To set the stage for today’s daily scripture reading…
The Israelite people came to the border of the land God had promised. God told Moses to send some leaders into the land to explore and report back about what they see.
And they [the leaders Moses sent] came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.
Report of the Spies
At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people 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. And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” Numbers 13:23-27 (ESV)
Wow! This place is great! The land God promised them was so good, the grapes were gigantic (so big they had to be held between two people), milk and honey, easily grown provision. If the spies had ended their report here, the Israelites would have been excited and ready to enter. But they didn’t…
“However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” Numbers 13:28-29 (ESV)
The spies report about the people who already live in the land. These people are large and intimidating. One of the spies speaks out:
But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Numbers 13:30 (ESV)
Caleb is full of faith. He has experienced the miraculous deliverance of God and the miraculous provision in the desert season. If the rest of the people had followed Caleb’s lead, everything would have been fantastic. But did they? Nope. Not even close.
Then 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 are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” Numbers 13:31-33 (ESV)
Grasshoppers? The people of Israel did something that I do too often. They compared themselves to other people and saw their own flaws. Comparison led to a feeling of defeat before they ever tried to step into the promise God had for them.
So what happens next in the story?
The Israelites immediately think the worst. They panic at the thought of going up against the giants of the land. They wish they were still in captivity in Egypt. In fact, they are thinking about going back to Egypt because of their fear.
Caleb is joined by Joshua in his position of trusting the goodness and power of the Lord.
“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” Numbers 13:7-9 (ESV)
“The Lord is with us; do not fear” If we could remember this one principle, we could overcome almost any obstacle in life.
We don’t have to have faith in our own abilities to overcome. We have to believe in the God at work in us.
Out of the whole generation of adults of Israel, only Joshua and Caleb will see the promised land. Because of their lack of faith, God causes the people to wander in the desert for forty years, until the adults die and the children are ready to take the land.
Are we approaching life like Caleb and Joshua or the majority of the Israelite people? Will we believe in the huge God we serve or only see the obstacles and our inadequacies?
Action Step: We are well able. Just like the Israelites, the God we serve is empowering us to take hold of that which He has promised us. The trick is that we believe it and stop the comparison game. The goal this week is to take our eyes off the obstacles as well as all our own shortcomings and put our focus firmly onto the God who overcomes in our lives.
Dear God, thank You that You make us well able to overcome. Help us to focus on You at all times. When the temptation arises to compare ourselves to others, enable us to see that it doesn’t depend on our capabilities – it is all about You! In Jesus’ name, amen.
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