An eleven days’ journey
through full obedience but
forty years for unbelief

Num 20:1-13; 32:8-18; Deut 1:1-8

In the wilderness, the words of the great spiritual leader Moses to the Israelites were like the Words of God Himself. If they had fully believed and obeyed, then they could have gone from Egypt to Canaan in just eleven days. However, as a result of unbelief, complaints and grumblings, they had to spend forty years in the wilderness. What’s even more tragic is that out of the 603,550 men over 20 years of age that had come out of Egypt, 603,548 of them died in the wilderness and never set foot in the land of Canaan. Only two, Joshua and Caleb obeyed the Word of God and survived. For forty years, the people troubled God in the wilderness and made Him angry (Ps 95:10).
Toward the conclusion of the forty-year journey, just before their entrance into Canaan, Moses, in compliance with God’s commands, preached his three final sermons to the Israelites who now comprised of the second generation of the wilderness journey. These were sermons given to the new generation who did not know about their ancestors of faith Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; this was the generation that were not even born during the Exodus. The content of those sermons are what comprises the book of Deuteronomy. The contents of the sermons are: first, the recollection of the history of salvation (Deut 1:1-4:43); second, reiteration of the law (Deut 4:44-26:19), third, the outlook of the future and the covenant of the Plains of Moab (Deut 27 ? 30:16). Finally, the last part (Deut 31-34) of the book of Deuteronomy is not only the conclusion of Deuteronomy but of the entire Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).
At that time, Moses was 120 years old, with only two months and ten days left of his life on earth. He could see the land of Canaan with his very eyes and yet as a result of unbelief, he had prohibited by God from entering Canaan. He prayed three times saying, “I was angry so I committed the sin of unbelief. Please forgive me.” However, God gave His last words which told him to stop praying about this (Deut 3:26). Even amidst such a situation, Moses gave all he had to preach about the law and instruct the second generation about the result that their ancestors had incurred by their disobedience.
The distance from Mt. Sinai to Kadesh-barnea is 264 kilometers. Even if one were to take into account the elderly, the children and the livestock, it would only take eleven days to arrive by walking 24 km per day. People to do not believe but only grumble and complain will never do well. The Bible states that if you want to see good days, then you must curb your tongue. It says that the tongue has no place of refuge. The result of unbelief is misery. When you do not believe, you forsake God’s will and then, there is only retreat. You will become someone who is too ashamed to even see your ancestors. However, faith is perpetual progress. It does not get weary. It is abounding in thanksgiving and praise.



The Israelites were full of complaints, grievances and resentments.
The Israelites started to complain only one month after they came out of Egypt. They witnessed how God brought them out of Egypt through three signs and ten plagues. Not only that, they also witnessed the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of the hundreds of thousands of Pharaoh’s soldiers. However, in just one month’s time, they started to complain because they had run out of food. They attacked Moses and Aaron as if they were about to kill them. God saw all this and said, “Your grumblings are not against [Moses and Aaron] but against the Lord” (Deut 2:2, 7, 11; Exod 16:7-8). They said even if He is God, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?” (Exod 17:2; Num 14:20-38; Ps 78:18-20, 41, 56; 106:14; 139:23; 78:19).
However, God rained down manna for them. That was exactly one month after the Exodus which was on the 15th day of the second month of the first year of the Exodus. The manna rained down for 39 years and 11 months from that point on (Exod 16:4, 35; Ps 78:24-25; Josh 5:10-12). One person gathered one omer each. One omer is 2,340 grams. There were about 600,000 male adults, thus the entire population would be around 2 million people. If we calculate the figures, it would amount to 4,400 tons of manna raining down from heaven every day. That would take 1,100 four-ton trucks to carry. Such tremendous amount of manna rained down every day for forty years. Can you imagine carrying all that food through the wilderness? That’s not all. God took care of them and protected them with the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire. God is telling us not to worry about what to eat or what to wear. He has commanded us to cast all of our worries on Him (1 Pet 5:7).
However, the Israelites did not give thanks to Him (Ps 23:1; 34:9). God bestows grace upon us for free. However, that grace does not continue indefinitely; there will come a day when the grace ceases. We must always be thankful and never forget God’s love and grace. If we miss out on the time of grace, then we will never be able to receive such grace again (2 Cor 6:2).
From the wilderness of Sin?which is where manna first came down?the Israelites passed through Dophkah, Alush and Rephidim and arrived at Mt. Sinai on the 3rd month of the first year of the Exodus (Exod 19:1). They stayed there for one year. It was a time to rearm themselves in preparation for the march toward Canaan. They received the law and on the first day of the second year of the Exodus, the Tabernacle was completed (Exod 40:17). They also conducted the first census of the soldiers (Num 1:1-46; Exod 16:4, 35; Ps 78:24-25). As God was rearming the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, He taught them that they only needed to trust in God alone and march on with hope toward the land that was promised to their father of faith Abraham. God’s Ark of the Covenant went three days ahead of them and sought out places to camp and rest. That was why the 12 tribes were all able to dwell on level ground. It is the same today. Do not worry every night thinking, “where should I live,” but cast it upon God and pray. The Israelites only needed to march then stop and rest wherever the pillar of cloud stopped (Num 10:11-12).



