This sermon discusses how the parents of Israel sinned by not trusting God to give them victory over their enemies in the Promised Land. When 12 spies were sent to scout the land, 10 of them were afraid of the strong cities and giants. The people rebelled against God's command to take the land. Moses warns the current generation not to repeat their parents' mistakes of fear, unbelief, and disobedience. They must trust that God is stronger than any enemy and will help them conquer the land as He has promised.

1. Learn From Parents
(Chapter 1:19 - 33)
Sermon by Rodney Tan
Sunday 26/7/2020
Melaka Gospel Chapel

2. Outline
• Background
• 1) Land is Ahead – Parents Reminded (1:19-21)
• 2) Land is Searched – Parents Formed a Committee (1:22-25)
• 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• Conclusion
• Application

4. Background
• The nation of Israel is just outside the Promised Land
• Moses preaches to the people of Israel (young & old, male & female)
• encourage: take the land from their enemies.
• remind: their parents did not enter the land
• fact: they disobeyed God (Numbers 13-14)
• result: their mothers & fathers died in the desert
• warn: not to make the same mistakes as their parents
• Consider the disobedience of their parents – sins (1:27-28)
• Consider what Moses says – do not be afraid/discouraged (1:21; 29-31)
• Main point: We must trust God’s promises even when we have strong
enemies. Why? God is much stronger.

5. Outline
• Background
• 1) Land is Ahead – Parents Reminded (1:19-21)
• 2) Land is Searched – Parents Formed a Committee (1:22-25)
• 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• Conclusion
• Application

6. Deuteronomy 1:19-33
• Deuteronomy 1:19-21
(19) Then, as the LORD our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb
and went toward the hill country of the Amorites through all that vast
and dreadful desert that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh
Barnea.
(20) Then I said to you, "You have reached the hill country of the
Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.
(21) See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take
possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not
be afraid; do not be discouraged."

8. 1) Land is Ahead - Parents Reminded (1:19-21)
• Kadesh-Barnea – gateway into the Promised Land
• But Israelites failed to enter because of :
• Fear
• Unbelief
• Walking by sight not by faith
• Ignoring God’s promises & clear will/command
• Deuteronomy 1:21
See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take
possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not
be afraid; do not be discouraged."

9. 1) Land is Ahead - Parents Reminded (1:19-21)
• Faith = “obeying in spite of circumstances & consequences”
• Superstition = “believing in spite of evidence”
• Q: How much more evidence did the people of Israel need that God
can defeat the enemy & give them the land? God has :-
• Defeated all the false gods of Egypt
• Protected Israel
• Provided for their long journey in the desert
• Quote: When God commands, He always enables.
• To win: people need only to trust & obey

10. Outline
• Background
• 1) Land is Ahead – Parents Reminded (1:19-21)
• 2) Land is Searched – Parents Formed a Committee (1:22-25)
• 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• Conclusion
• Application

11. Deuteronomy 1:19-33
• Deuteronomy 1:22-24
(22) Then all of you came to me and said, "Let us send men ahead to
spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are
to take and the towns we will come to."
(23) The idea seemed good to me; so I selected twelve of you, one man
from each tribe.
(24) They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley
of Eshcol and explored it.

12. Deuteronomy 1:19-33
• Deuteronomy 1:25
(25) Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it
down to us and reported, "It is a good land that the LORD our God is
giving us."

13. 2) Land is Searched – Parents Formed A Committee
(1:22-25)
• First sign that the nation was wavering in faith
• Israelites’ perspective: They requested Moses to appoint a committee :
• to search out their plan of attack
• Their approach to the land
• to prepare is like any conventional army : “reconnaissance” (spying)
• God’s Perspective: The whole nation of Israel is God’s army
• God had already spied for them
• Remember : God told Moses that Canaan was a good land flowing with mild &
honey
• God even identified the names of the nations living in the land

14. 2) Land is Searched – Parents Formed A Committee
(1:22-25)
• Exodus 3:7-8
(7) The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I
have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am
concerned about their suffering.
(8) So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and
to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land
flowing with milk and honey--the home of the Canaanites, Hittites,
Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

15. Names of Nations
• Exodus 3:8 …a good and
spacious land, a land flowing
with milk and honey--the home
of the Canaanites, Hittites,
Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and
Jebusites.

16. 2) Land is Searched – Parents Formed A Committee
(1:22-25)
• Surely the people knew the will of God & God’s power to help them
• When Moses spoke to God about the people’s suggestion to appoint a
committee to spy the land, the Lord granted their request (Numbers 13:1)
• God knows how weak we are &
• He sometimes accommodates Himself to our condition
• Psalms 103:13-14
(13) As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has
compassion on those who fear him; (14) for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

17. 2) Land is Searched – Parents Formed A Committee
(1:22-25)
• Doing God’s permissive will is not the same as obeying His “good,
acceptable & perfect will” (Rom 12:2)
• When God lets us have our own way, it’s a concession on His part
• So we walk in fear & humility. Why?
• Danger : we will become proud & self-confident - start telling God what to do!
• Safest : Doing God’s clear will. Why?
• God never makes a mistake!
• Quote: Sometime our desires & God’s concessions combine to produce
painful disciplines!

18. 2) Land is Searched – Parents Formed A Committee
(1:22-25)
• The 12 men explored the land for 40 days
• They returned with enthusiastic unanimous report that everything God
had said about the land was true.
• Report was no surprise – God’s Word can always be trusted.
• But….

