“But My servant Caleb, because
he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will
bring him into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.” Numbers
14:24-25
God was preparing His people to enter
the promise land. In preparation, the Lord asked Moses to send out twelve men
to spy out the land of Canaan – a land that God promised to His children – a
land that was flowing with milk and honey (Numbers 13:1). One of the twelve men
sent out to spy the land was named Caleb.
When the twelve men went out to spy out the land, they saw
that the land was truly flowing with milk and honey just as God had said.
“When
they reached the valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single
cluster of grapes. Two carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates
and figs.” Numbers 13:25-27
The land was rich, fertile and bountiful and the Lord
promised that it would be theirs - a place where they could build their homes and
raise their families. However when the twelve men came back to give their
account to Moses, this is what ten of the twelve men said in Numbers 13:27-28,
“We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and
honey! Here is the fruit. But the
people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very
large.” We even saw descendants of Anak
there.” (The descendants of Anak were a race of abnormally large people.)
Ten of the twelve men came back with fear in their hearts as
they reported back their observations of the land. However, two of the men
named Caleb and Joshua, came back as they went, with the same trust and
confidence in God that they left with.
As the ten men began expressing their fears to the
community, this was how Caleb responded, “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and
take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” (Numbers 13:30)
“Caleb was not so
much a man of great faith as a man of faith in a GREAT God! His boldness rested
on his understanding of God, not on his confidence in Israel’s abilities to
conquer the land. He could NOT agree with the majority, for that would be to
disagree with God.” Commentary
Unfortunately, the ten men were effective in discouraging
the entire community to trust their fears and not trust God. The fearful
community wept, and conspired together in despair to select a new leader to
take them back to Egypt where they were once in slavery. How tragic when our
fears are magnified and our God is minimized!
In response to the community’s foolish decision, Moses,
Aaron (Moses’ right hand man), Joshua and Caleb also wept but they wept for the
sins of the people against the Lord.
“Isn’t it interesting
that people, could see the exact same sights – the same grapes, the same strong
men, the same land, the same cities – but one can come away singing in faith,
and the other is filled with a sense of certain doom. Ultimately, faith or
unbelief does not spring from circumstances or environment, but from our hearts.”
Commentary
Are we singing in faith or we filled with a sense of certain
doom?
Although none of the people who rejected God entered the land,
God allowed their children to inherit the land forty years later! God also made it a point to single out the faith
of Caleb and Joshua.
“Not one of you will
enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb and Joshua.” Numbers 14:30
In fact, God also made it a point to distinguish Caleb as a
man who had a “different spirit”. Caleb
followed God wholeheartedly and God noticed him and rewarded him and his
descendants!
I found the following commentary very interesting:
“Their unbelieving
response was a potent combination of truth, lies and exaggeration.
-
It was
true from a human perspective that the people in the land were stronger than
them – but to say, “we are not able to go
up against the people” was a lie. (Numbers 13:31)
-
It was
true that they had gone through the land – but to say, “a land that devours its inhabitants” was a lie. (Numbers 13:32)
-
Each of
the statements, “all the men whom we saw
in the land are men of great stature” or “the
giants” and “we were like
grasshoppers” were all terrible exaggerations, plain and simple lies.
(Numbers 13:33)
Unbelief often
presents itself as being “factual” or “practical” or “down to earth.” Yet the
most factual, practical, and down to earth thing we can do is to trust the Word
of the Living God. Their unbelief was not according to the facts, but despite
the facts.” Commentary
I have noticed that at times when I am afraid, I turn my
fears into exaggerated giants.
Let’s not magnify our fears but instead let’s be like Caleb
and trust the Word of the Living God! In believing God's Word, let’s say what Caleb said, “We should go
up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it!"
