Why does God program periods of wilderness in our lives? When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, "If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt. (Exodus 13:17) What is YOUR Promised Land for which you are longing? 1.) What kinds of wildernesses have been or are being experienced by people in your group? 2.) What do those wilderness experiences have in common? = 2 weeks = 3 weeks more = 3 more months = 2 years to Kadesh Barnea = 2 years OR 40??? = OR Numbers See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land. (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.) Numbers 14 Now may the Lords strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 The L ORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation. 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now. Numbers The L ORD replied, I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the L ORD fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. Numbers But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me whole- heartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. 25 Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea. Numbers 14 In this wilderness your bodies will fallevery one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. Numbers 14 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. With greater demonstrations of Gods presence come greater responsibilities for obedience and faith. Can we do things that actually mess with Gods plan for our lives? Does that mean we are consigned to an inferior experience with God in life? Deuteronomy 2:7 The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything. Deut. 6:4-7 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deut. 8:1-5 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. Deut. 8:1-5 3) He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4) Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5) Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. Deuteronomy 30:19, 20 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life. 1.) What does God want me to do with this truth? 2.) Who is someone I can share that with this week?