Numbers 13:17-20 (ESV)
Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
To fully understand the above passage we have to recall a few things from some other passages. When God called Moses to lead the people, He told them, ALREADY, that He would lead them into the promise land and that land was full of great things. So, the above reconnaissance mission was unnecessary, IF THEY WOULD JUST BELIEVE THAT PROMISE. Note what God said to Moses at the time He called Moses to lead the people:
Exodus 3:7-9 (ESV)
Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
However, the people DID NOT believe the promise, apparently, since they asked Moses to send out the spies (which, by the way, at the time he thought it a great idea):
Deuteronomy 1:21-23 (ESV)
See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’ Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe.
To top this off, we see at the beginning of this section of the book of Numbers that God allowed it:
Numbers 13:1-2 (ESV)
Spies Sent into Canaan
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”
The spying of the land will become a disaster for all the adults 20 years old and upward. Because the spies (all but two) come back with an evil report the people of Israel FEAR going into God’s promise land. As a result all men 20 years old and upward (except two) are told that they will die in the wilderness and only Caleb and Joshua (two of the spies who brought back a positive report) will enter into the promise land (with all those under 20). They would all wander for 40 years as God waited for all the adults to die. This is a very easy lesson: Trust God’s promises. Yes, gathering data to find out what you are up against is not a bad idea. Data mining is today’s caviar. We love it. But, it should NEVER stop us, no matter the data, from believing and following God’s promises. The spying of the land should have given Moses, the spies and the people insight into HOW God would give them the promise land and what GOD was up against. Instead it brought fear to the people and caused them to forget God’s promises. Like Peter walking on the water he quit looking at Jesus and saw the waves and began to sink. The data was real but when our eyes see the date vs God’s promises, we sink (or, die in the wilderness).
No comments:
Post a Comment