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!”
Our verse for today is part of the story—recorded in Numbers 13-14—of the twelve scouts that Moses sent out from the camp of the Israelites to explore the land of Canaan. Ten of the twelve returned with a bad report. Although they acknowledged that it was “a land flowing with milk and honey,” as the Lord had promised them, they described the people of Canaan as being too big and too strong to conquer. Only Joshua and Caleb reported that the Israelites could take the land.
The story is instructive for the people of God of all ages.
First, we can learn that when the time comes to move from our period of trial and testing in the “wilderness” into the fullness of what God has planned for our lives, there may well be many obstacles. Change and growth are not easy, and the new situation may contain new “enemies” to conquer.
Second, as we approach the new situation, we will have a choice to make. Will we trust God to take us into it and through it, or will we fall into unbelief? Will we be on the side of the ten fearful scouts, or on the side of Joshua and Caleb? The obstacles will be real enough. It’s not as if the ten scouts were seeing things. There actually were giants in the land. Everything that happened to us in the wilderness was preparation for facing the giants—and now we must go forward in faith.
Finally, we must make the right choice. Joshua, Caleb, and Moses made the right choice. They urged the people to move forward and conquer and take possession of the land. Like them, we must have the courage born of faith to move forward. What is needed at that moment is not a natural vision of what is, but a supernatural faith vision of what can be.
Perhaps you are at the place of decision today. Perhaps a new calling looms ahead in the distance. Already, however, you can see the giants. Trust God and do not fear. After all, do you really want to go back into the wilderness?
By John Huisman, friend of Bible League International
