Isaac Dagneau | Deuteronomy 1:19-2:1 | THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES (A SERIES THROUGH DEUTERONOMY 1-11)
*Unfortunately the sermon was not recorded for this Sunday. However, we’ve attached the sermon manuscript below.
God is Affected by Our Rebellion (Deuteronomy 1:19-2:21)
You can turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 1. We’ll be looking at Deuteronomy 1:19-2:1 this morning—Deuteronomy 1:19-2:1. Before I read this passage, let me remind us of the context. Deuteronomy 1:1 (read); v. 3 (read); and v. 5 (read). What Deuteronomy is, is a series of sermons preached by Moses to Israel on the plains of Moab, which is just shy from the promised land—“beyond the Jordan.” Now, if you weren’t with us two weeks ago, or even last week, that sentence might not hold the same weight as it would if you were here. So, for those who weren’t here and for those of us that were here and need the reminder, let me very quickly explain who Moses is, who Israel is, and what this promised land is.
Let’s begin with Israel. Israel is the name for the people that Yahweh—personal name for the biblical God—chose to make a covenant with. A covenant in the Bible, is, as defined by one scholar, “a chosen relationship in which two parties make binding promises to each other.” The great God of the universe—who made all things!—chose to make binding promises to this insignificant people, Israel, with the condition that they follow him. Israel’s side of the covenant was to devote and commit themselves to obey Yahweh as their God. What makes this covenant so amazing, is both the parties involved, and the promises promised. Firstly, Yahweh is the holy, perfect, and righteous God from everlasting to everlasting. And he chooses to commit himself to not only sinful humanity, but a weak and insignificant group withinsinful humanity, that being Israel. There was nothing special about these people in and of themselves. They were just like everyone else—by nature, they wanted to be God and not serve God. So, Israel is this group of people, that Yahweh specially sets apart to make a covenant with, to fulfill his plan for the world.
This leads us now to what this promised land is. One of the three main covenant-promises that Yahweh makes to Israel, is that they would possess a real, physical and literal land that is currently not theirs. Over and over again in the first five books of the Bible—called the Pentateuch or the Torah—are we told that Yahweh has a land for Israel to inherit. And it’s a good land. So, when we talk of the promised land, we’re talking about a specific area of land that Yahweh promised to Israel long before the events of even our text in Deuteronomy.
Lastly, who is Moses? At one point in Israel’s history, between Yahweh’s promises to them but before their fulfilment, Israel finds themselves enslaved for four hundred years in Egypt. But Yahweh, who remembers his covenant promises and hears the groans of Israel as they slave away in Egypt, decides to deliver them and bring them to the promised land. And to do this, Yahweh raises up an Israelite named Moses to be God’s spokesperson to the people, their judge, and their leader. Yahweh would lead his people through this man named Moses. So, Moses is the primary leader that Yahweh has raised up to lead Israel to the promised land.
So, that is Moses, the promised land, and Israel. Now, what is the immediate context of Deuteronomy 1? Well, the immediate context of Deuteronomy 1 is actually still relevant to basically the end of the book. This is because it’s not so much a present narrative of events happening at that moment—like Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers, but it’s a series of sermons preached by Moses to Israel on the outskirts of the promised land. So, the immediate context of Deuteronomy is: Yahweh, through Moses, has led these Israelites from slavery in Egypt, to the border of the promised land. And Moses, in his sermon series, desires to encourage them to be faithful to Yahweh in the new land that they are to obtain.
Now, this is very important. The distance it would take from Egypt to the promised land isn’t a crazy amount of time—even with the multitude of people and possessions, and yet, the amount of years it takes from the deliverance of Israel from Egypt to the plains of Moab where they are during the sermons in Deuteronomy, is forty. Now, there are two reasons it took them longer than usual. The first reason is because Yahweh kept them at a place called Horeb for some time immediately after delivering them from Egypt. They were in Horeb for just under two years. The significance of Horeb is that Yahweh got specific with Israel in terms of their side of the covenant. It’s in Horeb that Yahweh gives Israel these specific laws that they are to abide by for their side of the covenant. Much of Exodus and all of Leviticus discusses and explains these very laws. And it’s important to understand that these laws were not random laws given by some egotistical, dictator God. These laws, summed up, graciously teach and guide Israel to love God whole-heartedly and to love others. By loving God and loving others the way that these laws command, Israel would be displaying the glory of God to the nations—displaying his love, his justice, his mercy, his kindness, his righteousness, and so on.
