The majority of my people treat God with contempt. They refuse to trust Him to do what He promised. They aren’t interested in hearing what God has to say and don’t appreciate me, His messenger. They talk behind my back about how to get rid of me.

I have learned that my commitment to the LORD requires that I stand up to the crowd and do the right thing even when doing so takes me down the path opposite the one that the majority are traveling. Perhaps you are thinking that I am talking about the kinds of struggles God’s people encounter in the 21^st century. There are a lot of similarities, but no, I am talking about what it was like to live amongst my people, Israel, in the 1400’s B.C.

When we are at odds with the majority, what will we decide? Will we stand up and do the right thing or will we side with the crowd? I don’t know what all of you will decide, but my decision has been made. No matter the strength of my foes or the pressure of my countrymen, I am determined to trust God and remain wholeheartedly committed to Him.

The focus of my life is God. My full confidence is in Him to give my people victory in battle, even when our enemies are giants. My commitment is to do wholeheartedly all that my LORD commands, even when I find myself at odds with the crowd for doing so. I trust God to do all that He promised, even though more people than not might regard me as crazy for believing in Him as I do.

I know, standing up to the crowd is not fun. I understand that there are times when it looks like we would be better off going with the masses. Going with the flow looks very appealing when going against it causes people to want to get us out of the way. Going with the flow looks inviting when the alternative involves entering a battle with powerful giants.

Looks can be deceiving. It might look like we are in for it when at odds with the majority. However, God plus one is a majority and when He is with us and protecting us, we have nothing to fear. It might look like those who treat God with contempt and refuse to believe in Him are better off, but by faith we believe that it is those who trust in God who will be victorious and will experience His bountiful blessings in the end. I learned this lesson first hand. Let me tell you part of my story.

It should have been a time of triumph. God dramatically delivered us from the powerful Egyptians. He decimated that superpower nation by sending 10 plagues that destroyed Egypt’s crops and livestock, brought pain and suffering to her people, and dramatically reduced her population when the last plague killed the firstborn of each household.

After vacillating back and forth several times regarding his decision to release us, Pharaoh finally let us go. Following our exodus from Egypt, Pharaoh changed his mind yet again and pursued us with his army. His attempt to chase us down proved to be no threat to God’s plan for our deliverance as the LORD totally destroyed Egypt’s forces in the Red Sea, while at the same time providing for our safe passage on dry ground.

After our mass exit out of Egypt, we received God’s faithful protection and provision even though we as His people were not faithful to Him.

There was the time when we were without water and the only water we could find was bitter. We grumbled and complained, but God graciously made the water sweet.

On another occasion, we ran out of food and responded by grumbling and complaining, but God dealt with us mercifully, providing all the manna and quail we needed.

Then we ran out of water a second time. The people, as usual grumbled against Moses and tested the LORD, but He was faithful to us yet again, having water come out of rock after Moses struck it.

The most frightening event was when we were attacked by the Amalekites at Rephidim. We did not have a trained and developed army. There was nothing we could have done in our own strength to defeat the Amalekites. However, God came to our defense, giving us victory in battle and delivering us from the Amalekites. Without Him fighting for us, we would have been defeated. Because the battle belongs to the LORD, He gave us the victory.

Three months after we left Egypt, we came to the desert of Sinai where we spent almost a year. It was at Mount Sinai that God gave us His law to govern us and to set us apart as His people from all the pagan nations around us. At Mount Sinai, God demonstrated His favor toward us by choosing not to destroy us for our sin of creating and worshipping a golden calf.

From Mount Sinai, we made a difficult trek to Kadesh, a town on the border of the land flowing with milk and honey that God promised Israel. The triumphant conclusion of our incredible journey had finally arrived, or so we thought.

The name Moses gave me reflects my perspective as to what I believed God was going to do. My father Nun gave me the name Hoshea, which means salvation. Moses renamed me Joshua which means Yahweh is Salvation. I was confident the LORD would save us whatever foes we might face in the land He promised to give us. My perspective on the future was optimistic because my focus was on the LORD.

You can imagine my utter delight when Moses selected me as one of the twelve spies sent to explore the Promised Land. I would be one of the first to see with my own eyes the incredible blessings God promised to Israel.

What a privilege it would be to come back from my mission as a spy and tell my people all about the land that flowed with milk and honey.

