May 11, 2009 - Numbers 14

Numbers 14 concludes a story that is rich in examples for us today, even after the thousands of years since it occurred. The children of Israel sent 12 men into Canaan to spy out the land. They returned with the report that the land was very good, but there were giants in the land. Two of the twelve, Joshua and Caleb, said, “If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land…do not be afraid of the people of that land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us.” The other ten led the people in a rebellion against God, Moses, and Aaron. They discussed choosing a leader and returning to Egypt and even stoning Joshua and Caleb. They could not, would not, be reminded of the great things they had seen God do to get them to their current place and his overall plan for them. They would not get their eyes off their troubles and onto God. Is that ever true of us? I think we know about the punishment for the children of Israel, forty years of wandering in the desert and none of that generation made it into the promised land, save for the faithful Joshua and Caleb. What became of the ten faithless spies? Verse 37 reports that they were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. Faithlessness will do that to you. It may not be physically, like it was for them, but it will kill you just the same.