Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: The Superiority of Christ

When You Know You Are Going to Die

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2012-02-02

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver examines Numbers 14 and Hebrews 3 to explore the sobering reality of knowing one's death is imminent under God's judgment. He contrasts general biblical promises for long life through obedience with the shortened lives of the disobedient, using the Israelites' rebellion as a prime example. The sermon emphasizes that God keeps a record of sins, has a limit to His patience, and will execute judgment on the unrepentant. For believers, however, death has no sting because Christ has taken the judgment, transforming death into sleep and entry into eternal life.

[John Weaver] Alright, let's open our Bibles into the book of Numbers chapter 14 and also the book of Hebrews chapter 3. Numbers 14 and Hebrews chapter 3. Numbers chapter 14 and then Hebrews chapter 3. We will read Numbers 14 first.

[John Weaver] The title of the message today is, When You Know You're Going to Die. Of course, I hope you've noticed the last three messages have really been around the book of Numbers, because as I read through the book of Numbers, these three things popped out at me, and so I'm dealing with them today. Notice if you would, When You Know You're Going to Die, Numbers 14, verse 21, God says, As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.

[John Weaver] Because all those men which have seen My glory and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice, surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it. Skip down to verse 26. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you.

[John Weaver] Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which you have murmured against me, doubtless you shall not come into the land concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun, but your little ones which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which you search the land, even forty days each day for a year, you shall bear your iniquities even forty years, and you shall know my breach of promise."

[John Weaver] Now look at Hebrews 3 and verse 17, which refers to this passage. Hebrews 3 and verse 17, the Word of God asks, But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? When you know you're going to die. Have you ever considered what it must be like to know when you're going to die. How about not only knowing when you're going to die, but also how you're going to die. Have you ever thought about some of these men, and women I guess as well, who are on death row? Not only has a date been designated for them to die, but also the method of their death has also been designated. Have you ever wondered what it's like to have to count down the years, the months, the days, and the minutes before one's going to be executed. I wonder what it must be like to know that in 15 minutes, you're either going to be executed by, say, the electric chair or lethal injection.

[John Weaver] What must it be like to know that within 15 minutes, all of your questions concerning God, death, and judgment will be answered. Now, in one sense of the word, we all know that we're going to die. Because the Bible declares in Hebrews 9 in verse 27, as it is appointed unto men once to die, after that, the judgment. We know that the wages of sin are death. We know that we were created from the dust of the earth and into the dust we shall return. There is no escape from physical death. As Pilgrim explained in the book Pilgrim's Progress, we must die and stand before God in judgment. And Pilgrim at that time said he was unwilling to do the first, that is to die, and unable to do the second, that is stand before God in judgment. And Pilgrim therefore was going around saying I must die, I must die, I must die. And what a realization when we realize that we must die. How would you like to be like Hezekiah when he heard the words from God as delivered to him by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 38 in verse 1 where God said to King Hezekiah, set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live.

[John Weaver] We know that the Bible teaches us that the wages of sin is death. Now, we also know that we're going to die, and we don't know exactly when we're going to die, but we know about when we're going to die. How can I say that? Well, look in your Bibles, whole Numbers 14, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 90, and look at verse 10. Psalm 90 and verse 10. And here the Word of God says this, Psalm 90 verse 10, The days of our years are threescore years and ten. And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away. So what God is telling us in Psalm 90 and verse 10 is that the average lifespan is from 70 to 80 years, usually around 70 more or less. If he says we make it 80, usually our days are filled with sorrow and sickness. Some, however, do not even make the normal lifespan. Some are cut down in the prime of their life, while others do not even get to begin life.

[John Weaver] Now let me just tell you that in the Scripture, there are general promises for long life, and there are also general promises for a shortened life as well. I suppose the most famous passage for a long life is found in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 12. where scripture says honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Now that same promise is repeated in Ephesians 6 verses 2 and 3 where God said honor thy father and thy mother which is the first commandment of the promise that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long upon the earth. So here then is a promise of long life and this long life is in relationship to whether or not we honor our parents or not. Now actually, there are three promises of long life in the Bible.

[John Weaver] I'm going to show them to you. Each one of these promises relate to the very core of our being. The first promise I just mentioned is in reference to our attitude and our action toward our parents. We must honor them if we expect a long life. I'm not going to get into what it means to honor the parents right now. That is certainly more than saying yes sir and yes ma'am and no sir and no ma'am.

[John Weaver] According to Matthew 15, Mark 7, it involves a great deal more. But God is simply saying that we must honor them if we have any expectation of long life.

[John Weaver] Now, if God says, honor thy father and thy mother, for this is the first commandment of the promise, that thy days may be long upon the earth, conversely, It is also true that if we dishonor our parents, our days will be shortened upon this earth. In other words, there is an implicated and inherent threat for those who dishonor their parents. Now, let me show you the second promise in the Bible for long life.

[John Weaver] Whole Numbers 14, but look if you would to Deuteronomy chapter 22. So the first promise then is in reference to our parents, whether we honor them or dishonor them. But in Deuteronomy 22, Beginning there with verse 6, this may surprise you, may shock you, but here it is. This promise is in relation to how we treat animals. Well, here it is, Deuteronomy 22, look at verse 6.

[John Weaver] If a bird's nest chanced to be before thee in the way in any tree or on the ground, whether they be young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, Thou shalt not take the dam, that is the mother, with the young. But thou shalt anywise let the dam or the mother go, and take the young to thee. Now note that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days. Now I want you to note something. God has said in other passages of Scripture, for instance, Thou shalt not kill her mother and her young on the same day. So God forbid, say like killing a cow and a calf on the same day. Here He says, if you're walking down the road and you see a bird's nest, and the mother is on the nest, you may take the eggs and let the mother go, or you may take the young and let the mother go, but you can't take both of them. And of course, He expressly forbids taking the mother.

[John Weaver] Why? If you took the mother, then the eggs are not going to hatch or the baby is going to die. So you'd be taking the mother and the young and both one day.

[John Weaver] Now, very obviously, this is an illustration of the fifth commandment. And what God is demanding here is respect and honor to the family, even the families of animals. In other words, it is an argument from the lesser to the greater. So if God then is commanding us to honor the families of animals, How much more then are we commanded to honor the families of men and women? And how much more particularly are we commanded then to honor our own family? So very obviously, here are two general promises of long life. One is how we respect and honor our own family. And number two, how we respect and honor the family of animals as well. And then if you'll turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 25, you'll see the third general promise of eat long life. And by the way, this one may surprise you, but you will see how intimately it is tied once again to the very core of our being. Notice what he said, Deuteronomy 25 and verse 13. Let's begin reading.

[John Weaver] Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, different weights are great and small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers or different measures are great and small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have, that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." The third promise for long life is in relationship to our money and how we deal with other people, how we deal with each other. In other words, we cannot be cheaters, we cannot be thieves, we cannot be dishonest, Incidentally, let's put these three promises together. There's the promise of long life, how we treat our family. There's the general promise of long life, how we treat the families of animals. And there's the general promise of long life, of how we treat each other. So we have to learn to be honest and just with each other. Now, it is not simply a quantity of life that God has promised. but a quality of life as well.

[John Weaver] I could ask this question, what good is long life if you live that life in misery and sickness and turmoil and trouble? Well, if you would hold Numbers 14, but look in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3. I want you to know that God not only promises quantity of life, but also a quality of life as well. So in 1 Peter chapter 3, Notice what he says, please, in verses 10 and 11. 1 Peter 3, verses 10 and 11. Here it is. He says this, For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that may speak no guile, let him eschew evil and do good, let him seek peace and ensue it. Now when he says let him eschew evil, that means let him spit it out. He can't swallow it. He can't stomach it. So God says if you want not just quantity of life, but a quality of life, then you also refrain your tongue from speaking evil, you restrain your lips that they speak no guile, you spit out evil, you seek peace, and you ensue it.

[John Weaver] So God then has promised long life, not just quantity, but quality as well. Now, I want you to note that there are general promises for long life, but there's also general promises for shortened lives. Obedience is the way, is the means that God has ordained to lengthen our days. Disobedience is the means that God has ordained to shorten our days.

[John Weaver] Now, I can hear the objection right now. You say, but wait a minute, Pastor. I thought that the Scripture taught that our days were numbered. That we're going to die when we're going to die. There's nothing we can do about it. That's true in one sense of the word. It's certainly true when you read Job 7 in verse 1. Let me just quote it. God asks, is there not an appointed time for man upon the earth? Or is days also like the days of a harling? Is there not an appointed time? Yes, there is an appointed time. There was appointed time for you to be born. There's an appointed time for you to die. You know what the Bible says in Job 14 verses 4 and 5 again, let me just quote it.

[John Weaver] Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Seeing His days are determined, the number of His months are with thee, thou hast appointed His bounds that He cannot pass. So God has said to each one of us like the sea, hitherto shalt thou come and no further. However, you have to consider this. When God ordained the end, He also ordained the means to that end.

[John Weaver] Thus, if I live a long life, that long life will be because I have obeyed God and honored my parents and honored the families of animals and been honest in my dealings with each other and been generally obedient in all of my life. On the other hand, if I have a shortened life, it's because I've used the means That is, I've disobeyed God, I've dishonored my parents, I've dishonored the families of animals, I've been dishonest in my dealings with other men, I've been disobedient generally in my life, and there's the means to shorten my life.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just explain this very quickly. Does this mean, therefore, that every individual that is obedient is going to live a long life? Does it? No. Of course not. There is God's secretive will that must be applied. I do not know God's secretive will for you. Generally speaking, this is true. Does it mean that every wicked man is going to be cut down in the prime of life? No.

[John Weaver] All you've got to do is read Psalm 73. There are plenty of wicked men that live to ripe old ages. But they're the exception and not the rule. Generally speaking, God has ordained that if we obey, we're going to live long lives. If we disobey, we're going to live shortened lives.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just show you some of the promises or I might say some of the threats as well. So before we look in Numbers chapter 14, I want you to go to Psalm 34. Let's work our way through the book of Psalms very quickly and show you some of the warnings and some of the curses and some of the threats. Or if you want to call them promises, that's fine. Notice Psalm 34 and verse 16. Psalm 34, verse 16.

[John Weaver] Here is what God is telling you about how to shorten your days in this sense of the word. Psalm 34, notice verse 16. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. Wow. God's not only going to cut them off, He's going to cut off the remembrance of them. Look in Psalm 37 and verse 9. Psalm 37 verse 9, here He says it again, For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. Look in Psalm 37 and verse 22. Psalm 37 verse 22, For such as be blessed of Him shall inherit the earth, and they that be cursed of Him shall be cut off. Look in verse 28.

[John Weaver] For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaken not his saints, they are preserved forever. But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

[John Weaver] Now, as you turn to Psalm 55, let me just quote to you Proverbs 2 in verse 22. In Proverbs 2 in verse 22, the Word of God says, But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. So God's not only going to cut the wicked off, the disobedient, He's going to root them out. Now look in Psalm 55 and verse 23. Psalm 55 verse 23. But thou, O God, He's talking about the wicked now, but thou, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of destruction.

[John Weaver] Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in thee. Now what did David just say? Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. What's he saying? God's going to cut them off. God's going to kill them. In other words, disobedience is the means to shorten your life.

[John Weaver] Now, if you will turn back in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 2, I will show you an excellent illustration of this principle. You remember Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. who were wicked, wicked men, although they were priests, they were vile, wicked men. And Eli refused to restrain his sons. They not only dishonored God, they committed immorality, they were just vile, they were just wicked. So notice if you would in 1 Samuel chapter 2, what God tells Eli. Verse 31, 1 Samuel 2 verse 31, God tells Eli, in fact let's begin with verse 30. Wherefore the Lord God of Israel said, I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me forever.

[John Weaver] But now the Lord saith, be it far from me, for they that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come, I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, and there shall not be an old man in thine house. Wait a minute. When God says there shall not be an old man in thine house, help me translate that. He's going to kill them before they get old. Now watch, and thou shalt see an enemy in thy habitation in all the wealth which God shall give Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thine house forever. And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from thine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes and to grieve thine heart, and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. What is he saying? I'm going to kill every one of them, and there are not going to be old men around.

[John Weaver] Anybody who lives a little bit longer, it'll just be to cause heartache and grief. You're under my judgment. That's it. So here's the means that you use to shorten your life.

