Sermon Notes on Numbers 14, in the Voice and Cadence of Alistair Begg.
ChatGPT Prompt
Press into the analogy with Joshua/Jesus as to why we can do better: He “cross”es the line between God and us.
1. Introduction: Belief That Stops Short
Now, loved ones, here’s the tragedy of Numbers 14. The Israelites stand within sight of the land God has promised — their inheritance, their destiny, their home. They’ve seen His power in Egypt, tasted His provision in the wilderness, yet when faith should step forward, fear pulls back.
And notice this carefully: they never stop believing in God. No, they stop believing God’s belief in them. That’s the grasshopper trap — when we twist our faith in God into an excuse not to trust what He says about us.
2. Believing God About Himself, Not About Us
They confess, “The Lord brought us out of Egypt.” They sing of His might. But when faced with giants, they whisper, “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes.” (Numbers 13:33)
It sounds pious, doesn’t it? “We’re small, God’s great.” A safe theology. But it’s counterfeit humility — reverence turned rebellion. Because if God says, “You are My chosen people,” and we reply, “No, we’re too weak,” that’s not modesty. That’s unbelief dressed for church.
They used belief in God to avoid belief from God. They made their theology a defense against intimacy, their worship a way of saying, “Stay great, Lord — just don’t get too close.”
They used belief in God to avoid belief from God.
3. The Divine Heartbreak
Listen to God’s words: “How long will these people treat Me with contempt?” (Numbers 14:11)
That’s not a bureaucratic complaint; it’s a wounded cry. The God who split the sea now watches His children shrink back from promise, insisting their fear is faithfulness.
Every time we say, “God can, but He won’t through me,” heaven aches. For He hasn’t just called us to admire His power — He’s invited us to embody it.
He hasn’t just called us to admire His power — He’s invited us to embody it.
4. Joshua and the Crossing That Changes Everything
And then comes Joshua — whose Hebrew name, Yehoshua, becomes Iēsous in Greek — Jesus. The same name. The same mission: to lead God’s people across the uncrossable line.
Joshua stands at the Jordan, the water between wilderness and promise, and God says, “Step in.” (Joshua 3:8)
The river parts, and the people walk through on dry ground. It’s not just geography; it’s theology.
Centuries later, another Joshua — Jesus — comes to the true border, the one between God and humanity. And what does He do?
He crosses it — literally, on a cross.
He doesn’t just part water; He parts the veil.
He doesn’t just conquer Canaan; He conquers sin and death.
Where the first Israel stopped, He went on. Where unbelief said, “We cannot,” the Son said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
5. The Cross as the Crossing
At the Red Sea, God saves His people from bondage. (Exodus 14:21–22)
At the Jordan, God sends them into destiny. (Joshua 3:17)
At the Cross, God does both.
At the Red Sea, God saves His people from bondage. (Exodus 14:21–22)
At the Jordan, God sends them into destiny. (Joshua 3:17)
At the Cross, God does both.
That’s why we can do better — not because we’re braver, but because our Joshua has already crossed for us.
He carried divine faith across the dividing line and planted it in human soil. Now, His Spirit within us believes through us what our hearts could never believe alone.
The line between God and man no longer keeps us apart; it’s become the very bridge of grace.
The Cross is God’s own footstep into our fear.
6. Faith That Crosses Over
So, loved ones, the call today is not simply to admire Christ’s crossing, but to follow Him through it.
So, loved ones, the call today is not simply to admire Christ’s crossing, but to follow Him through it.
When He says, “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you,” (John 20:21) He’s not flattering us — He’s trusting us with His mission. To deny that trust is to deny His triumph.
Stop saying, “I am just a grasshopper,” when the resurrected Christ lives in you. (Galatians 2:20)
Stop treating your smallness as humility when it’s really unbelief.
If Joshua crossed the Jordan with a promise, and Jesus crossed the cosmos with a cross, then surely you can cross your fear with faith.
7. Conclusion: Faith That Believes Both Ways
True belief looks both directions. It believes what God says about Himself — yes. But it also believes what God says about you.
He has crossed the line between heaven and earth, divinity and dust, so that you might never again call yourself a grasshopper in the sight of giants.
He has crossed the line between heaven and earth, divinity and dust, so that you might never again call yourself a grasshopper in the sight of giants.
So take Him at His word. Step into your Jordan.
The God who believes in you has already gone ahead.
Because the Cross is the place where God’s belief in Himself meets His belief in you — and both are fulfilled in love.
Radically Happy 
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