So day or night the Israelites would know that God was with them.
 Finally, after over a year of camping near Mount Sinai, the cloud of God began to move and the Israelites packed up everything and followed. All this time God was still sending manna from heaven every night and the people would gather it for food every morning. They traveled for three days until they reached a place called Paran. And no matter where they were. God provided food for them.
 Some of the people were beginning to get tired of eating manna every day.
“When we were in Egypt, we ate fish, cucumbers, melons and onions. Now all we get is manna manna manna!” The people complained.

Isn’t it funny that no matter how bad it used to be, we always think it was better before. The Israelites were slaves! But all they could think about was the variety of food they had.
“We want meat! We want meat! The people began to chant. Soon the whole camp was in an uproar.
Moses went to God. “I’ve had with these people. All they ever do is complain and moan!” He was getting very aggravated with them. God was getting angry too.  So he sent a fireball and burned all the trees around the camp. The people were frightened but they still complained to Moses. Moses told God that he needed help with the people.
 God told Moses to bring Him 70 men and that He would put the Holy Spirit upon them so that they could help Moses lead the people. When God put the Holy Spirit on them, it was to help them do something special. God could take the Spirit off them when they were finished or whenever He wanted. Today (if we accepted Jesus as the master of our life and savior of our souls) we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us so that we can do special things for God. God has sealed us with the Spirit, which means that once we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, He is there for good! Isn’t that great to know!

 God also told Moses that He would give the people meat, but He warned them that what they were asking for was not a good thing. So the next morning when the people awoke. There were birds called quail flying close to ground for miles and miles. Everyone started to catch the birds. Everyone gathered at least 50 baskets full of quail! The people ate and ate and ate until they could eat no more. Then the next day they ate some more! After a couple of days, the meat on the birds started to rot and it caused a sickness that killed many Israelites. They named that place the "graves of cravings”. The people realized that God knew best and that asking for meat was not very smart. God really does know best. Because He sees all and knows all.
After three days the Israelites traveled to a place called Hazeroth. While they were there Moses’ brother Aaron and his sister Miriam began to get jealous of their brother.
“How come God only talks to Moses and not to us!” Aaron said to Miriam.
Remember we said that God sees all and knows all? He also hears all! He heard Aaron and Miriam.

God called Moses, Aaron and Miriam to a meeting inside the tent and He scolded Aaron and Miriam. “I spoke to the prophets through dreams and visions, but I choose to speak to Moses face to face. When you talk about Moses behind his back, you are talking about me!” God was furious. Then the cloud lifted from the tent and God departed. Aaron looked at his sister. “Miriam!” He screamed. “Your face and your hands! They are as white as snow!” She had a deadly disease called leprosy. Moses cried out to God. “Please heal my sister!” God told Moses to tell Miriam to stay away from everyone for 7 days .

The Israelites waited 7 days. Miriam was cured and they left Hazeroth.

We can learn a few things form this story.
1. When we are moving toward God and His plan for our life, we should’t look back and wish things were like the “old days”. (Phil 3:13)
2. Sometimes we pray and ask God for the wrong things. God knows what is best for us. We should pray for God to give us what He knows is best for us. (James 4:3)
3. God knows all. God sees all. And God hears all. (Hebrews 4:13)
4. God doesn’t like complaining, moaning or grumbling. (Phil 2:14)

The Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 34)

Last time we were together, God was angry with the Israelites and said that He would not lead them personally into the promised land. That an angel would do it instead. The people were very sorry and asked Moses to speak with God.

Last time God spoke to Moses, He told him to set up a tent just outside the Israelite camp and that He would meet Moses there. It was called the Tent of Meeting. I bet Moses was glad, because going up and down that mountain when he was 80 years old had to be rough!
 “Please continue to guide us?” Moses asked God inside the tent. “The people want you to lead us , not an angel! If I have found favor in your eyes God, please do this for your people.”
 “Ok. “ said God. “It is true that you have found favor with me, so I will lead the Israelites to the promised land.”
 Moses was very relieved because the people were really upset. Then he asked God one more thing. “Can I see your glorious face?” he asked.
 “No one can see my face and live because I am holy.” God answered. “But here is what I’ll do. Tomorrow morning I want you to bring two tablets of stone up to the top of Mount Sinai. They must be chiseled just the way that the two originals were shaped. When you reach the top of the mountain, go in between two large rocks that are there. I will put my hand over the opening and pass by. I will take away my hand and you will be able to see me from behind as I go by.”
 Moses worked on the two two tablets over night and in the morning he went up Mount Sinai. At the top of the mountain, Moses went between the two large rocks. God put his hand over the rocks and passed by. When He removed his hand, Moses saw God’s glory! He fell down to worship God right then and there! We must always remember the holiness of God. When we think about how wonderful, how glorious and how holy He is, we should always praise and worship Him!
 Moses was up on the mountain for 40 days, just like the first time that he received the ten commandments from God. This time the people waited for Moses. They learned their lesson (for now).
 When Moses came down from the mountain with the new ten commandments, everyone looked at him with astonishment! He didn’t know it, but his face was glowing! The people had a glimpse of God’s glory. When people see us. We should have a certain difference about us because we are Jesus followers. Our faces  may not be glowing, but we can be a reflection of God’s love so that other people will want to know Him.
 Moses called a meeting. He said that God had given him specific instructions on building an ark for God as they traveled through the wilderness.  The ark was a chest where the Israelite were going to keep the two tablets of stone with the ten commandments. It had two long poles so that it could be carried. Here is a picture of what it looked like.

 Moses took up a collection of gold, silver, wood, precious stones and fabric. The people were so glad that God would be leading them again that they kept giving and giving. Finally Moses had to tell them to stop. Moses put out a call for all the artists among them to come and work on the ark. God had chosen two men to be the head artists. Their names were Bezalel and Oholiab. I bet as they never dreamed that they would be able to use their talents on such a wonderful project for God.

 God has given all of us some kind of talent. then when we start to follow Jesus, God gives us spiritual gifts.  Bezalel and Oholiab were blessed by God with artistic talent. Possibly their spiritual gifts were leading so hat they could lead all the other artists. See how our talents and spiritual gifts work together. Our gifts are always for the glory of God and to further His kingdom.

 So let’s always remember that God is holy. (Psalm 22:3)
 That we should reflect His glory by loving others. (John 13:35)
 God equips us to do great things for Him and others. (Hebrews 13:21)