Should I stay or should I go?
We've all asked this question at some point.
Should I get involved or stay out of it?
Should I move onward or retreat?
Should I take one step forward?
We are not the first to do so.
About 3,500 years ago, the Israelites were faced with the same dilemma - should we go on or should we turn back?
God had led them in a mass exodus out Egypt, liberating them from 215 years of slavery, promising to lead them to a land he had already promised to Abraham about 430 years before.
The Israelites are now at the border of the promised land at a place called Kadesh (Number 12)
12 men (one leader from each tribe) are sent on a reconnaissance mission to investigate just how livable the land is, and to bring back evidence of the produce of the land (Num 13:24-25).
The map below shows the route of the 12 spies / investigators / explorers.
We've all asked this question at some point.
Should I get involved or stay out of it?
Should I move onward or retreat?
Should I take one step forward?
We are not the first to do so.
About 3,500 years ago, the Israelites were faced with the same dilemma - should we go on or should we turn back?
God had led them in a mass exodus out Egypt, liberating them from 215 years of slavery, promising to lead them to a land he had already promised to Abraham about 430 years before.
The Israelites are now at the border of the promised land at a place called Kadesh (Number 12)
12 men (one leader from each tribe) are sent on a reconnaissance mission to investigate just how livable the land is, and to bring back evidence of the produce of the land (Num 13:24-25).
The map below shows the route of the 12 spies / investigators / explorers.
They return after 40 days with a cluster of grapes that requires 2 men to carry it ("Produce of land: check!")
They tell the good news: the land is flowing with milk and honey, Hebrew code for "We can live quite comfortably there, mate!" (Read here)
They tell the bad news: there are some pretty big and scary people living there and they're well defended (Read here)
Quieting the grumblers, Caleb, one of the spies, says "We can do it" (read here)
The ten naysayer explorers shout him down, saying "We don't stand a chance" (read here)
This plunges all the Israelites into a depression, wishing they were back in captivity (read here)
What then transpires is a wrangling match between, one one side, a heart-broken God who wants to start afresh with just Moses (and the faithful) by destroying all the faithless children of Israel and on the other side, Moses trying to reason with God telling Him that His reputation is at stake (read here)
Responding to Moses' request for forgiveness, God relents and forgives the children of Israel.
However, and this is important:
While forgiveness is complete and utter, the Israelites still had to live with the consequences of their sin
They tell the good news: the land is flowing with milk and honey, Hebrew code for "We can live quite comfortably there, mate!" (Read here)
They tell the bad news: there are some pretty big and scary people living there and they're well defended (Read here)
Quieting the grumblers, Caleb, one of the spies, says "We can do it" (read here)
The ten naysayer explorers shout him down, saying "We don't stand a chance" (read here)
This plunges all the Israelites into a depression, wishing they were back in captivity (read here)
What then transpires is a wrangling match between, one one side, a heart-broken God who wants to start afresh with just Moses (and the faithful) by destroying all the faithless children of Israel and on the other side, Moses trying to reason with God telling Him that His reputation is at stake (read here)
Responding to Moses' request for forgiveness, God relents and forgives the children of Israel.
However, and this is important:
While forgiveness is complete and utter, the Israelites still had to live with the consequences of their sin
- Wandering the desert aimlessly for 40 years
- All the people who were drafted to the army, 20 years or older would die in the desert (i.e. they would not enter the Promised Land) (read here)
What was God's problem?
I mean, they'd doubted Him before right?
So what was different this time?
To answer this we need to take a bit of a trip down memory lane!
Over the past 18 months, this is what God had done for the children that He loved:
And now they are on the cusp of entering into the land that he had promised to give them for hundreds of years, and they blow it. They start talking about going back to Egypt, to the familiar, to the bondage.
Can you begin to feel the depth of God's heartbreak at this moment?
I mean, they'd doubted Him before right?
So what was different this time?
To answer this we need to take a bit of a trip down memory lane!
