Word of Salvation – February 2011
Numbers 14 – WATERSHED DECISIONS – by Rev. John Westendorp
(Sermon 14 in a series on Numbers)
Scripture Reading: Numbers 14
Theme: Two watershed decisions – one from unbelief, the other from faith – that had momentous results.
Introduction: In 1997 I stood on the Columbian Ice Fields in Canada.
It’s one of only two places in the world that is a triple continental divide.
What that means is that a snowflake falling at the centre of the Ice Fields can go any of 3 ways.
If it falls in one place if ends up in the Artic Ocean.
If it falls a little further one way it ends up in the Pacific Ocean.
And if it falls a little in the opposite direction it ends up in the Atlantic.
In a less spectacular way the city of Toowoomba is also on a continental divide.
A drop of rain falling on top of the escarpment can flow in either of two directions.
It can end up flowing eastward and end up in the Pacific Ocean.
Or it can go westward into the Condamine and then into the Murray-Darling system.
In that case that drop of water ends up in the Southern Ocean.
We speak of those two possibilities as watersheds.
One way ends up in the watershed of the Brisbane River.
The other ends up in the watershed of the Condamine.
That’s what lies behind the idea of making what we call “watershed decisions”.
Decisions that make a huge difference… that change your whole direction in life.
Let me give a personal example: it was a watershed decision for me to marry a second time.
That not only affected me for the rest of my life.
It also impacted Merle and her daughter Leah for the rest of their lives.
Furthermore it impacted all the children from my first marriage.
Here in Numbers 14 we have two of those momentous decisions… watershed decisions.
Decisions that impacted the whole nation of Israel for generations to come.
So much so that even the NT – in the book of Hebrews – takes up this matter.
A] THE DECISION THAT WAS MOTIVATED BY UNBLIEF.
1. Numbers 14 begins with a pity party… with people feeling sorry for themselves.
Israel have travelled a little over a year through the wilderness to the borders of the Promised Land.
Twelve spies have now checked out the land of Canaan… and ten bring back a negative report.
It’s hopeless folks! Their cities are fortified… the natives are tough… the land is harsh.
And the reaction of the people is as instantaneous as it is passionate.
“That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.”
There was an atmosphere of despair in the camp of the Israelites.
But it doesn’t just remain a matter of personal despair and grief.
Pity parties love gate-crashers. Feeling sorry for yourself becomes contagious.
You want others to join you in feeling bad.
So we notice very quickly (in Numbers 14) that there is a rapid progression.
Before the night is over the despair has turned to grumbling.
They grumble against Moses and Aaron… and of course against the Lord.
“Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?”
And it doesn’t end there. The grumbling turns into outright rebellion against God.
When you check out the verbs… the action words… in the opening verses you sense their passion.
Their emotions have been aroused… and they then act on those emotions.
And they continue with that despite all the efforts of Joshua to give a balanced picture.
It’s an amazing scene of how negativity totally takes over in the life of a community.
2. What follows in Numbers 14 is really quite incredible.
The decision is made by the people to return to Egypt. They even talk about choosing a new leader.
“We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
Do you find that an incredible decision? Think about it…!
These people had been slaves in Egypt!
They had felt the whips of their taskmasters across their backs.
Their boy babies had been thrown into the Nile by a King determined to exterminate them.
And now they want to go back there…? You’ve got to be kidding…!
And then I haven’t even mentioned the amazing ways in which God showed His saving power.
The plagues God visited on Egypt: everything from blood in the Nile to the death of the firstborn.
There was the amazing scene by the Red Sea as the waters drew back and they crossed over.
The manna God had sent them daily from heaven… and water out of a rock.
How on earth can people be so blind?
The reality is that God’s whole saving plan for Israel is now rejected.
Why? Because the basic issue here in Numbers 14 is unbelief.
That’s why Hebrews chap. 3 picks up on this story.
Hebrews was written to Christians who wanted to turn their back on Jesus.
It was too hard being a Christian. So they too wanted to go back. Back to Judaism.
