…and they shall suffer for your unfaithfulness… – Numbers 14:33
As we have seen the story of the 12 spies in Numbers so far, we clearly see a picture, a type of the coming Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus millennial reign over the earth. It is NOT a picture of how a person gets into heaven or gains eternal life. We know this because the people in the wilderness were already saved (Exodus 4:31).
The Promised Land represents that coming Kingdom.
The people who have given a bad report are those that see the Word of the Kingdom, but they think it’s too hard to keep, so they give a false report to people and tell them its impossible to enter in.
These are the ones who take the Word of God that tells us, “Be holy for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16) and say that these words are just figurative. They aren’t really what God is asking us to do.
That my friend is blasphemy.
There are two words that stick out in our passage this morning and they connect to New Testament passages.
The first is “suffer.”
Because the Israelites would not believe God’s Word that the land was already theirs and that all they had to do was go up and God would give it to them, they would be disciplined, punished, for their unbelief.
What were they going to suffer?
First, they would suffer to wander around the wilderness for 40 years. The generation would die in the wilderness.
But the main suffering would be that they would not be granted access into the Promised Land. They would suffer the loss of their inheritance. An inheritance that was theirs by the way, all they had to do was go take it.
This is in direct connection to their unbelief. God told them one thing, man told them another, and they chose to believe man…not God.
It is no different with the Word of the Kingdom. God has told us we are joint heirs with Christ IF we suffer with Him. God has told us that at the Judgment Seat of Christ we as believers will be judged for our works. The outcome of that judgment will either be to gain rewards or suffer the loss of those rewards (1 Corinthians 3:15) which is the loss of our inheritance in the Kingdom.
Sound familiar?
It should. This was exactly what happened to the Israelites.
Now we see that 1 Corinthians 10:11 has a much deeper significance. That passage states, “And these things happened to them (Israel) as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.”
Tomorrow, Lord willing, we’ll discuss Israel’s unfaithfulness and how that connects to our inheritance into the Kingdom of Heaven.
If you would like to learn more about how to grow in the Word of God, we have different teaching resources at our website: www.lhcpensacola.org. Just look for the “Teaching” tab for more information. We also have a YouTube channel, Lighthouse Church Pensacola with other teaching resources. If you feel led to give online to support us, we have a “GIVING” tab where you can do just that. Thank you for even considering…
Thank you so much for your time today. If this message has blessed you, challenged you, or encouraged you, then please share it by passing it on! I pray God blesses you today! Cast all your cares to Him, because He loves you!
Kingdom Moments 