Moses, wanting a thorough report, gave us several specific things to look for. He wanted us to see if the inhabitants of the promised land were strong or weak, few or many. He asked us to take note of the land, whether it was good or bad; the towns, whether they were unwalled or fortified; the soil, whether it was fertile or poor; and the trees, whether it had forests or not. Moses also asked that we not come back empty handed. Being early grape season, he asked us to do our best to bring back some fruit of the land.

We took a tour of the land, traveling about five hundred miles round trip in a period of forty days. We explored the entire territory from the southernmost part at the Desert of Zin as far as the northernmost part at Rehob. On the way back to Kadesh, we journeyed through the Negev and came to Hebron. From Hebron, we went on to the Valley of Eshcol. The land was very good, full of rich soil and lush trees and vegetation. The produce was so abundant that it took two men carrying a pole between them to carry a single cluster of grapes along with some pomegranates and figs. How excited the people would be when they saw with their own eyes the fruit of the land God promised—a land flowing with milk and honey.

After our forty-day mission, the time to give our report finally arrived. Usually giving a report isn’t all that exciting, but when given the opportunity to report on the blessings of God, you can’t help but be enthusiastic. Upon our return to Kadesh, we reported to Moses, "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit."

It was my intention to elaborate more fully on the abundance of the land and to express my confidence in what God would do to help us acquire it. However, to my utter shock, the majority of the spies had different ideas as to what they thought we should report.

I should have suspected something was not right when I heard ten of the spies say to Moses, "We went into the land you sent us." It was God who sent us to the land. Moses was simply the LORD’S spokesman who communicated His instructions to us. It was obvious the majority of the spies were casting blame on Moses for sending them to such a dangerous place. Not only did they blame Moses, but they also ignored God. They neglected to remind the people that the land to which they were sent was the land the LORD promised to give us.

The ten gave a report that inspired not faith, but fear. They launched into a list of reasons why they believed going into the land was a bad idea. They took their focus off of the LORD, our banner, and focused instead on all of the obstacles they saw in the way. Their brief mention of the productivity and abundant goodness of the land was offset both by their fearful reports of the mighty people who lived there and of how large and fortified their cities are.

The city the ten most focused their report on was Hebron. They made a big to do about the fact that the descendants of Anak. What is the big deal about the Anakites? Yes, they are strong and tall. Yes, we heard it said of them, "Who can stand up against the Anakites?" But what match would these giants be against the LORD our God. The giants were big, but with God on our side protecting us, we had nothing to fear.

The fact that we found giants in the land did not take God by surprise. He knew they were there and had already assured us that He would go ahead of us like a devouring fire. He promised to destroy the Anakites and subdue them before us. He promised He would drive them out and annihilate them quickly (See Deuteronomy 9:1-3). Since our battle was the LORD’S battle, we would win. Unfortunately, the ten spies didn’t see it that way.

What is most strange about the spies’ focus on the giants when they told the people about Hebron is what they did not mention. This was the burial place of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah. Why didn’t they say, "Here we have arrive at the place where our fathers and mothers are buried. Where they lie, soon we shall live." Instead of remembering the patriarchs and the promises God made to them, the spies noticed only the buildings and the stature of the people.

The ten didn’t stop at mentioning the descendants of Anak. They went on to report about the Amalekites, Hittities, Jebusites, Amorites, and Canaanites. They considered the presence of these nations to be an insurmountable obstacle to our entry into the land. They should have regarded this long list of nations in the promised land to be and indication of the numerous victories God was going to give His people in fulfillment of His promises. Instead, each nation was regarded as yet one more hurdle in the way.

I already told you about one of these people groups. God had already given us victory in battle over the Amalekites once before. After that first battle, the LORD said that He would be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation. He promised to give us the land flowing with milk and honey. Without a doubt, God would give us victory not only against the Amalekites, but against any people who are foolish enough to stand as an enemy in defiance of the living God. If we only would acknowledge our dependence on God, He would be faithful to fight for us.

As the ten spies continued their report, they went from telling a truthful, but fear filled story, to giving an exaggerated, distorted, and outright evil account. By speaking evil of the land, the ten faithless spies were speaking evil of the LORD.

They said the land we explored was a hostile environment that devours the people. No longer did the people see the grapes we brought back as a reminder of plenty, but as a reminder of the powerful, large people who lived there. No longer were the grapes a source of joy in the abundance and productivity of the land, but a source of fear.

