WEBVTT

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Psalm 106. We've gone through it a couple of

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weeks. We took a week off from it last week,

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but this week we're continuing on right where

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we left off. Psalm 106, verse 16. I told y 'all

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when we started Psalm 106, we were probably going

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to be in it for a while because we're going to

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look at some of these stories that are referenced

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in detail. So we're going to go back and find

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them in the Old Testament. and dig into them

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in a little more depth. And we did that last

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week, and we're going to do that again this week.

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So we'll be in Psalm 106. We'll start in verse

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16. We'll read verses 16, 17, and 18. This chapter

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has to do with Israel's disobedience. The chapter

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before talked about God's obedience or faithfulness

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to his people. Psalm 106 talks about the unfaithfulness

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of God's people toward God. And so we see some

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examples of that in this psalm, and we're going

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to look at another one tonight. Let's pray, and

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then we'll get started. God, we come to you.

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We thank you for your good word. I pray that

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you would help us to understand these stories

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and this passage that we're going to look at

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and help us to look at our own life, dear Lord,

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that maybe we can learn through what we read

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tonight, God, that we don't... Look at others

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and think how bad they are, but dear Lord, that

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we let your word talk to us, that we can see

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if there's something in here that we need to

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hear. And there certainly always is in your word

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if we'd listen. So let your Holy Spirit be with

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us and free us from worries and distractions.

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Take away any pride or fear that's within me

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and help me to be able to focus and preach and

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teach your word in a way that brings glory and

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honor to you tonight. In Jesus' name I pray it.

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Amen. All right, Psalm 106, verse 16. In the

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camp, they were envious of Moses and of Aaron,

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the Lord's holy one. The earth opened up and

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swallowed Dathan. It covered the assembly of

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Abraham. Fire blazed throughout their assembly.

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Flames consumed the wicked. Now, this is just

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three little verses that talks about a pretty

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interesting story. that you will find in Numbers

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chapter 16 if you want to turn there. Numbers

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chapter 16. Now we won't read through all of

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this chapter tonight. We're probably going to

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break it up into a couple of weeks. But Numbers

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chapter 16 tells us an interesting story about

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a guy by the name of Korah and some others that

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he gathered up to rebel against Moses. By this

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point, you know, God's people were on their way

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to the promised land, and God had told Moses

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to send some scouts to scout out the promised

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land, and they did. And the scouts that went

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to scout out the promised land came back, and

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almost all of them said, oh, yeah, it's a great

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land, but there's people there, and they're giants,

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and they're just, oh, we just can't go in and

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take these people. You know, it's just, it's

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too scary. We've come all this way, and there's

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no way we can go in there. Well, a couple of

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the folks that went in to check out the land,

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Joshua and Caleb, they came back and they gave

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a favorable report. They said, hey, look, this

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is a beautiful land, and we have nothing to fear.

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God is on our side, and so it doesn't matter

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who's there. We need to go in and get this land.

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Well, God was not happy with the people because

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of what they had done. He was not happy that

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they had... acted this way, that they had acted

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out of fear, that they weren't living in obedience

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to him. And God was just not happy with his people.

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And as a result of that, they were going to be

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forced to wander around in the wilderness for

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40 years. They weren't going to be able to go

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into the promised land. And so that's what we

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see kind of leading up to this. And then right

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before this, we see that God It gave a few commands

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to Moses for the people, some things that they

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needed to follow and things that they needed

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to do. And then we get to Numbers chapter 16.

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Now Moses had led the people out of Egypt. He

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parted the Red Sea. God had provided for them.

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They had been complaining the whole time. We

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don't have enough food to eat that we want. Oh,

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in Egypt we ate so good. We don't even have good

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water to drink. Oh, it's so horrible. Why did

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you bring us out here, Moses? It's the worst

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thing ever. And they had just been complaining

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and complaining and complaining the whole time.

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And we talked about that the last couple of weeks

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in Psalm 106. And here's another story of their

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unfaithfulness to God. They're still complaining.

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So by this point, the people are... tired of

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Moses, that he must not be doing a very good

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job. And why do we have to listen to Moses? Well,

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that's what Korah said. And he got some others

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along with him to start a rebellion to confront

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Moses. And that's what we see in Numbers chapter

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16, verse 1. Now Korah, son of Ishar, son of

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Kohath, son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram,

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sons of Eliab, And On, son of Peleth, sons of

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Reuben, took 250 prominent Israelite men who

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were leaders of the community and representatives

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in the assembly, and they rebelled against Moses.

