03- 10- 11 MI DAILY DEVOTION (Numbers 13: 26- 33)
THEY LOST THEIR FAITH BECAUSE OF…
26- “And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27- And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28- Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29- The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. 30- And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31- But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32- And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33- And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
I heard this before, people making comments about a certain individual who were backsliding because of some reasons… Other pastors will make a remark about one of his parishioners of church members who have lost his or her faith. But in this movie “What Would Jesus Do” where the pastor was asked by his members the same question, “Pastor, where is your faith… have you lost your faith?”
Was it not supposed to be a time of celebration and a victory party? Was it not supposed to be the time to recognize everyone and give thanks to God because they made it back and they can plan over and claim the land for God? In verse 26- “And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.” If I was there during those times, I would be surprise, I would be mad and I would be questioning Joshua and Caleb of what happened to the faith of other spies. It was obvious that they have a testimony and they were so blessed to be back and to be a miracle of God. They did not realize that God was with them and was working in them. They saw the blessings, they feel the Lord and they saw everything they need to know but, unfortunately, they did not catch and see the picture and capture the vision. They came back, brought back word unto them and have the fruit of the land in their hand, and if you would put it in the words of the kids and of the world it would sound like this- “so what’s the big deal and what’s up with you man… and what’s your problem buddy?” It was not because Moses was not a good leader or Joshua was a negative person and they lacked encouragement from Joshua and Caleb, it was just because they were negative and their reactions was beyond their leaders control. In verses 27- And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. And notice what it says in verse 28- Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
