Egypt to Canaan (8): Numbers 10 - 14

I'm going to read tonight in Numbers chapter 10, the 10th chapter of the book of Numbers. I'm going to read a little out of four chapters, not a great deal of reading, but reading enough so that we can pick up the context. Numbers chapter 10 and verse 11.

It came to pass on the 20th day of the second month in the second year. If I don't explain this to you afterwards, perhaps this would be a good place to do it, because we sometimes mess up on a thing like this. In other words, it says that it was the 20th day of the second month of the second year.

That would be one year, one month, and 20 days from the night they left Egypt. So you have about 13 months and 20 days have passed by from the time they left the land of Egypt. They had spent 11 months and 5 days at Mount Sinai.

Now you'll notice we're moving from Mount Sinai. It says in verse 11 of Numbers 10, Then the cloud was taken up from amongst the tabernacle of the testimony, and the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.

And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. And then you have the order of the camp when they marched in the verses that follow. Now, chapter 11, please.

And verse 1. 11 and 1. And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord, and the Lord heard it. It doesn't say that Moses heard it. On this occasion, it says the Lord heard it.

And whether Moses heard it or not, we aren't told. But the anger of the Lord was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. And the people cried unto Moses.

And when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched. And he called the name of the place Taborah, which of course means burning, because the fire of the Lord burnt among them. And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting.

And the children of Israel also wept again and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. But now our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes.

And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdellium. And the people went about and gathered it and ground it in mills and beat it in a mortar and baked it in pans and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly.

Moses also was displeased. Verse 31 reads in the same chapter, And there went forth a wind from the Lord and brought quails from the sea and let them flow by the camp as it were a day's journey on this side and as it were a day's journey on the other side round about the camp and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. And the people stood up all that day and all that night and all the next night and they gathered the quails.

He that gathered least gathered ten loomers and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, air it was chewed. The wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people.

And the Lord smote the people with a very great plague. And he called the name of that place Kibroff Hatovah because there they buried the people that lusted. And the people journeyed from Kibroff Hatovah unto Hazeroth and abode at Hazeroth.

And Milian and Aaron spake against Moses. Chapter 13 please in verse 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Send thou men that they may search the land of Canaan in which I give unto the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man.

Every one a ruler among them. And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Taron. All those men were heads of the children of Israel.

Verse 17 please. And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said unto them, Get you up this way southward and go into the mountains. See the land what it is and the people that dwell therein.

Whether they be strong or weak, few or many. And what the land is that they dwell in. Whether it be good or bad.

And what cities they be that they dwell in. Whether in tents or in strongholds. And what the land is.

That's the third time it says that. What the land is. Whether it be fat or lean.

Whether there be wood therein or not. And be ye of good courage and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

Now look with me please in verse 27. Just for the sake of time we're reading here and there. And they told him and said, We came unto the land whither thou sendest us and surely it floweth with milk and honey and this is the fruit of it.

And they showed of course the grapes of Eschol and the pomegranates and the figs that they had brought back with them. Nevertheless, the people be strong that dwell in the land and the cities are walled and very great. And moreover we saw the children of Anak there and so on.

Verse 30, And Caleb filled the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and possess it for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land.

Now chapter 14 in verse 1 please. And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron.

And the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt or would God we had died in this wilderness and wherefore hath the Lord brought us onto this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt. Now verse 28. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you.

Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness and all that were numbered of you according to your whole number from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me. Doubtless ye shall not come into the land concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein, and save Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, but your little ones which he said should be a prey. Then will I bring in and they shall know the land which he hath rejected or which he hath despised.

The book of Numbers is entirely different in its character from the books we've been looking at so far in studying the subjects that are on the chart. The book of Numbers describes the people that were saved to serve God. It's a book of service.

And because it is a book of service, it's a book of testing. It's a record of thirty-nine years of God testing his people from the second month of the second year until the tenth month of the fortieth year. The book of Numbers covers that entire period.

And of course, the numbers do not only have the fact of a people who were saved to serve, but you have the order of their service. And sad to say, you have the sad failure of their service. The book of Genesis is man-ruined.

