#DailyDevotion When In Doubt, Always Trust God’s Promises
7th Sunday of Easter
Read Num 14:1–25
Num 14:3-4 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” (4) And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”…11 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? (12) I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”…17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised,…20 Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word…22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, (23) shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.
The people having heard the report of the spies became afraid and despised the promises of the Lord. They even went so far as to demand a leader to take them back to Egypt! Now Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua seeing the situation fell down and repented for the people of Israel.
But the Lord’s anger raged against the people of Israel. He was angered that they did not trust his promises nor did they trust him. They did not trust him despite all the signs and wonders he did for them, ten times he said. Instead, the Lord was going to replace them with a people from the loins of Moses.
But Moses acts as an intercessor between the people and the Lord. He prays for the Lord to forgive them. He prays the Lord remember his promise and act according the name the Lord revealed to him. Because of his promise and for his name sake, the Lord pardons the Israelites and will allow their descendents enter into the Promised Land. But those Israelites who rebelled against the Lord and Moses would wander in the wilderness until they all died off.
Now we have someone greater than Moses, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the same Lord who spoke with Moses and pardoned the iniquity of Israel. Now in the flesh, he stands at the right hand of God interceding for us who sin so much. He has pardoned our iniquity with his own blood and paid our penalty with his own death. He continually presents these to the Father so God is reconciled to us and not only us to the whole world. He calls to us to be reconciled to God, that is, to believe he has done this. As a sign he has accomplished this reconciliation, he has risen from the dead. But like the Israelites who never entered the Promised Land, if you do not believe he has done this for you by your last breath, you shall not enter the Promised Land of the New Heavens and New Earth.
Heavenly Father, your mercy and grace know no bounds. You always act according to your promises and your name. Grant us faith and your Holy Spirit that we may always trust in your promises and enter into the land you have promised to us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.