In the Upper Story, God creates the Lower Story. His vision is to come down and be with us in a beautiful garden. The first two people reject God’s vision and are escorted from paradise. Their decision introduces sin into the human race and keeps us from community with God. At this moment, God gives a promise and launches a plan to get us back. The rest of the Bible is God’s story of how He kept that promise and made it possible for us to enter a loving relationship with Him.

SUMMARY

God’s plan was clear: deliver His people through a series of miracles, defeat their enemies, give them a covenant and set of laws, and provide them a land of promise. Simple, right? God speaks, the people listen. God delivers, the people believe. God provides, the people trust. Well, maybe not so much.

God always held up His end of the bargain: He provided, delivered, kept His promises. It turns out the people were equally consistent: They forgot, questioned, rebelled. When daily bread fell from heaven, they craved a taste of Egypt. Even Moses’ siblings, Miriam and Aaron, grew jealous and undermined their brother’s leadership.

Then they reached Kadesh and the perimeter of promise became a pinnacle of rebellion. Moses sent twelve leaders to spy out the Promised Land of Canaan. Ten of them said the cities were too strong, the people too big, and God too small. Only Caleb and Joshua trusted God and encouraged Israel to take what God had given them, but the people complained and failed to believe.

Failure always begins with unbelief. So, Israel spent the next forty years wandering aimlessly in the wilderness. The faithless generation would die out before they set foot on the other side of the land of promise. Only Caleb and Joshua would outlive them all to eventually cross over into their inheritance.

Forty years later, the story comes full circle again to Kadesh, the edge of the promised frontier – and little had changed. The people needed water, so they did what they do best…they complained. And God did what He does best…He provided. The LORD pointed Moses to a rock. He told him to speak to the rock and water would pour out. Moses struck it with his staff instead.  The water still gushed out, but Moses and Aaron had ignored God’s instruction and lost their right of admission to the Promised Land. 

Moses then commissioned Joshua as Israel’s new leader before giving his farewell address. He reminded them of all that the LORD had done. He told them again about their special role as His chosen nation and how they would enjoy His blessings if they would simply love and obey Him. Then Moses died and was buried by the LORD.     

The wilderness wanderings remind us that faith leads to life and unbelief leads to death. Faith honors God and God always honors the faithful.

QUESTIONS

1. How would you classify your teen years and early 20’s: Rebellious and wild? Compliant and obedient? Somewhere in between?
2. When have you felt overburdened like Moses did? When have your burdens caused you to question God’s goodness? How might Moses’ honest conversation with God help you handle heavy burdens in the future?
3. Israel’s complaining is a reminder of how easy it is to become ungrateful. When do you struggle the most to have gratitude towards God? What five things are you grateful for right now?
4. Israel’s rebellion led to a 40-year punishment and kept an entire generation from seeing the Promised Land. How might you minister to someone whose life choices resulted in irrevocable consequences? When have you experienced an “in-between” time of aimlessness and lack of direction? Is it possible that unbelief in God’s grand Upper Story is the source of our wandering no less than it was for the Israelites?
5. Moses is described as a “very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (p. 73). Despite his humility and years of service as a strong, godly leader, Moses’ disobedience kept him from entering the Promised Land. What did Moses do wrong? What does this teach you about God’s expectations for leadership?
6. Moses charged Israel to keep God’s commandments and diligently teach them to their children. What is your role in teaching the next generation? What are some practical ways you can serve as a parent, grandparent, or mentor? What can you specifically do to combat a legacy of fear or dysfunction or insecurity that may have been passed down to you?
7. What would be your message to your spouse or closest friends or children if you knew this would be your final opportunity to speak to them? If this is the most important message that you could pass on, how are you communicating that message now in word and deed? How could your “words to live by” help guide your priorities in the present?

TAKE-AWAY

The decisions you make affect those around you, just like the decisions the Israelites made at Kadesh. You can decide to grumble or be thankful. You can decide to turn away from God or turn toward God. You can decide to wander without purpose or follow God’s vision for your life. Just don’t forget that those in your sphere of influence will be affected by your decisions. Today, stop holding to what is comfortable yet unhealthy and follow the God whose salvation is perpetual, enduring, and new every morning.

PRAYER

Father, please help us to break free of the familiar yet unhealthy patterns of life that our sin nature chooses. Help us to focus on where You are leading us, not where we have been or even where we are stuck at, so that we can lose the baggage we have been carrying and embrace the freedom you have for us. Thank you for your continued faithfulness and mercy to us as we learn this life-changing lesson.