Today we
begin our ten week journey through the rough lands of the wilderness of Zin
with the children of
Ten out of 12 Spies Recommend “Retreat”
I. The good news
In Deuteronomy 1 Moses said that the idea of sending spies actually originated with the people. The people said in Deuteronomy 1:22, “Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.” Moses didn’t think it was a bad idea. The people could get a sampling of the beauties of the Promised Land; but they could also get discouraged. It was a risk, yet the LORD allowed it. He told the Israelites to choose one leader from each tribe; the best man they could find. He let them become involved in the planning of the mission so they could understand and see what they were facing before it actually happened.
This reminds me of how the LORD tells us about what will happen to our world prior to it happening; with famines, earthquakes, wars and what not. It is good to know things ahead of time. It helps us to be spiritually prepared, yet this also opens the door for worry and fear on our part. Sometimes it is better and easier when we don’t know what is going to happen. For instance, if you really knew how hard it would be to be married and raise children before you had them; how many of you would have chickened out beforehand? It takes a lot of discipline and correction and training to actually teach your children how to be respectable and hard working citizens and members of the household. The same can ring true in any number of things in life; owning a house or renting a house; buying a car; joining the Armed Forces; taking on a promotion. Yet you learn to grow and survive through difficult callings in a gradual way through time. Sometimes life is better when we don’t know ahead of time.
But the Israelites wanted to know what they were getting into and the LORD allowed it. They chose one man from each tribe to enter into the Promised Land and scope it out; see what it was like; who actually lived there and what the lay of the land was. They went, and this is what they found.
“We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its 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 Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
This reminds me when someone comes and says to you, “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” They started with the good news. And it was great news. The land really was full of animals that produced milk and plants that produced sweet and rich nectars; milk and honey. It was everything the LORD promised it would be; a sweet place to live!
But we also need to remember that
hidden under these grapes and behind this spacious land was the more important
promise that the Israelites were carrying the line of the Savior. Within their land God would send His Son to prepare
the world for a greater Land to come. According
to Hebrews chapter 11 Abraham, Moses and all the patriarchs were more focused
on the heavenly country that lay beyond
This is where the LORD wants our focus to be. He speaks very physically of the ultimate Promised Land in heaven. Listen, for instance, to Revelation 21-22.
The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.
It is good for us to think about the beauties of heaven. Think about the fact that God promises you that your body will be resurrected without any more pains or limitations. You won’t get tired. You won’t be thirsty. Your knees won’t hurt any more. You will be face to face with the LORD Jesus in the flesh, and you won’t be embarrassed to be there. When you read through the gospels it is somewhat surprising to hear how often the disciples talk about the glories of heaven, but it shouldn’t be. They were so focused on it. It drove them to do some amazing things. Could it be that we are not as energetic and excited about living here and now because we don’t think about what it will be like to live there?
God allowed the spies to actually walk through the land He promised them so they could experience for 40 days what this land was like and get excited about it. God explains what heaven is like and gives us His Holy Spirit and faith and His promises so that we also get excited about heaven. He allows us to browse in the pastures of His grace through the eyes of faith. This is what baptism is about; giving us heaven in Christ. This is what the Lord's Supper is about; the Lord of the heavens comes to us and gives us Himself; the same Person that we will allow us to eat with and drink with Him at the heavenly Feast.
But then
comes the bad news; the rider clause; the “oh, by the way” clause. It wasn’t written in small print on the
bottom of the page. The spies put it
right out front. They talked about the
descendants of Anak who lived in portions of
This is no fluke; it is a microcosm of the story of life. When we are baptized we are told that we have to fight it out on this side of heaven against some incredibly powerful foes. One is still within us. Although the sinful nature is put to death, it constantly tries to come back to life; to come swimming to the surface; to grow and manifest itself back to life in your heart. It’s that urge you have within you to hold a grudge. It’s that intense desire to satisfy your sexual desires with that gal on the computer. It’s that attitude within that just wants to be angry at the world and tell everyone to stick it and leave you alone. It’s that ache within your soul that makes you feel like such a failure in life. These are powerful urges and feelings that are seemingly impossible to control.
And then of course you have the devil. He sits back in the wings; examines your weaknesses; sees where you are must gullible; and looks for ways to really make your life miserable. He puts you in situations at school or work where he knows you will really struggle. If you have a problem with patience, he’ll see to it that someone who really irritates you gives you a visit. If you have a trouble with alcohol, he’ll whisper in your ear on a nice evening and tell you to go to the back porch and enjoy a cool one. After all, it’s the perfect night for a brew; just one. These battles are real. We try to pray and watch against them. But after days, months, and even years of struggling and after multiple failures it is so easy to get tired and just give up. Yes, Heaven all seems so wonderful. But it seems like there’s no way we will ever get there or that we’ll ever be accepted. After all, we aren’t as courageous as Caleb. We aren’t as talented as Peter. We aren’t as energetic as Paul. So why should God want to stick with us?
