If you’ve been around the church for a while, you’ve probably heard the names Joshua and Caleb. They were brave men who heard the promises of God and followed Him even in the eyes of significant risk and danger. The other ten guys, well, not so much. Sure, they all technically had names; you can find them in Numbers 13. However, I would guess that the people of Israel cursed their names every time they thought of them. I wonder what they thought of them every morning as the sweltering sun rose across the desert’s early horizon while preparing for another day’s trek across no man’s land. I wonder if they thought of those men and wished they hadn’t listened to them. I wonder if they found excuses not to invite them to the Elks Club meeting or the office Christmas party.
I would imagine that none of the fathers in Israel told their sons stories about grand adventures, nobility, and bravery and used these guys as illustrations. I’d assume that no one put these men forward at high school graduations as role models. More than likely, everyone eventually ignored and, over time, simply forgot them.
Israel had witnessed God’s immense power in executing judgment on Egypt and in rescuing them from slavery. They had heard God’s promise that He would not only deliver them but also bring them into the promised land of Canaan as their inheritance. God had pledged all this to Israel’s patriarch Abraham some 500 years prior.
Joshua, Caleb, and the ten without names explored the land ahead of the Hebrew advance and returned to camp, acknowledging the trustworthiness of God’s word. They carried with them the fruit of the land as a testimony of God’s promise. They all saw the bounty, but only Joshua and Caleb saw God’s hand at work.
“They all saw the bounty, but only Joshua and Caleb saw God’s hand at work.”
The other ten men turned their attention away from the God of all creation and toward the problems and threats of the world below, the world around them. They saw the worldly power of the nations that possessed the land and began fearing for their lives. They said the people of Canaan were of “great size.” In comparing themselves to the nations surrounding them, they owned their fear by admitting that they “seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
The unchecked fear of the ten spread throughout the community so much that many even considered rebelling against Moses and going back to Egypt. Did you get that? They had just come out of slavery and now somehow thought that a return to such misery was a better alternative than risking faith in God. They gave in to fear. Fear spread, and the multitude that embraced the plague of fear prevented the entire nation from entering peace until that whole generation had passed away.
Fear can hinder us. Fear of failure, financial ruin, and rejection can cause us to fall back and take the easy road of resignation and a controlled life without risk. The problem is that unchallenged fear will enslave us and those we love.
“Unchallenged fear will enslave us and those we love.”
The text tells us that Joshua and Caleb were different. Caleb said they should take the land. Joshua said they should advance. Both men remembered what God had done in the past and that God was faithful for the future. Because of their trust, Caleb and Joshua outlived those men and came into the land 40 years later. In speaking about the future, God said about Caleb, “Because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it” (Numbers 14:24, NIV).
Joshua followed Moses’ steps and led the charge into Canaan, which you can read about today in the biblical narrative that bears his name (see the book of Joshua).
All twelve of the men saw the danger, but only two saw God’s hand. Yes, there was danger, and there will be the risk of such for us today. When people say that once you accept Christ, all your problems will be over with, they’re just not speaking reality. Even Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV). There will always be struggles on this side of eternity. The question is how we handle those seasons and where we will put our hope.
“When people say that once you accept Christ, all your problems will be over with, they’re just not speaking reality.”
I don’t know what trouble or tension you’re going through right now. I won’t be trite and pretend I know what you’re going through or how you feel. I don’t. Likewise, you don’t know my struggle. But we know that the God of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and Caleb still rules eternity today. The details of our battles are different. The fabric of our fears is not the same as that of the nation of Israel some 3,000 years ago in the desert along the Red Sea. But God is the same, and the path forward is essentially the same.
Go ahead, name your fear and your present struggle. But also purposefully try to remember God’s provision in the past. Interestingly, when the apostle Paul instructed the first church to offer prayers and intercessions, he also taught them to do so “with thanksgiving” (Philippians 4:6).
What can you remember and praise God for as you build your strength to stand in the middle of fear? What band of brothers do you need to stand with so you’re not fighting the battle alone? Do you know a man hanging on by a thread who could use your encouragement right now?
“What can you remember and praise God for as you build your strength to stand in the middle of fear?”
How will you respond to the battle in front of you today? In truth, how you react to these fights of faith will affect not only you but also, quite possibly, generations to come. For those who do go behind you, may your name be remembered. May you be remembered as a man who trusted God and thus passed your faith in God to a generation yet to come.
Be strong today, my friend. Be strong!
From Kingdomology.com. Used with permission.