The spies grossly exaggerated how big the giants in the promised land were. They said about these Nephilim, "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." It was obvious that their intention was to evoke fear, not to inspire faith.

Unfortunately, they were successful in frightening the sandals off the people and leading the nation to show contempt against the Lord and not to believe in Him, their loving and gracious God.

The ten concluded, "We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are." Their focus was on their circumstances and their limitations. Oh, how things would have been different had they focused instead on the LORD and trusted Him to do for them what He never intended for them to do on their own.

Caleb and I utterly refused to go along with the evil report of the ten. We were committed to standing up and doing the right thing before the LORD no matter what. At some point in the midst of the report of the ten, Caleb could not keep silent for one more second. He silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." Caleb’s passionate plea fell on deaf ears. The ten stubbornly continued their fear inspiring, evil report. Unfortunately, our people listened to them and rejected what we had to say.

The frightening words of the faithless spies led my people to raise their voices and weep aloud. The whole group grumbled against Moses and Aaron, forgetting of course that their ultimate complaint was against God. The people said, "If only we had died in Egypt or in this desert!" In their rebellion and ingratitude they preferred death.

The people asked, "Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?" How quickly they forgot that the battle belongs to the LORD. Didn’t they remember what happened to the Amalekites? Yes, I agree, it is probable that we would have all died by the sword if our victory depended on our strength. But it didn’t—God would fight for us and protect us. We could depend on Him to help us win. There would be no falling by the sword with God on our side.

My people continued on and on, saying in fear, "Our wives and children will be taken as plunder." I was sympathetic to their concern for the most vulnerable in our group. I especially understood their concern for the children. However, even the most vulnerable in our midst had nothing to fear since God was with us.

The rebellious complaining of the people moved from bad to worse. They went so far as to express their wish to go back to Egypt, considering their past there to be better than their future in Canaan.

Believing it would be better to return to Egypt, the people proposed replacing Moses as their leader and going back. How could the people think Egypt was better? How could they forget the hard labor and harsh treatment we had to endure as slaves under the oppressive hands of our taskmasters? How could they chose to forget all the incredible miracles God performed to deliver us? How could they so quickly forgot about all the wonderful ways He protected us and provided for us?

Israel’s actions at this point in her history is a reminder of how easy it is to lose perspective when we focus on the things around us rather than focusing on the banner over us, who is the LORD. Having lost God’s perspective on things and having failed to trust in Him, my people despised all the mercy God had shown us and they spurned His might, regarding our mere human enemies as a threat to all that He promised to do.

Moses and Aaron responded to the rebellion and contempt of the people by falling to their faces in awe of God’s presence and in anticipation of what He might do as an act of judgment against His rebellious people. Caleb and I tore our clothes as a gesture to show the deep distress and mourning we felt in our hearts.

Caleb and I gave our own report of what the land was like, hoping to convince our people to turn from their unbelief and to trust in God. We told the people that the land was exceedingly good, reminding them of how the land flowed with milk and honey just as God said.

We made clear to the people that it was still possible to gain the land and enjoy its fruit. The only thing that was necessary for this to happen was for the LORD to be pleased with us. If we would only stop our rebellion, trust in God to help us overcome our fear of the inhabitants of the land, and follow Him wholeheartedly, He would be pleased and give us the land for our possession.

It was our conviction that no walls or factors of size could withstand the onslaught of God’s people since the LORD promised to be with us. Believing this, Caleb and I challenged the people not to rebel by retreating to Egypt in fear of the inhabitants of the promised land. We reminded them that we had no reason to fear.

Knowing the battle is the LORD’S, we confidently proclaimed, "We will swallow them up." The whole balance of power had been altered. This was a reality to be counted as true by faith, but one that could not yet be seen. The protection of the inhabitants of the land was gone—We couldn’t see it yet, but by faith we believed that God had taken it away. While the enemy’s protection was gone, God was with us, His people. With God on our side, we could enter the land confidently and with absolutely no fear.

Despite our plea, the people rebelled.

The talk amongst the assembly was focused on how they might stone us. The people of Israel had the attitude towards God’s messengers that if they didn’t want to hear what we had to say, they would try to get rid of us by killing us.