Now, forty years it took Israel to get from Egypt to the point in which Deuteronomy is set—which is on the outskirts of the promised land. And we just read that around two years were spent at Horeb for Yahweh to establish his covenant with Israel. So, what about the 38 other years? You see, something happened in Israel’s history that caused an eleven-day journey to become a 38-year journey. And even though we’ll dig into this more today, I’ll say now that the reason was because of Israel’s rebellion. And the reason why that eleven-day journey became 38 years, is because Yahweh punished those who rebelled, so that they would die in the wilderness before they would enter the promised land. But during those 38 years, they had families. And their children grew up. What’s important to understand here is that the Israelites sitting on the plains of Moab overlooking the promised land are not the Israelites that were delivered out of Egypt, and who made the grave mistake of rebelling against Yahweh. The sermons preached by Moses in Deuteronomy are given to a 2nd generation of Israelites—the grown-up children of the Israelites that were delivered out of Egypt, who God met with at Horeb, and who rebelled at Kadesh-barnea. And this event at Kadesh-barnea that caused this 38-year journey of death is what we’ll be looking at today.
Now, Moses began his sermon to these 2nd generation Israelites by walking them through the time, 38 years ago, that Yahweh called their parents out from Horeb and to the promised land. But, as we read last week, before they go, Moses spreads out his leadership. He understands that he can’t personally handle leading the amount of people that Israel is. So, with as much wisdom as he and the people could muster, they pick experienced leaders from every tribe, and charge them to rule justly—just like God would. In many senses, they are wisely following God’s command. Moses understands his limits. For him to successfully lead the thousands of Israelites from Horeb into the promised land, he needed to spread his leadership.
It’s immediately after this that Moses begins to explain that treacherous event in Kadesh-barnea. And it’s important to understand that, although Moses is speaking to these 2nd generation Israelites about their parents, he talks as if they are their parents. It’s a rhetorical device Moses is using, to cause his listeners to feel the history, and, in many ways, to unite them to their literal history. Even though these 2nd generation Israelites weren’t personally delivered from Egypt or personally given the covenant at Horeb, these events are theirs and they impact them just as much as if they were there. It’s important to realize this as we go through, so it’s not too confusing. I’ll read our text, Deuteronomy 1:19-2:1 (read).
This is a hard passage to swallow. And the reason why it’s hard is because of this fact: God is affected by our rebellion. Yahweh is not some distant impersonal God who could care less about what goes on with the universe. Rather, every thought we think, every word we speak, and every action we do, affects Yahweh. He is more personally involved with this world than we might think—he is more personally involved with you than you might think. God is affected by your rebellion. And not only is he personally affected by it, but he responds to it. This is what we see in our text, and why it makes this text hard to swallow. Now, I’ve attempted to put into a sentence the summary of what we just read, and I think it will help us see that God is affected by our rebellion and responds to it. So, I would say that what we just read could be summed up as: When Israel rebelled against Yahweh, based on their unbelief in his consistent care and provision, Yahweh condemned them from the promised land. So, God is affected because Israel, in ignorance of the fact that he has consistently cared and provided for them, chose to rebel against his command. And this effect on God caused him to respond with painful, and yet fully just and righteous judgment.
So, I want to 1) walk us through this text, and then 2) warn us not to be like Israel in their unbelief that led to rebellion that led to death, and then 3) encourage us to faithfully listen to and obey all that our caring and providing God commands us. What I hope is that we’ll all leave this place this morning, understanding this: Since God is affected by our rebellion, may we pray for and pursue whole-hearted devotion to him. Since God is affected by our rebellion, may we pray for and pursue whole-hearted devotion to him. Our passage is divided into 5 parts.
