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Hello, I'm Connie Jeffery, and I'm Lonnie Melashenko.

CONNIE: Lonnie, today we're looking at the book of Numbers, and I've got a pop quiz for you.

LONNIE: Oh really?

CONNIE: It's a Bible quiz. I'm going to give you a list of four names and see if you can tell me what they did that got their names into the Bible. Here's the list:
Sahmmua son of Zaccur; Palti, son of Raphu, Gaddiel, son of Sodi; Gaddi, son of Susi.

LONNIE: Well, Connie, I'll have to confess that none of those names ring a bell with me.

CONNIE: How about these two, then: Joshua, son of Nun and Caleb, Son of Jephunneh?

LONNIE: Sure I remember those names, they were the two faithful men that Moses sent to spy out the land of Canaan. . . So, I suppose the other four were some of the spies that came up lacking in faith.

CONNIE: You're absolutely right! Joshua and Caleb are the only two whose names "went down in history," because they had faith in God. The others have been forgotten.

LONNIE: Well today we're going to be looking at the biblical book of Numbers. I've titled my message "Marching to Zion," but on second thought I wonder if maybe we should call it "Marching Through Giants!" We'll be looking at how we can have faith like Caleb's and Joshua's--faith in God's leading, even when there are giants in the way.

CONNIE: In our first segment, David Smith talks with Mike Jones about some of his own experiences in following God.

DAVID: Mike Jones, welcome to the Voice of Prophecy.

MIKE: Thank you Dave.

DAVID: You know Mike, you and I have had some great times up there in Portland, working together, writing and producing, and mixing radio spots for the Adventist Church.

MIKE: Absolutely.

DAVID: I was thinking the other day, Mike, remember Homer Simpson Goes To Church?

MIKE: Yes.

DAVID: Some of those spots are so clever, we haven't got the courage to play them on the air quite yet.

MIKE: I hear that.

DAVID: But one of these days at two in the morning in Possums Paw, Alabama we'll sneak them on the radio.

MIKE: Good deal.

DAVID: Listen Mike, we are studying here with Lonnie and Ken in the book of Numbers, some of the ups and downs, and I guess I would say the roller coaster that those children of Israel went on, and of course all of us who are Christian believers, we go through ups and downs, and you would say as well as I would, there's a fair amount of children of Israel in all of us, we're all kind of stiff necked people.

MIKE: Absolutely.

DAVID: But Mike you recently went public in a major Christian Journal with the roller coaster ride of your own spiritual journey, and for just a few minutes would you just share that with our radio audience.

MIKE: I'll be glad to. I left the church in 1983 following a divorce. I didn't have any major doctoral differences with the church, and my divorce was not about scandal except for the fact that it was a divorce, and a lot of the books that I had written gave me visibility, kind of a high profile guy in the church, as a former editor of one of the major publications.

DAVID: You know as a teenager I used to read a Christian magazine, and you were the editor of it. There was the name on the masthead. So like you said, you had a certain high profile.

MIKE: I didn't think you were that old.

DAVID: Oh yes!

MIKE: At any rate, when I got that divorce, it seemed to me that my continued membership would be an embarrassment to the church. Nobody said when I tried to resign, "Don't go." So I left.

DAVID: Nobody begged you to stay and so the door was open.

MIKE: No response at all.

DAVID: Yeah that is a shame. And you were gone how long Mike?

MIKE: 16 years.

DAVID: During that 16 years, did you hear from people very much?

MIKE: Not too often.

DAVID: So it was kind of a quiet time in the wilderness for you.

MIKE: I was in the wilderness, and you know Moses had a pretty good time in the wilderness and I kind of did too. I certainly loved the Lord, and I tried to stay really close to Him, especially in the absence of a membership in any church. So He and I had a pretty good time together, but I did miss out on the fellowship.

DAVID: Now Mike when you and I chatted a few weeks ago just preparatory to this, you made it very clear, you said, "David, I did not leave Jesus. My faith relationship with Jesus was strong all the way through, but it was simply the organized church, the denomination." So it was not a faith crisis. Mike, 16 years went by, a long 16, and now as you wrote in this very good article you are back in the organized Body of Christ. What were the factors that after those 16 years in the wilderness brought you back into the tent?

MIKE: There were two primary factors. One was, I met a lady who I am now married to, these last 4 years.

DAVID: Wonderful.

MIKE: And she is a strong Bible Christian, and she did not want to be married to a man who did not attend church with her on a regular basis. So she was certainly a big factor. It got me re-thinking about going back to church.

DAVID: Praise God for a good strong-minded lady.

MIKE: Absolutely, and secondly, I felt that I could accomplish more for the Lord within the structure of the Church, than to just be operating as the Lone Ranger, and so that was certainly another factor that sped me along in the direction of reuniting with the church.

DAVID: And that was how many years ago Mike that you did come back?

MIKE: Two years ago I was formally back, and three or four years that I've been back in spirit.

DAVID: And has it worked as you said--that your influence has been more productive because you are back within the ranks?

