What Happens When You Go When You're Not Supposed to Go?

My family had piled into the car headed into town for Wednesday night Bible study just like every other Wednesday evening. As we were almost halfway to town, I noticed a car beginning to pull out from a stop sign to my left. Very quickly I realized not only was the car trying to cross in front of me but it was not in a hurry. Responding to the brake pedal, the pressure from my foot sent the brakes from moderate force to punching the pedal to the floor, bringing us to a screeching halt on the highway. At this time I had lain on my horn, to which the car didn't even seem to acknowledge my presence. By the time the vehicle came to a complete stop, there were only a few feet between us and the other vehicle. After being noticeably shaken from the incident, we proceeded on into town to the West 7th church house. What happens when you go when you're not supposed to go? In this case a wreck almost happened. That vehicle that pulled out in front of us was not supposed to go; they should have waited until our vehicle was clear before it proceeded forward.

This incident gave me the perfect illustration for my devotional talk last night. I was already planning on addressing the text from Numbers 14:39-45. After struggling with how I wanted to illustrate it, the clear answer hit me (almost literally) on the way into town by means of this near automobile accident. The Israelites wanted to go when they weren't supposed to go. Here's the background behind the text.

At the end of chapter thirteen, Joshua and Caleb had given favorable reports of the Promised Land; however, the other ten spies gave bad reports telling the people they would not be able to occupy the land because of the large people who inhabited it. Because of the bad reports, the people grumbled against Moses and Aaron in chapter fourteen. On through the chapter, God is very upset with Israel wanting to destroy them because of their disobedience, unbelief, grumbling, etc. Moses talks God out of that idea, but He states that they will not get to enter the Promised Land because of their behavior. However, their children would get to enter the land along with Joshua and Caleb. God decides to make another point to the Israelites by striking the ten spies with a plague, killing them.

God had told them through Moses that they could not go into the Promised Land. The Israelites mourned, but they decided they were going up to the Promised Land anyway. Three observations I would like to make from this text:
1 -We need to listen to the instructions from the Lord
They didn't pay any attention to what the Lord said. We need to follow the Lord's instructions today, and they're given to us through His Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
2 - Warnings are meant to be heeded
Moses tried to warn the people that God would not be with them if they went up to the Promised Land and they would be struck down, but they wouldn't listen. We need to heed warnings as given by the Lord in Scripture (Heb. 2:1-4).
3 - We see what happens when people walk away from God
The Israelites went up to the heights of the hill country but the Lord's presence was not with them. The ark of the covenant and Moses stayed behind in the camp. The Israelites turned their back on God, and they were defeated by the Amalekites and Canaanites. There is no victory for us if God is not with us (1 Jn. 5:4).

Remember the words of the song "If Jesus is with me I'll go anywhere." Just make sure the Lord is with you before you go!