What another awesome
passage of God’s Word!
What’s so Awesome About Consequences?
Maybe that expression
caught you by surprise. Maybe after
reading that line you thought that you ought to check with the schedule to make
sure that you read the same chapter that I did.
You probably read stuff about God’s judgment against the people. You probably read words about a great defeat
of the Hebrew people. You might wonder
how such a passage could so boldly – if not rashly – be called an awesome
passage of God’s Word.
Here’s why. God is a just God, slow to anger. He is merciful, although He does make
consequences happen regarding transgression against His will. That very nature makes Him just; it does not
prevent Him from being just. Let me give
you an example. How just would it be to
take someone who embezzles a million dollars from a company and give them
absolutely no punishment? It would not
show that our system is just. There must
be some restitution. At the very least,
the people that had the money taken from them must be repaid – or repaid as
well as humanly possible. To ignore
their loss would not show justice. We
can further argue about what other punishments that should be enforced, but
that will detract from this argument. My
point is that there must be some consequence or else it really shows a moment
of injustice, not justice.
However, God is also
gracious. The people rebelled against
God’s will. They deserved to be
abandoned like sheep without a shepherd.
They deserved to be spiritually divorced by God. They deserve to be destroyed so god can begin
again with people who desire to be righteous.
But God does not do this either, even though He would have been just had
He done so. Instead, God demonstrates
His justice by enforcing a real penalty in that none but Caleb and Joshua shall
see the Promised Land. But He shows His grace
by making that penalty far less than is actually deserved. That’s what is so absolutely cool about this
passage. Here we see God’s justice – law – and His grace – Gospel – so very
neatly tied up in one chapter. It is absolutely
phenomenal.
Defeat
Oh yeah. There is the little bit about the battle,
too. That part of passage makes me grin
like an all-knowing parent. Have you
ever watched a parent tell a toddler or young child that they cannot do
something? I’m not talking about someone
saying that what the child is about to do is wrong and against the parent’s
rules. I’m talking about a parent
telling a toddler or child that what they are trying to do is physically
impossible for them to accomplish. As
soon as the parent lets the child, the child tries it anyway! That is exactly what is going on here with
these silly Hebrew people.
God says to them, “As
punishment, you cannot go into the Promised Land. You did not want it enough to trust me, and
you cannot do it on your own.” It is not
so much that God prevents them as it is that they literally cannot do it. When they try to do it on their own power,
they fail miserably and are routed. Oh, those
silly Hebrews.
For the record, I
could easily say, “Oh, those silly Christians,” too. We’re not usually much better. We design these grandiose plans about how
great our church will be. We design
these phenomenal images in our mind of what we can do for God – or even what we
can do on our own for ourselves without God’s help. And we fail.
Sometimes we fail miserably. It’s
just part of being human, really!
Yet again, here we
see God’s justice and grace –His Law and Gospel. God does not prevent the Hebrews from trying
and He does not prevent the consequence of their failure in being routed. But neither does God allow the Hebrew people
to become enslaved by the Amalekites or the Canaanites. They try, fail, and God takes them back in
order to begin their wandering through the desert.
Law and Gospel right
there. Justice and grace. It is what makes this such an awesome
passage.
Joshua and Caleb
I’ve got another message
for those of you willing to keep on reading.
Don’t miss out that Caleb and Joshua are promised to go into the
Promised Land. Why are they allowed to
go? Simply put, they are allowed to go
because they never lose their faith in God.
They live out their faith. They
trust in God’s plan and know that with God nothing is impossible. They already survived the Exodus under God’s
provision, why should they doubt now?
Their faith is
rewarded. They will get to see the
Promised Land.
Hear the promise that
God extends. If we never completely lose
faith, then you and I can see the Promised Land even here and now. We don’t have to die to see God’s Kingdom
come to heaven and earth! Trust solely
in God and follow His guidance and we will see the Promised Land!
We will see the
unfolding of God’s plan for our lives right now. We may need to endure a little time while God
takes care of removing the less-than-faithful from the picture, but those who
stay faithful to God’s Word and His providence will see the Promised Land. That is a powerful promise, one that is made
to all who call upon the Lord and remain in their faith.
That should make you
want to evaluate your life and make sure you are still faithful, eh? I know it does for me!
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