[John Weaver] Now, if you'll turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 30. Deuteronomy 30. And then we're going to go to Jeremiah 7. Deuteronomy 30. Notice if you would, verse 20. I want you to note how length of life, long days are promised to those who obey. Notice Deuteronomy 30 and verse 20. Deuteronomy 30 verse 20, that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him. Now note what the Bible says, for He is thy life and the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to give them. Note you love the Lord and you obey Him and you cleave to Him. Why? He is thy life and the length of thy days. Then if you'll look in Jeremiah 7 and verse 23 very quickly. Jeremiah 7 and verse 23. Notice if you would what God says. Jeremiah 7 and verse 23. Jeremiah 7 verse 23. God says, But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people, and walk you in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

[John Weaver] So it's not just quantity of life, it is a quality that God promises if we obey. Now, I do want you to turn back very quickly to Deuteronomy 30, and let me show you how God puts this together. Deuteronomy 30, and then we're going back to Numbers 14 and deal with the message. Look in Deuteronomy 30, and begin there with verse 15. Deuteronomy 30, verse 15. Look what God says.

[John Weaver] Now remember, He has set before them His will, His law. He says this, Deuteronomy 30, verse 15, See, I have set before this day life and good, death and evil. In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply. And the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. Watch! But if thine heart turn away so that thou wilt not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I denounce unto you this day that you shall surely perish, and that you shall not prolong your days upon the land, whether thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live, that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him, for he is thy life and the length of thy days.

[John Weaver] that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." Now what did he say? I've set before you life and death. I've set before you blessing and curses. If you want a long life, if you want quality of life, God says obey me. Generally speaking, that's how you live long. If you want to die early, fine. Disobey God. Generally speaking, that's how you die early.

[John Weaver] The principle is very simple. Obedience brings life and blessing, and disobedience brings death and curses.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back to Numbers chapter 14, because in Numbers chapter 14, we have some people who have provoked God, and they have provoked Him grievously. Look in Numbers chapter 14 and verse 22. Here's what the Lord says, Because all those men which have seen My glory and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice." God is saying these same reprobates have now provoked him ten distinct times.

[John Weaver] Most of these provocations are given to us in the Bible. They provoked him at the Red Sea in Exodus 14. They provoked him in Marah, Exodus chapter 15. In the wilderness of sin, Exodus chapter 16. At Rephidim in Exodus 17. in the golden calf in Exodus 32 at Taborah and Kerbereth Hadovah, Numbers chapter 11 and Numbers chapter 14 here at Kadesh Barnea, they provoke him again.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to look back at verse 22. Look what he says. Because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times.

[John Weaver] Now let me tell you something, folks. There are several, at least two, very painfully obvious truths from verse 22. The first one is this. God does keep a record of our sins. He knew how many times these people had provoked Him. You know what the Bible says in Numbers 32 and verse 23? Be sure your sins will find you out. In Psalm 50 in verse 21, here's what God told the wicked. Now listen, here's what God said.

[John Weaver] These things hast thou done, and I kept silence. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such in one as thyself, but I will reprove thee and set them, that is, thy sins, I will set them in order before thine eyes. God said, I know what you've done. And just because I didn't slap you down instantly, you think I didn't see it? Or that I didn't record it, that I didn't know about it?

[John Weaver] Oh, let me tell you. Many of the wicked have a peace that comes only from their own forgetfulness. They have forgotten, but I can assure you that God has not. In Exodus 34 and verse 7, He said it like this, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sins, and that will by no means clear the guilty. If you are outside of Christ, if you are unregenerated, if you are unconverted, then you are unforgiven, and God knows each and every one of your sins. He has not forgotten them. He has recorded them. You may have forgotten them, but I can assure you God has not. The second truth we find here is this, that God does have a point at which time He will no longer extend mercy or grace. Wow. What did He say?

[John Weaver] I've had it with you. Ten times you provoked me.

[John Weaver] Now you're going to be destroyed. You know what the Bible says in Romans 2 verses 4 through 6? Let me read it to you. God says, or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, but after the hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every

[John Weaver] man according to his deeds. What did God say? God said, you despise my goodness. You despise my forbearance. You despise my long-suffering, and when you despise everything that I am and everything that I do for you, all you're doing is just treasuring up for yourself wrath against the day of wrath, because God says there will be one day that I will render to every man according to his deeds. To those who provoke God, they have nothing but judgment and destruction ahead of them.

[John Weaver] not only in this life, but the life to come as well. Now, if you look back in Numbers 14 verse 1, I want you to see again how this chapter opens with these wicked people provoking God, failing to obey Him. Numbers 14 verse 1, And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, And the whole congregation said unto them, would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this wilderness. And wherefore hath the Lord brought us into this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be appraised, were it not better for us to return to Egypt. And they said one to another, let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt. Now, you know, here are people who or expressing a belief that death in Egypt or death in the wilderness would be far better for them than that which God had prepared and provided for them.

[John Weaver] They failed to believe Moses, they failed to believe Aaron, they failed to believe Joshua and Caleb, they failed to believe God. In fact, They chose to believe those ten spies who brought up an evil report, a false and a libelous report against God and against His promised land. And so God then rightly charges them with provocation. Look in verse 11, Numbers 14. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? How long will it be ere they believe me for all the signs which I have shown unto them? So God is saying, They have provoked me. They're unbelief. Clearly, that which led to their murmuring and bellyaching and complaining was their unbelief.

[John Weaver] Now, I spoke on this just a little bit last week, but let me just emphasize this again. Unbelief dishonors God. It challenges His Word. It ignores His promises as well as threatenings, and it calls God a liar. Unbelief basically spits in the face of a holy God, and unbelief challenges God and dares him to do his worst. Unbelief is a heinous sin and brings judgment upon the unbeliever.

[John Weaver] Now, look in verse 2, Numbers chapter 14. I want you to understand, if you really grasp this verse, it should make you very, what should I say? It should make you very concerned for that which you pray. Numbers 14 verse 2, and all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said unto them, now watch what they said, would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God that we had died in this wilderness.

[John Weaver] Now the translation of these two words, would God, is from a conditional particle which literally can be interpreted like this. Would God, or oh that it might be, or if haply, or I pray thee, if only that, oh that it might be. In other words, here's what they're saying, I pray that, if haply, I would, I prefer, I want to die, either in Egypt or in this wilderness.

[John Weaver] Now let me tell you something, folks. They weren't in Egypt, so they couldn't die there. But they were in the wilderness. God could answer their prayer very easily.

[John Weaver] Now, look in Numbers 14, verse 26. I want you to watch carefully. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do unto you.

[John Weaver] Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which you have murmured against me." What did God say? God says your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. as you have spoken to me, as you prayed, as you wished, as you wanted, that's exactly what I'm going to do to you. Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And by the way, your children whom you said would be a prey, they're going into the promised land, but you will never see it.

[John Weaver] Now skip down to verse 31. But your little ones which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in. and they shall know the land which you despise. But as for you, now here it is again, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in this wilderness."

[John Weaver] Now let me tell you something, folks. The Word of the Lord had been given. Their sentence had been pronounced. They would die in the wilderness. There's no escaping this now. They know that they are going to die. The sovereign, omnipotent God of heaven and earth has pronounced His decree. You've prayed to me to die in this wilderness. I'm going to answer your prayer. I'm going to let you die. Your carcasses shall fall.

[John Weaver] Now, look in verse 35. I the Lord have said, Note, I the Lord have said I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me in this wilderness. They shall be consumed and there they shall die. And the men which Moses sent to search the land who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the land, even those men that did bring up an evil report upon the land died by plague before the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now what did God just do? Let's see, he looked at all those men and he said, you want to die in this wilderness? Fine. I'm going to answer your prayer. Your carcasses shall fall. And by the way, these ten men that brought up this libelous, slanderous report, they died instantly as a plague before the Lord. So the death of those ten men was kind of like an earnest, When they died instantly, God says, I'm guaranteeing your death. Just like I killed them, so you are going to die as well. Those ten were nothing more than earnest, so to speak. And what did God say? Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.

[John Weaver] You prayed for it, you asked for it, you've got it. Now let me tell you, when God said your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, it's more than the fact that they're just going to die. They're going to die. But there's more to it than that. I want you to look in your Bibles to Jeremiah 22. Jeremiah 22. And let's begin reading there verse 18 and read about Jehoiakim. You're going to see the implication when God says, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. Jeremiah 22. And look at verse 18.

[John Weaver] Now we're talking about King Jehoiakim, okay? Here's what God said about King Jehoiakim. Jeremiah 22, notice verse 18. Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, my brother, or Ah, sister, They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, Lord, or ah, His glory. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." How do you bury an ass? You don't.

[John Weaver] You drag him off and let his body rot and let the buzzards pick his bones. What did God say? Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. Go back in your Bibles to Hebrews 3 and verse 17, because there the author of the book of Hebrews is referring, is referring to Numbers chapter 14, and he says this, But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell, past tense, in the wilderness?

[John Weaver] Now, I want to read you the comment of three commentators. First of all, Albert Barnes. Each one of these men are commenting on Hebrews 3.17, their carcasses fell in the wilderness. Here's what Albert Barnes says. That is, they all died and were left on the sands of the desert. The whole generation was strewn along the way to Canaan. All of those who had seen the wonders that God had done in the land of Ham, who had been rescued in so remarkable a manner from oppression, were thus cut down and died in the desert through which they were passing.

[John Weaver] Such an example of the effects of revolt against God and unbelief was well fitted to admonish the Christians in the time of the Apostle and is fitted to admonish us now of the danger of the sin of unbelief. But note what he said, their carcasses were strewn along the sands of the desert. Adam Clark commented on Hebrews 3.17 says this, whose carcasses fell, for the Greek properly signifies the members of a body. And here may be an allusion to the scattered bleached bones of this people that were a long time apparent in the wilderness. continually there as proof of their crimes and of the judgment of God. They weren't buried. They weren't mourned. They just fell down and died. Finally, John Gill says on Hebrews 3.17, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness and so never entered the land of Canaan. They died in the wilderness and they did not die common or natural deaths, at least not all of them, Their deaths were by way of punishment, in the way of wrath, in a judicial way.

[John Weaver] The Syriac version renders it, their bones fell in the wilderness, they lay scattered and unburied and exposed to view as an example of divine vengeance. So when God said to those wicked, unbelieving people, turn you into the wilderness, they started dying. from the judgment of God.

[John Weaver] Now let me tell you, you need to remember this. When that cloud moved, they moved. When that cloud stopped, they stopped. But if that cloud's moving and somebody dropped dead, what did the rest of the people do? They kept moving. They kept walking. You want to know how many men died in the wilderness? Look back in your Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 1 and verse 46. Because here is just the men from 20 years old and upward who were able to fight, who were able to go to war. The numbers given to us. Numbers 1 and verse 46. Here's how many warriors drop dead in the wilderness.

[John Weaver] Even all that were numbered were 600,000, 3,000, 550. So there were 603,550 men above 20 years of age.

[John Weaver] Now, there were probably 2 million people. That didn't count the younger men. That didn't count the little children. That certainly didn't count the women.

[John Weaver] Now, if they wandered for 40 years, and I'm just doing this approximately, OK? If they wandered for 40 years, you divide 40 into 603,550, and you're going to get approximately 16,000 that's going to die a year, approximately 1,300 a month, or 50 a day. So here are these people walking along, and all of a sudden, 50 men fall down dead. What do they do? They keep going.

[John Weaver] What happens to their bodies? The buzzards gets them. I mean, they're unburied. Unmourned. This is just the men of war. This doesn't count women who died or children who died. Some naturally, maybe some by the judgment of God. It doesn't count those who died of old age or those who died of diseases. But can you imagine? Not even knowing that you're going to die. But knowing that you're going to die under the judgment of God, and when you die, you will be unburied and unmourned, and you would lay just simply wherever you fell. Now the question is, did they all die?

[John Weaver] Well, look in your Bibles to Numbers 26, And let's begin reading with verse 23 and you will get your answer. Numbers 26, beginning there verse 23, I believe it is. I may have the wrong chapter, let me see. Okay.

[John Weaver] I think I've given you the wrong verse there. Let's see. Okay. It's verse 63. Numbers 26, verse 63. 63 through 65. Notice. These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eliezer the priest who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron, the priests, numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. For the Lord had said of them, They shall surely die in this wilderness, and there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun." Notice there was not a man left of them.

[John Weaver] Did God kill all of them? He killed all of them. Not one escaped. Everyone that God said was going to die, died. Oh, my. Do you imagine that there were some that vainly hoped that they would escape God's judgment? Do you imagine there were some that thought, well, maybe God will forget or God will overlook me? But He didn't. There was not a man of them left. God accomplished all of His purpose.

[John Weaver] His decree was totally and completely carried out. And when God told these folks to turn in the wilderness, they knew they were going to die. You may not know exactly the date, but they knew within 40 years not one of them would be left.

