Sorry Carcasses

Read Numbers 14;27-29

What is the saddest fate for any believer? There are many sad fates:

*No real relationship with Christ

*Life of disobedience

*No fruit produced

*Turning away from the Lord

But the saddest is most tragic, because of all that the Lord had intended for the believer - the promised land which flows with abundance, will never be reached in this life. 

It happened to Moses, to Miriam, to Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, Korah, to a couple of million others. They didn't make the promised land.

Num 14:29 "your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness"

The Promised Land is the life of Victory, rather that vagabond, abundance, rather than manna, rest rather than deprivation, roots rather than tents. 

The Promised Land is not just heaven, but heaven here. 

It includes the life of the Spirit, of the fruitful vine and branches, and living under grace rather than the shadow of Sinai's law. 

Why didn't they make it? 

They concerned themselves with Egypt. They looked in the rearview, rather than the windshield. They longed for leeks, when God had grapes. They opted for onions, when God had milk and honey. They glorified their slavery of the past rather than their mastery of the future. 

In the face of difficulty, they murmured. When were made to wait, they got impatient. When their leader tarried on the mountain, they crafted an idol. At the times they should have worshiped, they danced like heathen. 

God was evident to them in the cloud and fire, yet they said, "what has He done for us lately?" (Besides give us air to breathe, food to eat, long lasting shoes and clothes, miracle after miracle, a meek and humble capable, caring and sacrificing leader)

And finally, when on the cusp of the Promised Land, when evidence of God's promise was brought to them, they believed an evil report and refused God's best! 

So their carcasses all dropped in the wilderness over the next three and a half decades where their corpses were eaten by jackals and buzzards and bugs. They could rather have chosen to obey God and praise Him when the temptation was to blame Him. 

Indeed, the saddest fate of any believer is to get to Kadesh Barnea, within shouting distance of Beulah Land, and opt to wander the rest of your days and die in the desert, rather than crossing into Canaan.