And that, brothers and sisters, is the ultimate watershed decision: your decision about Jesus.
That not only impacts the whole direction of your life here on earth.
That impacts your life for all of the endless ages of eternity.
3. Because this watershed decision is basically a matter of unbelief it’s downhill all the way for Israel.
For these people that watershed is really a steep slippery slope… and they can’t stop.
Things rapidly deteriorate into death and ruination – despite some seeming repentance.
Consider what happens in the rest of the story:
Our reading finished at verse 35 – but the story doesn’t end there.
Immediately after that we’re told that the 10 spies that spread a bad report were punished:
These men… were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord.
The next morning, when some of them still try to enter Canaan, they are thrashed by their enemies.
And the worst of it is that their entry into the Promised Land is delayed by a huge forty years.
All because of the unbelief of these Israelites. What a watershed decision…!
You may say, “Yes, but there is some evidence of repentance amongst the people.”
Vs. 39: when Moses brings God’s response to the people, the Israelites mourn bitterly.
Well, let me tell you that this is not the mourning of true repentance before God.
This mourning is like the grief of a man who has been found out to have affair.
He grieves… not over his sin of unfaithfulness… but because he’s been found out.
This is the grief of the robber… because he’s got to give back the lovely money he stole.
This is not genuine repentance… and because it isn’t they suffer death and ruination.
Do you see how this highlights the gravity of spiritual decision making?
So often in life we are just one bad decision away from disaster.
These folk have rejected the Word of God… and the goodness of God… and the power of God.
All because of unbelief. Because they allowed negativity to get them into a downward spiral.
As if God would do all things He had done for them and then at the last minute abandon them.
This is why the book of Hebrews cautions us against hardening our hearts against the Lord God.
Our biggest watershed decision in life ought to be a decision for Jesus and for His Kingdom.
B] THE DECISION THAT WAS MOTIVATED BY FAITH.
1. There is a second watershed decision in this chapter… it’s a decision made by Moses.
Let me summarise the story to put you in the picture
When the people make their decision to go back to Egypt, Moses and Aaron fall on their faces.
They do that in the realisation of the terrible sin Israel has committed in rejecting God.
At that point Joshua and Caleb also act – they tear their clothes.
And they speak out their confidence that Israel can overcome the Canaanites.
They remind the Israelites that God is on their side.
And that therefore they don’t need to fear the Canaanites.
But by now the people are so worked up that they threaten to stone Joshua and Caleb
It’s at that crucial moment that God appears.
Or at least – His glory appears in front of the Tent of Meeting.
God personally intervenes in this sad episode of Israel hardening their hearts to God.
When God then speaks He speaks to Moses.
He makes this surprising proposal to Moses.
God suggests destroying these people and beginning over afresh with Moses:
I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them,
but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they..
2. I don’t know how you feel about what God proposes here to Moses..
But if I had been Moses at that point I would have been so very tempted to say:
What a great idea, Lord. I’m definitely in favour of that proposal. Bring it on Lord!
Hey… there were several instances where Moses is at the end of His tether with these people.
Ten times they have not only tested God but they have also made life difficult for Moses.
And please remember: it is not Moses’ idea to begin a new nation from his children.
God came up with that idea. He made the suggestion.
So why shouldn’t Moses agree with what the Lord is suggesting?
Okay – I know there’s the possibility of a terrible ego trip in there too somewhere.
Think about it: one day there would have been a nation called the ‘Mosesites‘.
More than that: Jesus the Messiah would then have been born out of Moses’ family.
What a privilege… what an honour… and what a recipe for an ego trip.
That raises a question: how serious was God really in beginning over afresh with Moses?
Would God really have destroyed Israel and begun a new nation with Moses?
I prefer to think of this as God testing Moses… to see how he will react.
We need to remember that Moses is one of the great Christ figures in the O.T.
By that we mean that Moses in so many ways foreshadows the coming Messiah.
Also as the great Mediator between God and man.