The unbelief of the Israelites extended the wilderness journey.
During the short journey from Mt. Sinai through Kibrothhattaavah, Hazeroth, and Kadesh-barnea, the Israelites committed numerous acts of unbelief. As soon as they left Mt. Sinai, they became a rebellious and ungrateful bunch.
First, the grumbling incident at Taberah happened (Num 11:1-3; Deut 9:22-24; Ps 106:24-25). God heard the grumblings of the people and was infuriated. Thus, He burned up and consumed the outskirt of the camp. The word outskirt in Hebrew means the “end” or “edge” of something. It signifies the rabble that had fallen back from the martial array.
Those who trusted in God led the pack from the front but those who doubted complained while following along in the back. They complained with malicious words. The fire that God rained down was burning so hot that the people urgently cried out to Moses. It was a supernatural fire from the LORD (Lev 10:1-2).
Second, there was the incident of grumbling because of food (Num 11:4-23).
After the Israelites had eaten manna for one year, they were not only ungrateful for this food, but they actually despised it and sought other foods. They complained saying, “But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes” (Num 11:6; KJV). The manna was heavenly bread, a complete nutritional provision; but they laughed at God and did not comprehend His power, authority, Word, love and compassion. God sent quail by the east wind to the Israelites who sought meat. They all caught quail and boiled, roasted, fried and ate them. But even while the meat was still between their teeth, they complained again. God could not stand to look upon their greed any longer and thus He struck them with a severe plague (Num 11:33; Ps 78:20-31). They filled up with their fleshly greed but their souls actually were wasting away (Ps 106:15). As a result, they were struck with a plague. Whoever grumbled all died. Every household had a corpse and there was no place to bury them all so they were all thrown into a large pit and formed into a grandiose burial mound. God called that place “Kibroth-hattaavah” (the grave of greed). Covetousness is idolatry (James 1:15; Col 3:5). When desire conceives it gives birth to sin. We must learn from these people. As a result of unbelief, numerous people died in a single day and their wilderness journey was prolonged as well. So if you don’t believe, then you will have suffering day and night, and your prosperity will be delayed that much more because it is God who gives us the ability to earn wealth (Deut 8:18).
Third, there was the incident at Hazeroth where Aaron and Miriam criticized Moses.
After leaving Kibroth-hattaavah, when they arrived at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses for taking a Cushite woman as wife. God struck Miriam with leprosy and thus the march was delayed for seven days (Num 12:13-16). The journey from Mt. Sinai to Kadesh-barnea had been prolonged because of these numerous incidents of unbelief (Num 13:17-26; Deut 1:19). When we obey, it is but a short distance, but when we do not believe, then it is very far.



It is a great sin to spread the unbelief and contaminate others with it.
Moses starts out his sermon by saying, “It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadeshbarnea” (Deut 1:2). Why did he take Kadesh-barnea as a reference point? Kadesh-barnea was very close to Canaan and the name means “sanctified place.” This is the very place where the 12 spies were sent to spy out the land of Canaan. They came back and gave a bad report saying that a powerful enemy lives there so we cannot conquer the land. Because of their bad report, their entrance into Canaan was delayed for 40 years and they were left to wander the wilderness. After 40 years of wandering, they returned to Kadesh-barnea and that is where Moses received the sentence that he will not enter the Promised Land. Moses’ sister and a leader of the people, Miriam, also died and was buried here. It is truly a scene of much heart-wrenching history.
The twelve spies who went to spy out Canaan were the leaders of each of the 12 tribes. Ten of the twelve spies gave a bad report saying that conquest of Canaan is impossible; thus they stirred up the people. The entire people rose up in protest. They were trying to kill Moses and Aaron and the two leaders did not know what to do but bow down. The remaining two spies, Joshua and Caleb, were almost stoned to death for giving report of faith saying, “God will give us the land flowing with milk and honey.” Right at that moment, God appeared in the Tent of Meeting and suppressed the people. God struck to death all ten of the spies. That is when the complaints and grievances of the people finally died down (Deut 1:35; Num 15:36-38; Ps 106:26; Ezek 20:15; Heb 3:17; 1 Cor 10:10; Jude 1:15). These people not only did not believe in God, but they also tested others and hindered others in the holy community from believing. The result was tragic. They say to each other, “Don’t tell them I told you this, but…” and then they would go on to slander others and complain about God’s works. Moreover, there were people who would hear such things and relay them to others. All of these people had to take responsibility for their actions. There are no secrets in this world. We must not even lend our ears to such talk. God says, “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!” (Ps 1:1). It is a great sin to spread unbelief
and contaminate others with it. Not only the one who spoke unbelieving words, but even the people who listened to such words all died; not one of them were left in the wilderness (Deut 2:13-15). Toward the end of the wilderness journey, just before crossing the brook Zered, the entire first generation disappeared altogether. It was not a natural death that comes from old age. It was a sudden, unexpected death. It was God’s punishment brought on by His mighty and powerful arm (Ruth 1:13; 1 Chr 21:17; Job 19:21; Ps 39:10; 1 Sam 5:9, 11). It was an incident that left everyone quivering in fear. As a result of this incident, during the second census which was taken just before their entrance into Canaan, there was not a single person left who was over 58 years old. You cannot clap with just one hand. A person speaks only when there is someone listening. We have saying, “it takes two to tango.”
Forty years lost…what a pity. We are the saints of the last days who have received the covenant. Not one person must fall away. Are we not receiving the Word which has never been understood in the entire history of mankind? I have never committed the sin of ceasing to pray for all of you. I am praying that we realize that we have been clothed with the garment of glory, the bright linen. We are saints dressed in the linen of salvation. No matter how frustrating the situation may be, do not despair, do not grumble, but only hold on to the Word of God and trust in it. Please believe that when we do not stray from the Word of the living God, that is when that Word will be fulfilled. I pray in the name of the Lord that your souls may not wasted away because of greed but that your body and souls may be healthy and strengthened.

Sermon preached during the morning service on the fourth day of the summer retreat, August 4, 2011