I think you're well aware of the fact that you have the ruin of sinners in the book of Genesis. We were looking a good deal last week at the book of Exodus, and in the book of Exodus, you have the redemption of slaves. Genesis is the ruin of sinners.

Exodus is the redemption of slaves. And every child of God understands well what it means to be delivered from the bondage of sin and Satan. For we have known redemption, Lord, from bondage worse than theirs by far.

Sin held us by a stronger cord, yet by thy mercy, free we are. So the book of Exodus is the redemption of slaves. Of course, you know that the book of Leviticus is the worship of saints.

And if we're to continue that line of things throughout the word of God, then the book of Numbers is the pilgrimage of servants. In the book of Numbers, service is predominant in the book, and sad to say, it's the record of the failure of the servants. I'm very thankful for the fact that whenever God gives us truth in his word, he gives it to us in the lives, in the experiences of his people.

I'm certain that many of the truths that are found in the Old Testament would not have the effect upon us that they have were it not for the fact that those truths are presented to us in the lives of men and women. In other words, when God gives truth, he gives illustrations of it. In the book of Numbers, there's no exception to that.

When I look at the book of Numbers, I think of four men, four prominent men in this book. There are others, of course, who are prominent in the book of Numbers, but these four seem to stand out beyond the rest. Of course, there's Moses, and I think of Moses as a leader and his lessons.

A man spoke once on the epistle of Paul to Timothy and called the first epistle of Paul to Timothy a leader-led. So I would suggest to you that in the book of Numbers, you have a leader and the lessons that he learned. But in the book of Numbers, you have a man by the name of Caleb, and he's a beautiful picture to us of a true disciple, and of course, his devotion is described for us in detail in this book.

The first time you read about Caleb, you read that he wholly followed the Lord. He was a devoted disciple. So Moses was a leader who learned lessons.

Caleb was a disciple who gives us examples of devotion. Of course, in this book, you read of a very strange character by the name of Balaam, and we'll be speaking about him in one of the nights in the future, if the Lord will, and Balaam is a doctor. A learned man, a man of great natural skill, but he had very bad doctrines.

And then you have a man by the name of Phinehas. You read about him in chapter 25. He was a great warrior for God, and you read about his weapons.

So the book of Numbers is really divided into those characters, and of course, Moses is the predominant one among them. What we've started to read tonight is the anticipation of the march. They had been at Sinai now for over 11 months, and the pillar of cloud is about to move.

The trumpets are about to sound, because Numbers chapter 10 describes the two silver trumpets that were used to sound the time for the journeying of the camp of Israel. And after almost a year at Sinai, I can anticipate the fact that these people were ready to move. I believe if God's people today were listening for the trumpet, it's not the two silver trumpets of redemption that Israel were waiting to hear, but were waiting for the trumpet of the Lord to sound, were waiting for marching orders to, and we believe that it must be very, very near.

There were preparations made for the journey, and we've been looking at some of those preparations in the nights that have passed. At Sinai the law was given, and at Sinai the priests were ordained to serve the Lord, and our subject last night in the meeting was the consecration of the priests. The sacrifices were prescribed for them, and of course you have them in the book of Leviticus, and the tabernacle was constructed, and we were speaking about the tabernacle on Monday night.

And now you have a people who are fitted for the journey ahead, a people who were not to be sent out into the wilderness unequipped, without proper preparation from God, and if ever there were a people who were prepared and fitted and supplied, then it must be this people. God had done all that love and power and grace could do. He had met their need for worship.

He had met their need for war. He had met their need for work, and they were going out under the commandment of the Lord. We read that tonight in chapter 10 of Numbers.

The Lord was going to lead them through this wilderness. Chapters 1 to 5 of the book of Numbers describe the order of the camp, and we may come back to that in a night to come. Chapter 5 particularly describes the purity of the camp.

God must dwell amongst the holy people, for he is a holy God. That to me is always a very solemn lesson. Whenever I think of gathering in a local assembly with the people of God, I'm constantly reminded of the fact that it's a holy place, for it's the dwelling place of God.

Many a time I've thought of the words of Jacob, this is a fearful place, this is a place of awe. A dreadful place is what our English Bible says. This is the house of God, and where God dwells in holiness in the midst of his people, he demands holiness around him.