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They came together against Moses and Aaron and

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told them, You have gone too far. Everyone in

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the entire community is holy, and the Lord is

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among them. Why then do you exalt? exalt yourselves

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above the Lord's assembly. Okay, so the scene

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is set. Korah, there's a few other guys here.

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They gather up 250 leaders in the land, and they

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go and confront Moses. And they said, let me

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tell you, Moses, you have gone too far. The things

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that you're doing, the way that you're leading

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us, we're not pleased with this. This is not

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a good way to do it. We don't want to follow

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you anymore. And listen to what he said in the

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middle of that verse. He says, everyone in the

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entire community is holy. Well, that's a bold

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statement to make. These are the same people

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who have been complaining and been disobedient

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to God since they left Egypt. And they're so

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bold to stand before Moses and say, who are you

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to tell us that we're holy? Who are you to have

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all the power? We can have as much power as you.

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Why can't we be the ones that lead these people,

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Israel? So Korah gets this group together and

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they rebel against Moses and come to him and

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say, hey, look here, we're not going to follow

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you anymore. Let's see what happens in verse

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4. When Moses heard this, he fell face down.

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Then he said to Korah and all his followers,

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tomorrow morning the Lord will reveal who belongs

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to him, who is set apart, and the one he will

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let come near him. He will let the one he chooses

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come near him. Korah, you and all your followers

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are to do this. Take fire pans and tomorrow place

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fire in them and put incense on them before the

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Lord. Then the man the Lord chooses will be the

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one who is set apart. It is you Levites who have

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gone too far. So Moses hears their objection

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and he says, we're going to let the Lord decide.

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We'll let the Lord decide who's in the right.

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We're both going to go before the Lord. We'll

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see who the Lord answers, who the Lord pays attention

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to, who the Lord is gracious to, and who the

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Lord brings punishment to. If I'm in the wrong,

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so be it. If you guys are in the right, then

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so be it. Moses says, we're going to let the

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Lord decide who's right and who's wrong. They

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told Moses he had gone too far. He says, no,

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y 'all are the ones who are in the wrong. Y 'all

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are the ones who have gone too far. Verse 8.

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Moses also told Korah, Now listen, Levites, isn't

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it enough for you that the God of Israel has

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separated you from the Israelite community to

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bring you near to himself, to perform the work

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at the Lord's tabernacle, and to stand before

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the community to minister to them? He has brought

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you near, and all your fellow Levites who are

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with you, but you are seeking the priesthood

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as well. Therefore, it is you and all your followers.

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who have conspired against the Lord. As for Aaron,

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who is he that you should complain about him?

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So Moses said, look, God has put me in charge.

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God has established me. He's called me. He's

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called Aaron to lead you guys, to be the priest

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of you guys. And you guys are not paying any

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attention to what the Lord has said. And why

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are you mad at Aaron? What did he do, he says.

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And so Moses is not happy about what's taking

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place. He's not happy about these people confronting

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him. But nevertheless, the Lord is going to decide

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and take care of the situation. Verse 12. Moses

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sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab.

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But they said, We will not come. Is it not enough

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that you brought us up from a land flowing with

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milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness?

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Do you also have to appoint yourself as ruler

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over us? Furthermore, you didn't bring us to

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a land flowing with milk and honey or give us

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an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will

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you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will

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not come. Now, isn't it interesting the language

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that they use here? They said, look, you brought

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us out of a land flowing with milk and honey

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and brought us here. Wait a minute. That's what

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God said about the promised land. That it was

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a land flowing with milk and honey. But yet,

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these people who are rebelling against God here,

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they're using that same language of Egypt. They're

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thinking, oh, remember back, it was so good in

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Egypt. They had totally forgot that they were

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enslaved. Now, certainly Egypt was blessed in

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those days. Egypt was doing well. Egypt did have

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a lot of resources. But the people of Israel,

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they were slaves there. They didn't have freedom

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there. They were enslaved in a foreign land.

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And how quickly they forgot. How quickly they

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forgot their situation. And now that they're

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in this wilderness and in these situations that

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they brought on themselves because they were

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disobedient to God, and now all of a sudden their

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memory of the past is a lot better than what

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the past actually was. Sometimes we have a way

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of doing that. Sometimes we have a way of...

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of remembering things as being a little better

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than they actually were when i was in in seminary

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i bought this little futon that folded into a

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bed and it was so i mean i said on that thing

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it was so comfortable i'd use it as a couch i'd

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use it as a futon and it was so comfortable and

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we needed a cheap couch when we got married and

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i was like hey i'm gonna get that same couch

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because i remember that thing was so comfortable

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and they still made it everything so i bought

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the same thing and guess what it wasn't it I

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said, man, this ain't as comfortable as I remember

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it being. And the Israelites, they're in the

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wilderness and in their mind they're thinking,

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man, it was really good back in Egypt when we

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were slaves and having to do all that manual

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labor. It was the land flowing with milk and

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honey. But it wasn't that good. It wasn't that

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good at all. They had just kind of been blinded

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for their current situation and their old situation.

