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That's connectwithskip.com. Now here's today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: The cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony from evening till morning. It was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. Isn't this cool? You'd never have to question God's will or God's presence. You never have to go out and go, I wonder where I should go today. Uh nowhere until that thing moves. And then when that thing moves, you never have to say, I wonder if I where I should go today. You should follow that. So you were always assured of the presence of God and that would be nice. That would be easy.

I had to tell you something. We have something far better. We don't have guidance. We have a guide lives inside of us. The Holy Spirit is resident inside us. And even though you don't know it or see it, you go, it would be so nice to see it. No, wouldn't. I mean, so what? That's easy. We live by faith, not by what? Sight. They saw it. We live by faith. But you are guided by God's GPS. The Holy Spirit lives in you. More than guidance, you have the guide. They have the guidance. So it was verse 16, the cloud covered it by day, the appearance of fire by night.

Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle after the children of Israel would journey, and in the place where the cloud settled, the children of Israel would pitch their tents. At the command of the Lord, the children of Israel would journey. At the command of the Lord, inferring the command was signaled by the presence and movement of this cloud and fire, they would camp. As long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle, they remained encamped. Now the Jews call this cloud. I know you some of you have heard the term. Shout it out if you know it.

They call this the the Shekhinah. That's how most of us pronounce it. Shekhinah is the correct pronunciation. Impress your friends at dinner tonight after church. If you're going to dinner, talk about the Shekhinah. Cover your mouth when you do it so you don't spoil the dinner or spread your cold around. Shekhinah is an Aramaic term, not a Hebrew term, an Aramaic term. It is not found in the Old Testament at all. It is found in the Targums commentaries that were written in Aramaic. The Shekhinah is a word that means the residence. God is residing with them.

Must have been incredibly exciting to be in that tent, in your own tent looking out when that thing begins to move. It's like, hot dog, we're on the move. We're going somewhere. We're heading out to that promised land. It was an adventure. You never know exactly where it's going to go or how how long you're going to be going. Well, how long do we go for, Mom? Don't know. When do we stop? Don't know. Are we turning right or left? Have no idea. It was that kind of an adventure. Do you know that God has the right to do the same to you today?

Didn't have to tell you what he's going to do. Didn't have to give you a map. In fact, you can want one all you want. You can make a 5-year plan and a 10-year plan. That's a Jewish proverb, by the way. Man makes plans and God laughs. Life is an adventure. We never know exactly where or when or how. I think following Christ is the greatest adventure in the world. That's something about this Shekhinah. It may have only covered the tabernacle or some think, and I tend to be among them, that it's centered over the tabernacle and spread out.

Why is that important? Well, the desert of Sinai is like living in Phoenix in the summer without air conditioning. So to have a cloud that's centered on the tabernacle and would spread out, that'd be nice. That's a temperature regulator. And at night, the desert can get cold in parts of the year. So to have a fire that would warm it and light it, it's a great system. Down in chapter 10 verse 11, it came to pass on the 20th day. Here's where it starts. On the 20th day of the second month in the second year, the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle of the testimony.

So this is 20 days after chapter one. They begin their journey, the book of journeys. They now begin to leave Mount Sinai and move toward the promised land. Verse 12, and the children of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sinai on their journey. Then the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. So when the cloud settles down in the wilderness of Paran, where do you camp that night? In the wilderness of Paran. Right. You got You get an A on the test. So they started out for the first time according to the command of the Lord, the hand of Moses.

So wow, they're off. Finally, they get moving toward the land. What they don't know is they won't get there for another 38 plus years. It's an 11-day journey. They're not going to get there. They don't know this shit. They 're not going to get there for another 38 plus years. Why? Well, chapter 11 starts to reveal a problem among them. Verse one. Now when the people What they do? Complained. There's a problem. Verse one, chapter 11. Now when the people complained. Have you ever heard a complaint? Have you ever known a person who complains? Are you a complainer?

When the people complained, it displeased the Lord, for the Lord heard it. And his anger was roused. They complained. Get used to this word. If you read the book of Numbers, it's used a lot. Why do they complain? What is the source of the problem? Verse four. Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to the intense craving. So the children of Israel also wept again and said, Who will give us meat to eat? I want a hamburger. Excuse me. I want a lamb burger. It's kind of Jewish, not a hamburger. I want a lamb burger.

I want chicken fillets. I want with garlic and stuff. I want what we had in Egypt, all the frills, the cucumbers. I want the happy meal. I don't want this unhappy manna from heaven. Even though it had protein in it, it gave them all the nutrition so that they would not get the diseases that you would get with a diet typically of the same thing over and over again. But they didn't like it. They wanted meat. God will answer that prayer by giving them in the next uh chapter quail to eat more than they can even handle.