19. Outline
• Background
• 1) Land is Ahead – Parents Reminded (1:19-21)
• 2) Land is Searched – Parents Formed a Committee (1:22-25)
• 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• Conclusion
• Application

20. Deuteronomy 1:19-33
• Deuteronomy 1:26-27
(26) But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the
command of the LORD your God.
27) You grumbled in your tents and said, "The LORD hates us; so he
brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to
destroy us.

21. Deuteronomy 1:19-33
• Deuteronomy 1:28-30
(28) Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart. They
say, 'The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large,
with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.'"
(29) Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them.
(30) The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as
he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes,

22. Deuteronomy 1:19-33
• Deuteronomy 1:31-33
(31) and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried
you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached
this place."
(32) In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God,
(33) who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a
cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the
way you should go.

23. 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• But then 10 out of 12 spies gave their opinion that Israel wasn’t able to
conquer the land.
• The spies said :
• cities were protected by high walls (v28)
• giants in the land (Anakites) (v28)
• The minority (2 spies – Joshua & Caleb) boldly said that God was able to
give them victory. Why?
• God was greater than any enemy
• Unfortunately, the people sided with the majority. They :
• Became discouraged (v28)
• Became more afraid (v29)

24. 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• Moses told them twice not to be afraid.
• Deuteronomy 1:21
(21) See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take
possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be
afraid; do not be discouraged.“
• Deuteronomy 1:29
(29) Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them.
• Moses’ encouraging words were ignored by the people.

25. 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• The leaders should be singing their victory song & marching forward by
faith (on knowing God’s promises & Moses’ reassurance)
• But the leaders & the people sat in their tents :
• complaining
• weeping
• plotting
• They planned secretly to return to Egypt. As a result:
• The entire nation (parents) rebelled against God
• They (parents) failed to claim the land God had promised them
• God can take them out of Egypt but He could not take them into Canaan!

26. 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• Numbers 14:1-4
(1) That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept
aloud.
(2) All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole
assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!
(3) Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?
Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us
to go back to Egypt?"
(4) And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to
Egypt."

27. 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• Exceptions: 4 men – Moses, Aaron, Joshua & Caleb
• Numbers 14:5-6
(5) Then Moses and Aaron fell face down in front of the whole Israelite
assembly gathered there.
(6) Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those
who had explored the land, tore their clothes

28. 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• Q: What was the cause of Israel’s failure at Kadesh-Barnea?
• A: Psalms 78:11; 42
(11) They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.
(42) They did not remember his power-- the day he redeemed them from
the oppressor,
• God had shown His great power in Egypt:
• Defeating other gods
• Sending plagues
• Opening the Red Sea
• Providing bread, meat & water

29. 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• The people of Israel happily received the gifts but failed to appreciate
God’s goodness & grace
• Instead, they hardened their hearts against God
• The Israelites developed “an evil heart of unbelief” (Heb 3:7-19)
• Lesson: If God’s blessings don’t humble our hearts & make us trust Him
more, then they will harden our hearts & weaken our faith.
• We should receive God’s Word in our hearts & give thanks to God for His
blessings
• If not, we will become proud & selfish, & take God for granted.

30. 3) Land is Rejected – Parents Sinned (1:26-33)
• At Kadesh, God decreed that the nation of Israel would wander for the
next 38 years
• already spent two years in the wilderness
• until all the people twenty years & older had died (parents).
• Then He would take the new generation (children & teenagers) whom the
leaders said would be “devoured by the enemy”.
• God will lead them into the land
• God will help conquer the enemy
• God will assist them claim their inheritance

31. Conclusion
• The Israelite parents disobeyed God when they arrived at borders of
the Promised Land.
• Moses does not want the people now to make the same mistake
• Q: How will the Israelites be encouraged to enter the Promised Land?
• A: 1) They must not think they are better than their parents!
• 2) They need to trust God.
• Their parents disobeyed because:
• they were afraid of the enemy.
• they did not trust God.

32. Conclusion
• Their parents said:
• 1) “God hates us” (v27)
• 2) “The enemy is too strong” (v28)
• 3) “The enemy is well protected” (v28)
• The 1st point is not true – “God hates us” (v27)
• When we forget what God has promised us & done for us
• We can think God hates us
• We forget God loves us.

33. Conclusion
• The 2nd & 3rd points are true!
• The enemy is powerful.
• But the people forget that God is much more powerful!
• The parents of the Israelites sinned in two ways:
• 1 They rebelled against God (v26)
• 2 They had no trust in God (v32)
• Apply: Q: What enemies make us afraid?
• Governments
• Non-believing family members
• A boss at work
• A witch-doctor

34. Conclusion
• Q: Do we forget God’s power & faithfulness?
• Also, do not think we are better than our parents!
• Moses encourages the Israelites to think about God:
• How God goes before us (v30)
• How God will fight for you (v30)
• How God did this before (v30-31)
• The enemy is strong but God is stronger!
• God will defeat any enemy to keep His promise
• We will have victory against enemies of God’s promises

35. Conclusion
• God promises believing Christians a “heavenly land”.
• At the cross, Jesus defeated all enemies.
• Therefore, Jesus can ensure all of us can get to heaven.
• Q: Are you afraid that Satan or magicians or enemies can stop us
going to heaven?
• Enemy is strong but God is much stronger!
• Jesus has already won the spiritual battle.
• All God’s people will enter the promised land of heaven.

36. Application
• 1) We must trust God’s promises even when the enemy is strong
because God is stronger.
• 2) Ask God to help us not to be afraid of enemies.
• 3) Let’s not be like the parents of the Israelites who are afraid and
rebelled against God’s will (to enter the Promised Land).