And so chapter 5 of the book of Numbers describes the fact that the camp must be kept clean. There must be purity, for God dwells in the midst, a holy God. And this is something that's so lacking in the world around us today, and the fear of God is disappearing from the hearts of men, and lawlessness and irreverence, godlessness is the rule of our time, and as God's people we need constant reminders of the fact that the Holy Lord himself is in the midst of his people, and that the body of every believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit of God.

The Lord Jesus in John chapter 16 calls him the Spirit, the Holy One. And so God was in the midst of his people, and when the pillar of cloud rose, and the silver trumpet sounded, they were ready for the march. The Nazarite that's described for us in chapter 6 is an interlude in this book of Numbers, and we're not going to take time to read from chapter 6 or to speak about it, only to say that the Nazarite was a man who was especially separated to God.

He would not drink wine or strong drink. In fact, he wouldn't even eat of the fruit of the vine. He wouldn't even eat of grapes.

The Nazarite was a man who was saying he was wholly devoted to God, and he was willing to sacrifice personal comforts. He was willing to sacrifice personal desires. He was willing to lay aside all that was attractive to a man in the flesh that he might serve God devotedly with all his heart.

This is so lacking among us today, true devotion to Christ, that I believe we could well take up Numbers chapter 6 if we had the time, but I said at the beginning of the meeting that it would be a real tragedy to leave you in the wilderness, and I don't want to do that. There is a true Nazarite. The Lord Jesus Christ is the antitype of the Nazarite of Numbers chapter 6. Of course, the long hair of the Nazarite was a mark of his reproach.

It was a mark of shame. I'm going to stop just for a moment and explain something that has been asked. Many a time this question comes up and it has come up since I've been here.

Are these pictures of the Lord Jesus at all accurate? Men do not know what he looked like. The New Testament never once describes his physical features. Not once.

But did he have long hair? If the Lord Jesus had long hair, I say if he did, it was the mark of a Nazarite in the nation of Israel. And if you ask me if those men of those early Christian days wore long hair, I'm going to say something strange to you. They didn't.

Not if they knew Paul, they didn't. Because Paul says, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him. Why did the Nazarites wear long hair? Because they were denying their natural right.

Because they had devoted themselves entirely to God. And because they were saying by their long hair, I even give up my right to manhood. The Lord Jesus was the true Nazarite.

He was truly devoted to God every day of his life. And only the Lord Jesus could fully fulfill the type of Numbers chapter 6. The children of Israel had every provision for the march. You know, Moses was fearful before they started out.

I think I can understand why. You see, when these people came out of the land of Egypt, they were not under the law of Sinai. I'm not saying they were lawless.

I think we've tried to point that out in nights past that they were not lawless. God has no lawless children. Every one of God's children are under authority to Christ as Lord.

They were not lawless. But they were not under the law of Sinai. And God was dealing with them in a very gracious way as they journeyed through the wilderness.

In fact, at the Red Sea, whenever they rebelled and murmured and complained and cried that they were going to perish, instead of God visiting them in judgment, God visited them in grace and told them to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And the sea opened up before them. And of course, that's what happened all throughout those two months of journeying until they got to Sinai.

But now Moses is more fearful. Why? The people have put themselves under law. Three times they have said all that the Lord has commanded we will do.

And God has taken them on the ground now of the covenant of Sinai. And so Moses is more fearful. And in chapter 10, he read about Hobab.

Moses longing that he would go with them. He would know where the wells of water were. He would know the best places to camp.

But wasn't the pillar of cloud going to lead them? Wasn't the Lord going to lead his people? Although the Spirit of God doesn't comment on this from verse 29 to the end of chapter 10 of the Numbers, I take it that when Moses turned to a man to guide them, it was really a lack of faith on Moses' part. And I almost hesitate to say that, for there never was a servant of God like Moses other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And yet Moses did more than, at least God did more than Moses asked.

When Moses longed that Hobab might go before them to guide them, God did far more. God allowed the ark to go before them to guide them. You read that in verse 33, the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them.

