Sent to see the promise, not the problems.

Numbers 13:1-33 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

 Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ² “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” ³ So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel…¹⁷ When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. ¹⁹ How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications? ²⁰ How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” …   When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, ²⁶ they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ²⁸ Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰ Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely 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 too strong for us.” ³² So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. ³³ There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The Israelites time of wandering in the wilderness is well known. For forty long years they were there. But, their story could have been different. They did not wander those forty long years, eating only manna, because God did not know a shorter way. In today’s text God says:  “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel”    God’s plan all along was to give the land to the Israelites. The same God, who by the mighty signs and wonders set them free from the bondage of Pharaoh, the same God who destroyed the Egyptian army in the sea, planned to give the land to the Israelites, those were His words, His promise. He told them to go in and see the land, to see the promise, the inheritance. It was actually Moses who planted the seeds of doubt saying:    See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. ¹⁹ How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications? ²⁰ How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not?      God was not concerned with whether the inhabitants were weak or strong, He knew they were no match for Him. God was not concerned with fortifications, forty years later He shows how little fortifications mean against the God of the universe when He causes the walls of Jericho to fall.

We also have been given a promise of an inheritance as God’s children, as fellow heirs with Christ.      The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…(Romans 8:16-17) We too are told not to concern ourselves with the things that might stand against us, but rather to see and seek the things of the kingdom, God’s promise for us. Jesus says: seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33) In John 10:10 Jesus says:  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.   God’s promise is this:  “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17)  The Israelites wandered for forty years because they focused on the wrong thing, because they looked at the things that stood in their way rather that seeing and seeking the promise. They believed the words of those who gave the bad report rather than the words of God Himself.

 How long do we wander, not fully walking in the promise of what God has for us? We need to be careful, in our own lives, to hear what God has to say about His promise for us, not focusing on what might stand in our way or hinder us. Jesus says He came that we would have abundant life. He says:     “if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”  God says:  For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)   God’s not concerned about our enemies or the things that stand in our way. His desire is to bless us and GIVE us our inheritance. The choice is ours, just as it was for the Israelites, we can choose to hear what God has to say and walk in the fullness of His promise for us, or we can choose to look at the strength and the fortifications of those who stand in our way. God has not changed. The same God who delivered the Israelites from the hand of the Egyptian army, stands with us to fight our battles. The only question which remains is who will we believe?

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, thank You for Your words and Your promises revealed both in Your written word and through the witness of the Holy Spirit. I choose to listen to Your report. Help me to walk in the fullness of all that You have in mind for me, the plans You have. I choose to seek first Your kingdom, seeing and hearing only You. Thank You that: No weapon formed against me will prosper, that together with You I can move mountains and overcome any foe. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13) Amen.