Grapes 1 Giants 0
Did you ever wonder why the nation of Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness? I thought I knew, and I was partially correct, they had made God mad. There was the Golden Calf incident, then the constant griping about food and, lack of cucumbers. The list went on and on. Suffice it to say, they were an ungrateful bunch, and that’s a fact. They had seen all the miracles, while still slaves in Egypt, and then the many blessing on their journey, but still they weren’t satisfied. So, what was the act that pushed God over the edge? And, why was 40 years the chosen number? If you’re ready for an adventure, don your sandals and SPF 90, we’re heading back to the desert of discontent.
The land of promise lay before the nation of Israel. Literally, just a stone’s throw across the Jordan. God wanted the assembly to be certain of His promise of milk and honey, so he put together a team of 12 men to go in and bring back proof. One stalwart, God-fearing man from each of the 12 tribes was assigned to be a “spy”. Their mission was to scope out the land, the crops, and the inhabitants of their soon to be new home. So, with God’s guidance, they set off. On the journey we are told, in the book of Numbers, that they found all sorts of luscious fruits. In fact, one cluster of grapes they cut down, took two men to carry it. When they finally returned, after 40 days in Canaan, the crowd was there to meet and greet. I’m sure there were oohs and ahhs over the fruit, but then the rest of the story was told. This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. 28But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! the Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Seaa and along the Jordan Valley.”
30But 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!”
31But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” 32So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 33We even saw giantsb there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!” Numbers 13:27-33
I’m sure they saw all that frightening stuff, but what they forgot was God’s promise. God had sworn to them that this precious parcel was their inheritance. Even if it looked impossible to possess, God would go before them to seal the deal. However, we humans can only comprehend what our natural eyes see. They saw giants, and fear instead of faith overwhelmed them. Only two men out of the twelve believed, Joshua and Caleb. They were fortified by God’s supernatural power, and saw the victorious outcome through His eyes. The report upset the majority of the folks, and things got ugly. Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. 3“Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”
How could they forget all the miracles they had witnessed so quickly? The fear-filled words of mere men had influenced them more than the promise of God. It got so bad that they wanted to kill Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb. God was not happy, to put it mildly. He wanted to wipe out the whole ungrateful bunch on the spot. Moses intervened, but the damage had been done. The promise was so close, but now it would be so far away. For every day the spies were gone, 40, that generation of people would wander one year in the wilderness, and never receive their legacy.
What wonderful gifts are we forsaking because of what our human eyes and ears perceive? Actually, it’s much easier to believe what we see. Faith is a gift, but it is also a choice that only we can make. Every newscast, in our modern world, makes us forget the cluster of grapes, because the giants look larger. Good news, God is in the giant-slaying business. Yes, my eyes see that the world is teeming with evil and giants, so daily I must remind myself of His covenant. What giants are your in fear of today? Make the choice to have God’s supernatural vision and faith. Look, God is holding out those succulent grapes.