Three days journey, death, burial, and resurrection. The Lord was going before them. The trumpets that sounded, the silver trumpets of chapter 10 are very interesting, and I would like to take time to speak about them, but I'm not going to do that tonight.

I would suggest to you that what we have before us tonight is made up of three very simple truths. The first is the direction for their path. The second is the discontent of the provision God had made.

And the third is their disbelief in the promise of God. Now, the journey from Sinai to Kadesh, because that's what we want to occupy ourselves with, and the meeting is already half over, it seems that the time runs so very quickly. But this journey from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea should actually have taken about 11 days.

Actually, it took over two months. Now, these people were making very slow progress. I wonder what kind of progress you're making spiritually.

Are there young believers here tonight? I can tell you that the progress you make in the early days of Christian experience will mark you all the rest of your Christian life. The progress these people made was very, very slow, and we're going to learn why in a moment. And I almost hesitate even to launch into this subject because, you see, what we have now is the history of the disobedience of God's earthly people, the rebellion against God, and the wrath of God that was poured out upon them.

Very, very simply, I put it together in my own mind like this. There are actually four stages counting Kadesh on this journey. One of them isn't on this chart, and that's one of the things I'm going to do.

I took about four days, I should say nights, too, in trying to make this chart, and I sat there in the front seat before the meeting and been finding fault with it all this last week and a half. But we should have a place about here marked Taborah. So Taborah, Kibreth, Hanavah, Hazorah, and Kadesh mark four stages in what should have been an 11-day journey from Sinai to Kadesh.

And where was Kadesh? Well, you can see this on the chart at least. It was on the exact borders of Canaan. From Sinai it was only 11 days to the Promised Land.

And if I were to ask the youngest believer here tonight how long it took them to get there, could you tell me? It took 39 years. It took 39 years to travel a distance of an 11-day journey because of their unbelief. So there are some solemn lessons.

Now these four stages on the journey I put together in my mind like this. First of all, distrust of the way. And I'll say that to me that's what Taborah teaches, distrust of the way.

I would say that Kibreth, Hanavah teaches dissatisfaction with the food. I would say that Hazor teaches discontent with the leader. And Kadesh, the disaster of unbelief.

So we have some solemn lessons before us tonight. Now first of all, in chapter 11 of Numbers, you read that they journeyed to this place called Tiberah, Taborah. They named it that because of a burning in the camp.

Here's what strikes me when I read this. Can it be so quickly that judgment fell? They had only moved from Mount Sinai and already a people fully provided for the journey with a pillar of cloud going before them with the sound of the twin silver trumpets in the camp. And they've only gone such a short distance and already they begin to murmur and complain about the journey and about the way that they must take.

And God visits them with judgment. Whether Moses heard this complaining, I don't know as I said when I was reading it. But God in heaven heard it.

They were discontent. There was distrust of the way that God was leading them. And immediately God visits them with judgment.

Now that's something different, isn't it? Do you remember here when they complained about the bitter waters of Marah and God answered in grace and showed Moses a tree? And when he had cut it down, he cast it into the waters of Marah and they were made sweet. You remember at Rephidim when they complained of their thirst and they murmured bitterly against Moses and complained that the Lord should have let them die in Egypt rather than die here in this barren, lifeless desert. And God instead of visiting them with judgment, visited them with mercy and grace and kindness.

Whenever they complained about the fact that they had no food and they would all starve to death, God says, I will rain, not fire and brimstone from heaven upon them, but I will rain bread from heaven for them. So you see, against a complaining, murmuring, rebellious people, God had been the God of grace. But you see, they're on the ground of law now.

And at Taborah, when they begin to murmur against God, immediately the fire of God's judgment burns against them. I'll tell you one thing I learned from this. I'm glad I'm under grace.

I appreciate the fact that I have not received what I deserve. And if there's an unsaved sinner in the meeting tonight, let me tell you, my friend, never ask God what that younger son asked his father in Luke 15. Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me, he said.

And if God gave me the portion of goods that falleth to me, my soul would be in hell and I would spend an endless eternity in a place where there's no light and no rest and no ease forever. Thank God He hath not dealt with us after our sins. Psalm 103 says, He hath not rewarded us according to our iniquities.