Over the past 18 months, this is what God had done for the children that He loved:
- Led them out of captivity
- Protected them by supernatural fire and cloud (His presence)
- Miraculously parted the Red Sea
- Made bitter water sweet
- Protected them from disease
- Provided them food (manna and quail)
- Instituted Sabbath rest
- Provided them water from a rock (miracle)
- Miraculously defeated the Amalekites
- Instituted a good system of government
- Called the children of Israel His own (covenant)
- Revealed Himself to them (10 Commandments)
- Guided them with an Angel
- Promised to wipe out the inhabiting tribes (Ex 23:23-32)
- Showed the Elders His glory
- They ate and drank in His presence (Exodus 24:9-11)
- Makes Himself present with the Israelites (Ark of Covenant + Tabernacle)
- Creates a means to deal with the sin problem (system of sacrifice)
- Forgives Israelites when they break the covenant
- Creates a priesthood (mediators between them and God)
- Institutes Celebration of the Passover (1 Year Anniversary of Freedom!)
- Organizes the refugees / asylum seekers into a nation
- Promises to give them the land (Number 13:2)
And now they are on the cusp of entering into the land that he had promised to give them for hundreds of years, and they blow it. They start talking about going back to Egypt, to the familiar, to the bondage.
Can you begin to feel the depth of God's heartbreak at this moment?
Caleb
The one exception was Caleb. After condemning the Israelites to 40 years wandering, God says this of Caleb:
But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it (Number 14:24)
The one exception was Caleb. After condemning the Israelites to 40 years wandering, God says this of Caleb:
But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it (Number 14:24)
Consequences
What follows is heartbreaking to watch:
After that, the children of Israel decided to trust God, repent and enter the Promised Land.
But, this is important too, IT WAS TOO LATE:
God told them not to do it.
They ignored Him and went up anyways.
They were beaten back. (read here)
Not only that but the spies who spread the bad report, and exaggerated about the dangers of the Promised Land, striking fear into all the Israelites, were struck with a plague and died. (read here)
What follows is heartbreaking to watch:
After that, the children of Israel decided to trust God, repent and enter the Promised Land.
But, this is important too, IT WAS TOO LATE:
God told them not to do it.
They ignored Him and went up anyways.
They were beaten back. (read here)
Not only that but the spies who spread the bad report, and exaggerated about the dangers of the Promised Land, striking fear into all the Israelites, were struck with a plague and died. (read here)
Lessons for us
So what can we take from this whole tragic saga?
- God has an inheritance for each of us: a Promised Land for us to enter into (or not, it's our choice)
- We can choose to linger on the periphery, or trust in His character and, in faith, enter into that inheritance
- There are consequences for the decision we make, whether we trust God or doubt Him
- At some point, our option to choose will be over. God will say "Enough is enough". This time applies to all of us. This time is death: the Bible talks about it in these terms:
For those who know Christ already
- We can be infected by fear of the future
- We then run to the 'safety' of the past - bondage and captivity
- If we let "what ifs" (the fear of the future) rule our life, we are often led to the "if only" (the false sanctuary of the past)
- God doesn't want us to live either in the past or the future
- God calls us to live NOW in the present, and to trust Him 'now'
The Choice Before Us
Will you choose to allow a spirit of fear infect and rule you?
14:11 Breaking God’s heart
14:12 Risking God’s righteous and holy anger
14:20-23, 29-35 Allowing the inheritance promised you by God to pass you by
14:40 There will come a day when it is too late
Will you choose to live in the Spirit of Caleb?
14:24-25 inheriting the great and precious promises of God
Choose today to live in the Spirit of Caleb, with a spirit that's different to the prevailing culture of fear and uncertainty. Choose to follow God wholeheartedly (i.e. with everything you are and have). Choose not to hold back. And when God says "Go", you go, understanding that, just as He has been there for you in the past, so He is with you, leading you, walking beside you and fighting for you every step of the way.