And therefore also the one who constantly prays for the people… as Jesus does now.
In the light of that it’s interesting that God doesn’t just do it…. He could have wiped Israel off the map.
But He didn’t. Instead He talks to Moses about it.
It’s almost as if God is cueing in His great O.T. mediator.
And as a result of Moses praying for the people lives are saved… Israel is not destroyed.
There’s a lesson in that for us this morning.
It’s another powerful reminder that God listens to those who pray for others.
And especially that God listens to those who pray for the salvation of others. So let’s do it.
3. So we have this second great watershed decision of Numbers 14.
\The first watershed decision is that of the people: the decision to return to Egypt,
The second watershed decision is that of Moses who will not entertain the idea of God starting afresh.
That’s another watershed decision.
It had huge implications Moses Himself.
He would not become the greater and stronger nation that God was talking about.
It had huge implications for the Israelite people.
It meant that they were not immediately pulverised into oblivion by Almighty God.
Not only is this watershed decision significantly different – so is the motivation for it.
Israel’s motivation for going back to Egypt was their unbelief.
Moses’ motivation to stay and pray was motivated by the glory of God.
Not by selfishness… but by the honour of God before the watching world.
Moses argues that if God destroys Israel the surrounding nations will raise all kinds of questions.
They will question both God’s power and His goodness.
His power because just maybe God wasn’t able to bring them into the Promised Land.
His goodness because just maybe God didn’t love them enough to bring them home.
I appreciate the way that Moses’ prayer is motivated by his desire for God to be glorified.
And that’s a good lesson for us. This should motivate all our prayers.
So often our prayers are for things we want and that we feel we need.
And when our prayers are not answered as we wish then we are disappointed.
When the motive for our prayers is God’s glory then that will reshape our prayers.
And it will also reshape our expectations.
When we pray for health and our health does not improve
then we will realise that God can also be glorified by our weakness and frailty.
When we pray for that job we applied for and we don’t get it
then we realise that God can be glorified by Him opening a window elsewhere.
C] THE REVELATION OF GOD’S JUSTICE AND MERCY.
1. Two watershed decisions: one made in unbelief; the other made in faith.
One that focuses on self… the other that focuses on God.
And just as we see in so many other places in the Bible God responds in both justice and mercy.
The justice of God is painfully evident in this chapter.
In fact God gives these Israelites exactly what they asked for.
They decided to return to Egypt…
so God told them that in the morning they would head back that way.
They said it was better to die in the wilderness than at the hands of Canaanites…
so God told them that they would all die in the desert over a forty year period.
It makes us aware that we need to be careful what we wish for and what we pray for.
God may give us exactly what we want… but that may perhaps not be what is best for us.
God is perfectly just … His dealings with us are always with complete justice.
We see that too in that the children are graciously spared for the land of Canaan.
These children would obviously not have been intentionally involved in their parent’s decision.
Israel had feared for the safety of its children in Canaan.
But God now promises that they will safely enter the land and possess it.
God is a just God. But that also means that this faithless watershed decision had huge implications.
It cost them ten lives immediately. It cost them a lost generation and 40 years in the wilderness.
2. However, God is not only a God who reacts to our decisions with justice.
He is a God of both justice and mercy.
Perhaps you struggle to balance these two aspects of God’s character.
We have this tendency to see God as the one or the other: merciful or just.
Perhaps he’s a God we fear, punishing even the slightest mistakes we make. Justice!
Or maybe he’s a God who is all loving and kind and overlooks even serious sins. Mercy!
But, no! Scripture always balances God’s justice with his mercy.
So mercy is also evident here in God’s response to that watershed decision.
We see it in that God guards and protects the nation till the coming of Jesus.
You see, Messiah must be born.
And God had already said that Messiah would be born as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
That meant that he could not have been born to the family of Moses.
Moses was a Levite… and Jesus would not come out of that tribe.
So God guards and protects the nation … including the tribe of Judah.
Mercy is seen too in that God yet gives people time to come to their senses and repent.