We're not a people under law. We have no unsovereign grace or sin abounding. And at Taborah, murmuring, complaining, even if it was only in the heart, was visited instantly by judgment.

But at Kibra, Hadovah, there was dissatisfaction with the food. The mixed multitude who had come with them out of the land of Egypt. And if you ask me who they were, I would have to use my imagination and I don't believe in doing that in the word of God.

So I can go no further than the Bible goes. They were a mixed multitude. I can tell you some things they never had.

They had never been under the blood on the night of the Passover. They had never known what it was to be redeemed. They were unregenerate.

They were unsaved people. And there are unsaved people who come in among God's people at times and even get into assembly fellowship. They'll always be the cause of trouble.

There'll always be a great problem to the people of God because they weren't satisfied with the manna. They had no real appreciation of Christ. And that's why we've been saying in these meetings night after night, the measure of my appreciation of Christ will be the measure of my spiritual growth.

It'll be the measure that God finds delight in me. Because we were speaking the other night of the peace offering and of the fact that God partook of the very food of which the high priest, the priests, the Levites, and the people all partook of. They all fared upon the same sacrifice.

They all had delight in the same peace offering. And every child of God is brought into the fellowship of the Father and of His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. 1 John chapter 1 tells us.

And so we are feasting on what delights the heart of God. And that manna was a picture of Christ. The mixed multitude had no desire for Christ.

1 Corinthians 1 and 18, the preaching of a cross is to them that perish tasteless. But sad to say the mixed multitude had their effect upon Israel because we read tonight in chapter 11 that it wasn't only the mixed multitude who despised the manna. But Israel murmured and complained and wept in the ears of Moses and of Aaron.

And they complained of the fact that they had to eat manna that tasted like wafers made with fresh oil. And you remember when they first got that manna, what it tasted like? It was like wafers made with honey. Somehow or other the tasted got changed in this year and two months.

Or it's only a year really since they had the manna. The taste had changed for them and now what had once been like wafers made with honey was like wafers made with fresh oil. I wonder if I lost my taste for the word of God that speaks of Christ.

If I have, how do I get it back again? Well, from these people you have some very solemn lessons. They actually that day they lusted, it tells us, for flesh to eat because they were dissatisfied with what God had given them. You know, if there are unsaved people among God's people there's one thing that's very certain.

They won't be satisfied with the simplicity of the assembly gathering. There isn't beautiful singing. There isn't entertainment.

There isn't anything that's attractive to the natural man. There's not the size even. There isn't the outward appearance of buildings.

And lots of times there isn't even the skillfulness and the professionalism that's so evident in the clergy. And so what is there to attract? Listen friend, if the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't attract you, nothing else will do. Jeremiah chapter 2 says, I remember thee.

God is speaking of this people Israel when they come out of Egypt. And he said, I remember thee. The kindness of thy youth and the love of thine espousals.

And that's the only place in the Old Testament that word is found. It means the love of a bride for her new husband. The love of thine espousals.

Listen, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, was God was the attraction. How under is the Lord the attraction in the midst of his people? God's people were so affected by the complaining of the mixed multitude that they lusted for flesh. And they called the manna this light bread.

This light bread. That's chapter 21 of Numbers. They despised it.

And they called it this light bread. You know, I've known people who, we had this happen just recently. People came to meetings we were having.

We were preaching the gospel. And we were, we were preaching the gospel as simply as we can preach it. That's the only way to preach the gospel.

Just as simply as you know how to preach it. And these people came to the meetings and they said, is this, is this all you preach? We've been out three or four nights and you always seem to preach the same. Well, we said to them, all we have to preach is man's ruin and God's remedy.

So we can assure you that when we preach the gospel, we're preaching sin, death, and judgment. And a bleeding, crucified Savior who has risen from the dead by the mighty power of God. And we don't know any other message at all.

But you see, they had no real ear for that message. It was just Christ. And this mixed multitude had no real taste for Christ.

And so they began to murmur and complain bitterly. And God said he would give them flesh to eat. And he allowed these quails to come up from the sea, likely from the Arabian Gulf, and came over the camp so that the people could strike them down.

