Scripture:
Numbers 13:26-33 NKJV
[26] Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. [27] Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. [28] Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. [29] The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” [30] Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” [31] But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” [32] And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. [33] There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Observation:
I like to read over this story every once in a while. It’s a good reminder to me that you just can’t go with the crowd, and honestly, it doesn’t matter what it looks like. If GOD says go, then go. When I got to this point in Numbers chapter 13. I began to see part of the problem. Now it’s not something you’re going to pick up on very easily, so you really have to turn your attention to what’s being said under the surface. Verse 27 opens it up to us. The scripture says in verse 26 that they returned to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel. As they began to give their report, the underlying issue came up. They didn’t see their mission as a mission from the LORD but from Moses and Aaron and the children of Israel. Their report started with, “We went to the land where you sent us,” It seems that they were focused on what man had said to do. If we back up a little bit in this chapter. All the way back to verse. What we see is that the LORD had spoken to Moses. It was HIS idea to send the spies. It wasn’t something that Moses came or Aaron came up with it was the LORD HIMSELF. The spies saw the mission they went on as a mission given by man. Moving forward in verse 27, we can see that they knew what the LORD had said about the land. That can be clearly seen by the way the report begins, “it truly flows with milk and honey.” Showing a cluster of grapes that took more than one man to carry. They had heard the way the LORD had described the land and found that what the LORD had said was true. The land was exactly how it had been described. A land flowing with milk and honey. That part was believable. However, here is where it starts to take a turn. As the report continues, you can see that their confidence is not in the right place. You can see that by the words nevertheless as they start to describe the people in the land. Now I understand it’s important to give an accurate account of what was seen as they spied out the land. It’s important to know exactly what you’re facing. However, it’s just as important to remember who the battle belongs to and what has happened along the way to get you where you are. Yes, the people were stronger and bigger than they were. But their instructions as they came across the Red Sea on dry ground watching the LORD feed them with manna every morning, were to go into a land that ” I “am giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey. You see, they had forgotten that one part. It had already been done. Their confidence was in what they could do and not in what the LORD had done already. Describing the people and how big and strong they were struck fear in the hearts of the congregation. So when Caleb spoke up, it was too late. The people had already forgotten whose fight it was. You see, Caleb had walked across the bottom of the Red Sea and eaten the manna. He remembered the frogs and the rivers of blood in Egypt. He knew that the battle did not belong to Israel, but to the LORD, and if HE said go, then it was not only possible but it had already been done. He silenced the crowd and spoke his position. I can see him standing in the middle of thousands of people saying, “Don’t you remember how far we have come?” Don’t you remember all HE has done? GOD has given us this land. All we need to do is trust what HE has said. Do you trust HIM, or do you trust what these men are telling you? The land is ours. All we have to do is take it. It doesn’t matter what it looks like. GOD said it, and if you will believe it, then that will settle it. However, in this case, the majority had already spoken, and the minds of the people were stricken with fear. With one more opportunity. The men who were trusting in their ability and the way they saw themselves. Spoke, we are not able. Seeing themselves exactly how the enemy wanted them to weak, small, and unable. They forfeited their opportunity to have what the LORD had already given them.
Application:
We just can’t trust what it looks like. We have to trust what the LORD has said. That’s honestly why it’s so important to know the truth. What HE says and not what the world has spoken. The question becomes, do you really believe GOD’S word? I know it doesn’t happen overnight for a lot of us, or at least it hasn’t happened overnight for me. It’s taken years of GOD’S faithfulness to convince me that HE is exactly who HE says HE is, and honestly, there are still times when I’m looking at the end of one thing trying to see what’s next, and just unable to. But just like the manna in the desert. The next is always there. GOD wants us to trust HIM. HE wants us to know that even though it doesn’t look good, if we will step forward, HE has already made a way. Trusting GOD’S word over what we see is not easy. But it can be done. There are examples all through the bible. Looking at the New Testament. We see Peter swing his legs over the edge of the boat and grab a man’s hand, pulling him to his feet who seconds before didn’t work. He trusted and believed that what the LORD had said would happen. Let me ask you a question. What has the LORD done in your life in the past that you are doubting that HE will do now? Are you facing something that seems a little bigger than the last obstacle HE overcame for you? Whose battle is it anyway? When victory has already been given, you don’t have to fight for it. I’m not saying you don’t have to fight. But your position is different. When you know that the LORD is with you. You fight from a position of confidence in HIM. HIS track record is perfect. HE has won every battle HE set out to win. What I’m telling you is don’t trust what you can do….. trust what HE has already done for you. HE is giving you a land full of milk and honey. Push past what it looks like, past what the enemy is telling you it is into what HE has promised you. Step forward in the victory HE has given you. The world will lie and say you are not smart enough or strong enough. But GOD said… “I AM” giving you a land flowing with milk and honey. Do you believe that “I” have won the victory? Step forward and obtain what “I” have promised.
Prayer:
Father, we know that your promises are yes and amen. That means you do not make empty promises. As we read your word and see what you have done in the past, help us to have the confidence in what you say that will allow us to move forward regardless of what the world says. You have given us a measure of faith. That faith is a confident assurance in what you say to be true. When you say that you will never see your righteous begging bread, that’s what you mean, and we trust in that. When you say that you have already won the victory, that’s what you mean, and we trust in that. Your word tells us it’s impossible to please you without faith. We want our lives to please you. Walking in lock step with what your spirit has revealed to us. You have given us a land flowing with milk and honey if we will trust in that promise, we will get to see that land. We want our eyes fixed on you. Fixed on what you have said. Not what the world says. Let us not get distracted by what others are saying. We want your word so deeply ingrained in us that it is the lamp to every step we take and the light to the path you have for us. A path that is victory. Because we can not be led into a victory that has already been won. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen.