Obedience is as much about when as it is about what

Numbers 13-14 gives us a sobering reminder that "when" we obey God is as important as "what" we do in obeying God. An entire generation of the nation of Israel died in the wilderness because they refused to believe God and obey Him immediately.

Israel has finally made it to the edge of the promised land. They are on the outskirts after trekking through the wilderness from Egypt to Canaan. What a wonderful time as they are on the verge of realizing God's great promise to them. So everyone knows the story. Twelve spies are sent throughout the land to scope it out for 40 days and bring back a report of what they see. And we know that result. The spies came back and gave a mixed review. "Yeah, the land is bountiful and lush, but there are these fortified cities and big strong men -- much bigger than us."

While their report was true we get into the real problem with the final recommendations received by these spies. Ten of the spies put a human point of view on the situation by saying we will never be able to overtake these nations, and we shouldn't try. While two of the spies, Hoshea and Caleb, encouraged the folks to go up and take the land as God had promised. Oh wait, I hear you screaming, "it was Joshua and Caleb!" Yes, we are both right. Aren't we glad that in Numbers 13:16 Moses changed Hoshea's name to Joshua or we'd have a bunch of Hosh'es running around today! Whew!

Well, Israel wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb for their recommendation. Then they began to cry and complain, and they even plotted a coup de ta looking for a new set of leaders to take them back to Egypt (remember, Egypt = sin, bondage, former way of life).

So what did God do? He decides to give them what they want. They want to go back towards Egypt as they are fearful that they will die if they step out in faith and believe the Lord and obey Him by going into the promised land.

Moses tells everyone the Lord will let them have what they want. The Lord will require them to wonder in the wilderness where everyone 20 or older will all die. Only then will their children inherit the land of promise where life and bountiful living are found. You know, it seems that our ways always lead to death and destruction, and His ways always lead to life and abundant living. Funny how it works that way -- always!

While we've all heard this historical account many times before, what I find very sobering about this passage is the set of verses in Numbers 14:39-45 which tell us what Israel did after Moses broke the bad news about the next 40 years. Let's look at what happened next:

When Moses reported the LORD's words to the Israelites, there was much sorrow among the people. So they got up early the next morning and set out for the hill country of Canaan. "Let's go," they said. "We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the LORD has promised us." But Moses said, "Why are you now disobeying the LORD's orders to return to the wilderness? It won't work. Do not go into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the LORD is not with you. When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The LORD will abandon you because you have abandoned the LORD." But the people pushed ahead toward the hill country of Canaan, despite the fact that neither Moses nor the Ark of the LORD's covenant left the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them as far as Hormah.

Israel tried to obey the Lord now that their pride has taken a blow, and God has conceded to their desire to head back towards Egypt. They were trying to get right with Him now! They even didn't delay -- the next morning they tried to straighten it all out with the Lord. Yet the Bible teaches us that their tardy obedience is now considered disobedience as well. God was no longer with them with respect to His original will for their lives, and Israel's men got spanked when they tried to go into and take Canaan.

Is that sobering or what? Certainly this was not the only time this crew had disobeyed the Lord so we cannot say that the Lord has not been gracious. But there reached a point in the life of Israel (maybe our lives too) where God says, "Enough is enough. I'm going to remove my blessing and let you have what you want."

While none of us certainly ever want to push the Lord to this point that Israel pushed Him, I think it is equally important to remember from this passage that immediate obedience is required of us when the Lord puts something on our heart. We must believe and obey Him straightaway when He points out something to us from Scripture that requires us to do or change something in our lives. He must trust Him and follow His lead closely whenever He moves us in a new direction. Obedience even the very next day could very well be considered disobedience to Him.