Joshua and Caleb

Joshua and Caleb

When God had delivered the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt and they were about to enter the land of Canaan, God told Moses to send out 12 spies to see what the land was like, who was living there, and what would need to be done to take the land that God had already promised belonged to them. It’s a beautiful description of what God has already provided in Jesus and how He desires us to overcome in this life by trusting in God’s Word – God’s will for us. When you read these scriptures, ask yourself what was the report given by the ten spies and what did Joshua and Caleb report? How did the children of Israel respond? What were the different results for the children of Israel and for Joshua and Caleb? Which response pleased God?  What are the promises God has already given you in Jesus and how can we lay hold of them in our lives?

Numbers 13:1-2  The Lord now said to Moses, “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites.

 V 17-19 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaa, he said to them“Go north through the Negev into the hill country. See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps? 

V 25-30 After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land.  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. 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.” 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!” (this is the spirit that God was pleased with!)

Numbers 13:31-33 But the other men who had explored the land with him (Caleb) 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. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

Numbers 14:6-12 Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”

I believe God wants us to be aggressive participants activating our faith, bringing victory over darkness in this present world, which compels us to know God’s word, not passively sitting back waiting for a sovereign God to do it for us . The 10 spies were controlled by fear not faith! How many times did Jesus exhort his followers to fear not?

We all have circumstances in our lives that are “bad reports.” And we all have the opportunity to walk in fear or in faith, believing what God says about it – or believing what our flesh, the world and the devil says about it. Are we putting our trust in the bad report and walking in fear or are we putting our trust in Jesus and His Word and walking in faith. Joshua and Caleb didn’t deny what they saw – they denied what they saw was greater than what their God said.  He had already declared the land belonged to them.  Look what the children of Israel wanted to do with Joshua and Caleb after hearing their good report.

Number 14:19  But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb.

Why would somebody today want to stone Joshua and Caleb because they chose to believe and act on God’s word? Something’s really wrong with that!

What was God’s response to the children of Israel?

Numbers 14:10-12 Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle. And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? [Whose side do you think God’s on???] Will they never believe Me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!” [Mark 9:19 And Jesus said to his disciples….”Oh unbelieving generation”]

v15-17 [Moses said] Now if you slaughter all these people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will say, ‘The Lord was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness. [Do we think God is able and willing to bless us, His children? what does His word say?] “Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed. [Do we believe God’s power is as great as He has claimed???]  

v22 not one of these people will ever enter that land.

God is talking to you and I here also!!!

Numbers 26:63-65 So these are the results of the registration of the people of Israel as conducted by Moses and Eleazar.  Not one person on this list had been among those listed in the previous registration taken by Moses and Aaron in the wilderness of Sinai. For the Lord had said of them, “They will all die in the wilderness.” Not one of them survived except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Numbers 32:11-12  ‘Of all those I rescued from Egypt, no one who is twenty years old or older will ever see the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they have not obeyed me wholeheartedly. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholeheartedly followed the Lord.’

God had told Moses to send out 12 spies, paralleling that to today would be to send out 12 pastors into our present world, and to ask them what they see spiritually as they look at this present world?  Ten of them would speak of the fear they see in the world, saying we are subject to our the culture we live in. we need to adjust and tolerate it until the sweet by and by and trust that God is sovereign so He’ll do whatever He wants or thinks best. It’s a passive message which accomplishes nothing in the eyes of God just like back in the time of Moses -- which angered God! The 10 spies and all their followers died in the wilderness without entering the land God gave to them and wanted them to enter. The only two who lived to enter the land were Joshua and Caleb! Why? Because they pleased God with the spirit and attitude of faith, putting their enemy under their feet and taking the land through faith. They knew their God and trusted what He said and followed Him fully (with all their hearts). God said the land belonged to them and they believed and acted on what God said despite the circumstances they saw. They valued and trusted God’s Word more than what they saw. You cannot learn this God kind of faith from any preacher who doesn’t have this revelation of faith. You can have head faith which results in death or heart faith which results in life.

James 1:22  But be doers of the Word [obey the message] and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth.]

Many individuals come against the faith that pleases God. Do we believe God’s Word the way Joshua and Caleb did or do we give up because of the negative circumstances and yield to fear, doubt and unbelief like the children of Israel who followed the other 10 spies and died in the wilderness.  What does that tell us? One way pleases God, the other doesn’t! 

We need to learn and be able to tell the difference when someone is preaching in the spirit of faith as Joshua and Caleb or preaching unbelief through circumstances, fear, and you never know what God’s going to do!

The Lord was angry with the children of Israel and made them wander in the wilderness for forty years until the entire generation that sinned in the Lord’s sight had died.

Deuteronomy 1:34-36 “When the Lord heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore ‘Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the (good land) I swore to give your ancestors, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the Lord (completely). I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.’

Please understand what’s being said.  I am not saying if we live godly lives walking by faith in Jesus through His Word we will avoid persecution, trials and tribulation. In this world we will have tribulation. But as Paul said, “many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivered me from them all” (Psalm 34:19 | Timothy 3:11 | 4:17-18) and he will deliver us through persecution, trials and tribulation if we will trust Him by believing Him, speaking His word and taking authority over our situation or the tribulation!

If Jesus is truly the Lord of our lives He has given us everything we need to live a full and godly life right where we are, but there are giants in the land of our lives.  There may not be hills to climb, brush to cut through, rivers to cross and large men to fight and destroy, but we all have situations to overcome that bring pressure on us so we let go of what God’s word says and give in to fear, doubt and unbelief. Jesus doesn’t want us to ignore the situations we find ourselves in – He wants you to know He is with you and desires to lead you to victory in this life – to overcome. No, it’s not always fun! But Jesus is worthy and faithful!

1 John 4:4 Greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world.

Believe Him!