[John Weaver] Now let me make a couple of applications today. I believe that each of us know exactly like those Israelites, surely that we're going to die. And we are. Hebrews 9 verse 27 says, As it was appointed unto man once to die, after that the judgment. The question is, are we prepared to die? You remember I told you earlier about Pilgrim and Pilgrim's Progress. When Evangelist met him, and Pilgrim was weeping, and Evangelist asked him why he was weeping, he said, I must die, I must die, I must die. I find that I must die and stand before God.

[John Weaver] I'm unwilling to do the first, and I'm unable to do the second. Dear friend, let me tell you something. All of those who are outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of those who are outside of Him in faith are not prepared to die. If you do not know Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, like Pilgrim, you are not prepared. I want you to note secondly, the Israelites who refused to trust in God and obey His voice died under the judgment of God. Likewise, today those who refuse to trust in Christ will die under God's judgment. You know what the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 beginning verse 7, listen, and to you who are troubled rest with us. Now listen, when our Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who know not God, who obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, who shall perish and be punished with everlasting destruction. Those who are outside of Jesus Christ will be destroyed, will be judged, just like those Israelites in the wilderness.

[John Weaver] You know, Hobie said something earlier this morning, and I was going to say something then and did not do so, but I'm going to point it out now. Not all the Bible may be written to you, and not all the Bible may be written about you, but all the Bible is written for you. And you better understand that what is revealed in the Old Testament, according to Romans 15 and 1 Corinthians chapter 10, is written for our admonition, our learning, and just like these men died under God's judgment in Numbers 14 and 15 and 16, those who refuse Christ shall also die under God's judgment.

[John Weaver] How can we have a greater surety of death and destruction than the Word of God? God decreed the deaths of these men in Numbers chapter 14, and it came to pass exactly like He said. God has decreed it's appointed to us once to die, and after that the judgment, and dear friend, it will come to pass exactly as God said. Psalm 138 verse 2 tells us that God has placed His Word above His name. Listen, if God's Word ever fails, then God would cease to be God. But I do have some good news, and that is this, for the child of God The one who's been regenerated by grace, who's been converted through repentance and faith, death has no sting and judgment holds no horror.

[John Weaver] I want you to look in 1 Corinthians 15. I know most of you can probably quote this, but look at it. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 53. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 53. Look what he says. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 53.

[John Weaver] The apostle says, For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. For those who are in Christ, death has no sting. The grave holds no horror. Judgment holds no horror. Why? Because God has given us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the Bible says in Hebrews 2, let me just quote it.

[John Weaver] Verses 14 and 15, For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he, that is Christ, also likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Do you realize that when Christ died as our substitute, and the wrath of God fell upon Him in our place, He took all the stain, all the horror, all the pain, so that now, for the believer in the Scripture, it's called those who sleep in Christ. What?

[John Weaver] Let me ask you a question. Do you have a horror each night of going to sleep? I don't. I welcome it. I'm thankful for it. I look forward to it. For the child of God, death is nothing more than just simply sleep. It's just simply going to sleep. And there's no horror. There's no pain. As children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, we know that we shall lie down and go to sleep physically. That is, we shall leave this earthly body But for the child of God, listen carefully, there is no death, only life. What did Christ say? I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly.

[John Weaver] And do you remember what He said in John 5 verse 24? He said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life, are you listening? And shall not come unto death, but is passed from death unto life. We will not experience, as believers, the agonies and the sting and the pain of death because Christ has experienced that for us.

[John Weaver] And when it comes our time to die physically, it's just going to sleep. It is really and truly entering into life. Death is nothing more than a passport into eternity of the child of God. As the Apostle said in 2 Corinthians 5, we'd rather lose this earthly tabernacle that we might have a heavenly tabernacle. And the Apostle Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

[John Weaver] How horrible could that be? To have the blessed Son of God and to be in His presence is life. It's not death and it's not pain. But those who are without Christ know that they shall die. And they will die with God's judgment upon them. So dear Christian, you be thankful. for the salvation that God has given us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's pray. Father, we ask You today to help us, to teach us. Make us, Lord, thankful and grateful for Thy so great salvation.

[John Weaver] May we trust in Thee, may we look to Thee, may we honor Thee. We pray that You would speak to hearts, convict and convert, and have Your will in every way and in every life. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen.

When You Know You Are Going to Die

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	brqbEI5Y1xs
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: The Superiority of Christ
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-02
Dictation Name
Book	Book 078: Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover - Volume 1 — Chapter 15
Source Timed Segments	84

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Scripture Reading

The sermon opens with readings from Numbers 14 and Hebrews 3, setting the stage for the topic of knowing one's death is certain.

Alright, let's open our Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 14 and also the book of Hebrews chapter 3. Numbers 14 and Hebrews chapter 3. Numbers chapter 14 and then Hebrews chapter 3. We will read Numbers 14 first.

The title of the message today is, "When You Know You're Going to Die." Of course, I hope you've noticed the last three messages have really been around the book of Numbers, because as I read through the book of Numbers, these three things popped out at me, and so I'm dealing with them today. Notice if you would, "When You Know You're Going to Die," Numbers 14, verse 21, God says,

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:21

"As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord."

The Reality of Knowing You Will Die

Weaver reflects on the terror of knowing the time and manner of one's death, comparing it to death row inmates and Hezekiah's warning.

What must it be like to know that within 15 minutes, all of your questions concerning God, death, and judgment will be answered? Now, in one sense of the word, we all know that we're going to die. Because the Bible declares in Hebrews 9 and verse 27,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 9:27

"as it is appointed unto men once to die, after that, the judgment."

We know that the wages of sin are death. We know that we were created from the dust of the earth and into the dust we shall return. There is no escape from physical death. As Pilgrim explained in the book Pilgrim's Progress, we must die and stand before God in judgment. And Pilgrim at that time said he was unwilling to do the first, that is to die, and unable to do the second, that is stand before God in judgment. And Pilgrim therefore was going around saying, "I must die, I must die, I must die." And what a realization when we realize that we must die. How would you like to be like Hezekiah when he heard the words from God as delivered to him by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 38 and verse 1 where God said to King Hezekiah, "Set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live."

We know that the Bible teaches us that the wages of sin is death. Now, we also know that we're going to die, and we don't know exactly when we're going to die, but we know about when we're going to die. How can I say that? Well, look in your Bibles, hold Numbers 14, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 90, and look at verse 10. Psalm 90 and verse 10. And here the Word of God says this, Psalm 90 verse 10,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 90:10

"The days of our years are threescore years and ten. And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away."

So what God is telling us in Psalm 90 and verse 10 is that the average lifespan is from 70 to 80 years, usually around 70 more or less. If He says we make it 80, usually our days are filled with sorrow and sickness. Some, however, do not even make the normal lifespan. Some are cut down in the prime of their life, while others do not even get to begin life.

General Promises for Long Life

Three biblical promises for prolonged days are identified: honoring parents, respecting animal families, and honest dealings with others.

I'm going to show them to you. Each one of these promises relate to the very core of our being. The first promise I just mentioned is in reference to our attitude and our action toward our parents. We must honor them if we expect a long life. I'm not going to get into what it means to honor the parents right now. That is certainly more than saying "yes sir" and "yes ma'am" and "no sir" and "no ma'am." According to Matthew 15, Mark 7, it involves a great deal more. But God is simply saying that we must honor them if we have any expectation of long life.

Now, if God says, "Honor thy father and thy mother, for this is the first commandment of the promise, that thy days may be long upon the earth," conversely, it is also true that if we dishonor our parents, our days will be shortened upon this earth. In other words, there is an implicated and inherent threat for those who dishonor their parents. Now, let me show you the second promise in the Bible for long life. Hold Numbers 14, but look if you would to Deuteronomy chapter 22. So the first promise then is in reference to our parents, whether we honor them or dishonor them. But in Deuteronomy 22, beginning there with verse 6, this may surprise you, may shock you, but here it is. This promise is in relation to how we treat animals. Well, here it is, Deuteronomy 22, look at verse 6.

"If a bird's nest chanced to be before thee in the way in any tree or on the ground, whether they be young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam, that is the mother, with the young. But thou shalt anywise let the dam or the mother go, and take the young to thee. Now note that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days." Now I want you to note something. God has said in other passages of Scripture, for instance, "Thou shalt not kill her mother and her young on the same day." So God forbid, say like killing a cow and a calf on the same day. Here He says, if you're walking down the road and you see a bird's nest, and the mother is on the nest, you may take the eggs and let the mother go, or you may take the young and let the mother go, but you can't take both of them. And of course, He expressly forbids taking the mother.

Why? If you took the mother, then the eggs are not going to hatch or the baby is going to die. So you'd be taking the mother and the young and both one day. Now, very obviously, this is an illustration of the fifth commandment. And what God is demanding here is respect and honor to the family, even the families of animals. In other words, it is an argument from the lesser to the greater. So if God then is commanding us to honor the families of animals, how much more then are we commanded to honor the families of men and women? And how much more particularly are we commanded then to honor our own family? So very obviously, here are two general promises of long life. One is how we respect and honor our own family. And number two, how we respect and honor the family of animals as well. And then if you'll turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 25, you'll see the third general promise of long life. And by the way, this one may surprise you, but you will see how intimately it is tied once again to the very core of our being. Notice what he said, Deuteronomy 25 and verse 13. Let's begin reading.

"Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, different weights are great and small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers or different measures are great and small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have, that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." The third promise for long life is in relationship to our money and how we deal with other people, how we deal with each other. In other words, we cannot be cheaters, we cannot be thieves, we cannot be dishonest. Incidentally, let's put these three promises together. There's the promise of long life, how we treat our family. There's the general promise of long life, how we treat the families of animals. And there's the general promise of long life, of how we treat each other. So we have to learn to be honest and just with each other. Now, it is not simply a quantity of life that God has promised, but a quality of life as well.

Quality of Life and Obedience

God promises not only quantity but quality of life through obedience, as seen in 1 Peter 3 and Deuteronomy 30.

I could ask this question, what good is long life if you live that life in misery and sickness and turmoil and trouble? Well, if you would hold Numbers 14, but look in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3. I want you to know that God not only promises quantity of life, but also a quality of life as well. So in 1 Peter chapter 3, notice what he says, please, in verses 10 and 11. 1 Peter 3, verses 10 and 11. Here it is. He says this,

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 3:10-11

"For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that may speak no guile, let him eschew evil and do good, let him seek peace and ensue it."

Now when he says

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 3:10-11

"let him eschew evil,"

that means let him spit it out. He can't swallow it. He can't stomach it. So God says if you want not just quantity of life, but a quality of life, then you also refrain your tongue from speaking evil, you restrain your lips that they speak no guile, you spit out evil, you seek peace, and you ensue it.

So God then has promised long life, not just quantity, but quality as well. Now, I want you to note that there are general promises for long life, but there's also general promises for shortened lives. Obedience is the way, is the means that God has ordained to lengthen our days. Disobedience is the means that God has ordained to shorten our days.

The Means of Shortened Life

Disobedience is the ordained means to shorten life, illustrated by threats in Psalms and the judgment on Eli's house.

Now, I can hear the objection right now. You say, "But wait a minute, Pastor. I thought that the Scripture taught that our days were numbered. That we're going to die when we're going to die. There's nothing we can do about it." That's true in one sense of the word. It's certainly true when you read Job 7 in verse 1. Let me just quote it. God asks, "Is there not an appointed time for man upon the earth? Or is days also like the days of a hireling?" Is there not an appointed time? Yes, there is an appointed time. There was appointed time for you to be born. There's an appointed time for you to die. You know what the Bible says in Job 14 verses 4 and 5 again, let me just quote it.

"Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Seeing His days are determined, the number of His months are with thee, thou hast appointed His bounds that He cannot pass." So God has said to each one of us like the sea, "Hitherto shalt thou come and no further." However, you have to consider this. When God ordained the end, He also ordained the means to that end.

Thus, if I live a long life, that long life will be because I have obeyed God and honored my parents and honored the families of animals and been honest in my dealings with each other and been generally obedient in all of my life. On the other hand, if I have a shortened life, it's because I've used the means. That is, I've disobeyed God, I've dishonored my parents, I've dishonored the families of animals, I've been dishonest in my dealings with other men, I've been disobedient generally in my life, and there's the means to shorten my life. Now, let me just explain this very quickly. Does this mean, therefore, that every individual that is obedient is going to live a long life? Does it? No. Of course not. There is God's secretive will that must be applied. I do not know God's secretive will for you. Generally speaking, this is true. Does it mean that every wicked man is going to be cut down in the prime of life? No.

All you've got to do is read Psalm 73. There are plenty of wicked men that live to ripe old ages. But they're the exception and not the rule. Generally speaking, God has ordained that if we obey, we're going to live long lives. If we disobey, we're going to live shortened lives.

