When the nation of Israel would not
obey God, when they would not do his will or proceed to take up the land
promised of God, the Lord had to disinherit them. But in that process he
immediately prophesied to Moses a new nation:
Numbers 14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will
make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they
MSG v12… But I will make you
into a nation bigger and stronger than they ever were!
Similarly when the 10 spies brought an evil report, God
condemned the 10 and said they won’t see the Promised Land. But he gives a
special exception to Caleb and Joshua, saying, “But my
servant Caleb—this is a different story. He has a different spirit; he follows
me passionately. I’ll bring him into the land that he scouted and his children
will inherit it. (Numbers 14:24, MSG)
We thus see two kinds of people who
qualify eventually to enter the Promised Land, that is, the children who were
below 20 at the time of the rebellion and two gentlemen – Caleb and Joshua,
because they dared believe in the midst of all unbelief in the camp.
For the under 20s children, the Lord
allowed them into the Promised Land because they said nothing! Isn’t it funny!
The older people shouted, yelled, complained and created strife in their
hearts. This became totally incompatible with God’s nature. But when the little
children said nothing, the word of God could still work in their lives. The
promises of God which are yes and amen in Christ, which were already activated
by the prophetic could proceed and obtain result for the little children. But
not so for the elderly because they actively frustrated the word of God. But we
will look more at this on our next blog. Lets look at the other group that
entered the Promised Land.
Only two attributes seem to have qualified
Caleb and Joshua:
i.
They
had a different spirit
ii.
They
followed God fully or passionately (MSG)
A lot of times success and prosperity are not products of many great
things, but a positive and strong spirit… Where
your current IQ can't take you, where your certificates can't take you, where
your education, connections, physical strength can’t take you, the positive and
strong spirit will. In fact the scripture calls it “confidence”! Faith is
confidence nothing more or less! If you are confident in the Lord, in the
ability of the word of the Lord, then you are in the faith that is of God. It is not confidence in your
own self, but in God! The 10 spies wanted to rely on their own abilities and quickly
realized the limits thereof and this hurt God. But Caleb and Joshua realized
they had to primarily lean on God’s ability and hence it was easy for them to
say, “let us go up at once and possess the land for we are well able"!’
Isn’t it amazing that the bible
never refers to Joshua and Caleb as extra ordinarily gifted soldiers? It simply
states that they believed. Sometimes we have over exaggerated the importance of
our own abilities. The ability of God will place you much higher than your own
abilities ever will. Let us rely on him. David says in Psalm 34:2 “my soul shall make her boast in the
Lord.”
The
second element is a passionate pursuit of God. The MSG version said Caleb
followed God “Passionately”, while the KJV says “Fully”. I am not sure how many
people do get to fulfill the plan of God 100%. I know that our God is a God of
just, he judges people’s hearts rather than physical actions.
He
approves David for his ‘perfect’ heart though he had faults in the natural.
This verse does not demand perfection, it demands an excellent, passionate and
surrendered heart! Because we are all not perfect. God is not demanding perfection all he seeks is a perfect heart. He is demanding a total
yield to his spirit and his leadership. He has given you his spirit. He is our
guide and counselor.
I believe that God is still looking
for a generation that would rather be silent than offend God. A generation that
would rather be innocent or novices in disbelief and mature in faith! The camp
of Israel became so sensitive of their slavery and suffering that even when an
opportunity to live life free from bondage in a land flowing with milk and
honey, their negative experiences clouded their judgment.
My simple encouragement to
you today is to stay in faith. Stay in scriptural confession. Guard your heart
and endeavor to keep a positive and faithful heart. At all times, seek after
the heart and purpose of God! The Bible says in Psalm 8:2, “out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength”. There is power in keeping
your heart pure and clean. Don’t allow fears, failures and negative experiences
of life to contaminate your heart and ability to trust God.
