6-20-16. Numbers 14:20-35. Do Not Treat The Lord With Contempt-my devotional
6-20-16. Numbers 14:20-35. Do Not Treat The Lord With Contempt-my devotional
Numbers 14:20-35 By Kevin E. Jesmer
Key verse 14:23-24 6-20-16
“not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” (NIV)
Part 1: Treating the Lord with Contempt
Look at verses 20-35, “20 The LORD replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.
Contempt is such a negative word. It is saturated with feelings of heartbreak and sadness over broken relationships. It is a complete wall in maintaining a relationship. What does it mean to treat the Lord with contempt? How were the Israelites treating the Lord with contempt? What is the bad fruit of nurturing contempt in our hearts? How can we overcome?
The definition of contempt is,
- The feeling with which a person regards anything considered mean, vile, or worthless; disdain; scorn. An act showing such disrespect.
- The state of being despised; dishonor; disgrace.
- Willful disobedience to or open disrespect for the rules or orders of a court (contempt of court) or legislative body. – Dictionary.com
The Bible gives us a sign about the meaning of contempt in this chapter. Look at verses 11-12, “The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?”
The Israelites treated the Lord with contempt, when they refused to believe the Lord despite all of the miracles he did right before their eyes. Look at verse 12, “How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?” The Israelites had failed ten times to trust and obey God, despite of the miracles God had performed. Here is a list of their failures. 1. Lacking trust at crossing the Red Sea. (Ex 14:11,12) 2. Complaining over bitter water at Morah (Ex 15:24) 3. Complaining in the Desert of Sin (Ex 16:3) 4. Collecting more than a daily quota of manna. (Ex 16:20) 5. Collecting the manna on the Sabbath (Ex 16:27-29) 6. Complaining over the lack of water at Rephidim (Ex 17:2-3, 7). Engaging in idolatry with a golden calf (Ex 32:7-10, 8). Complaining at Taberah (Numbers 11:1-2, 9). More complaining over the lack of delicious food (Numbers 11:4), 10. Failing to trust God and enter the Promised Land (Numbers 14:1-4) – The Life Application Bible
Contempt towards God brings judgment. God would surely punish those Israelites who treated him with contempt. Look at verse 26-35,
“ 26 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: 29 In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ 35 I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die “
Indeed God heard Moses’ prayer and forgave his people. Yet, none of the Israelites who treated the Lord with contempt would enter into the Promised Land. They would wander around the desert until they all died. Some would die sooner than that. Apparently the men who came back and spread a faithless report died very quickly of plague. Look at verses 36-37, “36 So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it— 37 these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord.” That does not mean that all of that generation of Israelites went to hell. They would be gathered up to their fathers. God would deal with their eternal resting place later. But while they were living in this world, they would surely suffer a lot.
Some may think that God’s punishment was too harsh. If he forgave them, why subject them to such punishment? Just let bygones be bygones and give them their inheritance. Their punishment was not harsh compared to the quick death that God first threatened (14:2). God did allow the people to live. God did bring them to the edge of the Promised Land. He was ready to give them the abundant land, but the people didn’t want it. (14:1-2). And so they lived a hard life wandering in the desert. In that respect, it was not God’s fault at all. God’s punishment was not permanent. In forty years, a new generation of Israelite would have a chance to enter Canaan. (read Joshua 1-3)
The same rings true today, in this New Testament age. As believers, if we treat the Lord with contempt, we will not loose our salvation, but we will suffer inwardly. Treating the Lord with contempt is not the unforgivable sin. There is always room for repentance and the grace of God. We will suffer immensely if we continue to treat the Lord with contempt.
It is not God’s fault. It is ours. We can push things so far and be so stubborn in our pride, treating the Lord with contempt, until we are in a heap of ruin. It was not God’s problem. It is our pride. We are also placing up walls for our children to come to Christ. As I stated earlier, exhibiting contempt is not the end. There is forgiveness and grace.
Do we fall into contempt? In light of this passage, we fall into contempt in parallel ways. We refuse to believe God, despite the miracle of the resurrection, despite the miracle of the presence of the Bible in our hand, despite of the miracles of one deliverance after another. We rebel against the Lord, harboring feelings of scorn and disrespect, attempting to break the relationship God has established. This is blameworthy on our part. But do you know what? God forgives us
Our God is full of grace despite our contempt. He is patient with us. He embraces us as his precious children. Do children act contemptuously towards their parents? You bet they do. The parents understand, forgive and love. God comes along sides us and helps us to repent of our contempt towards him and transforms our hearts to be filled with love, humility, and thanksgiving. This is because of the Gospel of Jesus.