It was then that the LORD came to our aide. His glory appeared at the Tent of Meeting for all the Israelites to see. God had had enough with the contempt of His people toward Him. He had had enough with their refusal to believe in Him, in spite of all the miraculous signs He had performed among them. God determined it was time to do something about Israel’s rebellion.

He suggested that He should strike the nation down with a plague and destroy the people, making a nation of Moses that was greater and stronger than Israel at that time.

Moses pleaded with God not to do this out of concern for God’s reputation amongst the Egyptians. Moses was concerned that they would say about the LORD that He was unable to bring the people into the land He promised, so he slaughtered them in the desert.

Moses made an appeal, asking that the LORD’S strength in bringing judgment against Israel be displayed in such a way as to reflect the fact that He is slow to anger, abounding in love, and forgiving of sin and rebellion. Moses asked that the people be forgiven just as He had pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until that time.

In answer to Moses’ request, God forgave the people and did not kill them right then and there as they deserved. Nevertheless, God declared that as surely as He lives and as surely as His glory fills the whole earth, not one of those who saw His glory and the miraculous signs He performed and who disobeyed and tested Him would ever see the land He promised to Israel. Not one of those who treated God with contempt would ever see it.

All the grumbling that my people did against God came back to hurt them. They said that they would rather die in the desert than be led into Canaan to die by the sword, so God, in a way that was different than they intended, decided to grant them their request. All those 20 years old or more, who were counted in the most recent census, would die in the desert with the exception of myself and Caleb.

Every last one of all in that wicked community who banded together against the LORD would meet their end in the desert. Only their children would survive. How ironic, when you think of it, that the very ones the people were most concerned about because of their vulnerability to enemy attack lived to enjoy the land while all the adults perished. It goes to show you that it is never our might that brings us blessing and victory, but the power of God.

While the children would eventually live in the land and experience the promise of God, they would not do so until every last one of their parents died in the desert. For forty years they would suffer because of their parent’s unfaithfulness, one year for each of the days the spies spent exploring the land.

The judgment of the ten spies responsible for spreading an evil report was immediate. They were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD. They perished first because they led others to treat the LORD with contempt and to refuse to believe in Him. Their death served as immediate confirmation of the judgment God promised He would bring on my people.

You would think that after the LORD told us four times that all those who rebelled would fall in the desert, the people would believe Him. But evidently, the people did not believe God’s promise of judgment, just as they failed to believe His promise to give Israel the Promised Land.

The people thought that mourning and simple acknowledgment of their mistake would be enough. When it was too late to change their minds, they were determined to go up to the land they had refused to enter. Such a course was doomed to fail because it went against what God promised to do as a consequence for their rebellion. Their battle plans were doomed because not only was the Lord not with them, but He was against them. Presuming upon the LORD, they went up to the high hill country anyway to attack the Canaanites and Amalekits, but were attacked and beat down. It was too late to change their minds. The consequences of their rebellion were now irreversible.

With God’s help, Caleb and I had a different spirit than the rest of our people. Whereas they treated God with contempt and did not believe in Him, we followed God wholeheartedly.

The reward of faithfulness for Caleb and I is that we were promised that we would be able to enter the promised land. That the land would be given to Israel was never in doubt, as God’s promise to give it to us was unconditional. However, our ability to experience the blessing of possessing the land ourselves was conditioned on our obedience to the LORD. Sadly, out of our generation, only Caleb and I experienced that blessing.

As God promised, we were the only two later to enter the promised land. What God said He will do, He always does. Yes, we would had to wait forty more years to experience the blessing of the Promised Land, but we were confident that it was always worth it for us to trust God and take a stand on the basis of His promises.

How about you? Are you standing on the promises of God, wholeheartedly following Him and trusting Him to do everything He said He would do? God will surely do all He has promised! You can trust Him! (Hold Up Grapes) You will see the LORD’S promises come to fruition just as I did!

Our world encourages us to be lazy at work and critical of our boss. God wants us to do our work wholeheartedly as unto Him and to treat our boss with respect. The world tries to encourage business dealings that are dishonest, but God would have us to deal with others showing honesty and integrity. The world says that everyone should look out for themselves and that it is crazy when we don’t stick up for our rights. God says that we are to consider other people ahead of ourselves, looking not for how people can serve us, but for how we can serve others. The world encourages us to selfishly hoard our resources and indulge only ourselves.

God desires that when we see a need and have the resources to meet it, that we should faithfully and sacrificially give to help those in need. We could go on and on.

