[For emphasis, Scripture may be underlined and/or appear in bold type].
You’ll recall the account in Numbers 13 where Moses sends twelve men to spy out the land of Canaan. A ruler of every tribe is chosen.
They were to observe the people and determine, were they were “strong or weak? few or many?” What was the land like? Do the people dwell in tents or “strongholds?” The men were also told to bring back the “fruit of the land.”
“And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.” (Numbers 13:25). They told Moses and Aaron and the congregation that the land “floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.” (verse 27). “Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.” (verse 28)
“And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:30-33)
Continuing into chapter 14, the people rebel, Moses intercedes for them (verses 13-19), God forgives, but there is judgement and many will die (verses 20-35).
1.“And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2.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! 3.And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto 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 into Egypt? 4.And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.”
5.Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. 6.And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 7.And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 8.If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9.Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. 10.But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
11.And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? 12.I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
13.And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) 14.And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15.Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, 16.Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. 17. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, 18.The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. 19.Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
20.And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: 21.But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. 22.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; 23.Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
24.But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. 25. (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
26.And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 27.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. 28.Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: 29.Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, 30.Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 31.But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. 32.But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. 33.And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. 34.After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. 35.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 so, we are told that upon returning, the spies came back with conflicting reports. Ten of the spies said that there are giants in the land and we do not stand a chance against them.
On the contrary, Caleb and Joshua thought otherwise. In so many words, they said, “Let’s go up and possess the land; the Lord is with us: fear them not.”
The ten spies allowed what they saw to affect their thinking whereas Caleb and Joshua knew that “the battle is the Lord’s.” In their mind they believed there was no need to fear. We can go in and take possession of the land – we can do it!
Imagine how the two of them felt when the children of Israel wanted to stone them with stones!
36.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, 37.Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD. 38.But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.
39.And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
Notice in verse 37 that the ten spies who gave an evil report of the land, died by a plague from the Lord. They were totally influenced and affected by what they saw and lacked faith in God, unlike Caleb and Joshua, in that those ten feared the “men of great stature,” including the sons of Anak who they considered “giants” in the land.
The ten missed the blessing of entering into the land; in due time only Caleb and Joshua were able to enter.
We are reminded of the acronym F.E.A.R – False Expectations Appearing Real !
When we take our eyes off of the Lord and focus on our circumstances, it can lead to F.E.A.R.
As believers in and disciples of Christ, we have the promise, “…I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). We can face our circumstances without fear knowing that He is with us!
Sometimes we experience discouragement, heartache, and various struggles with relationships, health, finances or whatever the case. No Christian is exempt from the problems of this life, for He “…sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45)
Caleb and Joshua remembered their God and how He led the people through many difficult situations. In like manner, we have the same God and need to remember that He is with us and that He loves us and is full of compassion, grace and mercy.
Remember the final words of Moses to the children of Israel and Joshua before he died –
1.When Moses had finished speaking these words to all Israel, 2.he said to them, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ 3.The LORD your God Himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will dispossess them along with their land. Joshua will cross ahead of you, as the LORD has said. 4.And the LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, when He destroyed them 5.The LORD will deliver them over to you, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you. 6. Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
7.Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. 8.The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:1-8)
At times, we may find ourselves in a bleak looking situation. We must embrace the message we just read that Moses spoke to the children of Israel and Joshua – “Be strong and courageous…. do not be afraid….. the Lord is with you…. He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
We must heed the Scripture – “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
When something happens out of our control, we must believe that God allowed it, and that “… all things [are working] together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
We can have confidence in God’s promises because, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19)
Like the 10 spies, we may, looking at our circumstances, believe there is no hope, not seeing any “light at the end of the tunnel.”
But, we read, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard (or difficult) for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27)
And so we ask, “Is there any thing that is too hard for the Lord?”
Unless we caused it ourselves, we must believe that we are in a situation because God allowed it. Whatever the case, at the same time, we trust that it is for our good as we will gain from the experience and be drawn closer to the Lord. This is what trials and testings do.
“The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.” (Psalm 37:23)
It requires faith and trust in the Living God that He will accomplish His purposes, as Caleb and Joshua experienced. In due time, they received the blessing of entering into the land.
May we keep our eyes on the Lord and wholly trust Him, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)