Christian Commentary Encouraging Devotions

The Lord now said to Moses,

- What is the Lord saying to YOU?

"Send out men to explore the land of Canaan,

the land I am giving to the Israelites.

- It's not wrong to explore the options.

But...do we really have "options"?

Could it be that we have commands from the Lord

and our only option is to obey or not?

Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.

So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

He sent out twelve men. Numbers 13:1-3

1) See what the land is like, and

2) find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many.

3) See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad?

4) Do their towns have walls,

or are they unprotected like open camps?

5) Is the soil fertile or poor?

6) Are there many trees?

7) Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see." Numbers 13:18-20

- Very specific instructions.

When they came to the valley of Eshcol,

they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large

that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! Numbers 13:23

- Looking good.

After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned.

This was their report to Moses:

"We entered the land you sent us to explore,

and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey.

Here is the kind of fruit it produces.

- That's the good news.

But...

the people living there are powerful,

and their towns are large and fortified.

We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak!

The Amalekites live in the Negev,

and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country.

The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley." Numbers 13:25-29

- They were looking at the problem, not the promise!

I confess...I'm prone to doing that all too often too.

We need to hold on to the promise, no matter what.

If God said it, I believe it. That settles it!

Is it really that simple?

But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses.

"Let’s go at once to take the land," he said.

"We can certainly conquer it!" Numbers 13:30

- Do you know leaders like that?

People who believe that with God all things really are possible?

Are YOU that kind of person?

Do you say, "Impossible!"

Or, do you say, "We can certainly conquer it!"?

But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed.

"We can’t go up against them!

They are stronger than we are!"

So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites:

"The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there.

All the people we saw were huge.

- And what's implied...bigger than our God.

We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak.

Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!" Numbers 13:31-33

- That's grasshopper thinking.

Who do you see yourself as?

A grasshopper facing insurmountable odds and foes?

Or a child of the King filled with faith,

holding on to the promises He has given, no matter what.