Sermons in Rosedale Network of Churches
Continuing a multi-year theme of hearing how God is at work in our churches, the 2025 Feature Beacon articles focus on preaching within Rosedale Network of Churches. Each article features a recent sermon by a Rosedale Network pastor. May we all be encouraged by the faithful teaching of God’s Word.
This morning, God’s people stand on the cusp of the Promised Land, and Israel’s wilderness wanderings could soon be at an end. But before God’s people enter the land, God commands Moses to send spies ahead. Moses directs the spies to prepare a report on these topics:
“…see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong and weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not” (Num. 13:18-20a ESV).
The interesting question is: Why? Why is Moses interested in these things?
Our answer will depend upon whether we have lost the plot of Israel’s story. If we have lost the plot, then Moses’ directions sound like the kind of information that any general might desire, as he forms a battle plan. It will sound like Moses is strategizing about how to take the Promised Land through ordinary human warfare.
But what if the song from the Red Sea crossing still rings in our ears? What if we are already declaring that “the LORD is a warrior” who fights for His people (Ex. 15)? What if we have witnessed God defeat Egypt so that Hebrew slaves could plunder their masters without ever picking up a sword? What if we are convinced that God is on a mission to glorify Himself by accomplishing victory on behalf of His people: victory that they could never win for themselves?
In that case, the spies could come back with a hopeless report, and the conquest of the land would move forward undisrupted. The spies could declare: “The people of Canaan are enormous, numerous, and well-supplied—and they all live in fortresses!” Such a report would be no cause for alarm if Israel remembered God’s wondrous works. None of that would matter if God’s people trusted Him to glorify Himself according to His Word.
The God who led Israel into the Promised Land is none other than the God who leads us in Jesus Christ...
This is exactly the kind of report the spies deliver. But most of the spies have lost the plot. They despair, and the camp of Israel despairs with them. Among the spies, only Caleb and Joshua remember that Israel’s victory does not depend upon human strategy and strength, but upon the God who leads them.
Consider, again, our guiding question: Why? Why is Moses interested in these things?
Maybe the spies’ report never had anything to do with human military strategy. Maybe God wants His people to know exactly how big, strong, numerous, well-supplied, and secure their enemies are…because God is on a mission to reveal that He is greater, still. Maybe Moses intends for the spies to establish that, even when the enemy has every strategic advantage, if the enemy does not have God, his battle is already lost. Maybe, against the backdrop of this discouraging report, God’s people are supposed to recognize that God’s presence is the decisive thing and rejoice that God will glorify Himself, even and especially when we have no reason at all to hope in our own resources.
The God who led Israel into the Promised Land is none other than the God who leads us in Jesus Christ, and who dwells in the Church through the Holy Spirit. He spies out and reveals the hopeless inadequacy of our own resources, only to glorify Himself in our weakness. He accomplishes victory on our behalf, which we could never win for ourselves.
As you follow Christ in life, remember that He is the same LORD who drowned Pharaoh’s army in the sea, and who drove the Canaanites from the Promised Land. Remember His cross and resurrection. Follow boldly where He leads—even if it means a cross—because the God who leads you in Jesus Christ has defeated even death on your behalf.
Photo credit: Tissot, James. The Grapes of Canaan. Circa 1896-1902, The Jewish Museum, New York.