Now, let me just show you some of the promises or I might say some of the threats as well. So before we look in Numbers chapter 14, I want you to go to Psalm 34. Let's work our way through the book of Psalms very quickly and show you some of the warnings and some of the curses and some of the threats. Or if you want to call them promises, that's fine. Notice Psalm 34 and verse 16. Psalm 34, verse 16. Here is what God is telling you about how to shorten your days in this sense of the word. Psalm 34, notice verse 16.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 34:16

"The face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth."

Wow. God's not only going to cut them off, He's going to cut off the remembrance of them. Look in Psalm 37 and verse 9. Psalm 37 verse 9, here He says it again, "For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." Look in Psalm 37 and verse 22. Psalm 37 verse 22, "For such as be blessed of Him shall inherit the earth, and they that be cursed of Him shall be cut off." Look in verse 28.

"For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaken not his saints, they are preserved forever. But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." Now, as you turn to Psalm 55, let me just quote to you Proverbs 2 in verse 22. In Proverbs 2 in verse 22, the Word of God says, "But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it." So God's not only going to cut the wicked off, the disobedient, He's going to root them out. Now look in Psalm 55 and verse 23. Psalm 55 verse 23. "But thou, O God," He's talking about the wicked now, "but thou, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of destruction."

"Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in thee." Now what did David just say? Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. What's he saying? God's going to cut them off. God's going to kill them. In other words, disobedience is the means to shorten your life.

Now, if you will turn back in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 2, I will show you an excellent illustration of this principle. You remember Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who were wicked, wicked men, although they were priests, they were vile, wicked men. And Eli refused to restrain his sons. They not only dishonored God, they committed immorality, they were just vile, they were just wicked. So notice if you would in 1 Samuel chapter 2, what God tells Eli. Verse 31, 1 Samuel 2 verse 31, God tells Eli, in fact let's begin with verse 30. "Wherefore the Lord God of Israel said, I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me forever."

"But now the Lord saith, be it far from me, for they that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come, I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, and there shall not be an old man in thine house." Wait a minute. When God says there shall not be an old man in thine house, help me translate that. He's going to kill them before they get old. Now watch, "and thou shalt see an enemy in thy habitation in all the wealth which God shall give Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thine house forever. And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from thine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes and to grieve thine heart, and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age." What is he saying? I'm going to kill every one of them, and there are not going to be old men around.

Anybody who lives a little bit longer, it'll just be to cause heartache and grief. You're under my judgment. That's it. So here's the means that you use to shorten your life.

Israel's Provocation and Judgment

The Israelites' ten provocations and unbelief lead to God's decree that their carcasses will fall in the wilderness.

Now, I want you to go back to Numbers chapter 14, because in Numbers chapter 14, we have some people who have provoked God, and they have provoked Him grievously. Look in Numbers chapter 14 and verse 22. Here's what the Lord says, "Because all those men which have seen My glory and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice." God is saying these same reprobates have now provoked him ten distinct times. Most of these provocations are given to us in the Bible. They provoked him at the Red Sea in Exodus 14. They provoked him in Marah, Exodus chapter 15. In the wilderness of sin, Exodus chapter 16. At Rephidim in Exodus 17. In the golden calf in Exodus 32 at Taberah and Kibroth-hattaavah, Numbers chapter 11 and Numbers chapter 14 here at Kadesh Barnea, they provoke him again.

Now I want you to look back at verse 22. Look what he says. "Because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times." Now let me tell you something, folks. There are several, at least two, very painfully obvious truths from verse 22. The first one is this. God does keep a record of our sins. He knew how many times these people had provoked Him. You know what the Bible says in Numbers 32 and verse 23? "Be sure your sins will find you out." In Psalm 50 in verse 21, here's what God told the wicked. Now listen, here's what God said.

"These things hast thou done, and I kept silence. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such in one as thyself, but I will reprove thee and set them, that is, thy sins, I will set them in order before thine eyes." God said, I know what you've done. And just because I didn't slap you down instantly, you think I didn't see it? Or that I didn't record it, that I didn't know about it? Oh, let me tell you. Many of the wicked have a peace that comes only from their own forgetfulness. They have forgotten, but I can assure you that God has not. In Exodus 34 and verse 7, He said it like this, "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sins, and that will by no means clear the guilty." If you are outside of Christ, if you are unregenerated, if you are unconverted, then you are unforgiven, and God knows each and every one of your sins. He has not forgotten them. He has recorded them. You may have forgotten them, but I can assure you God has not. The second truth we find here is this, that God does have a point at which time He will no longer extend mercy or grace. Wow. What did He say?

I've had it with you. Ten times you provoked me. Now you're going to be destroyed. You know what the Bible says in Romans 2 verses 4 through 6? Let me read it to you. God says, "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, but after the hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds." What did God say? God said, you despise my goodness. You despise my forbearance. You despise my long-suffering, and when you despise everything that I am and everything that I do for you, all you're doing is just treasuring up for yourself wrath against the day of wrath, because God says there will be one day that I will render to every man according to his deeds. To those who provoke God, they have nothing but judgment and destruction ahead of them.

not only in this life, but the life to come as well. Now, if you look back in Numbers 14 verse 1, I want you to see again how this chapter opens with these wicked people provoking God, failing to obey Him. Numbers 14 verse 1,

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:1-4

"And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said unto them, would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this wilderness. And wherefore hath the Lord brought us into this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be a prey, were it not better for us to return to Egypt. And they said one to another, let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt."

Now, you know, here are people who are expressing a belief that death in Egypt or death in the wilderness would be far better for them than that which God had prepared and provided for them.

They failed to believe Moses, they failed to believe Aaron, they failed to believe Joshua and Caleb, they failed to believe God. In fact, they chose to believe those ten spies who brought up an evil report, a false and a libelous report against God and against His promised land. And so God then rightly charges them with provocation. Look in verse 11, Numbers 14.

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:11

"And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? How long will it be ere they believe me for all the signs which I have shown unto them?"

So God is saying, they have provoked me. Their unbelief. Clearly, that which led to their murmuring and bellyaching and complaining was their unbelief.

Now, I spoke on this just a little bit last week, but let me just emphasize this again. Unbelief dishonors God. It challenges His Word. It ignores His promises as well as threatenings, and it calls God a liar. Unbelief basically spits in the face of a holy God, and unbelief challenges God and dares him to do his worst. Unbelief is a heinous sin and brings judgment upon the unbeliever.

Now, look in verse 2, Numbers chapter 14. I want you to understand, if you really grasp this verse, it should make you very, what should I say? It should make you very concerned for that which you pray. Numbers 14 verse 2, "And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said unto them," now watch what they said, "would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God that we had died in this wilderness."

Now the translation of these two words, "would God," is from a conditional particle which literally can be interpreted like this. "Would God," or "oh that it might be," or "if haply," or "I pray thee, if only that, oh that it might be." In other words, here's what they're saying, "I pray that, if haply, I would, I prefer, I want to die, either in Egypt or in this wilderness." Now let me tell you something, folks. They weren't in Egypt, so they couldn't die there. But they were in the wilderness. God could answer their prayer very easily.

Now, look in Numbers 14, verse 26. I want you to watch carefully. "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do unto you." "Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which you have murmured against me." What did God say? God says your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. As you have spoken to me, as you prayed, as you wished, as you wanted, that's exactly what I'm going to do to you. Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And by the way, your children whom you said would be a prey, they're going into the promised land, but you will never see it.

Now skip down to verse 31. "But your little ones which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you despise. But as for you," now here it is again, "your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in this wilderness."

Now let me tell you something, folks. The Word of the Lord had been given. Their sentence had been pronounced. They would die in the wilderness. There's no escaping this now. They know that they are going to die. The sovereign, omnipotent God of heaven and earth has pronounced His decree. You've prayed to me to die in this wilderness. I'm going to answer your prayer. I'm going to let you die. Your carcasses shall fall.

Now, look in verse 35. "I the Lord have said," note, "I the Lord have said I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me in this wilderness. They shall be consumed and there they shall die. And the men which Moses sent to search the land who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the land, even those men that did bring up an evil report upon the land died by plague before the Lord."

The Fulfillment of God's Decree

Commentators describe the scattered, unburied bones of the Israelites, and Numbers 26 confirms that not one man of that generation escaped death.

You prayed for it, you asked for it, you've got it. Now let me tell you, when God said "your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness," it's more than the fact that they're just going to die. They're going to die. But there's more to it than that. I want you to look in your Bibles to Jeremiah 22. Jeremiah 22. And let's begin reading there verse 18 and read about Jehoiakim. You're going to see the implication when God says, "Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness." Jeremiah 22. And look at verse 18.

Now we're talking about King Jehoiakim, okay? Here's what God said about King Jehoiakim. Jeremiah 22, notice verse 18.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 22:18-19

"Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, my brother, or Ah, sister, they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, Lord, or ah, His glory. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem."

How do you bury an ass? You don't. You drag him off and let his body rot and let the buzzards pick his bones. What did God say? "Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness." Go back in your Bibles to Hebrews 3 and verse 17, because there the author of the book of Hebrews is referring, is referring to Numbers chapter 14, and he says this, "But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell," past tense, "in the wilderness?"

Now, I want to read you the comment of three commentators. First of all, Albert Barnes. Each one of these men are commenting on Hebrews 3.17, "their carcasses fell in the wilderness." Here's what Albert Barnes says. "That is, they all died and were left on the sands of the desert. The whole generation was strewn along the way to Canaan. All of those who had seen the wonders that God had done in the land of Ham, who had been rescued in so remarkable a manner from oppression, were thus cut down and died in the desert through which they were passing." "Such an example of the effects of revolt against God and unbelief was well fitted to admonish the Christians in the time of the Apostle and is fitted to admonish us now of the danger of the sin of unbelief." But note what he said, "their carcasses were strewn along the sands of the desert." Adam Clarke commented on Hebrews 3.17 says this, "whose carcasses fell, for the Greek properly signifies the members of a body. And here may be an allusion to the scattered bleached bones of this people that were a long time apparent in the wilderness, continually there as proof of their crimes and of the judgment of God." They weren't buried. They weren't mourned. They just fell down and died. Finally, John Gill says on Hebrews 3.17, "whose carcasses fell in the wilderness and so never entered the land of Canaan. They died in the wilderness and they did not die common or natural deaths, at least not all of them. Their deaths were by way of punishment, in the way of wrath, in a judicial way."

"The Syriac version renders it, their bones fell in the wilderness, they lay scattered and unburied and exposed to view as an example of divine vengeance." So when God said to those wicked, unbelieving people, "turn you into the wilderness," they started dying from the judgment of God. Now let me tell you, you need to remember this. When that cloud moved, they moved. When that cloud stopped, they stopped. But if that cloud's moving and somebody dropped dead, what did the rest of the people do? They kept moving. They kept walking. You want to know how many men died in the wilderness? Look back in your Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 1 and verse 46. Because here is just the men from 20 years old and upward who were able to fight, who were able to go to war. The numbers given to us. Numbers 1 and verse 46. Here's how many warriors drop dead in the wilderness.

"Even all that were numbered were 600,000, 3,000, 550." So there were 603,550 men above 20 years of age. Now, there were probably 2 million people. That didn't count the younger men. That didn't count the little children. That certainly didn't count the women.

Now, if they wandered for 40 years, and I'm just doing this approximately, OK? If they wandered for 40 years, you divide 40 into 603,550, and you're going to get approximately 16,000 that's going to die a year, approximately 1,300 a month, or 50 a day. So here are these people walking along, and all of a sudden, 50 men fall down dead. What do they do? They keep going. What happens to their bodies? The buzzards gets them. I mean, they're unburied. Unmourned. This is just the men of war. This doesn't count women who died or children who died. Some naturally, maybe some by the judgment of God. It doesn't count those who died of old age or those who died of diseases. But can you imagine? Not even knowing that you're going to die. But knowing that you're going to die under the judgment of God, and when you die, you will be unburied and unmourned, and you would lay just simply wherever you fell. Now the question is, did they all die?

Well, look in your Bibles to Numbers 26, and let's begin reading with verse 23 and you will get your answer. Numbers 26, beginning there verse 23, I believe it is. I may have the wrong chapter, let me see. Okay.

I think I've given you the wrong verse there. Let's see. Okay. It's verse 63. Numbers 26, verse 63. 63 through 65. Notice.

Scripture Reading — Numbers 26:63-65

"These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eliezer the priest who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron, the priests, numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. For the Lord had said of them, They shall surely die in this wilderness, and there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun."

Notice there was not a man left of them.

Did God kill all of them? He killed all of them. Not one escaped. Everyone that God said was going to die, died. Oh, my. Do you imagine that there were some that vainly hoped that they would escape God's judgment? Do you imagine there were some that thought, well, maybe God will forget or God will overlook me? But He didn't. There was not a man of them left. God accomplished all of His purpose.