But they say, who will give us meat? Now who is this mixed multitude? It is the product of mixed marriages, Israelites and Egyptians. Apparently, these were the offspring. They had uh a parent in Egypt and a parent among the children of Israel. They weren't fully Jewish. They weren't fully Egyptian. They had enough Egyptian in them to like Egypt and want that back. They had enough Jewish in them to want to go to Canaan. But here's what happens and here's why they complain. They start forgetting how bad it used to be. They start forgetting about their slavery.

They have selective memory disorder. You know it is that way. We look back to the old days. Yeah, I remember how cool that was back then. I used to have friends who they were saved like me in that whole Jesus movement era. And I remember one night come along and said, Gosh, remember how cool it was when we used to like party and stuff? And I turned to him and said, you got to be kidding, right? You You don't remember some of those parties probably cuz you were so soused. But I remember picking you up after you vomited.

And you you're talking about what a great party that was. You have selective memory disorder. We can get that. They got that. They're so nostalgic talking about the good old days. Listen, the good old days is nothing more than a good imagination and a bad memory mixed together. That's what that is. Cuz guess what? I bet in the good old days you complained even then. Once you look for problems, you start missing blessings. So they complain and the complaining spreads through the camp. It is contagious, by the way. Doubt and complaint are contagious. It spreads through the camp even into the very home of Moses himself with his sister and his brother infected by this complaining virus.

Verse one of chapter 12. Then Miriam and Aaron Now these are leaders. They have seen the wonders and miracles of God. Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married. So they're bummed out cuz his who he chose to be his wife. For he had married an Ethiopian woman. Now who is this Ethiopian woman? Some think well that this is his wife Zipporah. We know that from the Bible. His wife his name is Zipporah. Trouble is she is a Midianite woman. Zipporah was from Midian. That's an of Arab descent.

This is somebody from Ethiopia. So this is probably the wife he married after the death of Zipporah. The in-laws don't like her all that much. They complain and they It says in verse two, And so they said, here's their complaint. Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also? They've tasted enough of leadership to think we can be in charge. And it says, and the Lord heard it. Mark that. Just like before their complaints, the Lord heard it. The Lord heard it. The microphone's always on. I have a microphone right now right here.

This is me doing it right here. It's kind of fun to do that. And afterwards I'll turn it off. Have you ever seen or heard of politicians who they don't know the microphone is on after the rally? And they say some things that kind of ruin their reputation. And what we need to realize is that the microphone is always on in that the Lord always hears what we say and doesn't just sit by idly when we say it. He'll respond to that. Now verse three is interesting cuz it says, now the man Moses was very humble more than all the men who were on the face of the earth.

Who wrote this book? No comment.

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Give at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. Now let's return to today's teaching.

Skip Heitzig: But here's the point of this. If God chose Moses, and he did, and the people are complaining against Moses, and they were, then effectively who are they complaining against? God. They They They have to blame God. That's what really what they're doing. God chose him unmistakably, miraculously. In complaining against that chosen leadership, they are complaining against God. Now David knew better. Later on David, King David, before he was king was being chased by Saul the king. And when he had the chance to kill him, he wouldn't do it. Remember the story because he said he wouldn't touch God's anointed.

He had respect for the office. He wasn't a perfect man. He was a sinful man. But David respected the office enough to know you don't touch God's anointed. Miriam and Aaron did. And they complained. The Lord heard it. And so Miriam after the Shekhinah lifts, you look at her and she's white. Look like she had leprosy, white like snow. Moses instead of like folding his arms like a lot of us are going to go, serves you right, and kind of smiling and watching her get all embarrassed as she goes to the camp looking like uh an albino.

He prayed for her. He prayed that the Lord would heal her. Graciously he prayed and the Lord answered his prayer. Now in chapter 13, God gives a directive for Moses. Remember they're making this journey. They've had their first encampment. Now he has an order. He is to follow chapter 13 verse one. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel from each tribe of their fathers. You shall send a man, everyone, a leader among them. The mission was to go out to the land of Canaan from Kadesh Barnea on a reconnaissance mission to determine the nature of the land, the strengths and weaknesses of those who were inhabiting the land.

Is the soil good? Is not so good? What's the fruit like? How's farming? Are there cities? Are they big cities, small cities? Do they have walls? Are they unprotected? Are the people big, small? Just give us a a rundown on that. So they were sent out the 12, one from each tribe, 12 ambassadors went out. Verse 25 chapter 13 and they returned from spying out the land after 40 days. Go down to verse 27. Then they told him they're back. We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey.

And this is its fruit. Between two men, they carried back an enormous bunch of grapes from a an area called by the area of Hebron, beautiful area down in Judea. They were massive. It took two men to carry this bunch and they brought it back. If you go to Israel today, you will see cars driving around Israel with the sign on the side, a picture of two men carrying grapes. To this day, that is the symbol of the Ministry of Tourism for the state of Israel. Remembering this reconnaissance mission when they came back and they brought the grapes.