Part One: Israel Travels from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea. We see this simply stated in v. 19. So far, so good. Israel is moving towards the fulfilment of the promise as God has commanded them. And even though the wilderness is great and terrifying, they made it. We’ll read later in v. 31 that Yahweh himself carried them in the wilderness, as a man carries his son. This is a personal God.
Part Two: Israel Rebels Against Yahweh in Kadesh-barnea. This is in vv. 20-40, which tells us that this is the part that Moses is emphasizing, since it’s where he spends the most time. This part begins with Moses encouraging Israel, saying, “Look, there it is! Go up in there! Possess it! And do not fear or be dismayed! Go!” Before they go, however, Moses reminds us that they sent spies into the land—twelve of them, one from each tribe. They were to go into the promised land, which at the time was filled with another nation, and spy it out—primarily with the goal to seek out a way to go, and what cities to go up to. So, the spies went up, did their spying, grabbed some grapes, and headed back. Now, it’s important to note that this whole event that Moses summarizes in less than a chapter, is filled out with more detail in Numbers 13-14. And we do get differences, but as one commentator writes, neither account claims to be the full and final authority of the story. And remember, Moses isn’t primarily concerned with tip-top accuracy of details like we would expect today. He’s summarizing an event from 38 years ago, in a pastoral way as a sermon. So, what Moses chooses to write as the spies’ report of the land, is simply, as v. 25 states, “It’s a good land that God is giving us!” Now, we know from the book of Numbers and from later on in our passage that there was more reported on, but Moses is emphasizing here the true fact that the land is good that Yahweh is giving them!
“Yet” or “But” as v. 26 begins with, “you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God.” Moses gives them a chance to explain why they chose to disobey Yahweh and not go up as Yahweh commanded them. Look at vv. 27-28 (read). Let me work through what they said backwards, starting with this quote from “our brothers” who made their “hearts melt”—which is another way to say, “made us very, very, scared.” “Our brothers” refers to the spies, but not all the spies—just ten of them. Joshua and Caleb were two of the spies who went up, and though they saw the exact same things as the other ten, they didn’t emphasize the “fear” like the other ten did. Now, there’s something very important in the ten spies’ report that perhaps provoke all Israel to this “melting of heart.” Notice what they say in v. 28, “The people are greater and taller than…” who? Yahweh?—Israel’s deliverer from the great army of Pharaoh? No. “The people are greater and taller than we.” They’re measuring the people of the promised land to themselves! They’re not measuring them to their God—the God who personally made a covenant with them that if they follow him, he will fulfill his promises. But, the ten spies say what they say, and make Israel scared. “The people and the cities are too great! And besides,” they say, “the sons of Anakim are there.” It’s true that if they are measuring their success based on themselves, they should be incredibly afraid. These giant-like people, probably around 10-12 feet, would crush them. But, why are they their standard of measurement, and not God? So, Israel hears this report, and are scared. Now, in working backwards in their explanation of why they rebelled against Yahweh, they now come to a theological assertion. “Theology” just means the study of God. A “theological assertion” would specifically be a truth-statement about who God is or what his plan is. Look at v. 27, and see the incredibly bad theology that Israel has formed for themselves (read). They base it all on of the assertion that Yahweh hates them, and that his plan is to destroy them! And as they see it, God’s plan to destroy them, based on his “hatred” of them, will happen through the giants crushing them in the land. This is their theology. There are self-professing Christians today and all throughout history who say, “Can we just stop with the theology and just love like Christ loved?” And I know what most of them are getting at, and I would agree in many ways, however “stopping with the theology” is not the answer to the problem they want to address. Good theology always precedes true and good action. The Israelites here had terrible theology that not only affected Yahweh personally, but it led to their fear of man. Their hearts melted when they heard of the might and the strength and the height of…people. Just people. Dust-born people.