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They thought things were better than they were.

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But they would be a lot better than they were

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if they would just listen to God. They would

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be in a land flowing with milk and honey. None

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of this would have taken place if the ones who

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went into the land to check it out would have

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come back and said, hey, this is a great land.

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If God says we need to take it, let's go in there

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and take it. If they would have done that, we

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would have saved a lot of ink in writing these

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scriptures about them wandering in the wilderness.

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But they didn't do that. And so now they're rebelling.

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They want to be in a land flowing with milk and

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honey, and the reason they're not is because

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they're not obedient to God. And so they call

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Moses out, and Moses doesn't want to have any

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of it. He says, Furthermore, you didn't bring

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us to a land flowing with milk and honey, or

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give us an inheritance or fields and vineyards.

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Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We

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will not come. Now they had a choice. They could

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follow the man that God sent or not. That was

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their choice. Okay, God has established this

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is the way things need to be. I have somewhere

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I want to send you. I want to take you to a better

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place. I want to provide for you. But that's

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going to require obedience of you to me. And

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sadly, they were disobedient to the Lord. But

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what about you and I? Maybe we look at this story

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and we say, man, these foolish people. But do

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we ever do the same thing? Are we ever guilty

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of complaining in the same way that these folks

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complain? This is their history. This is their

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pattern. Like no matter what God did for them,

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they just complained, complained, complained.

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And every time they complained, God would bring

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judgment on them. And it was pretty serious.

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You may recall from the story we talked about

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a couple of weeks ago where they wanted food.

00:13:57.799 --> 00:13:59.480
Give us food, give us food, give us food. We

00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:01.379
want food, we want meat, we want meat. Give us

00:14:01.379 --> 00:14:03.120
meat, give us meat. And God said, you want meat,

00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:05.019
you got meat. And he gave them meat and they

00:14:05.019 --> 00:14:09.340
ate so much meat that it made them sick. And

00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:11.120
they finally got what they wanted and they realized

00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.279
that what they wanted was not what was best for

00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:16.019
them. And then they turn around and they complain

00:14:16.019 --> 00:14:18.480
and they complain. That's just scripture after

00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:20.320
scripture. They're just complaining and rebelling

00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:22.480
against everything that God calls them to do.

00:14:22.539 --> 00:14:25.360
And they continually get in bad situations. And

00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:29.820
then they fail to see that they bear some responsibility

00:14:29.820 --> 00:14:34.940
for where they are. Do we ever do the same thing?

00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:38.539
Do we ever complain, complain, complain, complain,

00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:41.720
complain? Of all the things that God has done

00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:46.120
for us, do we ever complain? Now you may say

00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:48.200
to yourself, well yeah, but if I would have saw

00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:50.399
the Red Sea part, I wouldn't complain. Well yeah,

00:14:50.419 --> 00:14:52.899
you would have. Because there were hundreds of

00:14:52.899 --> 00:14:54.919
thousands, maybe even a couple of million of

00:14:54.919 --> 00:14:57.200
Israelites at that time that walked through a

00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:59.940
sea, parted on dry ground, and as soon as they

00:14:59.940 --> 00:15:02.039
get to the other side, the first thing they can

00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:04.659
do is start complaining. about how good they

00:15:04.659 --> 00:15:07.019
had it in Egypt and oh why did we leave Egypt

00:15:07.019 --> 00:15:11.960
that's the first thing they do and God has been

00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:14.139
good to us in a lot of ways and maybe we haven't

00:15:14.139 --> 00:15:17.620
seen a sea part but man we have a thank you everybody

00:15:17.620 --> 00:15:19.460
in here has a house they're going to go to tonight

00:15:19.460 --> 00:15:22.590
when they leave I suspect everybody is probably

00:15:22.590 --> 00:15:25.049
eating a meal. If you hadn't, let me know after

00:15:25.049 --> 00:15:27.590
church. We'll get you a meal, but I suspect we're

00:15:27.590 --> 00:15:29.909
probably all eating a meal today. We're all wearing

00:15:29.909 --> 00:15:31.950
clothes tonight. Praise the Lord for that. That

00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:35.649
would be really awkward if we weren't. A lot

00:15:35.649 --> 00:15:38.649
of you have jobs or were able to work jobs and

00:15:38.649 --> 00:15:42.450
are now retired. I mean, there's so many good

00:15:42.450 --> 00:15:46.590
things that God has been good to us with, and

00:15:46.590 --> 00:15:49.919
yet we still find so many ways to complain. about

00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:53.799
things that maybe don't matter. And maybe there

00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:55.659
are things that God wants to do in our life and

00:15:55.659 --> 00:15:58.259
ways that God wants to lead us, ways that are

00:15:58.259 --> 00:16:01.240
tough, things that are before us, just like it

00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:03.519
was going to be, in a sense, it was going to

00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:05.779
take some faith. It was going to be tough for

00:16:05.779 --> 00:16:07.700
them to go into that promised land because it

00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:10.580
was scary. Sometimes what's before us is scary.

