The Integrity of God's Word Is At Stake

This story takes place about one thousand four hundred and ninety years before Jesus Christ.  It could be based on a current events happening now.  It is all about the way we view the promise of God.

The setting takes place at Kadesh-barne-a a holy place. A place God had prepared for them to cross over into the Land of Canaan.  God had made a promise to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation and there would be a Land of Promise for them to dwell in. They arrived at Kadesh Barnea in the first of the month of the third year or exactly 24 months after leaving Egypt. (Numbers 20:1).

It might help if we had a little information on the place Kadesh-barne-a.

• Kadesh-Barnea" as a compound word, is used 10 times. However the place is never referred to as "Barnea" exclusively without Kadesh. The bible refers to the place as "Kadesh" 18 times alone, without "Barnea."         
  
• Barnea" may mean "place of wandering in the desert". So Kadesh Barnea means: The Kadesh where they wandered in the wilderness. However, Smiths Dictionary in 1884 AD said: "Barnea means, desert of wandering". Eastons said this in 1897 AD: "Kadesh: holy, or Kadesh-Barnea, sacred desert of wandering" (Easton's Bible dictionary, 1897 AD.   No modern dictionaries suggest barnea = wilderness/desert wandering. 
•  Kadesh means "holy" and is one of many words that are derived from the parent word that is most commonly translated "holy":"qades: be hallowed, holy, sanctified; to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate." "Kadesh = "holy"." (Strongs enhanced) 
•  Why was the place called Kadesh and when. At the time of Abraham, Kadesh was known as "En-mishpat" Gen 14:7. Kadesh was known at the "Spring of Judgement" (En-mishpat).

So the place that God brought his people to enter into the Land of Canaan is a “holy place of wandering” and is also known as the “Spring of Judgment.”  Since our study is only on this one event we will not spend time on the full significance of this location.  Moses has brought the Children of Israel to edge of the Land of Canaan which the spies were to explore.

Here is where you must be on your toes with this study.  Going into the Land of Promise was first made to Abraham, then to Isaac and Jacob,  "God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" (Genesis 50:24).  Four hundred years later promise one is fulfilled. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people on earth will be blessed through you (Gen.12:1-3). 

When Israel left Egypt they had 603,550 armed men for war if all of those men were living at the time (Numbers 1:46). This number included all able bodied men from the age of twenty (Numbers 1:45) to the age of retirement at year fifty (Numbers 4:3;John 8:57) or sometimes sixty (Leviticus 27:7). But if all the women, children and older people over fifty (or sixty) are included, the number of Israelites who left Egypt must have numbered about two and a half million. This is a vast amount of people going into a desolate desert area east of Egypt—a Great Nation.  God has fulfilled his promise to make them a great nation.

Next, "And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you in their generations to be a God to you and your seed after you. And I will give to you and to your seed after you the land in which you are a stranger-all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession" (Genesis 17: 7, 8).  The integrity of God's word is at stake in this question of the future of the Promised Land. When ten of the twelve spies told lies about the land, they were slandering what God had promised them. They did not believe that God would help them, and the people as a whole were persuaded that it was not possible to take the land. As a result, the entire nation was made to wander in the desert for 40 years, until almost the entire generation of men had died.

When the Israelites accepted the false report, they wept over the false belief that God was setting them up for defeat. The night that the people cried was the ninth of Av which became a day of weeping and misfortune for all time-- Kadesh the "Spring of Judgment". 

Here is their report: "But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there were of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.'"

Let me just wander in the wilderness for a moment.  They were afraid of the giants, who represent the carnal nature of man or the nature of sin.  Sin is the root; sins are the result of the root.  Look what the nature of sin will do- devours those living in it.  There are spied today who tell us you cannot have victory over sin.  They identify as being a sinner.  Nowhere in the Scripture is the redeemed identified with sin.  None of us who claim to be Christians with a saving faith should ever call ourselves a sinner. It is not appropriate to try to claim common ground with unbelievers or immature Christians by saying that you also are a sinner. Scripture says otherwise. Christians are not “sinners.” If you are a sinner –one who habitually sins, you are not a true believer. In that case you can properly call yourself a sinner. Please note the distinction: Christians do occasionally sin. A sinner habitually sins. The Christian (should) immediately repent and seek God’s forgiveness. The sinner does not.

The integrity of God's word is at stake in the promise of freedom from sin. “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:24-27 KJV)

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:6-7 KJV)

“For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:1-14 KJV)

OK, back to the lesson.  The whole purpose of sending out the spies was to determine how to conquer Canaan and then settle 3 million men, women and children in the new land.  God shows them encouraging signs that the land is indeed plentiful and rich: They find a cluster of grapes so enormous that eight men are needed to carry it (Numbers 13:23). God also makes sure the spies encounter heavily fortified Canaanite cities ― which in fact is a sign of Canaanite weakness, since anyone who is truly powerful does not have to hide behind big walls. Everything was perfectly orchestrated; nothing could possibly go wrong.

Yet somehow, things do go wrong. After 40 days, the spies come back and 10 of them recommend against entering the land. They report: “We can’t succeed because everything is huge!” ― a reference to the gigantic fruits. “We can’t succeed because the land devours its inhabitants!” ― a reference to the funeral. “And we can’t succeed because it’s too strong!” ― a reference to the heavily fortified walls. (see Numbers 13:31-33)

The Israelite community accepts the report, and gives up their dream of going into Israel. The consequence of their unbelief? If you don’t want to enter the land, says God, then you won’t enter the land. All Israelites will die out over the next 40 years in the desert, and only their children will enter the land.

Numbers 14:1 tells us, “The people wept that night.” That night was Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av. God declared: “They cried for no reason; in the future I’ll give them good reason to cry.”  I remember hearing that same expression while growing up- “If you don’t stop your crying, I will give you something to cry about.”  I didn’t know that was scriptural.

Here is how failing to deal with sin has serious consequences.  Several hundreds of years later, the destruction of the First Temple was to occur on Tisha B’Av and 500 years after that, the Second Temple was destroyed.

So what went wrong?  The spies lost the vision of the Promise. They got so wrapped up in self that they took God out of the equation ― and never put Him back in! The original question they’d been assigned to answer ― "How to conquer the land” ― suddenly became a question of "should we or shouldn't we." 

What caused this twist to occur?  God’s presence was self-evident in the desert: a rock provided a steady supply of water, Clouds of Glory kept enemies at bay, and a daily supply of manna fell from heaven. Yet these “open miracles” were to cease upon entry into Israel. Thus, the spies reasoned, God’s guidance and protection would cease as well.

From this skewed perspective, all the positive signs that God had shown them ― the fruits, the funeral and the city walls ― were turned into negatives. From a purely rational perspective, their conclusion was ― not surprisingly ― “This is not possible!”  The rational perspective is used by those who refuse to see the victory Jesus Christ has promised his people over the power and dominance of sin.  

But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Rom.6:22

By the way, after the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, God brings them right back to the same spot and gives them the same opportunity, to enter the Promise Land—they took it and the conquest was on.