Numbers 13 & 14

Hear me, dear students of the UnderGround:

The Lord is One, but He is not proud;

Because of His Love, now hear the sound

Of the saddest story that's ever been found.

So open your heart and wet your eyes,

This tragic tale should make grown men cry.

It’s the saddest story since the Serpent’s first lies:

It’s the tale of God’s Sovereign choice, denied.

We know that Father Abraham ended up with many sons,

But only by Faith – he saw only one.

Only Isaac was born as a down payment from

The Lord God who promised many more to come.

Nevertheless Abraham believed

That though God’s invisible, His Will can be seen;

Though the world’s a dark place, God’s Blessing redeems

All the homeless nameless orphans who approach Him in need.

Then Abraham’s grandsons to Egypt arrived;

And God Blessed the family to be multiplied,

And though Abraham didn’t see it with his own eyes

He knew God’s Word would never compromise.

But as we all know, the Egyptians were cruel,

Turning Abraham’s offspring into slaves used as tools

To build the abominable Empire of Fools

Who lust for God’s Riches, who hoard all His Jewels.

So in 10 straight shots God flexed Mercy and Justice –

10 plagues that turned Egyptian gold to rust,

And with every fierce blow God earned the Trust

Of the Israelite slaves whose lives were worth dust.

As Abraham had Trusted, God stooped to redeem

His descendants who with their own eyes could see

The invisible Power that their grandpa believed

As they walked on dry ground through the heart of the sea.

And whenever they hungered, and in response to their thirst,

God sent bread from the sky, and caused rocks to burst

With geysers of water, so that they could be the first

People on earth to be redeemed from the Curse.

And Old Humble Moses was God’s man of Choice

To lead with his staff and to raise his own voice,

“God’s making us Holy! It’s time to rejoice!

Let’s devote to Him our possessions, our daughters, our boys!

So Hear me, O children of Abraham’s Blessing:

The Lord wants your Fear and your Love, so don’t test Him!

Take heed to obey each command and every lesson,

Or you’ll wind up with His curse instead of His Blessing.”

And now, my dear students, comes the saddest of parts,

The piece of the story that shattered God’s heart;

So believe what i tell you, and never depart

From all the Wisdom in this story that the Scriptures impart.

As the Israelite people neared the Promised Ground,

Moses leaned on his staff, and looked around

For a Warrior from each tribe to explore what could be found,

And to scout out the land for which they were bound.

12 men of faith and courage, as far as they could see,

From Reuben, Dan, and Simeon, Gad, Asher, Naphtali,

Benjamin and Zebulun, Issachar and Manasseh,

But clearly the two bravest came from Ephraim and Judah.

Then Wise Old Moses looked each scout in the eye,

“Take courage, sons, we’ve nearly arrived!

For you have been chosen to go over and spy

God’s Promise-come-true, for Now is His time.

Now survey the land and bring back the report –

Is the soil rich or poor? Its People tall or short?

Are they warriors within castles, or do they lounge in resorts?

No matter either way – WE’VE got the Power of the Lord!

Start in the valleys, and explore the hills,

Climb a few trees, enjoy a few spills.

Bring back some fruit, but don’t plunder your fill

Until you return with some good news to tell!

So go now in confidence, do not fear the darkness!

YHWH is with us, and no power can harness

His unstoppable Mercy, His fury in Justice,

And we are His Chosen, His Beloved, His Promise!”

The next forty days the spies wandered and roamed

The beautiful land to which God called them home,

And amid the beauty they were chilled to the bone:

It was a land so fertile that giants had grown!

After forty days’ search they returned with a prize,

Some fruit and some figs and some grapes the size

Of your fist – a cluster so big the people rubbed their eyes:

The gigantic grapes were carried by two guys!

The 12 chosen men stood in front of the crowd,

The people grew anxious as they gathered around

To hear their report that they hoped would sound

Like a walk in the park, like an old lost-and-found.

Ten men spoke up, “We surveyed the whole place –

It’s not big, it’s HUGE! An unbelievable space!

It does flow with milk and honey so sweet to the taste

You’ll want to smack yo’ mama right in her face!

But just look at this fruit – these grapes on the pole;

The land is so big it will swallow us all!

These grapes represent just a part of the whole –

‘Cause there’s giants in the land, and they’re in control.

The legend of the Nephilim is real,

The descendants of Anak look like Shaq in high heels!

Nothing could stand in their way if they feel

Like smashing us grasshoppers beneath their wheels.

And they’re not alone: they’ve got neighbors so wicked

They make Darth Vader seem like he cares for kittens.

We’d be much better off just turning ‘round and kickin’

Our butts back to Egypt to be slaves in their kitchens.”

Then Caleb stood up as bold as a lion,

The scout from Judah who was part of the spying,

“Take heart! Don’t fear! We’ve got YHWH on our side and

If we hesitate now we’ll all surely die!”

And the other faithful scout who was Caleb’s best friend,

The man Moses called Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim,

Shouted fiercely against his company’s rebellion,

“Don’t listen to these fools! Silence! Ignore them!

The land we explored is exceedingly good!

It’s by the Lord’s power that in Egypt we stood!

If the Lord is with us, then He’ll shed the blood!

All we must do is to Trust that He’s good!

After all the great things that YHWH has done,

Do not rebel now, don’t cower and run!

God is with us, so their protection is gone;

We’ll swallow them up like old bubble gum!”

But it was too late, the damage was done,

The people were scared, the cowards had won.

And just like the fate of many brave men i’ve known,

They chose to kill Joshua & Caleb with stones.

