Last week, I was reading in Numbers 13 and 14, the story of Moses sending twelve men, one leader from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, to spy out the land of Canaan. God had promised Moses that He was giving this land to the people of Israel. Moses gave the men clear instructions. They were to see whether the land was good or bad, rich or poor, whether the people were few or many, whether they were weak or strong.

As they were leaving, Moses encouraged them with these words. “Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land” (Numbers‬ ‭13:20‬). They left the wilderness of Paran, according to the command the Lord had given Moses, and for forty days they spied out the land of Canaan. Then it was time to return with a report on what they had learned. ‬‬‬

After showing some of the fruit of the land, including a single cluster of grapes that was so large two of the men carried it on a pole between two of them, they began their report on a positive note. Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey.

But as their report continued, the affirming words were replaced with words filled with doubt and fear. The facts may have been true – the cities were large and fortified, the people strong, some of them extremely large, descendants of the Nephilim, who according to Hebraic and other legends (the Book of Enoch and other non-biblical writings), were a race of giants and super-heroes who did acts of great evil – but they left God out of the picture.
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The report of the majority of the spies ended with these words.

“We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” (Numbers‬ ‭13:31-33‬) ‭‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The ten spies were grumbling against their leaders Moses and Aaron, the rest of the congregation raising loud cries against the Lord for bringing them into the land. They were convinced that they would die in the wild, that their wives and little ones would become a prey. Their answer was clear.

“Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Numbers‬ ‭14:3b-4)‬

But there were two spies who saw Canaan through a different lens. Caleb saw the same problems ahead, but he had a different attitude from the other spies.

“But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.’” (Numbers‬ ‭13:30)‬ ‬

Through this time, Joshua was silent. But when Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the people of Israel, both Caleb and Joshua tore their clothes in grief over the people’s blasphemy against God and rebellion against Moses. And they said to the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”

Instead of heeding their wise words, the people of Israel wanted to stone these two righteous men. But Number 14:10 ends with the glory of the Lord appearing and Him speaking.

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.’” (Numbers‬ ‭14:11-12)‬‬

This is an interesting Bible story, but where is the application in our lives? There are probably as many applications as there are people reading this post.

For me, the application was clear. In the situation we are currently walking through, the changed lifestyle that we are all experiencing because of the COVID-19 pandemic and all the ramifications that have come out of it, what would I make my focus? Would I tremble in fear as I turn my eyes on all the problems we are going through and the possible problems ahead? Or would I focus on our invisible God who is bigger than the visible problems we face – indeed, bigger than the biggest problem I will ever face?

The answer was clear – I choose to turn my eyes on the Lord, to focus on Him and move forward into the future in faith. I don’t want to end up like that whole generation that left Egypt did, except for Caleb and Joshua who saw the situation through the lens of faith. Because of the grumbling, unbelief and rebellion of the people, that generation wandering for forty and then died in the wilderness, just as they feared would happen.

I choose to look at my problems through the lens of faith in a God who is bigger than any problem we may face!