Stories from the Bible - Ep 10 On the Edge of the Promised Land (Numbers 14)

Episode Date: December 1, 2021

God promised Abraham that his descendants would occupy the land of Canaan. But what if those descendants refuse to believe God can give it to them?  The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible�� http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

Beauty, perfection, desire, deception, rebellion, judgment, hope. You're listening to Stories from the Bible. Bible stories told in order, using the words of the Bible with introductions to give a recap and provide context. At the end of each story, you might want to pause and take a moment to reflect on what you noticed in the story. Things you liked or didn't like. Something the story showed you about God or about people. Don't worry if not everything makes sense. Keep listening to each episode and sit with the journey.

I'm stoked to have you on the ride. Welcome to story number 10. Before we get there, do you remember the promises made to Abraham? A great nation of descendants, blessing on those descendants and eventually blessing to the whole world through those descendants. And also God promised Abraham that he would give the land of Canaan to those descendants as a special place of their own to live out and enjoy their blessed relationship with God. Well, God acted to rescue the nation of Israel from Egypt, and he brought them out into the desert. They journeyed through the desert, and God provided food and water and guidance in the form of the cloud. He gathered them at Mount Sinai and promised that if they listened to him and followed his words and depended on what he said, they would be his special,

blessed people. Last time, we heard how God gave Moses very specific instructions about building a special tent, known as the tabernacle. It would be a physical place that showed God lived with his people. It was also called the tent of meeting because it was the place where God would actually meet with his people. Once Moses had completed the building of the tabernacle, the cloud of God came down and filled the tent. While no one could just walk into the holy place, they would have died because of the contact of their sin with God's holiness, God made it so that the sacrifice of substitute animals

made it possible for the high priest to enter once a year. God accepted the death of the animal in the place of the death of the high priest. As the high priest was the representative of the Israelites, God's acceptance of the high priest showed his acceptance of the people. God's presence with the Israelites and his acceptance of the animal substitutes was a sign of his blessing on them and part of keeping his promises to Abraham. But for the Israelite nation to truly enjoy the blessing of living as God's special people, they needed to live in a place of their own, the land of Canaan that God promised Abraham. Well, God led them through the desert until they came to the borders of Canaan. God spoke to Moses and said,

Send men ahead to scat out the land of Canaan that I am giving to the Israelites. So one man from each of the twelve tribes was sent to see what the land and the people who lived there were like. Two of the men who went were Caleb and Joshua. You'll hear their names come up in the story. So Caleb and Joshua and the rest of the group went and spent 40 days checking out the land. They brought back an enormous cluster of grapes that had to be carried on a pole between two men and some other fruit as well. The story starts here. They came back to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community of the Israelites in the desert.

They reported back to everyone and showed the fruit of the land they'd brought back. They told Moses, They reported back to everyone and showed the fruit of the land they'd brought back. They told Moses, We went to the land where you sent us. It is indeed flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. But the inhabitants are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev,

the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country, and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan. Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses, saying, Let us go up and occupy it, for we are well able to conquer it. But the men who had gone up with him said, we are not able to go up against these people because they are stronger than we are. Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report of the land they had investigated, saying,

the land that we pass through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there are really tall. We even saw the Nephilim there. The descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim, and we seemed like grasshoppers both to ourselves and to them. Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, If only we had died in the land of Egypt,

or if only we had perished in this desert. Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, let's appoint a leader and return to Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground before the whole assembled community of the Israelites. And Joshua and Caleb, two of those who had investigated the land,

tore their garments. They said to the whole community of the Israelites, the land we pass through to investigate is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that is flowing with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bred for us. Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them. However, the whole community threatened to stone them. And the story ends there.

Thanks for joining us for today's story. You might like to take a moment to pause and think about what you noticed. Things you liked, things you didn't like. Something the story showed you about God. Perhaps you might even have thoughts about how this story fits into the bigger narrative of the Bible. If you'd like to look it up, it's from Numbers, chapters 13 and 14. Once again, the Israelites decide to depend on what they see and fear,

rather than on what God has promised to them. Are they ever going to trust God's promises? Stay tuned. You've been listening to Stories from the Bible. I'm Jen, and I look forward to sharing more stories with you.