When we trust God and wholeheartedly do what He wants us to do, we will find ourselves at odds with the majority. Most in the unbelieving world won’t appreciate us when our lives shine light on theirs’ and expose all the ugly things they don’t want us to see.

Even some amongst God’s people will sometimes try to discourage us as the ten spies tried to discourage their people. They will say, "Hey, tone it down a little. You don’t have to be so radical about your faith. Why don’t you try to fit in a little more and not always try to be so different?"

When the majority doesn’t want to go in God’s direction, will we stand up and do what God wants anyway?

The Israelites did not appreciate Joshua and Caleb’s report. After hearing it, the majority wanted to stone them. The rebellion and rejection of the crowd did not intimidate Joshua and Caleb from saying what God had for them to say. Even today, the majority in our world want to intimidate us as believers into silence. Most do not want to hear the good news we have to share.

The majority of people in our world say that all religions lead to God and that we should be tolerant of other people’s faith. By tolerance, they mean that we should regard what others believe to be as valid and true as what we believe. The tolerance preached in our day gives no room for proclaiming an exclusive message that leaves anyone out.

When we proclaim that Jesus is the only way to God, that there is salvation in no other, and that it is by faith alone plus nothing that we are delivered from sin’s penalty, the world is very intolerant of us. They don’t appreciate the good news we share. They threaten us and do their best to silence us. When the world tries to intimidate us into silence, will we trust God and take a stand against the crowd by proclaiming the gospel.

The majority of people in our world don’t want to acknowledge the reality of eternal punishment in the lake of fire for all those who reject Christ. Their rejection of coming judgment is similar to how the people of Israel refused to acknowledge God’s announcement of judgment for their rebellion at Kadesh.

When the subject of judgment comes up, will we follow the spirit of our age and try to be inclusive and universal, giving people the impression everyone somehow makes it to heaven? Or Will we graciously declare the exclusive message of the Bible—"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him." The majority of people want us to keep quiet about coming judgment, but God has us to proclaim His Word in which several times He announces His judgments for those who fail to trust in Him.

Will we stand up and declare the good news for a lost and dying world on its way to judgment, or will we be intimidated into silence? Let’s stand up together and give our report of the good news of Jesus Christ.

2.  Will we choose to look at God through the difficulties or do we choose to look at the difficulties through what we know about God?

Will we focus on our difficulties allowing them to shape our view of God? Or Will we focus on God and shape our view of our difficulties by our view of Him? Israel’s focus was on the obstacles and difficult circumstances around her. The people’s focus was on themselves and their own limitations. They looked at God through the lense of what they were going through and concluded, "We can’t do it." Joshua and Caleb’s focus was on the LORD. Their focus was on the promises of God. They looked at their difficult circumstances through the lens of what they knew about God. Trusting God to protect and provide and to fulfill His promises, they concluded, "We can certainly do it."

What is our focus this morning? Will we trust God to keep His promises and to see us through what appears to be impossible circumstances as Joshua and Caleb did, or will we choose to throw in the towel as the spies did?

Will we trust God to bring the reward of faithfulness we cannot currently see or will we rebel against what God wants us to do, choosing to walk by sight and not by faith?

As we consider our church’s present financial situation, what is our focus? Are we looking at God through our present difficulties or are we looking at our difficulties through what we know about God? Like Joshua and Caleb, I believe that we too have promises to claim from our Lord. Paul wrote the book of Philippians to a church that had sacrificed to meet his need in a way that is similar to how we have sacrificed to meet the needs of the church in Bilaspur. He records for us in Philippians 4:19—"And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." This is not the only time Paul said this kind of thing. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 9:8—"And God is able to make all grace about to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."

We can trust God to meet our need. Let us continue to focus on Him, believing He will do for us what He promised. We can’t see how God will do what He promised just as Joshua and Caleb could not see exactly how they would be able to defeat the Anakites. God does not have us to live our lives by sight, but by faith. Let us continue to trust Him together.

There comes a time when it is too late for us to change our minds. Yes, He is forgiving of our rebellion when we confess it, but if we go to far down a rebellious path, we might face irreversible and painful consequences as Israel did. We dare not remain unmoved by this account of the wrath of God against sin and the consequences we might face when we intentionally refuse to trust God to do what He said and when we treat God with contempt by rebelling against His will.