Application: Preparedness for Death

All must die; those outside Christ face judgment, but believers have victory over death through Jesus Christ.

Now let me make a couple of applications today. I believe that each of us know exactly like those Israelites, surely that we're going to die. And we are. Hebrews 9 verse 27 says, "As it was appointed unto man once to die, after that the judgment." The question is, are we prepared to die? You remember I told you earlier about Pilgrim and Pilgrim's Progress. When Evangelist met him, and Pilgrim was weeping, and Evangelist asked him why he was weeping, he said, "I must die, I must die, I must die. I find that I must die and stand before God."

"I'm unwilling to do the first, and I'm unable to do the second." Dear friend, let me tell you something. All of those who are outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of those who are outside of Him in faith are not prepared to die. If you do not know Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, like Pilgrim, you are not prepared. I want you to note secondly, the Israelites who refused to trust in God and obey His voice died under the judgment of God. Likewise, today those who refuse to trust in Christ will die under God's judgment. You know what the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 beginning verse 7, listen, "and to you who are troubled rest with us." Now listen, "when our Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who know not God, who obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, who shall perish and be punished with everlasting destruction." Those who are outside of Jesus Christ will be destroyed, will be judged, just like those Israelites in the wilderness.

You know, Hobie said something earlier this morning, and I was going to say something then and did not do so, but I'm going to point it out now. Not all the Bible may be written to you, and not all the Bible may be written about you, but all the Bible is written for you. And you better understand that what is revealed in the Old Testament, according to Romans 15 and 1 Corinthians chapter 10, is written for our admonition, our learning, and just like these men died under God's judgment in Numbers 14 and 15 and 16, those who refuse Christ shall also die under God's judgment. How can we have a greater surety of death and destruction than the Word of God? God decreed the deaths of these men in Numbers chapter 14, and it came to pass exactly like He said. God has decreed it's appointed to us once to die, and after that the judgment, and dear friend, it will come to pass exactly as God said. Psalm 138 verse 2 tells us that God has placed His Word above His name. Listen, if God's Word ever fails, then God would cease to be God. But I do have some good news, and that is this, for the child of God, the one who's been regenerated by grace, who's been converted through repentance and faith, death has no sting and judgment holds no horror.

I want you to look in 1 Corinthians 15. I know most of you can probably quote this, but look at it. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 53. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 53. Look what he says. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 53.

The apostle says, "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." For those who are in Christ, death has no sting. The grave holds no horror. Judgment holds no horror. Why? Because God has given us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the Bible says in Hebrews 2, let me just quote it.

Verses 14 and 15, "For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he, that is Christ, also likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Do you realize that when Christ died as our substitute, and the wrath of God fell upon Him in our place, He took all the stain, all the horror, all the pain, so that now, for the believer in the Scripture, it's called those who sleep in Christ. What? Let me ask you a question. Do you have a horror each night of going to sleep? I don't. I welcome it. I'm thankful for it. I look forward to it. For the child of God, death is nothing more than just simply sleep. It's just simply going to sleep. And there's no horror. There's no pain. As children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, we know that we shall lie down and go to sleep physically. That is, we shall leave this earthly body. But for the child of God, listen carefully, there is no death, only life. What did Christ say? "I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly."

And do you remember what He said in John 5 verse 24? He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life," are you listening? "and shall not come unto death, but is passed from death unto life." We will not experience, as believers, the agonies and the sting and the pain of death because Christ has experienced that for us. And when it comes our time to die physically, it's just going to sleep. It is really and truly entering into life. Death is nothing more than a passport into eternity of the child of God. As the Apostle said in 2 Corinthians 5, we'd rather lose this earthly tabernacle that we might have a heavenly tabernacle. And the Apostle Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

How horrible could that be? To have the blessed Son of God and to be in His presence is life. It's not death and it's not pain. But those who are without Christ know that they shall die. And they will die with God's judgment upon them. So dear Christian, you be thankful for the salvation that God has given us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's pray. Father, we ask You today to help us, to teach us. Make us, Lord, thankful and grateful for Thy so great salvation.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Certainty of Death and Judgment

Summary: Every person will die and face judgment, a reality that should provoke serious reflection and preparation.

Evidence: Hebrews 9:27 is cited: 'as it is appointed unto men once to die, after that, the judgment.'

Obedience as the Path to Long Life

Summary: God has established general principles that obedience leads to prolonged days, while disobedience shortens life.

Evidence: Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 22:6-7, and Deuteronomy 25:13-15 are given as promises for long life.

God's Record of Sin and Limit of Patience

Summary: God keeps an exact record of sins and will eventually execute judgment when His patience is exhausted.

Evidence: Numbers 14:22 notes the ten provocations; Psalm 50:21 says God will set sins in order before the sinner.

The Horror of Dying Under God's Judgment

Summary: The Israelites' death in the wilderness was a judicial punishment, with their bodies left unburied as a warning.

Evidence: Hebrews 3:17 and commentators describe carcasses strewn in the desert; Jeremiah 22:18-19 compares Jehoiakim's burial to an ass.

Victory Over Death Through Christ

Summary: For believers, death has no sting because Christ has taken the judgment, transforming death into sleep and entry into life.

Evidence: 1 Corinthians 15:53-57 and Hebrews 2:14-15 are quoted to show Christ's victory over death.

Key Arguments

General promises for long life are conditional on obedience

Summary: The Bible contains general promises that honoring parents, respecting animal families, and honest dealings lead to prolonged days, while disobedience shortens life.

Evidence: Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 22:6-7, Deuteronomy 25:13-15, and 1 Peter 3:10-11 are cited.

God's secret will and means are compatible

Summary: Though God has appointed the day of death, He also ordains the means—obedience or disobedience—that lead to long or short life.

Evidence: Job 14:5 is referenced, and the argument is made that God ordains both the end and the means.

Unbelief is a heinous sin that provokes God

Summary: The Israelites' unbelief led to murmuring and rebellion, which God counted as provocation and judged severely.

Evidence: Numbers 14:11, 22 show God's charge of provocation and the ten times they tempted Him.

God answers the wicked according to their own words

Summary: The Israelites wished to die in the wilderness, and God granted their request as a judgment.

Evidence: Numbers 14:2, 28-29 show their wish and God's response: 'as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do unto you.'

The death of the Israelites was a judicial, unburied death

Summary: Their carcasses fell in the wilderness, unburied and unmourned, as a visible example of divine vengeance.

Evidence: Commentators Barnes, Clarke, and Gill on Hebrews 3:17 describe scattered bones and judicial death.

All outside Christ will die under God's judgment

Summary: Just as the Israelites perished, those who refuse to trust in Christ will face eternal destruction.

Evidence: 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 is quoted about flaming fire taking vengeance on those who obey not the gospel.

Believers are delivered from the fear of death

Summary: Christ's death destroyed the power of death, so believers face death as sleep, with no sting or horror.

Evidence: Hebrews 2:14-15 and 1 Corinthians 15:53-57 are cited.

Scripture References

Numbers 14:21

Context: God declares that all the earth shall be filled with His glory, introducing the judgment on the rebels.

Numbers 14:22-23

Context: God says those who saw His miracles and tempted Him ten times shall not see the promised land.

Numbers 14:26-35

Context: God pronounces that the murmuring generation's carcasses will fall in the wilderness over forty years.

Hebrews 3:17

Context: The New Testament reference to the Israelites whose carcasses fell in the wilderness due to sin.

Hebrews 9:27

Context: It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgment.

Psalm 90:10

Context: The days of our years are threescore and ten, or by reason of strength fourscore, indicating average lifespan.

Exodus 20:12

Context: Honor thy father and mother that thy days may be long upon the land.

Deuteronomy 22:6-7

Context: Letting the mother bird go to prolong days, illustrating respect for animal families.

Deuteronomy 25:13-15

Context: Having just weights and measures to lengthen days, relating to honesty in dealings.

1 Peter 3:10-11

Context: He that will love life and see good days must refrain his tongue from evil and do good.

Job 14:5

Context: Man's days are determined, the number of his months are with God.

Psalm 34:16

Context: The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them.

Psalm 55:23

Context: Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days.

1 Samuel 2:30-34

Context: God tells Eli there shall not be an old man in his house; his descendants will die in the flower of their age.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Context: God sets before Israel life and death, blessing and cursing; choosing life through obedience.

Numbers 14:1-4

Context: The congregation murmurs, wishing they had died in Egypt or the wilderness.

Numbers 14:11

Context: God asks how long the people will provoke Him and not believe despite all the signs.

Jeremiah 22:18-19

Context: Jehoiakim will be buried with the burial of an ass, dragged and cast out, illustrating unburied judgment.

Numbers 26:63-65

Context: Not a man of the numbered generation was left except Caleb and Joshua, fulfilling God's decree.

1 Corinthians 15:53-57

Context: Death is swallowed up in victory; the sting of death is sin, but thanks be to God for victory through Christ.

Historical References

Pilgrim's Progress (John Bunyan)

Context: Pilgrim's cry 'I must die, I must die' is used to illustrate the terror of facing death unprepared.

Albert Barnes' commentary on Hebrews 3:17

Context: Barnes describes the Israelites' carcasses strewn along the desert as an example of the effects of unbelief.

Adam Clarke's commentary on Hebrews 3:17

Context: Clarke notes the scattered bleached bones as proof of their crimes and God's judgment.

John Gill's commentary on Hebrews 3:17

Context: Gill emphasizes the judicial nature of their deaths and the Syriac version's 'their bones fell.'

Important Quotes

Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which you have murmured against me.

Significance: This is the central judgment pronounced by God, directly answering the Israelites' wish to die in the wilderness.

As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do unto you.

Significance: Highlights the principle that God holds people accountable to their own words and prayers.

Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in thee.

Significance: A clear Old Testament statement that wickedness shortens life, supporting the sermon's theme.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Significance: The triumphant conclusion for believers, showing that Christ has removed death's terror.

I must die, I must die, I must die. I find that I must die and stand before God.

Significance: Illustrates the universal dread of death and judgment apart from Christ, using Pilgrim's Progress.

Discussion Questions

How does knowing that God keeps a record of sins affect your view of His patience and judgment?

Context: The sermon emphasizes that God counted the Israelites' ten provocations and will set sins in order before the wicked.

In what ways do the general promises for long life challenge or encourage your daily obedience?

Context: Weaver lists three specific promises related to honoring parents, respecting animal families, and honest dealings.

Why is unbelief considered such a heinous sin, and how does it manifest in our lives today?

Context: Unbelief is described as dishonoring God, challenging His Word, and calling Him a liar.

What does the image of carcasses falling in the wilderness teach us about the seriousness of God's judgment?

Context: The commentators describe unburied, scattered bones as a warning of divine vengeance.

How does the truth that Christ has taken the sting of death change the way you face mortality?

Context: 1 Corinthians 15 and Hebrews 2 are used to show that death is now sleep for believers.

Applications

Examine your preparedness for death

Summary: Just as Pilgrim realized he must die and stand before God, each person should assess whether they are ready to face judgment.

Evidence: The illustration from Pilgrim's Progress and the warning from Hebrews 9:27.

Pursue obedience for a blessed life

Summary: Believers should honor parents, respect God's creation, and deal honestly, trusting God's general promises for long and good days.

Evidence: The three promises from Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 22:6-7, and Deuteronomy 25:13-15.

Flee from unbelief and murmuring

Summary: The Israelites' unbelief led to their destruction; Christians must guard against a heart of unbelief that provokes God.

Evidence: Numbers 14:11 and the warning from Hebrews 3:17.

Rest in Christ's victory over death

Summary: Believers can face death without fear, knowing that Christ has removed its sting and judgment holds no horror.