00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:13.940
But there were a couple of them that wanted to

00:16:13.940 --> 00:16:15.600
trust in the Lord, and then there were some that

00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:17.399
didn't, and then there were these guys that said,

00:16:17.850 --> 00:16:19.950
Not only do we want to trust, we just want to

00:16:19.950 --> 00:16:21.830
do away with everything that God has established

00:16:21.830 --> 00:16:23.730
and do away with Moses and we want to do it all

00:16:23.730 --> 00:16:29.490
ourselves. And do we ever do that? Do we ever

00:16:29.490 --> 00:16:31.190
have that attitude that there's something before

00:16:31.190 --> 00:16:34.250
us that maybe is scary or maybe is tough and

00:16:34.250 --> 00:16:37.409
we're not so sure about it and we miss out on

00:16:37.409 --> 00:16:39.450
what God wants to bless us with because we're

00:16:39.450 --> 00:16:42.629
too afraid to just have faith and listen to him?

00:16:43.289 --> 00:16:46.110
How many times does God give us commands and

00:16:46.110 --> 00:16:48.909
we rebel against it? We know what the Word of

00:16:48.909 --> 00:16:51.610
God says. We feel the conviction of the Holy

00:16:51.610 --> 00:16:55.110
Spirit, and we know what we should do, and we

00:16:55.110 --> 00:16:57.090
rebel against it. These people knew what they

00:16:57.090 --> 00:16:59.710
should have done. Moses had been with them for

00:16:59.710 --> 00:17:02.289
a while. He had just, right before this, a chapter

00:17:02.289 --> 00:17:04.869
or two before, he'd been telling them these laws

00:17:04.869 --> 00:17:07.190
and these commands that God had given. They were

00:17:07.190 --> 00:17:10.069
aware of what God desired and what God required.

00:17:11.569 --> 00:17:13.690
And they weren't just rebelling against Moses.

00:17:13.769 --> 00:17:17.819
They were rebelling against God. And how many

00:17:17.819 --> 00:17:21.960
times do we do the same thing? Now Moses was

00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:24.900
the one that God had sent. He was going to be

00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:27.079
the one that was going to deliver the people

00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:30.599
out of slavery and lead them to the promised

00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:34.180
land. And they were rejecting the one that God

00:17:34.180 --> 00:17:38.140
sent. And Moses is just foreshadowing Jesus Christ.

00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:41.420
It's foreshadowing who's to come. That whole

00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:45.039
situation with the Israelites. And it really

00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:47.539
happened, but... But it's also symbolic of what

00:17:47.539 --> 00:17:49.940
was going to happen. That there was going to

00:17:49.940 --> 00:17:52.500
be a Passover. That those who were covered in

00:17:52.500 --> 00:17:54.299
the blood were going to be passed over. That

00:17:54.299 --> 00:17:56.960
there would be one who would lead the people

00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:59.579
out of slavery and into freedom. Who would lead

00:17:59.579 --> 00:18:01.759
the people into the promised land. Moses was

00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:04.299
foreshadowing what was going to come in Jesus

00:18:04.299 --> 00:18:06.140
Christ. That he was going to be the one that

00:18:06.140 --> 00:18:08.920
God was going to send. That he would be the one

00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:11.440
to lead us out of the slavery of our sin. That

00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:14.250
he'd be the one to lead us into the... and the

00:18:14.250 --> 00:18:16.369
peace of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that he

00:18:16.369 --> 00:18:19.109
would be the one to bring us into the promised

00:18:19.109 --> 00:18:22.730
land. And so God has sent his one and only son.