MIKE: I hope so. In our own local church, we are involved in facilitating a Bible Study class. We have a prayer study fellowship in our home. I preach occasionally, and I'm working on a seminar for the church to reach out to the community. So there are a number of things that we're doing through the church that I wasn't doing before.

DAVID: I was just mentioning before we went on the air Mike, I think of the great evangelical John Stott. He's a great, great writer who's beloved home denomination is the Anglican church, and he has a couple of public disagreements with some theology in that church and someone once said to him, "Dr. Stott why do you stay in the Anglican Communion?" And he said, "Well, it's still a pretty good boat to fish from." And so after all of this time has gone by, you had some frustrations. You are back in the boat, the boat may have problems, and some leaks here and there, but praise God you are back with us.

MIKE: Yes indeed, I'm happy to be back.

DAVID: Now Mike I just know in closing, you just spent this morning in a one on one witnessing adventure with a friend from the Jehovah's Witness community about the eternity of Jesus Christ and His existence. How'd that go?

MIKE: Well it went really, really well, and I hope he got something out of it. I certainly was blessed, and we're going to meet again.

DAVID: Well the moving thing to me now that you say that, praise the Lord for it, it is really the existence of Christ, the pre-existence of Christ, and your abiding relationship with Him, Mike, that brought you through those tough 16 years, kept you faithful, kept you strong. There were obstacles in the wilderness, but just like the Children of Israel, the Lord saw you through it.

MIKE: Absolutely.

DAVID: Mike, great to talk to you. Thanks for joining us on the Voice of Prophecy.

MIKE: My pleasure.

CONNIE: Sometimes it does take a little wandering around, a little "exploring the edges" so to speak, before we discover the home God has for us.

LONNIE: That was the case with the people of Israel, and in a spiritual sense it's the case with most of us.

CONNIE: Much of the Bible is about people who were making a spiritual journey of some sort, and a song that captures that spirit is "The Journey," sung by Cynthia Clawson.

"The Journey", Cynthia Clawson, from The Way I Feel CD, Track 2.


CONNIE: That was Cynthia Clawson singing "The Journey," the music is on her CD The Way I Feel. Remember, and you can learn more about all the music heard on our program by visiting our website, www.vop.com.

LONNIE: The surest way to find the right path and to keep our feet from slipping off of it is, of course, to link up with Jesus Christ in our journey.

CONNIE: And that's what our free book offer today is designed to help you do. It's a true classic called Steps to Christ. It's given guidance to millions through the years, and I know you'll find its insights valuable as well.

Why not give us a call right now at our toll-free number and request a copy of Steps to Christ? The number is 1-800-872-0055. I'll share it again after Lonnie's message, and also give you an address you can write to, so stay tuned.

The book of Numbers is also about a spiritual journey, as Ken Wade points out in his commentary today.

KEN: In English we call the fourth book of the Bible Numbers, but in the Hebrew Bible it has a different title: Bemidbar, which is the fifth word in the book. It means simply "In the Wilderness."

It's an appropriate title for the book. It evokes poignant pictures of what the people of Israel went through as they sought to comprehend and Apprehend the plan of God for their lives.

As a boy, I loved to go wandering in the wilderness areas of my home state of Oregon. Nothing energized or excited me more than a chance to go up into the woods of the great Willamette National Forest and to set off exploring, just wandering among the giant hemlocks and Douglas Firs, wondering what was over the next rise or around the next bend.

My dad and I would set out on a compass course, heading for some little spot of blue on our forest service maps: a lake, or a stream where we wanted to try our luck at fishing.

I've never gotten lost while following a compass course. But many's the time I've stopped in midcourse, stymied, puzzled, wondering. Many's the time I've turned around and backtracked, just to make sure I hadn't miscalculated and missed an azimuth somewhere along the way.

I think it was Daniel Boone who, when he was asked if he had ever gotten lost in his wilderness wanderings, responded by saying that No, he'd never been lost, but there was one time when he had been "temporarily disoriented" for about three days.

"In the Wilderness" evokes images of wandering, of "temporary disorientation," of unknown perils, but also of unseen opportunities and unspoken promises to be fulfilled or claimed.

In my spiritual life there have also been wilderness experiences--times when I wasn't sure that I was on the right path; times when I have gotten side tracked and needed to back-track. Times when I needed to check the guidebook--my Bible--to see whether I was straying from the proper azimuth. Times when I needed to spend some serious time in meditation, prayer, and pleading with God to show me the right way to go.

And I've always found Him faithful. God does lead--when we're humble and willing to follow. That's the message of the book of Numbers--the book of "In the Wilderness" in a nutshell. And come to think of it, that's the message of the whole Bible as well.

If you find yourself wandering, confused, wondering where you went wrong, maybe it's time for a little backtracking. A bit of time spent with God and His Word to get your feet back on the right track. Get out that dusty old Bible. Kneel down and pray. Ask God to lead. And then be willing to follow.