Why is God so concerned about his people showing contempt for him? There are many reasons. Contempt breaks relationships and… because God had a clear plan and calling for them. They were to be for the Lord, a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation. (1 Peter 2:9).
First, contempt breaks relationships. Look at some excerpts from a Psychology Today article. People may not appreciate secular psychologists, but I think they have some truth in their writings and research. We just need to filter it all through the Gospel filter
Loving relationships are vitally important. “There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved…George Sand” God made us this way. God is our heavenly Father. He is our Creator. He loves us and he wants a relationship with us. He wants to communicate with us daily. Contempt places a huge wall between us and our God when we allow contempt to dwell in our hearts.
Second, contempt attempts to scuttle God’s plan for us. I say, “attempts”, because in light of God’s sovereignty, his plan can not be scuttled. But forces of evil attempt to scuttle the plans of God. Contempt is one of those forces of evil. If there is no relationship with God then there is no maturation of the plans of God. God has plans to reveal his glory to the whole world through his people. The whole world should know that they can turn to the God of Israel, the God of the Bible and be saved.
Part 2: What It Means To Not Treat The Lord With Contempt.
We can see an example in the lives of two men what it means to not treat the Lord with contempt. Look at verse 30-31, “Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.”
God honored the faith of the two men Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. They were men with a different spirit. Read verse 24. “But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” Verse 32:12 says that Joshua also followed God wholeheartedly. They alone, out of the whole generation, would enter the land God had promised them.
Caleb and Joshua were men of a different spirit than the rest. They had faith and an attitude of obedience and followed God wholeheartedly. Caleb filled his soul with God only. He did not allow idols or contempt to occupy his heart along with God. He gave his whole heart to God, following the Lord’s will. Here we learn what kind of person God seeks. God seeks men and women whose hearts are wholly devoted to Him.
Verse 25 seems to be made in reference to Caleb’s future inheritance. Caleb loved God with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength (Dt 6:5). God loved him and was pleased to dwell in him and wanted to bless him and his descendants. “Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.” Some forty years later, his inheritance was given to him. The land Caleb went to was the hill country of Hebron. Hebron was occupied by two hostile people groups the Amalekites and the Canaanites. There lived the giant Anakites. (Jos 14:12). God was pleased with Caleb and promised to bring him into the land because of his faith, he and his people would prevail and his descendants would inherit it. Caleb was the ripe old age of 85 when this happened.
Here we learn what kind of person God seeks. God does not seek able people. God seeks men and women whose hearts are wholly devoted to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9a reads, “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him….” God leads those who follow Him wholeheartedly to the Promised Land and gives it to their descendants. They enter into Jesus’ rest, a spiritual life, an abundant life led by the Spirit and the life that bears fruit that lasts. Those who died in the wilderness can be compared to those who remain in the life of flesh until they die, failing to enter into Jesus’ rest.
God still blesses and uses people who engaging their faith through trust and obedience. God chose each Christian, and revealed his great love and his power of salvation. He helped us to be devoted to Him, our Creator and Redeemer. He blessed us with a spiritual life. Only God can make our life truly meaningful, fruitful, and abundant. Only God is our eternal reward, joy, and glory. Life in him is life in the Promised Land.
May God rid our hearts of any contempt that we have towards him. May our spiritual eyes be opened wide to see all of the miracles of God and submit to him with hearts full of faith, thanksgiving, trust and obedience.
What’s the alternative to contempt? We can see the alternative in Caleb and Joshua’s life. They believed the Lord and gave a positive report. They were full of faith and eager to enter the land God promised, even if taking that land would occurred fifty or so years later. On a more “psychological” note, we can practice the opposite emotions to that of contempt. There is some wisdom in the following these words. It has to do with marriage, but it can also relate to our marriage with the Lord.
“Listening to understand, appreciate and agree is the opposite of listening dismissively with contempt. Another alternative to contempt in relationships is positivity. Positive people enhance their relationships via positive communications such as, for instance, appreciation, gratitude, affection, agreement, interest and smiles. Want to enjoy positive work relationships, healthy relationships with your children, and a long-loving marriage? Dump the contempt. Listen well. And pump up the positivity!”
Prayer: “Lord, there are times that, despite your many miracles, my heart is tempted to harbor feelings of contempt. I know that this hinders my relationship with you. Protect my heart, open my eyes to see your abundant miracles and help me to follow you.”
One word: Follow the Lord with a heart full of faith, trust and obedience to the Lord.
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