ON the VERGE

Reading in Numbers chapters 13 and 14 this morning. It's the part of the story where the people of Israel are on the edge of the promised land. They are on the verge of entering it. Moses sends out spies to case the place and see if the land is fertile, whether the towns are fortified, what the crops are like and how populated the place is.

The spies report about the land indeed flowing with milk and honey. But they say the walled cities are impenetrable and the people are giants ( two of the spies say they should go and take the land - but that's a different story).

The people become so fearful they cry all night. They consider deposing Moses and appointing a new leader. They want to go back to Egypt; back to slavery. Incredible! The promised land, their freedom, is right in front of their face. How stupid! What cowards! And how just like me and you.

Think about it. What sins and addictions and selfishness and stuff do you need freedom from? Our God wants to free us from those things. That's Jesus Christ's self proclaimed mission: to set captives free. And we follow that path for awhile. We confess and are forgiven and come to the edge of really getting free. But we turn back. To brokenness. To Egypt. To slavery.

So God gets ticked off at them. And they get to spend the next 39 years wandering the desert. And no one alive at that time (except the two spies that wanted to go take the land right away) get to see the promised land.

You and I are Israel.