But that mercy flows out of the pleadings of Moses for His people.
Moses – the OT Christ-figure – stands between God and His people.
And it is the work of the Mediator that particularly allows God to be merciful.
3. Today we should live the whole of our lives within those boundaries of God’s justice and mercy.
The problem is that even after all this Israel didn’t do that.
They ignored God’s justice and they presumed on His mercy.
The next morning they went to battle – but they went without God.
They took their weapons and attacked the enemy.
But Moses and the Ark of God remained in the camp: a sign that God was not with them.
Here was yet one more bad decision – to go up and try and conquer the land anyway.
Another decision made in unbelief.
Another decision made in rebellion against God.
They didn’t trust in God – they trusted only in themselves and the enemy thrashed them for it.
I look at those Israelites at the end of the chapter going up to fight.
And they remind me of the Titanic.
Decisions made without God can indeed be watershed decisions.
But they won’t be good decisions… and the consequences are disastrous.
Because they are made within a framework of a false sense of security in human ability.
The Titanic was a new super ship boasting what was then the latest technology.
At her launch it was claimed that even God couldn’t sink her. Well, God did.
So too God will scuttle the decisions that we make in unbelief.
Let me say again that today the greatest watershed decision we can make in life is about Jesus.
Right now some of us maybe balancing on the edge of that continental divide.
Which way will we go? For Jesus… or against Him?
When we decide to follow Him then He guides us in all our other decision making too.
And he enables us to make all our decisions in faith…
for His glory and for our eternal wellbeing.
Some of us are going to be making watershed decisions in the days to come.
Let them be watershed decisions of which Jesus is at the centre.
Amen
The following Outline could be used in a Bulletin or handout or data slide.
Text: Numbers 14 – Watershed Decisions
Theme: Two watershed decisions – one from unbelief, the other from faith – that had momentous results.
Introd: The idea of a continental divide producing a watershed. Here watershed decisions taken up in the NT.
A] THE DECISION THAT WAS MOTIVATED BY UNBLIEF.
1. The situation that progresses from despair (a pity party) through grumbling to rebellion against God.
This despite Joshua’s intervention. Shows how negativity totally takes over in the life of a community.
2. The incredible decision is made to return to Egypt. They even talk about choosing a new leader.
This despite ‘sign’ done by the Lord. His redemptive plan is rejected. The basic issue is unbelief.
3. Rapid deterioration takes place and climaxes in death and ruination – despite seeming repentance.
Highlights the gravity of spiritual decision making. Hebrews cautions against hardening our hearts.
B] THE DECISION THAT WAS MOTIVATED BY FAITH.
1. God’s intervention (the glory of God appearing) happens when the people threaten to stone Joshua.
God suggests destroying the people and beginning over afresh with Moses: a greater/stronger nation.
2. Tempting for Moses to agree with God. He too has suffered. After all it’s God’s suggestion, not his.
An attractive ego-trip for Moses to have a nation of ‘Mosesites‘. But really God cueing in His mediator.
3. Moses makes a watershed decision with huge implications for Israel and himself. He pleads for them.
But Moses is motivated not by self but by the glory and the honour of God before the watching world.
C] THE REVELATION OF GOD’S JUSTICE AND MERCY.
1. The justice of God is evident in that He gives them exactly what they asked for. Returned to Egypt.
The implication of their decision cost them, ten lives, a lost generation and forty years in the wilderness.
2. The mercy of God is evident in that He guards and protects the nation till the coming of Jesus.
But flows out of the pleadings of the OT Christ-figure who stands between God and His people.
3. We live within the boundaries of God’s justice and mercy. Israel didn’t but went to battle without God.
Without the presence of God (the Ark) to guide them. A false sense of security (like the Titanic).
For further discussion over lunch or in home groups:
1. Consider some ‘watershed decisions’ you’ve had to make. How have they impacted your life? Others?
2. How does selfishness instead of the motivation of God’s glory spoil so many of our prayers?