Sermon Central
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Let's Go Take This City
Contributed by Rodney Burton on Jan 27, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: Only 2 of the spies saw the possibility of taking possession of the city.
“LET’S GO TAKE THIS CITY!”
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. Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 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.” 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.” The idea seemed good to me, so I selected twelve of you, one man from each tribe. They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eschol (Eschol = “cluster” or “cluster of grapes”) and explored it. 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.” Deuteronomy 1:19-25
“Kadesh”= a sacred sanctuary
“Barnea”= a field/wilderness of wandering
“Kadesh Barnea”= a sacred sanctuary within the wilderness that had to be passed through on the way to the land of promise.
**This appears to be the perfect place to rest or to settle as an alternative!!!!
**Do we really need to go any further? Isn’t this place acceptable?
Isaac dug wells in Genesis 26 and he dug one in a place called Rehoboth, which means room or wide place. It seemed like the perfect place to settle, but it was 20 miles from where God was actually taking him. To this day, Rehoboth is a place that is marked by extensive ruins and deep wells. Many have dug in and remained just outside of the destiny of God.
THE LAST AND GREATEST BATTLE BEFORE TRUE VICTORY IS COMPROMISE.
*God had promised the Israelites a land flowing with milk and honey. God had promised them the city. It was time for them to possess the promise.
Just outside of possessing their promise, Israel suggested spying out the landREBELLION LACED WITH RELIGION
Instead of completely trusting God, they wanted the opinion of man & man will always point out the impossibilities. Deuteronomy 1:23 says that the idea seemed good to Moses to spy out the land. It says nothing at all about God being asked.
THE SPIES REPORT
They bring back proof that the land if fruitful.
*Then comes the stinking but “But the people . . . (v 28)
--Man’s “buts” always stink and bring discouragement (Dt. 1:28—“Our brothers have made us lose heart”)
The 10 spies were walking by sight and not by faith. They were seeing the powerful enemy and forgetting about the All-Powerful God they served.
The more the spies spoke about the land, the worse their story became about how impossible it would be for the children of Israel to take possession.
Where are the Joshuas & Calebs of today who will stand up and say, “Let’s go take this city!”
In the midst of their situation, after discouragement had come, Israel thought it better to go backwards where they were the possession, than to go forward and be the possessor.
Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 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. In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, 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.
HOW THE CITY IS TAKEN
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