Evidence: 1 Corinthians 15:53-57 and Hebrews 2:14-15.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T20:33:18Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T12:57:57Z

Clean Transcript

When You Know You Are Going to Die

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Alright, let's open our Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 14 and also the book of Hebrews chapter 3. Numbers 14 and Hebrews chapter 3. Numbers chapter 14 and then Hebrews chapter 3. We will read Numbers 14 first.
#1 | 0:16 to 0:33 | cleaned
The title of the message today is, "When You Know You're Going to Die." Of course, I hope you've noticed the last three messages have really been around the book of Numbers, because as I read through the book of Numbers, these three things popped out at me, and so I'm dealing with them today. Notice if you would, "When You Know You're Going to Die," Numbers 14, verse 21, God says, "As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord."
#2 | 0:44 to 1:18 | cleaned
"Because all those men which have seen My glory and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice, surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it." Skip down to verse 26. "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against Me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against Me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in Mine ears, so will I do to you."
#3 | 1:18 to 1:56 | cleaned
"Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which you have murmured against Me, doubtless you shall not come into the land concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun, but your little ones which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which you search the land, even forty days each day for a year, you shall bear your iniquities even forty years, and you shall know My breach of promise."
#4 | 1:56 to 2:43 | cleaned
Now look at Hebrews 3 and verse 17, which refers to this passage. Hebrews 3 and verse 17, the Word of God asks, "But with whom was He grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness?" When you know you're going to die. Have you ever considered what it must be like to know when you're going to die? How about not only knowing when you're going to die, but also how you're going to die? Have you ever thought about some of these men, and women I guess as well, who are on death row? Not only has a date been designated for them to die, but also the method of their death has also been designated. Have you ever wondered what it's like to have to count down the years, the months, the days, and the minutes before one's going to be executed? I wonder what it must be like to know that in 15 minutes, you're either going to be executed by, say, the electric chair or lethal injection.
#5 | 2:43 to 4:05 | cleaned
What must it be like to know that within 15 minutes, all of your questions concerning God, death, and judgment will be answered? Now, in one sense of the word, we all know that we're going to die. Because the Bible declares in Hebrews 9 and verse 27, "as it is appointed unto men once to die, after that, the judgment." We know that the wages of sin are death. We know that we were created from the dust of the earth and into the dust we shall return. There is no escape from physical death. As Pilgrim explained in the book Pilgrim's Progress, we must die and stand before God in judgment. And Pilgrim at that time said he was unwilling to do the first, that is to die, and unable to do the second, that is stand before God in judgment. And Pilgrim therefore was going around saying, "I must die, I must die, I must die." And what a realization when we realize that we must die. How would you like to be like Hezekiah when he heard the words from God as delivered to him by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 38 and verse 1 where God said to King Hezekiah, "Set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live."
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We know that the Bible teaches us that the wages of sin is death. Now, we also know that we're going to die, and we don't know exactly when we're going to die, but we know about when we're going to die. How can I say that? Well, look in your Bibles, hold Numbers 14, but look in your Bibles to Psalm 90, and look at verse 10. Psalm 90 and verse 10. And here the Word of God says this, Psalm 90 verse 10, "The days of our years are threescore years and ten. And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away." So what God is telling us in Psalm 90 and verse 10 is that the average lifespan is from 70 to 80 years, usually around 70 more or less. If He says we make it 80, usually our days are filled with sorrow and sickness. Some, however, do not even make the normal lifespan. Some are cut down in the prime of their life, while others do not even get to begin life.
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Now let me just tell you that in the Scripture, there are general promises for long life, and there are also general promises for a shortened life as well. I suppose the most famous passage for a long life is found in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 12, where Scripture says, "Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Now that same promise is repeated in Ephesians 6 verses 2 and 3 where God said, "Honor thy father and thy mother which is the first commandment of the promise that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long upon the earth." So here then is a promise of long life and this long life is in relationship to whether or not we honor our parents or not. Now actually, there are three promises of long life in the Bible.
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I'm going to show them to you. Each one of these promises relate to the very core of our being. The first promise I just mentioned is in reference to our attitude and our action toward our parents. We must honor them if we expect a long life. I'm not going to get into what it means to honor the parents right now. That is certainly more than saying "yes sir" and "yes ma'am" and "no sir" and "no ma'am."
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According to Matthew 15, Mark 7, it involves a great deal more. But God is simply saying that we must honor them if we have any expectation of long life.
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Now, if God says, "Honor thy father and thy mother, for this is the first commandment of the promise, that thy days may be long upon the earth," conversely, it is also true that if we dishonor our parents, our days will be shortened upon this earth. In other words, there is an implicated and inherent threat for those who dishonor their parents. Now, let me show you the second promise in the Bible for long life.
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Hold Numbers 14, but look if you would to Deuteronomy chapter 22. So the first promise then is in reference to our parents, whether we honor them or dishonor them. But in Deuteronomy 22, beginning there with verse 6, this may surprise you, may shock you, but here it is. This promise is in relation to how we treat animals. Well, here it is, Deuteronomy 22, look at verse 6.
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"If a bird's nest chanced to be before thee in the way in any tree or on the ground, whether they be young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam, that is the mother, with the young. But thou shalt anywise let the dam or the mother go, and take the young to thee. Now note that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days." Now I want you to note something. God has said in other passages of Scripture, for instance, "Thou shalt not kill her mother and her young on the same day." So God forbid, say like killing a cow and a calf on the same day. Here He says, if you're walking down the road and you see a bird's nest, and the mother is on the nest, you may take the eggs and let the mother go, or you may take the young and let the mother go, but you can't take both of them. And of course, He expressly forbids taking the mother.
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Why? If you took the mother, then the eggs are not going to hatch or the baby is going to die. So you'd be taking the mother and the young and both one day.
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Now, very obviously, this is an illustration of the fifth commandment. And what God is demanding here is respect and honor to the family, even the families of animals. In other words, it is an argument from the lesser to the greater. So if God then is commanding us to honor the families of animals, how much more then are we commanded to honor the families of men and women? And how much more particularly are we commanded then to honor our own family? So very obviously, here are two general promises of long life. One is how we respect and honor our own family. And number two, how we respect and honor the family of animals as well. And then if you'll turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 25, you'll see the third general promise of long life. And by the way, this one may surprise you, but you will see how intimately it is tied once again to the very core of our being. Notice what he said, Deuteronomy 25 and verse 13. Let's begin reading.
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"Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, different weights are great and small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers or different measures are great and small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have, that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." The third promise for long life is in relationship to our money and how we deal with other people, how we deal with each other. In other words, we cannot be cheaters, we cannot be thieves, we cannot be dishonest. Incidentally, let's put these three promises together. There's the promise of long life, how we treat our family. There's the general promise of long life, how we treat the families of animals. And there's the general promise of long life, of how we treat each other. So we have to learn to be honest and just with each other. Now, it is not simply a quantity of life that God has promised, but a quality of life as well.
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I could ask this question, what good is long life if you live that life in misery and sickness and turmoil and trouble? Well, if you would hold Numbers 14, but look in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3. I want you to know that God not only promises quantity of life, but also a quality of life as well. So in 1 Peter chapter 3, notice what he says, please, in verses 10 and 11. 1 Peter 3, verses 10 and 11. Here it is. He says this, "For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that may speak no guile, let him eschew evil and do good, let him seek peace and ensue it." Now when he says "let him eschew evil," that means let him spit it out. He can't swallow it. He can't stomach it. So God says if you want not just quantity of life, but a quality of life, then you also refrain your tongue from speaking evil, you restrain your lips that they speak no guile, you spit out evil, you seek peace, and you ensue it.
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So God then has promised long life, not just quantity, but quality as well. Now, I want you to note that there are general promises for long life, but there's also general promises for shortened lives. Obedience is the way, is the means that God has ordained to lengthen our days. Disobedience is the means that God has ordained to shorten our days.
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Now, I can hear the objection right now. You say, "But wait a minute, Pastor. I thought that the Scripture taught that our days were numbered. That we're going to die when we're going to die. There's nothing we can do about it." That's true in one sense of the word. It's certainly true when you read Job 7 in verse 1. Let me just quote it. God asks, "Is there not an appointed time for man upon the earth? Or is days also like the days of a hireling?" Is there not an appointed time? Yes, there is an appointed time. There was appointed time for you to be born. There's an appointed time for you to die. You know what the Bible says in Job 14 verses 4 and 5 again, let me just quote it.
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"Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Seeing His days are determined, the number of His months are with thee, thou hast appointed His bounds that He cannot pass." So God has said to each one of us like the sea, "Hitherto shalt thou come and no further." However, you have to consider this. When God ordained the end, He also ordained the means to that end.
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Thus, if I live a long life, that long life will be because I have obeyed God and honored my parents and honored the families of animals and been honest in my dealings with each other and been generally obedient in all of my life. On the other hand, if I have a shortened life, it's because I've used the means. That is, I've disobeyed God, I've dishonored my parents, I've dishonored the families of animals, I've been dishonest in my dealings with other men, I've been disobedient generally in my life, and there's the means to shorten my life.
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Now, let me just explain this very quickly. Does this mean, therefore, that every individual that is obedient is going to live a long life? Does it? No. Of course not. There is God's secretive will that must be applied. I do not know God's secretive will for you. Generally speaking, this is true. Does it mean that every wicked man is going to be cut down in the prime of life? No.
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All you've got to do is read Psalm 73. There are plenty of wicked men that live to ripe old ages. But they're the exception and not the rule. Generally speaking, God has ordained that if we obey, we're going to live long lives. If we disobey, we're going to live shortened lives.
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Now, let me just show you some of the promises or I might say some of the threats as well. So before we look in Numbers chapter 14, I want you to go to Psalm 34. Let's work our way through the book of Psalms very quickly and show you some of the warnings and some of the curses and some of the threats. Or if you want to call them promises, that's fine. Notice Psalm 34 and verse 16. Psalm 34, verse 16.
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Here is what God is telling you about how to shorten your days in this sense of the word. Psalm 34, notice verse 16. "The face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth." Wow. God's not only going to cut them off, He's going to cut off the remembrance of them. Look in Psalm 37 and verse 9. Psalm 37 verse 9, here He says it again, "For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." Look in Psalm 37 and verse 22. Psalm 37 verse 22, "For such as be blessed of Him shall inherit the earth, and they that be cursed of Him shall be cut off." Look in verse 28.
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"For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaken not his saints, they are preserved forever. But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off."
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Now, as you turn to Psalm 55, let me just quote to you Proverbs 2 in verse 22. In Proverbs 2 in verse 22, the Word of God says, "But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it." So God's not only going to cut the wicked off, the disobedient, He's going to root them out. Now look in Psalm 55 and verse 23. Psalm 55 verse 23. "But thou, O God," He's talking about the wicked now, "but thou, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of destruction."
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"Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in thee." Now what did David just say? Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. What's he saying? God's going to cut them off. God's going to kill them. In other words, disobedience is the means to shorten your life.
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Now, if you will turn back in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 2, I will show you an excellent illustration of this principle. You remember Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who were wicked, wicked men, although they were priests, they were vile, wicked men. And Eli refused to restrain his sons. They not only dishonored God, they committed immorality, they were just vile, they were just wicked. So notice if you would in 1 Samuel chapter 2, what God tells Eli. Verse 31, 1 Samuel 2 verse 31, God tells Eli, in fact let's begin with verse 30. "Wherefore the Lord God of Israel said, I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me forever."
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"But now the Lord saith, be it far from me, for they that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come, I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, and there shall not be an old man in thine house." Wait a minute. When God says there shall not be an old man in thine house, help me translate that. He's going to kill them before they get old. Now watch, "and thou shalt see an enemy in thy habitation in all the wealth which God shall give Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thine house forever. And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from thine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes and to grieve thine heart, and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age." What is he saying? I'm going to kill every one of them, and there are not going to be old men around.
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Anybody who lives a little bit longer, it'll just be to cause heartache and grief. You're under my judgment. That's it. So here's the means that you use to shorten your life.
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Now, if you'll turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 30. Deuteronomy 30. And then we're going to go to Jeremiah 7. Deuteronomy 30. Notice if you would, verse 20. I want you to note how length of life, long days are promised to those who obey. Notice Deuteronomy 30 and verse 20. Deuteronomy 30 verse 20, "that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him." Now note what the Bible says, "for He is thy life and the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to give them." Note you love the Lord and you obey Him and you cleave to Him. Why? He is thy life and the length of thy days. Then if you'll look in Jeremiah 7 and verse 23 very quickly. Jeremiah 7 and verse 23. Notice if you would what God says. Jeremiah 7 and verse 23. Jeremiah 7 verse 23. God says, "But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people, and walk you in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you."
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So it's not just quantity of life, it is a quality that God promises if we obey. Now, I do want you to turn back very quickly to Deuteronomy 30, and let me show you how God puts this together. Deuteronomy 30, and then we're going back to Numbers 14 and deal with the message. Look in Deuteronomy 30, and begin there with verse 15. Deuteronomy 30, verse 15. Look what God says.
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Now remember, He has set before them His will, His law. He says this, Deuteronomy 30, verse 15, "See, I have set before this day life and good, death and evil. In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply. And the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it." Watch! "But if thine heart turn away so that thou wilt not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I denounce unto you this day that you shall surely perish, and that you shall not prolong your days upon the land, whether thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live, that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him, for he is thy life and the length of thy days."
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"that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." Now what did he say? I've set before you life and death. I've set before you blessing and curses. If you want a long life, if you want quality of life, God says obey me. Generally speaking, that's how you live long. If you want to die early, fine. Disobey God. Generally speaking, that's how you die early.
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The principle is very simple. Obedience brings life and blessing, and disobedience brings death and curses.
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Now, I want you to go back to Numbers chapter 14, because in Numbers chapter 14, we have some people who have provoked God, and they have provoked Him grievously. Look in Numbers chapter 14 and verse 22. Here's what the Lord says, "Because all those men which have seen My glory and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice." God is saying these same reprobates have now provoked him ten distinct times.
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Most of these provocations are given to us in the Bible. They provoked him at the Red Sea in Exodus 14. They provoked him in Marah, Exodus chapter 15. In the wilderness of sin, Exodus chapter 16. At Rephidim in Exodus 17. In the golden calf in Exodus 32 at Taberah and Kibroth-hattaavah, Numbers chapter 11 and Numbers chapter 14 here at Kadesh Barnea, they provoke him again.
