Title Number 13 The Trap of Faith
Contents
the trap of faith
Numbers 13:1 33
When we walk on the path of faith, there are obstacles and traps that prevent us from going that path. The Israelites fell into this trap as they headed toward the land of Canaan, which God had promised. Trapped in this trap, he suffered 39 years of wandering in the wilderness, where he could go in two or three months. I've been hovering for 39 years where I could go in 3 months. Even today, there are cases where things that can be done easily if we make up our minds to go out with faith are caught in Satan's trap and take a long time and have been overlooked. Through today's Word, we must learn what the trap of faith is and how to avoid it.
Moses arrived at the southern boundary of the land of Canaan, which God had promised, about a year after the Exodus. However, they did not know about the conditions of the land of Canaan, so they sent twelve spies to get information about the land. These are the heads of each tribe. They spyed out the land of Canaan for 40 days and returned to report. It brought good news and bad news at the same time. The good news is that it is truly a fertile land flowing with milk and honey. The bad news is that the people who live in the land are strong and they live in strong cities. But the Israelites did not hear the good news, but only the bad news. The people wept and murmured against God and Moses. I got caught in a trap and couldn't go any further.
Their first trap was to mistake God's work for their own.
Moses sent spies to inquire about the condition of the land. They did not judge whether they could conquer the land or not. They only need to see what they see and hear. But they did what God would do. It is God's work to conquer, not man's work. He said that God Himself would drive out the Canaanites. “I will send a hornet before you, and it will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you” (Exodus 23:28).
He did not give the spies the responsibility of deciding whether they could conquer or not. It is God's work to drive out the Canaanites. They just have to go in and fight according to God's command. However, they did what they were not told to do and mistaken the work of God for human work.
It is man's work to preach the gospel to people - it is God's work to make them believe
To love and be kind to people is a man's job - to change them is God's job
Diligently evangelizing and serving the church is a man's work - revitalizing the church is God's work
However, we are not interested in the work entrusted to us, we are more interested in what God will do.
The second trap is to see only what the eye sees.
Jesus compared the Spirit to the wind. The wind is invisible and undetectable, but it exists and has great power. There is an invisible world in this world. It is a world of faith. But they judged only by what they saw. Verses 32-33
If we think of everything we can see, we cannot walk the path of faith. The whole world is controlled by the invisible hand of God. I was afraid of the tall Nephilim, but the Nephilim are the people God left to test the Israelites. These are also found in Genesis 6:4, and their name means “those who will perish.” Those who will perish through the flood and the conquest of Canaan. If you see only what you can see, you will be trapped. We must see the invisible world of faith.
The third trap is human calculations.
Ten of the twelve spies gave a negative answer. I thought they were right because their number is higher. But the truth does not change even if everyone in the world opposes it. Statistical numbers don't matter. The number of people cannot determine truth and non-truth. Only me and my house need a confession that we will serve the Lord. If we calculate humanly, we cannot go down the path of faith. When the miracles were performed, Philip did the math, and Andrew did the little things that he could.