Dare To Believe In The Faithfulness Of God

Subject: Dare to Believe in the Faithfulness of God

Scripture Lesson: Numbers 13:26-33 “to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. 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. But 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 Sea and along the Jordan Valley.” But 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!” But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” So 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. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

Introduction: Numbers 13 is about a report brought back by the Israelite spies about the land of Canaan, where they compared themselves to the giants in the land and felt like grasshoppers in their sight, showcasing the crippling effect of fear and lack of faith in pursuing God's promises. You would think that nothing could have kept Israel from entering the Promised Land after being so close to it for forty days. The Israelites were a good example, showcasing the crippling effect of fear and lack of faith in pursuing God's promises. Fear tied them to their past, and blinded their vision from looking ahead to what God had for them in the present. They still had a “slave mentality.” Like the Israelites, we all have “giants”, problems and difficulties in life we have to overcome. But if we choose to run to God and rely on His strength to help us, we can not only defeat our giants, but the Lord will make us stronger in the process...then use us to do greater things than we ever imagined! : Believers must dare to believe in the faithfulness of God!

They waited on the borders of Canaan for the return of the spies. They were poised to enter Canaan Land. They had the assurance of success. They had witnessed God's Divine power, miracles in the wilderness and God’s divine presence. They had been slaves in Egypt, yet God delivered them and showed himself to be all powerful, all knowing and everywhere present. This lesson shows us how easily Believers can vacillate between faith and doubt. No one expected the report of the spies to promote distrusted in God's power and promises. How much we are robbed by our own doubt, unbelief, and mental attitude! When the messengers returned, the greater part discouraged the people from going forward into Canaan. The Israelites placed more confidence in the judgment of men than they did in the word of God. They had found the land as good as God had said, yet they doubted could have it as God had promised. The Bible calls the ten men unbelievers. Their unbelief caused them to doubt the promises and power of God. They magnified every danger and difficulty and filled the hearts of the people with discouragement and fear.

Caleb and Joshua encouraged the people to go forward. Caleb does not say, Let us go up and conquer it; but, Let us go and possess it. Difficulties that are in our way, will dwindle and vanish before our lively, active faith in the power and promise of God. All things are possible, to him that believes. We must trust God and his promises more than our carnal senses. Those who trust the promises of God and follow his directions will find that His promises are true. Caleb looks on the situation as being already done. Let us go up and possess it! There is nothing to be done, but to enter without delay, and take the possession of that which our great God is now ready to give us!

This report was given publicly to the audience of all the people. We must be careful when reporting to a crowd. Crowds can be easily swayed or misled. The report began accurately enough, they said, we found the land just as God said, "surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it." You can almost hear the excitement of the crowd, as eyes beheld the fruit of the land. Then they said, "the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great:" Even that was an accurate report. But they concluded their report with an opinion and a recommendation, they said, "We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we." And further, "And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature." In spite of all they had witnessed, these leaders of Israel allowed the size and number of the giants to cause them to question the power, and truth, and goodness of God. In order to possess the land, you will have to slay some giants. If we are giant slayers, we must not get our assignment twisted. These spies were sent to investigate the Land so that a plan of attack could be developed.