## Presuming on the Grace of God

## Numbers 14:40-45

Our God is gracious and patient. Often He will give us multiple opportunities to obey Him. When we fail, He forgives and allows us to have a second chance at obedience. There are many examples of God's longsuffering and grace in the Scriptures. Abraham lied, and God allowed him opportunity to make it right and blessed him. Jonah ran away from God and the Lord allowed him a second chance to take His message to Nineveh. Perhaps the clearest example is that of Peter, who had denied Christ, but later was restored and God used him to preach the mighty message of Pentecost.

We do serve a loving, merciful, and forgiving God. However, we must never presume upon the grace of God. Nor should we assume that we can do what we choose in the matter of obedience to His Word without consequence. A vivid example is found in our text this morning. The nation of Israel had come to the border of the Promised Land and had sent spies in to survey the situation. When the majority of the spies returned with a negative report, the nation of Israel listened to them rather than trusting in God.

(Numbers 14:1-4) 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 unto 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.

Because of their unbelief, God brought judgment upon them. The ten spies died immediately. God condemned the rest of the people to wander in the wilderness until every person above the age of 20 had died.

(Numbers 14:29) Your carcases 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,

Moses announced God's judgment to the people, and they changed their minds. Suddenly it didn't sound so good to die in the wilderness. But God had spoken.

(Numbers 14:39) And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.

Sad to say the least, but we haven't reached the saddest part of this story. They decided to go ahead without God…to enter into battle on their own. They presumed that God would be with them. [3]

(Numbers 14:40-45) And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

Forty years later, the previous generation now dead in the wilderness, Moses reminds the next generation of this terrible failure.

(Deuteronomy 1:43-46) So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill. And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.

OK, you say…sad story, but what does this have to do with us today? Paul told us that the events recorded for us in the O.T. are there as examples. We are to learn from them. The lesson we need to learn from this is simple: Do not presume upon the grace of God! The Israelites here wept before God, they presumed that He would change His mind. They presumed that they wouldn't have to suffer the judgment He had declared. But the Scripture said, "The Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you." Why?

I. They had the wrong view of their sin.

A. Admission of guilt is not the same as repentance.

1. It was only after God had pronounced judgment upon their pride and rebellion that they decided to go ahead and enter in and fight.

2. They acknowledged that they were wrong, but they were not repentant.

3. There is little doubt that they would have changed anything had God not pronounced judgment.

B. They took a casual attitude toward their sin

1. They thought they could tell God that they were sorry and that would be the end of it.

2. They did not see their sin as God saw it.

a. They were guilty of unbelief…they didn't believe God when He told them they would be victorious in conquering the Promised Land.

b. They disobeyed God when He told them to go in and take the land.

c. They were guilty of murmuring and complaining about God and His leadership.

C. We often have the same wrong view of our sin.

1. We want to use euphemisms to soften the reality of sin…

a. It was just a little fib

b. We were stretching the truth

c. We told a white lie

2. Anytime we seek to justify our sin whether by explanation or by excuse…we have the wrong view of our sin.

3. God isn't interested in our excuses or our explanations…He expects us to repent!

II. They had the wrong view of repentance.

A. They were remorseful and regretful, but not repentant.

1. Numbers 14:39, "…the people mourned greatly."

2. Deuteronomy 1:45, "And ye returned and wept before the Lord…"

3. They regretted their sin because it meant they had to die in the wilderness.

4. They were remorseful because of the results of their sin.

5. They were not concerned with the character of their hearts; they were concerned only with the consequences of their acts.

B. What is real repentance?

1. By definition it is a change of mind that results in a change of behavior.

2. Real repentance leads to submission to God's will and accepts the consequences of our sin.

3. Anytime we try to escape the results of our sin…there has been no real repentance.

4. Their attitude was this, "Look we said we were sorry. Now let us go in and take the land."

C. Real Repentance is needed today.

1. Those who have never trusted in Christ, need to turn to Him in faith.

2. Christians who are living in direct opposition to the principles of God's Word need to turn back to the Lord.

3. Backslidden folks who are just going through the motions, need to turn back to God and start serving Him again.

4. The Lord's message to the churches of Asia time and again was 'Repent!'

III. They had the wrong view of God's will.

A. They ignored God's will and followed their own.

1. God had made His will known.

a. Go in and take the land.

b. But they rebelled against His will and refused to obey.

c. They wanted to go back to Egypt!

2. God made His will known unto them the second time.

(Numbers 14:2) 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!

(Numbers 14:28) Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

a. Everyone, 20 years old and up who had rebelled against God would die in the wilderness.

b. They would wander 40 years, one year for every day they spent searching the land. c. But again, they rejected God's will and tried to force their way into the land anyway.

B. Understanding God's will

1. God's will involves not only what should be done, but also who should do it; how it should be done; why it should be done; and when it should be done.

2. God had instructed them:

a. Go in to the Promised Land

b. I will lead you and empower you

c. You will do all this for my glory d. And do it now!

3. They came, but they were a day late and God would not go with them.

C. No room for playing games with God's will

1. The Israelites presumed that because they had admitted their sin, God would help them conquer the land.

2. They ignored Moses' warning and stubbornly followed their own self-will.

3. The results were disastrous.

4. If God speaks to us about doing something, we must not delay…we must obey and do it right away.

(2 Corinthians 6:2b) "…Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

5. Note the emphasis on the timing…NOW!

We serve a loving, merciful, and forgiving God. However we must never presume upon His grace. We need to have a proper view of sin, repentance, and His will. And we need to respond to God in obedience to His commands.