And there were so many of them that they laid them out in the sun to dry and they ate them for a month. And God said they would eat them until they came out of their nostrils. And we read tonight that while the flesh was between their teeth, a plague from God struck the camp.

And multitudes of them were slain. Perhaps tomorrow night or the night following we'll be pointing out the fact that in all these years in this wilderness they never grew at all. In fact, the nation of Israel diminished.

The judging hand of God was upon them for their unbelief. So dissatisfaction with the food is a costly business. I wonder, am I really satisfied with a simple fare? I was thinking of the words of Paul when he wrote to the Corinthians.

He said, with simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our testimony among you as also among other Gentiles. I thank God for the simplicity and the godly sincerity. You know, it's one of the preservatives for God's people that there's nothing to attract the mixed multitude.

Nothing. And when there's nothing to attract them, they'll soon become dissatisfied. But God preserves us from taking after their ways and being like them.

Dissatisfaction with the man. At Hazareth, the problem is increasing. First of all, it was distrust of the way.

Then it was dissatisfaction with the food. And now it's discontent with the leader. And in chapter 12, Miriam seems to be the leader in this.

And she spoke against Moses. And she said, God had spoken by Aaron and by her as well. And did God only speak by Moses? Now, Aaron seems to have a part in this conspiracy against Moses just as well as Miriam.

And yet Miriam is the one upon whom the leprosy falls. Miriam becomes a leper. And for seven days she remains outside the camp smitten with leprosy until Moses, from his heart of hearts, cried, Lord, heal her.

And you know the word that he used? Not Jehovah, but El, Elohim, the God of creation. Because he was speaking of creatorial power and he cries for God to heal her. That was grace on the part of Moses because she had tried to speak against him.

Aaron was a weak man in many ways. You remember at the foot of the mount when the people cried that Moses was as for this fellow that they said, We wish not what has become of him. And Moses tried to tell, at least Aaron tried to tell Moses when he came down from the mount that he threw the gold of their earrings and bracelets into the fire and this calf came out.

It just walked right out of the fire. Of course, he forgot to mention the fact that he used an engraving tool and formed it, but you would think it just walked out whole. Of course, that's not the way it was.

Aaron seemed to be a man who was easily influenced by the temper, by the feelings of the people. It's a good thing he wasn't in Moses' place. On this occasion, Moses who is the meekest man in all the earth, he makes no mention whatever before the Lord of the murmuring against him.

But God was angry and God visited it with judgment. You know, even at Hazareth, I've learned a lesson today. I've been thinking about Hazareth today and about the complaining against Moses.

You see, all the time it was the leader that they were speaking against. Whether it was the way they were traveling or the food they were eating, it was really the leader that they were discontent with. I tell you, when the heart grows cold to Christ, nothing will be right.

If there's a brother or a sister away from God in heart, the brethren will be wrong. You'll be able to find all kinds of fault with them. You'll be able to complain about the oversight.

You'll complain about the way the sisters act. You'll have all kinds of fault to find with God's people. What's the real trouble? Well, it's what happened in the churches of Galatia.

I marvel that you are so soon removed from Christ. And I was thinking of that today on this short little journey from Sinai to Kadesh. You'd have to say about these people, I marvel that you are so soon in such a spiritual state.

And yet, what an answer to it I find in my own heart. I'm thankful to God for the sin offering. We read the other night without commenting on it that for Aaron, the high priest, there had to be a sin offering offered.

A young bullock was taken and it was killed and its blood was shed. And the blood was put upon the four horns of the altar and carried into the holy place and sprinkled upon the veil. Aaron needed such a sacrifice.

Hebrews 7, in contrast to that, tells us such a high priest becomes us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens who needed not as those high priests an offering for sin. Thank God we have a sinless high priest. We have a deathless high priest.

We have an unfailing high priest. He's our great high priest above. And he's the great intercessor for his people.

So even in the failure of Aaron, I learn of the blessedness of my perfect great high priest. At Kadish, you have the disaster of unbelief. And I'm going to try to speak very quickly on what happened at Kadish.