Upon hearing this, Moses attempts to change their mind—fix their theology. Rather than believing in a God who hates them and wants to violently destroy them, Moses reminds them that Yahweh will fight for them, just like he did in Egypt, not even two years earlier! Moses also reminds them of Yahweh’s delicate, gentle, and caring provision for them in the fearful wilderness. He carried them as a man carries his son, all the way to Kadesh-barnea. Moses hopes to fix the bad theology of Israel by speaking of the truth of God in the past—how he’s always been for them and not against them. And yet, v. 32 comes around the corner, and we’re hit with the real reason for their rebellion. The reason that underlies the bad theology and the fear of man (read v. 32). They did not believe Yahweh. They did not trust Yahweh. Therefore, their theology gets distorted and their fear of man is heightened. Moses tells these 2nd generation Israelites that their parents did not believe, did not trust, the God who went before them—who consistently cared and provided for them, guiding them supernaturally.
After Moses’ efforts failed to bring Israel to a true understanding, we’re told of Yahweh’s response. God is affected by our rebellion and responds to it. Vv. 34-40 explain Yahweh’s response to both Israel’s and Moses’ own rebellion. Firstly, Yahweh won’t let anyone who rebelled against him in this instance enter the promised land, except Caleb. We’ll come back to Caleb later. Moses isn’t even allowed in the promised land for his own rebellion, but Joshua, who’s been his assistant, will be the “new Moses” who leads the 2nd generation Israelites into the promised land. And secondly, based on the fact that the generation who rebelled are still alive and must face their consequence of not entering the land, Yahweh commands Moses to lead them back into the wilderness. One writer calls this the anti-exodus. Daniel Block, who is one of the top commentators on Deuteronomy, writes, “In one stroke the exodus was annulled (declared invalid) and the nation’s history reversed.” “Go back,” commands Yahweh to Moses, “Lead the people back into the wilderness.” That’s the end of part two.
Part Three: Israel Fights the Amorites Alone. This is in vv. 41-44. Incredibly, they don’ go right away. Rather, the people come up to Moses and say, in v. 41 (read). Israel, upon hearing God’s judgment on them, quickly respond with this confession, and quickly state that they’ll do whatever it takes to reverse the judgment Yahweh made on them. However, Yahweh tells Moses to tell them to not go, since Yahweh is not with them in this battle. They are explicitly told that, if they go, they will be defeated by the Amorites—the peoples in the promised land. But, look at v. 43 (read). For the second time in our passage, we’re explicitly told that Israel “rebels” against the command of Yahweh. And this is very important, notice that rebellion against Yahweh is based on his commands, not so much a concrete, immovable criteria of dos and don’ts. Israel’s first act of rebellion was when they didn’t go up into the promised land when Yahweh commanded them to go. The second act of rebellion was when they did go up into the promised land when Yahweh commanded them to notgo. So, it’s not so much about going or not going into the promised land—it’s about obeying Yahweh’s commands when he commands them. We also see in this instance the arrogance and presumptuousness Israel has. It might help us determine that their confession back in v. 41 was probably not true, heart-felt confession and repentance. Nothing really changed with Israel, for they immediately go back to rebelling against Yahweh for selfish reasons. Now, as we’d expect, Yahweh was right, and the Israelites who went up to fight are “chased like bees.” They are defeated. Without God on their side, fighting their battles, they have no chance.
Part Four: Israel Doesn’t Receive Yahweh’s Forgiveness in Kadesh-barnea. This is in vv. 45-46—perhaps the saddest and most sorrowful part of the whole passage. Look at v. 45 (read v. 45). God is affected by our rebellion and responds to it. In this case here, we read the terrible reality that even with their tears of shame and guilt, Yahweh responds to their rebellion by not listening to them or paying attention to them. Now, like their earlier confession, we can presume that Israel’s tears here were not of heart-felt confession and repentance. Who is this God who is affected by and responds to our rebellion, and who, in this case, responds negatively? Perhaps we see here a side of the righteousness and holiness of God that we don’t naturally see or dwell on, and yet is fully a part of who God is. In the same chapter we’re told of a God who carries a people through a treacherous wilderness, like a father carries a son, and we’re told of a God who is affected by his people’s rebellion to the point of not listening or paying attention to their tears of suffering.
And then Part Five: Israel Journeys Back to the Wilderness. And this is summed up in chapter two v. 1 (read). Moses leads the people back into the wilderness, signaling the end of this disastrous event that turned a short journey into 38 years. So, with the text in view now, we can see that when Israel rebelled against Yahweh, based on their unbelief in his consistent care and provision, Yahweh condemned them from the promised land. This is so because God is affected by our rebellion, and responds to it.