00:18:23.470 --> 00:18:25.690
He's the deliverer. He's the one that God has

00:18:25.690 --> 00:18:29.609
appointed. And we have a choice to make. Are

00:18:29.609 --> 00:18:31.450
we going to follow him or are we going to rebel

00:18:31.450 --> 00:18:34.329
against him? Are we going to say, no, we don't

00:18:34.329 --> 00:18:36.069
want to follow the one that God sent. We want

00:18:36.069 --> 00:18:39.069
to do it our way. Because we don't like God's

00:18:39.069 --> 00:18:40.869
way. We don't like the way God wants to send

00:18:40.869 --> 00:18:42.789
us. We don't like the things God wants us to

00:18:42.789 --> 00:18:46.450
do. We want to do it our way. And we're in a

00:18:46.450 --> 00:18:48.230
bad place when we get to that place. And there's

00:18:48.230 --> 00:18:51.049
plenty of people in this world that are there.

00:18:52.529 --> 00:18:54.970
Maybe some here tonight. Maybe some listening

00:18:54.970 --> 00:18:57.589
online. But the only way we're going to find

00:18:57.589 --> 00:19:00.809
freedom and peace and deliverance is when we

00:19:00.809 --> 00:19:02.809
trust in the one that God sent in Jesus Christ.

00:19:02.890 --> 00:19:05.119
He's the one that's going to... Lead us through

00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:07.079
whatever's before us. I don't know what's before

00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:09.859
you. It might be scary. There may be giants before

00:19:09.859 --> 00:19:12.119
you just as there were for those spies that went

00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:15.940
into the promised land. Will you be one who sees

00:19:15.940 --> 00:19:18.119
the giants and flee or will you be one that sees

00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:21.680
the giants and say, we got this? Will you be

00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:24.859
one that follows Jesus, the one that God sent,

00:19:25.019 --> 00:19:26.799
or will you be one that rebels against him and

00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:29.339
say, I don't want to live for Jesus. I want to

00:19:29.339 --> 00:19:33.160
live for myself. Well, this crew of folks here,

00:19:33.819 --> 00:19:37.119
They made the wrong choice. They rebelled against

00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.759
Moses, and really they rebelled against God.

00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:43.660
And we're going to see next week that they are

00:19:43.660 --> 00:19:45.720
going to pay the consequence for that. Let's

00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:49.039
pray. God, we come to you. We thank you for your

00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:51.160
good words. I pray that you help us not to be

00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:54.579
so foolish, to think back of our past, of our

00:19:54.579 --> 00:19:58.259
sinfulness, and think that it's better than it

00:19:58.259 --> 00:20:01.000
was. Sometimes, dear Lord, we forget how bad

00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:03.920
things that we've done in our past are, Let us

00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:07.079
never be drawn to our sinful desires of the past,

00:20:07.180 --> 00:20:09.980
but to keep on pushing forward, to keep on on

00:20:09.980 --> 00:20:11.819
the straight and narrow path. As tough as it

00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:14.200
may be, God, sometimes that path leads us to

00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:17.319
places that are overwhelming to us. But, dear

00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:19.019
Lord, if your people would have just listened,

00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:21.740
you would have took them there and took care

00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:23.759
of them and gave them everything that they needed.

00:20:23.900 --> 00:20:26.299
You do it to us, dear Lord, and so many times

00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:29.200
we don't have faith and we're afraid and we turn

00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:33.099
back. Maybe if we're honest, we... We rebel against

00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:35.220
you, dear Lord. We know what you call us to do,

00:20:35.299 --> 00:20:38.440
and there's something in us, God, that just we

00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:40.220
don't want to do it. And I pray that you forgive

00:20:40.220 --> 00:20:42.160
us of that, and I pray that you would help us

00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:45.660
to be a people that are obedient to you, that

00:20:45.660 --> 00:20:47.819
we would not think too highly of ourselves, dear

00:20:47.819 --> 00:20:49.740
Lord. These folks in this story we looked at

00:20:49.740 --> 00:20:53.579
tonight, boy, they call themselves holy, but,

00:20:53.619 --> 00:20:56.339
dear Lord, they were so far from it. And so,

00:20:56.359 --> 00:20:58.400
God, I pray that you help us to examine our lives.

00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:02.890
Maybe we look at ourselves and we say, Or think

00:21:02.890 --> 00:21:06.230
just how holy we are. But maybe, dear Lord, our

00:21:06.230 --> 00:21:08.990
pride has blinded us and we're not as holy as

00:21:08.990 --> 00:21:11.849
we think. So God, I pray that we would seek you

00:21:11.849 --> 00:21:14.170
and not rebel against your word and not rebel

00:21:14.170 --> 00:21:16.490
against the one that you sent. But that we would

00:21:16.490 --> 00:21:18.769
seek Jesus Christ and trust him and not seek

00:21:18.769 --> 00:21:22.589
to do it our way as these folks did, but to trust

00:21:22.589 --> 00:21:24.509
in the one that you sent to be our deliverer.

00:21:24.809 --> 00:21:27.910
And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.