God promised Canaan to the Israelites and wanted them have a glimpse of it. He orders Moses to choose twelve leaders, one from each tribe, to spy Canaan (Numbers 13 & 14).  These twelve leaders spy the land for forty days. They find that Canaan was indeed flowing with milk and honey. They get to walk in it and feel it. Their hearts were filled with joy that they were going to inherit a place so fertile and beautiful like Canaan.

However, there was one problem. The people who lived there were giants. These spies looked like grasshoppers before them. Now their hearts were troubled and they were totally discouraged. They thought they would never be able drive away these giants from the land. They spread this bad report among the people. Now everyone started complaining and whining.

All, except Caleb and Joshua, were scared.

Caleb and Joshua had a different spirit and a different perspective. They believed that God was with them and will help them defeat the giants. They urged the people not be afraid. They told them to have faith in God and His power. But the people tried to stone both of them.

Now God was angry. The faithlessness, the whining and the grumbling was a great insult to God’s promise and His power. He was now contemplating about sending a plague among the people. If not for Moses’ pleading before God, they would all have been destroyed that day. But God said in His anger that none would enter the promised land, except Caleb and Joshua.

Forty years later. Israelites inherit Canaan. The people who had doubted and grumbled were all dead. It was Joshua and Caleb who led the people into the promised land.

Lessons to be learnt:

1)  When God makes a promise it is sure and will definitely get fulfilled.
Heaven and earth may change, but God and His word will never change.

2)  When you doubt God’s promises it’s an insult to God.

3)  Both faith and fear are contagious.
It’s yours to choose which one to spread.

4)  Present circumstances and the promise will always contradict each other.
It’s yours to choose on which one to set your eyes on.

5)  A leader should always have a strong faith and clear vision about the promise.
This applies to your family, business, work, etc….

6)  There’s always a waiting period before the promise gets fulfilled.
It builds up your faith and prepares you to receive the promise.

7)  Walk by faith and not by sight.

“Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.”   – St. Augustine

The following is one of my favorite songs:

He did not bring us out this far to take us back again.
He brought us out to take us into the promised land.

Though there be giants in the land, we will not be afraid.
He brought us out to take us into the promised land.