Now, we saw in v. 32 the core of the problem. “Rebellion” was the fruit of distorted roots, and those roots were “unbelief.” Israel did not believe or trust Yahweh, and that unbelief or distrust quickly became rebellion against Yahweh. And that rebellion against Yahweh not only affected him personally, but it caused him to respond—and in this case, because their “confession” and “weeping” were not truly repentant, Yahweh responded negatively. The specific Israelites who rebelled against God at Kadesh-barnea were condemned from the promised land and would die in the wilderness. Now, what is Moses trying to say to his present audience?—the children of those Israelites who are now on the plains of Moab preparing to head in to the promised land? I think it’s quite simple: don’t be like your parents! Don’t disbelieve Yahweh! Look what happened with them—see God’s response! Moses warns these 2nd generation Israelites from unbelief in Yahweh. They, like their parents, are at the border of the promised land. If they choose to believe everything but Yahweh, then their fate will tragically reflect their parents.
And when we fast forward to today—right now, in this very place—the warning remains: don’t disbelieve Yahweh! This is the warning for us. God is affected by our rebellion, which comes from unbelief, and God will respond to it. We also have a promised land that we are heading towards—not one on earth, but one in heaven. We also have an inheritance that has been promised to us, that we must go and obtain. And the reality is, if we wilfully and happily disbelieve God, then that proves where our hearts are at. And God will be and is affected by that unbelief which necessarily leads to rebellion. Don’t disbelieve God. May we let this passage warn us of what unbelief can lead to. And may it warn us of the personality of God—that he’s a jealous God. He’s a God who loves us, and wants us to be in relationship with him. If he didn’t care about us, then our rebellion wouldn’t matter to him. But it’s exactly because he loves us so much, that rebellion affects him so much.
So, since God is affected by our rebellion, may we pray for and pursue whole-hearted devotion to him. May we listen carefully to Moses’ words of the past generation’s failure, in order to spur us on to victory! And look, those of us here today who have looked to Christ as our Saviour, we have an incredible advantage over those ancient Israelites. The advantage is this: the 1st generation Israelites who rebelled were righteously punished for their rebellion, because our God is good and just. But what about us? What about our rebellion? What about our times, seasons, years of unbelief? This is what makes the gospel so sweet—the good news. The crux of the gospel is that Jesus Christ, God himself, was punished for our rebellion. Even though we rebelled against him—just like those 1st generation Israelites—he lovingly and obediently walked out into the wilderness and died so that we might enter his eternal rest—the heavenly promised land. Now, if we truly grasp that reality, and we believe it, then I believe we are like Caleb. Caleb wasn’t affected by the “scary giants” of the land, because as Numbers 14:24 tell us, he has a different spirit. This different spirit enabled him to believe Yahweh, and trust in Yahweh’s care and provision—despite what the world threw at him. And this different spirit that enabled Caleb to “wholly follow the LORD” as it says in v. 36, I believe is true for us today who believe. This doesn’t mean Caleb or any of us are perfect and fully immune to unbelief and rebellion, but it does mean our faith will prevail. It means that our sins won’t have the final say, but we will strive forward in persevering belief in God, his gospel, and his Word. This also doesn’t mean that Caleb or us just get to sit back and relax and not pray for and pursue whole-hearted devotion to God. It’s our persevering prayer and pursuit of God that evidences our change in heart. It’s our repentant confession and sorrowful tears when we sin that prove that our hearts are different. And those tears are sorrowful because we understand that our rebellion affects God. Our confession is truly heartfelt because we know that Jesus didn’t “simply die for us,” but suffered immensely for us. So, if you want to be like Caleb this morning, the first step is to repent of your unbelief and rebellion, and trust in God and his gospel—believe that Jesus died for you in your place. If you do, your heart will be changed.
Let me finish with reading a passage from Hebrews 3 and 4 that look back to Israel’s unbelief as a way to encourage us in our faith (read Heb. 3:12-4:2).