Simon Says Follow The Leader: Wilderness Whiners – Canaan Conquerors

I want you to remember the words that were spoken long ago by the holy prophets, and the command from the Lord and Savior which was given you by your apostles. 2 Peter 3:2 (GNT)

For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. ²³ Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’ Acts 3:22-23 (NIV)

Wandering vs Conquering = _____ vs ________ Followers, Not _____ vs ______.

(But Moses was a very meek man above all the men that were upon the earth.) Numbers 12:3 (GNV)

I CAN GO FROM FAILED FOLLOWER TO FAITHFUL FOLLOWER WHEN I…

1. Grow From ____________ Dependence To Active _______________.

When the Israelites saw the king and his army marching against them, they were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Weren’t there any graves in Egypt? Did you have to bring us out here in the desert to die? Look what you have done by bringing us out of Egypt! ¹² Didn’t we tell you before we left that this would happen? We told you to leave us alone and let us go on being slaves of the Egyptians. It would be better to be slaves there than to die here in the desert.”  Exodus 14:10-12 (GNT)

When the Israelites saw the great power with which the Lord had defeated the Egyptians, they stood in awe of the Lord; and they had faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses. Exodus 14:31 (GNT)

____ Times They __________ About The ____________________.

So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: ¹¹ “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’” Joshua 1:10–11 (NIV)

Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.  Joshua 1:16 (NIV)

2. Overcome ________ With __________.

That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. ² All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Numbers 14:1–4 (NIV)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶ the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away… Joshua 3:15–16a (NIV)

3. Choose Purposeful __________ Over Bitter ____________________.

Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. ² “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this. Numbers 12:1-2 (NIV)

Korah son of Izhar…became insolent ² and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?” Numbers 16:1-3 (NIV)

When the priests blew the trumpets, the people shouted. At the sound of the trumpets and the people’s shout, the walls fell, and everyone ran straight into the city. So the Israelites defeated that city. Joshua 6:20 (NCV)

4. Embrace ____________________________ & ____________.

…the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women…³ So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them. ⁶ Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Numbers 25:1, 3, 6 (NIV)

Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! ¹²…That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. Joshua 7:11a, 12 (NLT)

Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don’t hide it from me…” ²⁵ And all Israel stoned Achan and his family to death. Then they burned the bodies and piled stones over them. ²⁶ They made such a large pile of stones over Achan that it is still there today. Then the Lord withdrew his burning anger. Joshua 7:19, 25b–26a (GW)

…Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 1 Corinthians 5:6b (NIV)

5. ________________ & ____________ God’s Great Works.

He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert. ¹⁰ He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them. ¹³ But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold. Psalm 106:9-10, 13 (NIV)

And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. ²¹ He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ ²³ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. Joshua 4:20-23 (NIV)

6. ___________ My _________ To God & His ___________ __________.

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15 (NIV)

So appoint Joshua as the new leader. Help him to be brave. Give him hope and strength. He will take these people across the Jordan. You will see the land. But he will lead them into it to take it as their own.” Deuteronomy 3:28 (NIRV)