The Price Of Presumption

Numbers 14:40-45 “The Price Of Presumption”

And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we [be here], and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.

41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. 42 Go not up, for the LORD [is] not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.

43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites [are] there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.
44 But they PRESUMED to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.

45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, [even] unto Hormah.

I intentionally wrote out the abovementioned verses due to their importance and significance. Let me start by saying, God doesn’t hold ANYTHING against us that we don’t know. Please read Acts 17:30. The Bible says God “winks” at our ignorance. This word “ignorance” comes from the Hebrew word GAGAH, a feminine noun meaning “mistake”, “inadvertent transgression”, “error”. The primary meaning is an inadvertent error performed in the daily routine of life. It is when we come into a saving knowledge of what is truth, then we become responsible for what we know and understand is truth according to God‘s will. When the WORD and the Holy Spirit reveals to us what God said and requires, He expects us to ACT on the truth revealed and understood. There are NO EXCEPTIONS here! It is VERY important to read Proverbs 1:22-33. The above verses does not reflect ignorance on the children of Isreal’s account as we shall see later.

God gave specific, detailed instructions leading to their breakthrough and destiny.
God will NOT do for you what He called, enabled, and equipped you to do for yourself. In other words, He will give you the land, but won’t search it out for you. Numbers 13:17-25. God is responsible for creating OPPORTUNITIES, we’re responsible for asking, seeking, and knocking to see WHICH door He has opened!

If today, you’re wondering WHY God hasn’t moved, then these verses will aid in our understanding of HOW God works. Miracles come from God, but touching the hem of His garment comes from us. Needing monies to pay taxes? God provides the fish and coin, we simply catch the fish and retrieve the coin from its mouth. God needs only two fish and five loaves from a little boy’s lunch, then He performs the miracle of multiplication. If you’re sitting around waiting on God to do YOUR PART, it’s not going to happen. We must give Him something to work with, then watch Him bless and bring it to pass!

Two of the ten spies brought back a negative report. Interestingly enough, they all saw the same things, in the same place, but different perceptions and perspectives about what they saw. When God tells us to POSSESS IT, He meant just what He said. There is a difference between instructions that say “search the land”, versus God saying He will drive out your HINDRANCES! God gave them the land, but didn’t move the “physical obstacles” out of their way until He moved the “mental obstacles” out of the heart of the doubters. Negative people see OBSTACLES and OPPOSITION, but positive people OPPORTUNITIES and OPENINGS!

It NEVER pays to move without God. Numbers 14:40-45 shows the folly and foolishness that takes place when we move, when God says DON’T. God tells them to not move, so does Moses, but they PRESUMED to go to the hilltop anyway. When God shows you His will, speaks through people you weren’t expecting Him to use, it’s because He’s giving you fair warning that the situation or circumstances you’re about to encounter isn’t right for you, or that you won’t prosper if you go the route He said don’t go! It’s never wise to flaunt and hold up before God the size of the grapes you saw and brought back as evidence of His goodness and overlook His instructions not to move until He says move to His destination for you!

God and Moses told them that the Amalekites and Canaanites were before them and had not been driven out the land by God yet, until He removed the haters and doubters from within first. Verse 43 says, Because you turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord WILL NOT be with you. As if God’s presence not sanctioning their move wasn’t enough, He further said, that the Ark of the Covenant, which represented His Presence wouldn’t aid them either. They tried to go around God by using that which represented Him. It didn’t work then and it’s not working now!

Then to top it all off, verse 44 says, Moses departed NOT out of the camp. It’s a dangerous thing to move without the Presence of the Lord leading our lives. It’s also bad when we bypass counsel and instructions from those God places in our lives. When the harvest or consequences of our decisions comes back to us as in the case of the children of Isreal in Numbers 14:45, we tend to blame God for the outcome. If we read and re-read chapters 13-14, we can clearly see God tried to avert the situation before it happened. When God tells us plainly and clearly in His WORD that He will NOT be with us, why continue to push God for signs when He has shown you what His WORD said? The fact that He said it is enough not to question it!

Please Read Proverbs 14:12 and Psalms 37:4-5, 31, 34, 37, 40.