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Now I want you to look back at verse 22. Look what he says. "Because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times."
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Now let me tell you something, folks. There are several, at least two, very painfully obvious truths from verse 22. The first one is this. God does keep a record of our sins. He knew how many times these people had provoked Him. You know what the Bible says in Numbers 32 and verse 23? "Be sure your sins will find you out." In Psalm 50 in verse 21, here's what God told the wicked. Now listen, here's what God said.
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"These things hast thou done, and I kept silence. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such in one as thyself, but I will reprove thee and set them, that is, thy sins, I will set them in order before thine eyes." God said, I know what you've done. And just because I didn't slap you down instantly, you think I didn't see it? Or that I didn't record it, that I didn't know about it?
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Oh, let me tell you. Many of the wicked have a peace that comes only from their own forgetfulness. They have forgotten, but I can assure you that God has not. In Exodus 34 and verse 7, He said it like this, "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sins, and that will by no means clear the guilty." If you are outside of Christ, if you are unregenerated, if you are unconverted, then you are unforgiven, and God knows each and every one of your sins. He has not forgotten them. He has recorded them. You may have forgotten them, but I can assure you God has not. The second truth we find here is this, that God does have a point at which time He will no longer extend mercy or grace. Wow. What did He say?
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I've had it with you. Ten times you provoked me.
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Now you're going to be destroyed. You know what the Bible says in Romans 2 verses 4 through 6? Let me read it to you. God says, "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, but after the hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every
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man according to his deeds." What did God say? God said, you despise my goodness. You despise my forbearance. You despise my long-suffering, and when you despise everything that I am and everything that I do for you, all you're doing is just treasuring up for yourself wrath against the day of wrath, because God says there will be one day that I will render to every man according to his deeds. To those who provoke God, they have nothing but judgment and destruction ahead of them.
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not only in this life, but the life to come as well. Now, if you look back in Numbers 14 verse 1, I want you to see again how this chapter opens with these wicked people provoking God, failing to obey Him. Numbers 14 verse 1, "And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said unto them, would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this wilderness. And wherefore hath the Lord brought us into this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be a prey, were it not better for us to return to Egypt. And they said one to another, let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt." Now, you know, here are people who are expressing a belief that death in Egypt or death in the wilderness would be far better for them than that which God had prepared and provided for them.
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They failed to believe Moses, they failed to believe Aaron, they failed to believe Joshua and Caleb, they failed to believe God. In fact, they chose to believe those ten spies who brought up an evil report, a false and a libelous report against God and against His promised land. And so God then rightly charges them with provocation. Look in verse 11, Numbers 14. "And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? How long will it be ere they believe me for all the signs which I have shown unto them?" So God is saying, they have provoked me. Their unbelief. Clearly, that which led to their murmuring and bellyaching and complaining was their unbelief.
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Now, I spoke on this just a little bit last week, but let me just emphasize this again. Unbelief dishonors God. It challenges His Word. It ignores His promises as well as threatenings, and it calls God a liar. Unbelief basically spits in the face of a holy God, and unbelief challenges God and dares him to do his worst. Unbelief is a heinous sin and brings judgment upon the unbeliever.
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Now, look in verse 2, Numbers chapter 14. I want you to understand, if you really grasp this verse, it should make you very, what should I say? It should make you very concerned for that which you pray. Numbers 14 verse 2, "And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said unto them," now watch what they said, "would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God that we had died in this wilderness."
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Now the translation of these two words, "would God," is from a conditional particle which literally can be interpreted like this. "Would God," or "oh that it might be," or "if haply," or "I pray thee, if only that, oh that it might be." In other words, here's what they're saying, "I pray that, if haply, I would, I prefer, I want to die, either in Egypt or in this wilderness."
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Now let me tell you something, folks. They weren't in Egypt, so they couldn't die there. But they were in the wilderness. God could answer their prayer very easily.
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Now, look in Numbers 14, verse 26. I want you to watch carefully. "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do unto you."
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"Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which you have murmured against me." What did God say? God says your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. As you have spoken to me, as you prayed, as you wished, as you wanted, that's exactly what I'm going to do to you. Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And by the way, your children whom you said would be a prey, they're going into the promised land, but you will never see it.
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Now skip down to verse 31. "But your little ones which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you despise. But as for you," now here it is again, "your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in this wilderness."
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Now let me tell you something, folks. The Word of the Lord had been given. Their sentence had been pronounced. They would die in the wilderness. There's no escaping this now. They know that they are going to die. The sovereign, omnipotent God of heaven and earth has pronounced His decree. You've prayed to me to die in this wilderness. I'm going to answer your prayer. I'm going to let you die. Your carcasses shall fall.
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Now, look in verse 35. "I the Lord have said," note, "I the Lord have said I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me in this wilderness. They shall be consumed and there they shall die. And the men which Moses sent to search the land who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the land, even those men that did bring up an evil report upon the land died by plague before the Lord."
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Now what did God just do? Let's see, he looked at all those men and he said, "You want to die in this wilderness? Fine. I'm going to answer your prayer. Your carcasses shall fall. And by the way, these ten men that brought up this libelous, slanderous report, they died instantly as a plague before the Lord." So the death of those ten men was kind of like an earnest. When they died instantly, God says, "I'm guaranteeing your death. Just like I killed them, so you are going to die as well." Those ten were nothing more than earnest, so to speak. And what did God say? "Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness."
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You prayed for it, you asked for it, you've got it. Now let me tell you, when God said "your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness," it's more than the fact that they're just going to die. They're going to die. But there's more to it than that. I want you to look in your Bibles to Jeremiah 22. Jeremiah 22. And let's begin reading there verse 18 and read about Jehoiakim. You're going to see the implication when God says, "Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness." Jeremiah 22. And look at verse 18.
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Now we're talking about King Jehoiakim, okay? Here's what God said about King Jehoiakim. Jeremiah 22, notice verse 18. "Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, my brother, or Ah, sister, they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, Lord, or ah, His glory. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." How do you bury an ass? You don't.
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You drag him off and let his body rot and let the buzzards pick his bones. What did God say? "Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness." Go back in your Bibles to Hebrews 3 and verse 17, because there the author of the book of Hebrews is referring, is referring to Numbers chapter 14, and he says this, "But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell," past tense, "in the wilderness?"
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Now, I want to read you the comment of three commentators. First of all, Albert Barnes. Each one of these men are commenting on Hebrews 3.17, "their carcasses fell in the wilderness." Here's what Albert Barnes says. "That is, they all died and were left on the sands of the desert. The whole generation was strewn along the way to Canaan. All of those who had seen the wonders that God had done in the land of Ham, who had been rescued in so remarkable a manner from oppression, were thus cut down and died in the desert through which they were passing."
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"Such an example of the effects of revolt against God and unbelief was well fitted to admonish the Christians in the time of the Apostle and is fitted to admonish us now of the danger of the sin of unbelief." But note what he said, "their carcasses were strewn along the sands of the desert." Adam Clarke commented on Hebrews 3.17 says this, "whose carcasses fell, for the Greek properly signifies the members of a body. And here may be an allusion to the scattered bleached bones of this people that were a long time apparent in the wilderness, continually there as proof of their crimes and of the judgment of God." They weren't buried. They weren't mourned. They just fell down and died. Finally, John Gill says on Hebrews 3.17, "whose carcasses fell in the wilderness and so never entered the land of Canaan. They died in the wilderness and they did not die common or natural deaths, at least not all of them. Their deaths were by way of punishment, in the way of wrath, in a judicial way."
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"The Syriac version renders it, their bones fell in the wilderness, they lay scattered and unburied and exposed to view as an example of divine vengeance." So when God said to those wicked, unbelieving people, "turn you into the wilderness," they started dying from the judgment of God.
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Now let me tell you, you need to remember this. When that cloud moved, they moved. When that cloud stopped, they stopped. But if that cloud's moving and somebody dropped dead, what did the rest of the people do? They kept moving. They kept walking. You want to know how many men died in the wilderness? Look back in your Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 1 and verse 46. Because here is just the men from 20 years old and upward who were able to fight, who were able to go to war. The numbers given to us. Numbers 1 and verse 46. Here's how many warriors drop dead in the wilderness.
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"Even all that were numbered were 600,000, 3,000, 550." So there were 603,550 men above 20 years of age.
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Now, there were probably 2 million people. That didn't count the younger men. That didn't count the little children. That certainly didn't count the women.
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Now, if they wandered for 40 years, and I'm just doing this approximately, OK? If they wandered for 40 years, you divide 40 into 603,550, and you're going to get approximately 16,000 that's going to die a year, approximately 1,300 a month, or 50 a day. So here are these people walking along, and all of a sudden, 50 men fall down dead. What do they do? They keep going.
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What happens to their bodies? The buzzards gets them. I mean, they're unburied. Unmourned. This is just the men of war. This doesn't count women who died or children who died. Some naturally, maybe some by the judgment of God. It doesn't count those who died of old age or those who died of diseases. But can you imagine? Not even knowing that you're going to die. But knowing that you're going to die under the judgment of God, and when you die, you will be unburied and unmourned, and you would lay just simply wherever you fell. Now the question is, did they all die?
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Well, look in your Bibles to Numbers 26, and let's begin reading with verse 23 and you will get your answer. Numbers 26, beginning there verse 23, I believe it is. I may have the wrong chapter, let me see. Okay.
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I think I've given you the wrong verse there. Let's see. Okay. It's verse 63. Numbers 26, verse 63. 63 through 65. Notice. "These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eliezer the priest who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron, the priests, numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. For the Lord had said of them, They shall surely die in this wilderness, and there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun." Notice there was not a man left of them.
#70 | 45:18 to 46:09 | cleaned
Did God kill all of them? He killed all of them. Not one escaped. Everyone that God said was going to die, died. Oh, my. Do you imagine that there were some that vainly hoped that they would escape God's judgment? Do you imagine there were some that thought, well, maybe God will forget or God will overlook me? But He didn't. There was not a man of them left. God accomplished all of His purpose.
#71 | 46:10 to 46:52 | cleaned
His decree was totally and completely carried out. And when God told these folks to turn in the wilderness, they knew they were going to die. You may not know exactly the date, but they knew within 40 years not one of them would be left.
#72 | 46:54 to 47:18 | cleaned
Now let me make a couple of applications today. I believe that each of us know exactly like those Israelites, surely that we're going to die. And we are. Hebrews 9 verse 27 says, "As it was appointed unto man once to die, after that the judgment." The question is, are we prepared to die? You remember I told you earlier about Pilgrim and Pilgrim's Progress. When Evangelist met him, and Pilgrim was weeping, and Evangelist asked him why he was weeping, he said, "I must die, I must die, I must die. I find that I must die and stand before God."
#73 | 47:20 to 48:03 | cleaned
"I'm unwilling to do the first, and I'm unable to do the second." Dear friend, let me tell you something. All of those who are outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of those who are outside of Him in faith are not prepared to die. If you do not know Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, like Pilgrim, you are not prepared. I want you to note secondly, the Israelites who refused to trust in God and obey His voice died under the judgment of God. Likewise, today those who refuse to trust in Christ will die under God's judgment. You know what the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 beginning verse 7, listen, "and to you who are troubled rest with us." Now listen, "when our Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who know not God, who obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, who shall perish and be punished with everlasting destruction." Those who are outside of Jesus Christ will be destroyed, will be judged, just like those Israelites in the wilderness.
#74 | 48:03 to 49:27 | cleaned
You know, Hobie said something earlier this morning, and I was going to say something then and did not do so, but I'm going to point it out now. Not all the Bible may be written to you, and not all the Bible may be written about you, but all the Bible is written for you. And you better understand that what is revealed in the Old Testament, according to Romans 15 and 1 Corinthians chapter 10, is written for our admonition, our learning, and just like these men died under God's judgment in Numbers 14 and 15 and 16, those who refuse Christ shall also die under God's judgment.
#75 | 49:31 to 50:14 | cleaned
How can we have a greater surety of death and destruction than the Word of God? God decreed the deaths of these men in Numbers chapter 14, and it came to pass exactly like He said. God has decreed it's appointed to us once to die, and after that the judgment, and dear friend, it will come to pass exactly as God said. Psalm 138 verse 2 tells us that God has placed His Word above His name. Listen, if God's Word ever fails, then God would cease to be God. But I do have some good news, and that is this, for the child of God, the one who's been regenerated by grace, who's been converted through repentance and faith, death has no sting and judgment holds no horror.
#76 | 50:15 to 51:11 | cleaned
I want you to look in 1 Corinthians 15. I know most of you can probably quote this, but look at it. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 53. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 53. Look what he says. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 53.
#77 | 51:12 to 51:24 | cleaned
The apostle says, "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." For those who are in Christ, death has no sting. The grave holds no horror. Judgment holds no horror. Why? Because God has given us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the Bible says in Hebrews 2, let me just quote it.
#78 | 51:32 to 52:30 | cleaned
Verses 14 and 15, "For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he, that is Christ, also likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Do you realize that when Christ died as our substitute, and the wrath of God fell upon Him in our place, He took all the stain, all the horror, all the pain, so that now, for the believer in the Scripture, it's called those who sleep in Christ. What?
#79 | 52:30 to 53:20 | cleaned
Let me ask you a question. Do you have a horror each night of going to sleep? I don't. I welcome it. I'm thankful for it. I look forward to it. For the child of God, death is nothing more than just simply sleep. It's just simply going to sleep. And there's no horror. There's no pain. As children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, we know that we shall lie down and go to sleep physically. That is, we shall leave this earthly body. But for the child of God, listen carefully, there is no death, only life. What did Christ say? "I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly."
#80 | 53:22 to 54:09 | cleaned
And do you remember what He said in John 5 verse 24? He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life," are you listening? "and shall not come unto death, but is passed from death unto life." We will not experience, as believers, the agonies and the sting and the pain of death because Christ has experienced that for us.
#81 | 54:10 to 54:44 | cleaned
And when it comes our time to die physically, it's just going to sleep. It is really and truly entering into life. Death is nothing more than a passport into eternity of the child of God. As the Apostle said in 2 Corinthians 5, we'd rather lose this earthly tabernacle that we might have a heavenly tabernacle. And the Apostle Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
#82 | 54:45 to 55:24 | cleaned
How horrible could that be? To have the blessed Son of God and to be in His presence is life. It's not death and it's not pain. But those who are without Christ know that they shall die. And they will die with God's judgment upon them. So dear Christian, you be thankful for the salvation that God has given us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's pray. Father, we ask You today to help us, to teach us. Make us, Lord, thankful and grateful for Thy so great salvation.
#83 | 55:27 to 56:14 | cleaned
May we trust in Thee, may we look to Thee, may we honor Thee. We pray that You would speak to hearts, convict and convert, and have Your will in every way and in every life. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen.
#84 | 56:15 to 56:32 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T20:33:18Z