So they had the evidence. They brought the fruit. And now you would think in this report everybody's going, yes, hallelujah, hallelujah. Their faith is increasing, right? About now you hear this report, you're really jazzed. But the fruit gets offset by fear. Watch this verse 28. Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land, their report continues, are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there, the Anakim. Large people, gigantic people. Verse 30. Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.

But the men who had gone up with him said, we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. Now I have a question to ask you right here. Is the majority always right? Now remember that. We live in a country majority rules. It does. Majority rules. We live in a country that's a democracy. The majority always rules. But is the majority always right? No. They may rule, but they may be wrong in their rule. The majority was wrong in this case. And two of the people said, we can do it.

You know faith is contagious, but so is fear. So be around people who are filled with faith, not people who are filled with fear, or people who are filled with complaining. If you're around those people, you'll get fearful, you'll tend to complain, you'll get angry, you get narrow, you get bitter. Hang out with people who believe God can do great things. That also is contagious. Verse 32, and they gave the life's just too short to hang around grumpy people. Verse 32, and they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out saying, the land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants.

And all the people whom we saw are men of great stature. There we saw the giants. The descendants of Anak came from the giants. Now they already said that. But it's like, hey, did you know there are giants there? Yeah, you told us. Well, they're big. And that's just like first and foremost in their little noodle. And look at verse 33 the end. And we were like grasshoppers in our own sight. And what's the last little phrase? And so we were in their sight. Now they're wrong. First is right. The second is wrong. We're like grasshoppers in our sight.

That part is right. And we were in their sight. That part is wrong. And I'll show you why. Hold on to that thought. It all depends on how you look at things. They said, we're like grasshoppers in our own sight. It all depends how you look at it. Joshua and Caleb were looking at a big God. The 10 spies were looking at a big giants, big men, big God. When you look at a big God compared to God, they're little guys. Who what? So what? But if you leave God out of it, then on earth it's huge.

It's insurmountable. You can't overcome it. It's too big. It's too hard. Depends on how you evaluate life. Now I said the first part is right, the second part is wrong. Notice that he says, we were grasshoppers in their sight. That was wrong. How do we know that? Well, 38 years 10 months later they get to the edge of the Jordan River. Moses dies. Next leader is Joshua. Joshua brings them through. The first city they go to is Jericho. There's a lady there who's a prostitute named Rahab. See, you know your Bible so well. You could should just give the Bible study.

So Rahab is there, takes two spies. Moses uh sent 12 spies. Joshua sent two spies. Why do you send two? Who cares about the 10? They brought a bad report. All you need is two good ones. So just send two. So he sends two spies. They talk to Rahab and Rahab tells them the truth. Listen to what Rahab says. You know the fear of you Israelis has fallen upon all of us. Our hearts are melting in terror because of you. That's what they were really thinking. The giants and the inhabitants of Canaan were fearful at the children of Israel.

Children of Israel thought it's the other way around. We're fearful cuz they're so big. God put terror in the hearts of the enemies. Never underestimate what God can do. When you face an enemy and you think that giant is so big, those people are so huge, this is a big trial, I can't handle it. You don't know what God put in the heart of the other guy. And God did that here. They just didn't know it. Chapter 14. After the report comes back, it's time to make a decision. So it goes out for a vote, interestingly enough.

All in favor of going into the promised land two. All in favor of staying back here and just like hanging out in the dirt 10. Verse one. So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried. And the people wept that night. And the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron complained. There's that word again. And the whole congregation said to them, if only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness. And if I were Moses, I would have said, amen. Wish that would have happened.

Be a whole lot easier. Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should become victims? This is a person of faith now using your kids as a scapegoat for your lack of faith. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, let's select a leader and return to Egypt. Now they pretend to be thinking about the safety of their kids. Actually, their complaint is a reflection on God. What they are saying is God doesn't care about our kids.

That's what the complaint really says. God won't take care of our children. God won't take care of my He didn't care about our kids. Now they're blaming Moses for it. So they complain because their children are vulnerable. Question cuz you know your Bible so well. Who entered the land? Their kids, not them. They're all going to die in the wilderness. The kids that they're so worried about cuz God didn't care. They're the ones that are going to get the land. Old folks sat there, cried and died. So what's the result of all this? The result is judgment.

Verse 27. God said, how long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against me? God takes it personally. I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against me. Say to them, Mo He's talking to Moses here. As I live, says the Lord, just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will do to you. The carcasses of you who have complained against me shall fall in the wilderness. All of you who are numbered according to you in your entire number from 20 years old and above, except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.

If only we would have died in the desert, God said, I'm writing that down. That's what's going to happen to you. You got your prayer answer. Put an amen onto that and you'll die.

Guest (Male): We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't forget about Pastor Skip's brand new devotional Soaring Above It All. This 1-year devotional gives you a panoramic view of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, helping you better understand God's word and stay engaged with it every day. Request your copy as our thanks when you give $50 or more to help bring clear Bible teaching to people around the world. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time.

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