That night the descendants of Abraham cried,

And grumbled against Moses and Aaron and sighed,

“What good will it be in the desert to die,

Or in a new land to lose our daughters and wives?

The 10 men are right – we shouldn’t have come,

YHWH doesn’t care, He’s blind, deaf, and dumb.

Now let’s choose a leader, whom to Egypt will run,

‘Cause we’d rather be slaves than have God’s Freedom.”

Now Moses was the humblest man on the earth:

He threw down his staff and his knees hit the dirt.

He knew good and well that God’s heart would be hurt

That His Chosen people would choose to revert.

Now before i go on with my story of woe,

There’s one thing from you that i’d like to know:

Up to now, when God to you His Goodness showed,

Did you accept it in faith, or just let it go?

When God heard the Israelites grumble and curse,

He gritted His teeth, His rage started to burst,

In a Pillar of Cloud His glory descended to earth,

To meet there with Moses as he wept in the dirt.

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people

Despise My Goodness, My Name, My Tabernacle?

In spite of every wonder, sign, and miracle

They still rebel and consider Me an imbecile!

All they ever do is complain, stomp, and pout –

Yet I’ve given them everything, left no room for doubt!

They’re done now – I’m going to wipe them all out!

I’ll re-start with you, Moses – a new nation Will come about!”

And with the masses still complaining and distressed,

Moses proved that he knew YHWH best:

When the moment came for Moses to pass the test,

He asked God not to curse, but rather to Bless.

Moses raised his empty hands to the Lord,

“Please don’t let the Egyptians have the last word!

They couldn’t kill the Hebrews by might of their sword

Because Your Power had Called every last slave forward!

Your Name is already revered in the Land,

Don’t give the enemy a reason to doubt your strong Hand;

They’ve heard that You’ve spoken face-to-face with a man

And they know You alone can make slaves to stand!

The nations will say, ‘See how YHWH failed!’

And they’ll laugh and mock You and they’ll pompously wail.

And then upon more enemies Your Name must avail

And there’ll never be an end to where the blood trails.

Now YHWH, my Lord, flex the true strength of Your Name,

‘My Name Is I AM, I’M ALWAYS THE SAME.

ABOUNDING IN LOVE AND FORGIVING EACH SHAME,

BRINGING THE GUILTY TO JUSTICE AND AVENGING THE LAME.’

The Cloud at the Tent in which dwelt the Lord,

Was big as tree and thick as a board.

God spoke like thunder about the faithless hoard,

For Wise Old Moses had struck the right chord:

God said, “I’ve forgiven them just as you asked.

But just as I Live not one of them will pass

Into the rich land of sweet fruit and green grass,

Because they doubted that My Goodness would last.

All of the people who saw My Great Signs

Are the same faithless cowards who deny Me as Kind.

For each of the plagues, they’ve tested Me 10 times,

Rejecting both Me and their land; so in the desert they’ll die!

Tell them I’ll do to them exactly what they said,

They won’t see My Promise since they’d rather be dead.

For the next 40 years they’ll wander aimlessly instead

Of entering the Land to which they were led.

Anyone right now ages 20 and more

Will die in the desert, by the spies’ bad report.

And all of your children whom you thought I’d ignore

Will prevail in the Land after you are no more.

And those wicked old scouts who led you astray

I’ll strike down right now, they’ll die by a plague.

Only Caleb and Joshua will be saved

Because they didn’t divide What-I-Do from What-I-Say.

Now turn around and leave this place,

The Promised Land is no longer safe.

The enemies you were supposed to defeat & replace 

Are now mortal threats to your entire race.

The Lord Has Spoken.” 

Wise Old Moses picked himself up off the ground,

Wiping spit, tears, and mud from his beard without a sound.

His heart full of sorrow, beaten down by the crowd,

Returned to camp to find the 10 faithless scouts struck down.

His knees shook hard as he leaned on his staff,

“You foolish people,” he choked out with a gasp,

And shouting above their sobs he began to say back

All God had told him about what they’d brought to pass.

They heard the bad news of their cowardice and crime,

How God spared their lives, but in the desert they’d die.

With bitterness and despair they started to whine,

“We were wrong then, Moses! We’ll obey God this time!

We’ve sinned, but we get it, we know now we can take

The Land that God Promised – we’re ready to make

This right!” And Moses just stared, and he started to shake,

“Even now you refuse to obey? You fools, it’s too late!”

Nevertheless, in their presumptuous haste

The Hebrews marched over and by force tried to take

The Land that God only gives by Grace.

And their enemies were waiting to turn them to waste.

They didn’t bother to consult either Moses or the Lord,

They left the Ark of the Covenant, only armed with swords.

And as surely as they didn’t heed any of God’s Holy Words,

Their enemies beat them down, crushing them all like worms.

Now for those of you still listening to the rhythm of my words,

I promised you the saddest story that you have ever heard.

Not because it’s the worst tragedy to ever have occurred,

But because it becomes your story when you reject the Lord.

This story is the Gospel, they are one and the same:

You too have been freed from slavery, and called by the Name.

You’ve been Made, Chosen, Loved upon to bring about the Change

That Abraham believed would come, though didn’t see in the Day.

And now One greater than Moses is raising up His voice:

“Hear Me now, you slaves of sin, it’s time to make a choice!

Follow Me into all My Promises, or return to the Land of Noise.

There is no in-between with Me, I’m the only Reason To Rejoice.”

So choose Today to bend yourself under the King Divine,

Or one day realize too late that you were never on His side.

He’s been very patiently waiting for you to cross the Line,

So if you want to follow Christ, come join me on this side.