Numbers 14-15

February 15

Numbers 14-15

Faith. The writer of Hebrews said; "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1, NIV) The nickname for the state of Missouri is the “show me state.”  Most people tend to want to see something to believe it. The scientific method is used to prove or disprove a hypothesis. But Paul wrote; "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18, NIV) We believe in gravity because we see the effects every day. If you drop something, it goes down. Do we see the effects of God around us every day?

The Israelites had been wandering in the desert. They had seen God move in many miraculous ways. They had seen the plagues in Egypt; they had seen the Red Sea part. They had seen the water come from a rock, manna arrive each morning, quail fill the camp, and many other miracles. God brought them to the edge of the land He had promised to give the Israelites. He told Moses to send 12 men in to check out the land, one from each tribe.

The men went into the land and it was everything God had promised. It took two men to carry one bunch of grapes; the land was flowing with milk and honey. In other words it was fertile, good land. But there were also walled cities in the land. There were strong armies. There were giants in the land. When the men came back they told Moses and the people, the land is good, but there is no way we can take this land.

The people once again rebelled against God. They did not believe God could or would provide for them. There were two men in the party that had a different view. Joshua and Caleb saw the same things the others say. They saw the good land, they saw the walled cities, the saw the strong armies, they even saw the giants, but they saw something the others missed. They saw the power of God.

They reported to the people that God would provide the land for them if they walked in obedience to Him. We all face fears. We all face obstacles. We all have things we believe God wants us to do, but we are afraid of failure. That is when we have to exercise faith. God said; “my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly.” What would God say about you today?