The worst
sin you can commit then is to give up; to despair; to not even try to
fight. That’s what ten of the 12
Israelite spies recommended doing; and these were the leaders! Another interesting side note is again shown
in Deuteronomy chapter 1. He reveals
what the Israelites were saying in their tents.
“You grumbled in your tents and said, “The LORD hates us; so he
brought us out of
But this is the problem. You can’t just view life from a matter of might. God was able to use gnats and frogs and even the nothingness of darkness to break the Egyptians into submission. So why couldn’t he use the Israelites – even if they were like grasshoppers - to conquer the Anakites? The Israelites felt as if the power of their army depended on the power of their arms. Your ability to abstain from sex or drugs or anger is not solely dependent on you. It is dependent on the work of the Holy Spirit within you and through you; through your baptism. He infiltrates your mind and crushes you with guilt. He lifts up your eyes and promises you grace by pointing you to the cross of Christ. Here you see God’s love for you. Here you see God’s dedication to you. Here you see that God loves sinners that struggle; sinners that call to Him for help and rely on Him forgiveness. Do not accuse Him of hating you for allowing you to be in a position of struggling and battle. Do not assume He hates you. Do not think that God wants you to fail and to give up. Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
Even in the midst of being forsaken by the Father, Jesus didn’t give up. He still called out to the Father. He still hoped. He still asked the Father to accept His spirit. The Father answered and brought Jesus from death to life. Jesus conquered death with death. He conquered Satan by dying on a piece of wood. Jesus rendered death ineffective for those who believe and are baptized. He gave Satan nothing to accuse you of. So do not think that God is limited because of your weakness. God works through weakness. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:22-25,
Jews demand miraculous signs and
Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to
Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For
the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is
stronger than man’s strength.
Remember how Paul dealt with his weakness. He prayed for God to take it away; so that he wouldn’t have a struggle or a battle. But this is what happened:
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
God worked through Paul’s weakness to make Paul a spiritually stronger man in the end.
There were
two spies; a minority; that responded differently than the other ten. Numbers
If you want the bravery and outspokenness of Caleb, the question comes down to who you are going to listen to and who you are going to let influence you. I can recall liking a girl back in high school. My friend then came over to my house and convinced me to try to call her. She wasn’t home. But thereafter he badgered me into trying to call her about ten times in one day. Needless to say; even if she was home by the tenth time, she wasn’t home. She probably thought I was a stalker. I didn’t have to listen to him; but I did; and it was my own fault. Now, the Lord worked it out in the end and I married a much better woman; but that doesn’t change the fact that I should not have listened to him in the first place. Think about that in your own life. Are you living your life driven by your inner voices of failure? Are you being driven by the response of your classmates? Are you convincing your self that your behavior is acceptable when you conscience is clearly telling you it is not?
God’s Word takes you beyond what is logical or reasonable or measurable or fashionable and points you to the God who works the impossible in Christ. God’s Word doesn’t just tell you to “pray about it” and then stick your finger in the wind to do what you think is right. It tells you to search the Scriptures and seek the advice of strong Christians and pastors so that you can know what is right. It tells you to wrap yourself in the words and promises of God. This is the sword of the Spirit. This is the weapon that we go into battle with and we fight against Satan, the world, and our flesh; the weapon that Satan wants you to leave in your sheath. God’s promises will teach you to look beyond everyone else is thinking or what everyone else is doing. Maybe you won’t be popular at school if you have standards to live by. Your sinful nature may scream bloody murder. Your children may all think you are the cruelest parent in the world for making them do their chores or have a curfew; but you are the leader. You need to make the decisions that are right; not the ones that are popular. You may think that nobody is listening and you aren’t getting anywhere. You may be convinced there’s no way you can fight your temptation, but the LORD can fight through you and for you. Trust that the LORD can work it out; no matter what the obstacles may be.
The Israelites had every reason to fear going into the Promised Land. Grasshoppers don’t stand a chance against powerful warriors. But even when the flimsiest flax of straw is driven by a hurricane it is strong enough to bore itself into the sturdiest of trees. If the Israelites had just gone into the Promised Land without sending spies they never would have known the battle that was ahead until they actually got there. But then again, think of the show of faith it would have been if they had listened to Moses and Caleb and decided to go there in spite of the odds.
Knowledge is a neutral thing. It’s what you do with the knowledge that can either help you or hurt you. We have the hidden knowledge of God. We know we have been corrupted with a sinful nature. We know that the devil and his demons are real. We, like the Israelites, know that the barriers to the Promised Land are greater than we can fight against. But with Caleb and Joshua and Moses we know that it is the LORD who saves. We know that we have been baptized into God’s family. Just as He used gnats and flies to help set the Israelites free, He could also use the grasshopper Israelites to conquer the Promised Land. He used the flesh of Christ and the wood of the cross to save us from our sins. So also the LORD can make you strong to fight against the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh. Use the knowledge to fight the impossible battles. Do not retreat from the battle field of faith, no matter how many people recommend it. Amen.