Numbers 13
-The time comes when God is ready to instruct Moses on
sending 12 spies into the land of Canaan, which He was going to GIVE to the
sons of Israel. One leader from each tribe was chosen for this mission to
capture a vision of what lay ahead for God’s chosen people. From the wilderness
of Paran, at the command of the LORD, they went to the Negev in the south
country and as far north as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath, which was north of the
Galilee and on the west coast. They went to see what the land was like. Whether
the people in it were strong or weak, few or many, good or bad land quality,
camps or fortified cities for the population, fruitful or barren in geography,
and with a command from Moses to bring back its produce (Numbers 13:1-21).
-They came to Hebron, which was the ancient burial grounds of
their patriarchs like Abraham and Isaac among others, after they had ventured through
the Negev. This was the beginning of the hill country, and the spies found the descendants
of Anak there. Then they came to the valley of Eshcol (cluster) and cut down a
branch with a single cluster of grapes since it was the time of year of the
first ripe grapes. They carried the produce on a pole between two of the men
along with some of the pomegranates and the figs of the land (Numbers
13:22-24).
-At the end of their 40 day, 500 some-odd mile, mission into
the Promised Land, they returned to Paran in the wilderness at Kadesh, and
proceeded to meet with Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the sons of
Israel. It was report time, and the people were anxious to hear what had occurred
in their journey. They began with the fact that indeed the land was traversed
and that it did flow with milk (more than likely goat’s milk from the indigenous
species) and honey (more than likely pomegranate or date honey, not the kind
from bees as we typically think, Deuteronomy 8:8). They presented them with the
fruit of the land, which they had brought back. Nonetheless, they spoke of the
strength of the people who currently occupied the land as being “strong” with “fortified,”
and “very large,” cities with the massive size of the descendants of Anak. They
further spoke of Amalek, who was living in the Negev and the Hittites and the
Jebusites and the Amorites who were living in the hill country. In addition,
they described how the Canaanites were both by the sea and over by the side of
the Jordan (Numbers 13:25-29). Then Caleb quieted the people from their negative
noise before Moses and boldly stated, “We should by all means go up and take
possession of it, for we will surely overcome it (Numbers 13:30).” But, the
others, excluding Joshua, that went up with him denied the power of God’s people
to go up and overcome. They reported that the people in the land were “too
strong for us (Numbers 13:31).” Their bad testimony included the fear that the
inhabitants of the land would devour them because of their great size because
they had seen the Nephilim (sons of Anak). They concluded that they would
become as small and insignificant as grasshoppers in the sight of these mighty
men if they tried to conquer the Promised Land (Numbers 13:32-33).
-*Application* Fear and worry are the polar opposites of
faith and courage. Caleb is our shining example of faith and trust that the
LORD had the power and ability to GIVE them what He had promised. The rest in
this text were persuaded by negativity and the physically seen obstacles that daunted
their mission and vision. Instead of optimism for the future they chose to
wallow in the hopeless of perceived barriers to their progress. Have a “can do”
attitude today for everything that God has called you for and promised unto
you. Let the reminders of Caleb ring in your ears. By all means go up and take
possession, overcome the giants in your life through the promises of Almighty
God! Tear down strongholds and shout out in victory with confidence! God is on
our side! No weapon formed against us will prosper (Isaiah 54:13-17)! This is
the heritage of the faithful.
Verse to Memorize:
Numbers 13:30
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