When You Know You Are Going to Die

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver examines Numbers 14 and Hebrews 3 to explore the sobering reality of knowing one's death is imminent under God's judgment. He contrasts general biblical promises for long life through obedience with the shortened lives of the disobedient, using the Israelites' rebellion as a prime example. The sermon emphasizes that God keeps a record of sins, has a limit to His patience, and will execute judgment on the unrepentant. For believers, however, death has no sting because Christ has taken the judgment, transforming death into sleep and entry into eternal life.

Introduction and Scripture Reading

The sermon opens with readings from Numbers 14 and Hebrews 3, setting the stage for the topic of knowing one's death is certain.

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:21

"As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord."

The Reality of Knowing You Will Die

Weaver reflects on the terror of knowing the time and manner of one's death, comparing it to death row inmates and Hezekiah's warning.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 9:27

"as it is appointed unto men once to die, after that, the judgment."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 90:10

"The days of our years are threescore years and ten. And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away."

General Promises for Long Life

Three biblical promises for prolonged days are identified: honoring parents, respecting animal families, and honest dealings with others.

Quality of Life and Obedience

God promises not only quantity but quality of life through obedience, as seen in 1 Peter 3 and Deuteronomy 30.

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 3:10-11

"For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that may speak no guile, let him eschew evil and do good, let him seek peace and ensue it."

Now when he says

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 3:10-11

"let him eschew evil,"

The Means of Shortened Life

Disobedience is the ordained means to shorten life, illustrated by threats in Psalms and the judgment on Eli's house.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 34:16

"The face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth."

Anybody who lives a little bit longer, it'll just be to cause heartache and grief. You're under my judgment. That's it. So here's the means that you use to shorten your life.

Israel's Provocation and Judgment

The Israelites' ten provocations and unbelief lead to God's decree that their carcasses will fall in the wilderness.

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:1-4

"And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the whole congregation said unto them, would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this wilderness. And wherefore hath the Lord brought us into this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be a prey, were it not better for us to return to Egypt. And they said one to another, let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt."

Now, you know, here are people who are expressing a belief that death in Egypt or death in the wilderness would be far better for them than that which God had prepared and provided for them.

Scripture Reading — Numbers 14:11

"And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? How long will it be ere they believe me for all the signs which I have shown unto them?"

So God is saying, they have provoked me. Their unbelief. Clearly, that which led to their murmuring and bellyaching and complaining was their unbelief.

The Fulfillment of God's Decree

Commentators describe the scattered, unburied bones of the Israelites, and Numbers 26 confirms that not one man of that generation escaped death.

Now we're talking about King Jehoiakim, okay? Here's what God said about King Jehoiakim. Jeremiah 22, notice verse 18.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 22:18-19

"Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, my brother, or Ah, sister, they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, Lord, or ah, His glory. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem."

I think I've given you the wrong verse there. Let's see. Okay. It's verse 63. Numbers 26, verse 63. 63 through 65. Notice.

Scripture Reading — Numbers 26:63-65

"These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eliezer the priest who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron, the priests, numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. For the Lord had said of them, They shall surely die in this wilderness, and there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun."

Notice there was not a man left of them.

Application: Preparedness for Death

All must die; those outside Christ face judgment, but believers have victory over death through Jesus Christ.

When You Know You Are Going to Die

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	brqbEI5Y1xs
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: The Superiority of Christ
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-02
Dictation Name
Book	Book 078: Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover - Volume 1 — Chapter 15
Source Timed Segments	84

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Scripture Reading: The sermon opens with readings from Numbers 14 and Hebrews 3, setting the stage for the topic of knowing one's death is certain.
The Reality of Knowing You Will Die: Weaver reflects on the terror of knowing the time and manner of one's death, comparing it to death row inmates and Hezekiah's warning.
General Promises for Long Life: Three biblical promises for prolonged days are identified: honoring parents, respecting animal families, and honest dealings with others.
Quality of Life and Obedience: God promises not only quantity but quality of life through obedience, as seen in 1 Peter 3 and Deuteronomy 30.
The Means of Shortened Life: Disobedience is the ordained means to shorten life, illustrated by threats in Psalms and the judgment on Eli's house.
Israel's Provocation and Judgment: The Israelites' ten provocations and unbelief lead to God's decree that their carcasses will fall in the wilderness.
The Fulfillment of God's Decree: Commentators describe the scattered, unburied bones of the Israelites, and Numbers 26 confirms that not one man of that generation escaped death.
Application: Preparedness for Death: All must die; those outside Christ face judgment, but believers have victory over death through Jesus Christ.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

General promises for long life are conditional on obedience

The Bible contains general promises that honoring parents, respecting animal families, and honest dealings lead to prolonged days, while disobedience shortens life.

Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 22:6-7, Deuteronomy 25:13-15, and 1 Peter 3:10-11 are cited.

God's secret will and means are compatible

Though God has appointed the day of death, He also ordains the means—obedience or disobedience—that lead to long or short life.

Job 14:5 is referenced, and the argument is made that God ordains both the end and the means.

Unbelief is a heinous sin that provokes God

The Israelites' unbelief led to murmuring and rebellion, which God counted as provocation and judged severely.

Numbers 14:11, 22 show God's charge of provocation and the ten times they tempted Him.

God answers the wicked according to their own words

The Israelites wished to die in the wilderness, and God granted their request as a judgment.

Numbers 14:2, 28-29 show their wish and God's response: 'as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do unto you.'

The death of the Israelites was a judicial, unburied death

Their carcasses fell in the wilderness, unburied and unmourned, as a visible example of divine vengeance.

Commentators Barnes, Clarke, and Gill on Hebrews 3:17 describe scattered bones and judicial death.

All outside Christ will die under God's judgment

Just as the Israelites perished, those who refuse to trust in Christ will face eternal destruction.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 is quoted about flaming fire taking vengeance on those who obey not the gospel.

Believers are delivered from the fear of death

Christ's death destroyed the power of death, so believers face death as sleep, with no sting or horror.

Hebrews 2:14-15 and 1 Corinthians 15:53-57 are cited.

Scripture References

Numbers 14:21: God declares that all the earth shall be filled with His glory, introducing the judgment on the rebels.
Numbers 14:22-23: God says those who saw His miracles and tempted Him ten times shall not see the promised land.
Numbers 14:26-35: God pronounces that the murmuring generation's carcasses will fall in the wilderness over forty years.
Hebrews 3:17: The New Testament reference to the Israelites whose carcasses fell in the wilderness due to sin.
Hebrews 9:27: It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgment.
Psalm 90:10: The days of our years are threescore and ten, or by reason of strength fourscore, indicating average lifespan.
Exodus 20:12: Honor thy father and mother that thy days may be long upon the land.
Deuteronomy 22:6-7: Letting the mother bird go to prolong days, illustrating respect for animal families.
Deuteronomy 25:13-15: Having just weights and measures to lengthen days, relating to honesty in dealings.
1 Peter 3:10-11: He that will love life and see good days must refrain his tongue from evil and do good.
Job 14:5: Man's days are determined, the number of his months are with God.
Psalm 34:16: The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them.
Psalm 55:23: Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days.
1 Samuel 2:30-34: God tells Eli there shall not be an old man in his house; his descendants will die in the flower of their age.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20: God sets before Israel life and death, blessing and cursing; choosing life through obedience.
Numbers 14:1-4: The congregation murmurs, wishing they had died in Egypt or the wilderness.
Numbers 14:11: God asks how long the people will provoke Him and not believe despite all the signs.
Jeremiah 22:18-19: Jehoiakim will be buried with the burial of an ass, dragged and cast out, illustrating unburied judgment.
Numbers 26:63-65: Not a man of the numbered generation was left except Caleb and Joshua, fulfilling God's decree.
1 Corinthians 15:53-57: Death is swallowed up in victory; the sting of death is sin, but thanks be to God for victory through Christ.

Historical References

Pilgrim's Progress (John Bunyan): Pilgrim's cry 'I must die, I must die' is used to illustrate the terror of facing death unprepared.
Albert Barnes' commentary on Hebrews 3:17: Barnes describes the Israelites' carcasses strewn along the desert as an example of the effects of unbelief.
Adam Clarke's commentary on Hebrews 3:17: Clarke notes the scattered bleached bones as proof of their crimes and God's judgment.
John Gill's commentary on Hebrews 3:17: Gill emphasizes the judicial nature of their deaths and the Syriac version's 'their bones fell.'

Important Quotes

Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which you have murmured against me.

This is the central judgment pronounced by God, directly answering the Israelites' wish to die in the wilderness.

As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken in mine ears, so will I do unto you.

Highlights the principle that God holds people accountable to their own words and prayers.

Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in thee.

A clear Old Testament statement that wickedness shortens life, supporting the sermon's theme.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The triumphant conclusion for believers, showing that Christ has removed death's terror.

I must die, I must die, I must die. I find that I must die and stand before God.

Illustrates the universal dread of death and judgment apart from Christ, using Pilgrim's Progress.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does knowing that God keeps a record of sins affect your view of His patience and judgment?

[Context]

The sermon emphasizes that God counted the Israelites' ten provocations and will set sins in order before the wicked.

[Question]

In what ways do the general promises for long life challenge or encourage your daily obedience?

[Context]

Weaver lists three specific promises related to honoring parents, respecting animal families, and honest dealings.

[Question]

Why is unbelief considered such a heinous sin, and how does it manifest in our lives today?

[Context]

Unbelief is described as dishonoring God, challenging His Word, and calling Him a liar.

[Question]

What does the image of carcasses falling in the wilderness teach us about the seriousness of God's judgment?

[Context]

The commentators describe unburied, scattered bones as a warning of divine vengeance.

[Question]

How does the truth that Christ has taken the sting of death change the way you face mortality?

[Context]

1 Corinthians 15 and Hebrews 2 are used to show that death is now sleep for believers.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T12:57:57Z