Let me tell you first of all that this is one of the greatest crises in all the history of Israel. Not only the history that this little chart encompasses, but in all the history of God's earthly people, Kadish Barnea stands out. And I'll tell you why in a very simple way.

First of all, it was the end of their journeyings. If you look up above me on the chart, this is something we haven't pointed out as yet. Here you have Israel in the wilderness.

Here you have Israel journeying. Now so far they've been journeying. When I say they've been journeying, they've been travelers to the land of promise.

They've been moving on slowly at times with murmuring retaliation and complaining in the camp with every mark of failure about those two million people. And yet, they have been journeying. Kadish marks the end of the journey.

Kadish marks the beginning of the wandering. Kadish was the place of return when they finally got restored to God. And Kadish was the spot from which they started out finally, almost 40 years later, for the land of Canaan.

So Kadish is a vital point in the history of the nation of Israel. Now, from Kadish, spies were sent into the land. They were on the very borders of the land of Canaan.

And in Numbers, chapter 13, you read that these spies were sent out. Whose plan was it to send the spies? I've often heard preachers speaking about this. You've likely heard ministry about this in the past.

Whose plan to send the spies? If you only read Numbers, chapter 13, you would think that it was Moses' plan to send the spies. But I'm going to suggest to you, of course, that it wasn't merely Moses' plan at all. But you'd say, well surely it was God's plan to send the spies because the Lord said to him, I'll read the verse to you, and the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Send thou men.

And so it must have been the Lord's plan to send the spies. No, friend, it wasn't the Lord's plan to send the spies. Strange to say.

You see, Numbers 13 doesn't give us the entire story, but Deuteronomy, chapter 1, does. And if you compare Deuteronomy 1 and 22 with Numbers, chapter 13, you'll find whose plan it was to send the spies. It was unbelievers in the nation of Israel.

They murmured against God and they demanded that they know something of the land that they were going into. And finally, it's like a dog pulling at the leash all the time and trying to get away, and finally the owner just lets it go. And that's what God did with these people.

He finally just let them go. They had been pulling for so long and finally God said, Away you go! And he allowed them to go. So it was the people's plan to send the spies and it was a real mark of unbelief.

Do you know who these spies were? They were the princes of the twelve tribes. A prince from every tribe was sent into the land. Every one of them a ruler, we read.

That's why their report had so much effect. I tell you, if you're a leader among God's people, every step is watched, every word is followed, and we ought to pray for those who have responsibility, who have leadership among the people of God. I think we pray for them very, very little, brethren.

Very little. And sometimes the best they get is a lot of criticism. They tell you that all you need to be an assembly overseer is a skin like a rhinoceros and a heart like a mother.

And I tell you, you do need the skin, all right? Any man who's in the public eye at all, he certainly can't have some kind of tender skin or he'll be constantly wounded. These men were princes among the people of God and there was failure on the part of the princes. Ten of them brought back an evil report of the land and two brought back the report that we are well able to go in and possess it for the Lord has promised it to us.

The promise was despised there at Kadesh. What promise? Well, a way back in Exodus chapter 3 when Israel were still in bondage in the land of Egypt, God had said, I will bring you out with a high hand and I will bring you to a good land and a rich, a land flowing with milk and honey. God had promised to take them into that land and to give it to them for an inheritance and it was at Kadesh that they despised the promise of God.

You know, the fact is their hearts had already gone back to Egypt. Their hearts were in Egypt. You can't do much with Christians if their hearts are in the world.

Don't try to minister Christ to them. Don't try to have ministry meetings and teach them from the word of God. You might as well have a lot of empty chairs and speak to the chairs.

If their hearts are in Egypt, you're going to do nothing with them until first of all God reaches their hearts. These are God's people. These are the people who are under the blood and here's a people whose hearts are already in Egypt.

And even Moses, God bless him, the dear man that he was, he said to the spies, go in and see what kind of a land it is, whether it's good or bad. God said it was good. See what the fruit of it's like.

God said it flowed with milk and honey. See if we can take it. God said I'll give it to you.

Even Moses was affected. And this unbelief at Kadesh is a great tragedy. Do you know Psalm 95 says about it that it was the day of provocation.