CONNIE: Thanks, Ken. That's good advice--the kind of reminder we all need from time to time.
In fact it's the kind of advice the people of Israel could have profited from when they left Mt. Sinai and headed for the promised land--as Lonnie points out in today's message, "Marching to Zion."

SERMON:

LONNIE: "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim. . . . We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." (Numbers 13:32, 33 NIV)

That was the report that ten of twelve spies brought back to Moses after they had explored the land that God had promised to give them. They had gone out full of optimism, excited to be exploring the place they were planning to move to. They returned full of pessimism, afraid to even think about claiming God's promises.

I believe it was Winston Churchill who said "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Unfortunately, ten out of twelve of the men Moses sent to check out the Promised Land were thoroughgoing pessimists.

There were only two optimists in the group: Caleb and Joshua. They went to all the same places, they saw all the same things. They probably felt just as "grasshopperish" beside the sons of Anak as the rest of the men did.
But how did they respond to the challenge?
Listen, here's what they said:

"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" (Num 14:7-9 NIV).

Notice the strong contrast here. The first group delivered the majority report: "The land we explored DEVOURS the people."

In their minority report, Caleb and Joshua turned the words back on their faithless compatriots: "Don't be afraid of those people. WE will SWALLOW them up!"

The majority report would be funny if it wasn't for the pain and problems it caused. Notice: the ten spies reported that a lot of really big and scary people lived in the land, but in the SAME BREATH they said that the land devoured its inhabitants!

What were they really afraid of? The land, or the people? Or were they simply afraid to go forward, clinging to the promises of God?

Fear and faith don't mix well. One or the other has to rule. Every day we choose our master: Will it be faith, or will it be fear? Will we stand with the minority report, or will we fall with the majority? Am I a Joshua, or am I Shammua?

Shammua was one of the spies who could see only obstacles and problems. Joshua and Caleb could see only opportunities and promises. They had only good to say. The land is good, and God is good. If He wants to give us the land, then the land won't devour us. The people won't defeat us. WE will do the devouring!

Now, the book of Numbers, I know, bothers some people in our day. The central story in the book concerns the Israelites' belief that God had given them a land--and that they were to take that land from the people who lived there.
It's hard for us to understand.

If a group of people were to try doing that sort of thing today, we'd probably accuse them of "ethnic cleansing."

It's just not politically correct for one group of people to declare that God has told them to take over another group's houses, vineyards, and olive orchards.
When we read through the Bible thoughtfully, particularly the Old Testament, we do come upon parts that disturb us--certain stories that just don't mesh with the way we think today. Our minds naturally ask questions like "How could the Moses be SO SURE that God was telling him to go in and drive the Canaanites out of their country, killing and pillaging all through the land?
How could the same God who issued the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill" then proceed to tell His people to go into the land and wipe out the inhabitants, leaving only the unmarried women as survivors?

It's difficult for us to understand, but if we are going to take the Bible seriously, and if we're going to read it faithfully, we will come up against questions like that. And the best answer that we can give is that God was dealing with something less than an ideal situation.

If you heard our program titled "The Bible Sandwich" a few weeks ago, you may remember that I pointed out that the Bible begins with a perfect world and ends with a perfect world. But what comes between those two ideal worlds is far from perfect.

God has to deal with rebellious people in all their frailties and foibles. He has to work with the customs, the understanding, and the abilities of the people He's dealing with.

Remember, He had just recently delivered these people from slavery in a land with thousands of other gods. He had seen that His people were easily sidetracked into worshiping other gods. Now He wanted to settle them in a new land and teach them to worship Him faithfully. He couldn't allow them to begin worshiping other gods again.

So God originally planned to drive out the current inhabitants in a slightly more gentle way.

"I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way," He promised in Exodus 23:28.

He wanted to gently and slowly open up the land to give His people a place to live. But, as usual, things didn't work out according to the ideal plan.
When Shammua and his friends brought back a negative, fearful report from their spying mission, the people rebelled against God and refused to go into the land. They even went so far as to plan an election to choose a leader to take them back to Egypt! They were ready to kill Moses and Aaron and take over their own destinies. They wanted to follow someone who would listen to them instead of to God.

Friend, democracy is a great idea. It serves our nation well. But these people had the opportunity to have something far better: Direct guidance by God through His prophet Moses. And they didn't want it.

It's a tragic story--but oh how HUMAN a story. How natural, how normal…for human beings to want to be masters of their own destiny. How natural for me … for you … to want things our own way instead of God's way.

For the people of Israel, their rebellion turned into a horrible tragedy. God told them they could have their way--they could stay out in the wilderness instead of going into the Promised Land. But then they rebelled again and marched off to try take the land on their own. They suffered defeat and great loss of life. Finally all of them died OUTSIDE the Promised Land during 40 years of wilderness wandering. All of them, that is, except for two: Caleb and Joshua. The men with faith.

Friend, all of us are making a journey--a journey to the land of promise, heaven, "Sweet Canaan's Happy Land." God's Word is filled with instructions and promises to help us along the way. Won't you be like Caleb, like Joshua, a man or woman of faith to claim those promises and walk with God all the way to the Promised Land?