“But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”
Matthew 23:13
Moses led God’s people out of Egypt and to the brink of the Promised Land. This is the land that God promised to Abraham hundreds of years earlier. They had become a people without a land. God told Moses that it was time for God’s people to enter that land of promise, so Moses instructed them. “21. Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. 22. And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come” (Deuteronomy 1:22-23). One can already sense the hesitancy of God’s people to obey God’s Words.
God instructed Moses. “Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them” (Numbers 13:2). Twelve men were sent to spy out Canaan land, the land promised to God’s people. Most remember the report they brought after searching the land for forty days. “23. And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs… 27. And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it” (Numbers 13:23, 27). But more than the good news, some brought a discouraging report. “28. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there… 31. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we” (Numbers 13:28, 31). Take note of the following: “And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel…” (Numbers 13:32a). God sent these men to search the land, and “they brought up an evil report”. God had already told them that this was their land, “… the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel …” (Numbers 13:2). Joshua and Caleb, two of the twelve, believed God’s Words. Remember Caleb’s declaration. “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30). Caleb believed God. When he used the word “possess”, he understood that God had already conquered it for them – they just needed to go occupy it. Joshua and Caleb tried again to encourage the people. “8. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not” (Numbers 14:8-9). They recognized it was rebellion to go against the Lord. Nevertheless, the people would not listen to Joshua and Caleb. All of the people over the age of twenty (except for Joshua and Caleb) died for their unbelief and disobedience of God’s Word in the wilderness instead of entering the promised land. They had believed the ten who brought the “evil report of the land” instead of God. Do you remember what God did to these men for leading God’s people to disobey Him? “Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD” (Numbers 14:37).
Often times in the Old Testament, God’s judgment and justice were immediate: like the ten men who brought the evil report dying of the plague. However in the New Testament, we often recognize God’s long-suffering patience and grace.
Jesus came to bring men into the kingdom of heaven. “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). He also encouraged His disciples to preach the same. “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:7). However, the religious leaders of His day were constantly challenging Jesus, for they did not believe in Him. Remember what Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day. “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13). Worse than not believing in Jesus themselves, they “suffer ye them that are entering to go in”. This means they were sending others away and keeping them from entering the kingdom of heaven as well (trusting in Jesus). That is much like the ten men who brought the evil report that caused all of the people over the age of twenty to miss entering into the Promised Land. Although the men in the Old Testament died immediately, Jesus gave the religious leaders of His day every chance to repent and turn to Him. Remember why Jesus came. “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
Do you listen to evil reports and those who shut up the kingdom of heaven from men?
Or
Do you stand with those who believe God’s Word?