After the ten spies gave their bad report about the land of Canaan, the people of Israel cried out and wept. They all became scared and didn’t want to go into Canaan. Because they didn’t trust in God’s promises, they didn’t believe that he would help them fight against the giants, and so they were scared. God had promised to give them the land, but they didn’t believe it anymore.

Because of their unbelief, the Lord punished them. They were not allowed to enter the Promised Land but had to go back to the wilderness for another forty years. This is a warning for us. If we don’t trust God’s promises, if we don’t have faith in the Lord, then we will not enter the eternal rest with the Lord either.

But we also read that Moses begged the Lord not to destroy the people, but to be merciful to them. He asked the Lord to forgive their sins.

The Lord listened to Moses and he did forgive them. Yes, the people who didn’t trust God were still punished and needed to return to the wilderness for forty years and die there. But the nation of Israel, as a whole, would not be destroyed. In forty years’ time, the people who were left would be able to enter the Promised Land. They were able to do this because Moses pleaded for them before the Lord and the Lord forgave them.

And we know that God forgives our sins as well. No, Moses is not pleading with the Lord to forgive us, but the Lord Jesus Christ himself is pleading for us. And the Father will certainly hear the Lord Jesus because he died on the cross for us. So if you confess your sins, you have the Lord Jesus Christ pleading for you, asking God to forgive you and to allow you into eternal rest with him. God will certainly hear the pleas of Jesus — so you have eternal life with the Lord to look forward to!

Reflection with your child:

Who is pleading for your forgiveness?

Source: Sermon by Rev. D. Agema