Hebrews chapter 3 is describing that day when it says, take heed brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. And then the writer to the Hebrews reminds us of that awful day at Kadesh when the unbelief of the people caused such disaster. And I don't think anyone will take that from me that Kadesh Barnea is the disaster of unbelief.

So we have the plan and we have the princes and we have the promise to spies and we have the proposal let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt. Their heart was already there and now they said let's go back to Egypt again. Back to the bondage.

Back to the slavery. Back to the taskmasters. Let us go back to Egypt.

At least they had enough sense to know Moses wouldn't take them back. They didn't say Moses take us back to Egypt. They said we'll make a captain and we'll return into Egypt.

And then the provocation. It says they despised the pleasant land and they turned away and even though Caleb tried to still the people oh thank God for Caleb we'll try to speak some more of Caleb in the next couple of nights if the Lord helps. Caleb stilled the people.

Why in a time of unrest and disturbance among the people of God in a time of unbelief and departure from God how good it is to have a man like Caleb who wholly followed the Lord and he could still the people. But it was of no avail on this occasion they had made up their minds. They had despised the pleasant land and they would not go in and they turned back again into the wilderness.

And then God through Moses tells them of the penalty that will fall upon them. They're never to enter the land. God wants us to visit them.

The whole generation is to perish in 38 years of wandering in this great wilderness of sin. And when they hear of the wrath of God that's to fall they'll say we'll go in and take the land. No wonder the Bible says be not like the horse or like the mule.

The horse that rushes in and the mule that pulls back. First of all they were like the mule and then they were going to be like the horse. But you see none of it would do.

Ten times they had provoked God throughout their wilderness wanderings and on the tenth time God says you're not going in. And they didn't. And of all that company who were men of war 20 years old and upward only two men went in.

Caleb the son of Jethunah and Joshua the son of Nun. The two spies who came back were the good report of the land. How costly unbelief is.

Sometimes we say you know kind of almost as if we were expressing our humility. Well I should have more faith or I don't have very much faith or something like that. Ah brethren it's not an expression of humility.

It's an admission of sin. And there it caters their unbelief brought disaster. And for 38 years they were at a standstill.

They didn't journey. They wandered away from God. And God's judging hand was upon them.

Until 1 Corinthians 10 says their carcasses were strewn along in the wilderness. It's a solemn thing to be a child of God. It's a solemn thing to have called upon us the name of the Lord.

To be a Christian to be a believer to be in an assembly of God's people is a solemn thing. The Lord is in the midst. Revelation 1 he walks as a judge in the midst of his people.

We can learn from Israel. First of all it was distrust of the way. Can't you trust God with your days? You trusted Him with your soul.

Can't you trust Him with the path? There was dissatisfaction with the food. Does the word of God not mean your very life to you? Is it not more to you than your necessary food? Can you say like Jeremiah thy words were found and I did eat them and my word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart? What about the leader? What about Christ? Does he fill your heart? Do you have a warm heart for Christ? And the tragedy is they were under the disciplining hand of God and turned back to wander in that desert. God help us that we might learn from them because the things that happen unto them all these things happen unto them as an example and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the age are come.

Just let me leave you with one word. I've gone a couple of minutes over the time tonight and I've been trying not to do that but I believe that the pillar cloud that rose and told them the time had come to march is a word of comfort to us. Behold, the pillar cloud is rising now and moving onward through the desert night.

It beckons and we follow for we know it leads us to the heritage of light. Brethren, I believe the cloud is about to lift. I believe the trumpet is about to sound.

We're on the borders of the land. We're soon going in. God help us that we might be watching and waiting and ready.

Shall we pray? Our Father, we give Thee thanks now for the word of God tonight and ask that Thou would be pleased to speak to us through it. How many solemn lessons there are in Thy word and Lord, we humbly pray that we might remember and lay them to heart. We ask that Thou would bless each one who has come and meet them in their individual need.

Warm our hearts toward Christ. Give us fresh appreciations of Him. Help us, Lord, that we might put into practice what we know.

Go on to know the Lord and practice what we know. Remember us now as we separate. Accept our thanks for the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He is in His own blessed, glorious person and all that He has done on our behalf at Calvary in His worthy name.

Amen.