It Was Theirs to Lose

“But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the LORD has given them? Your fathers did this when I sent them from Kadesh-Barnea to see the land. 

For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the LORD had given them. And the LORD’s anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’ 

And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. And behold, you have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel! For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.” (Numbers 32:6-15 ESV)

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Israel had come full circle. They were again at the Jordan river, ready to cross over into the land promised to them by God to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Their parents and grandparents faced the Jordan forty years earlier but they believed the evil report.

“Forty days later, they came back from exploring the land. They came back to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. They gave their report and showed them the fruit from the land.

 This is what they reported to Moses: “We went to the land where you sent us. It really is a land flowing with milk and honey. Here’s some of its fruit. But the people who live there are strong, and the cities have walls and are very large. We even saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev. The Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the mountain region. And the Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and all along the Jordan River.”

Caleb told the people to be quiet and listen to Moses. Caleb said, “Let’s go now and take possession of the land. We should be more than able to conquer it.”

But the men who had gone with him said, “We can’t attack those people! They’re too strong for us! So they began to spread lies among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored is one that devours those who live there. All the people we saw there are very tall. We saw the Nephilim there. (The descendants of Anak are Nephilim.) We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that’s how we must have looked to them.” (Numbers 13:25-33)

Not only did the ten spies refuse to believe that God would help them take the land, they spread lies among the people, polluting everyone’s faith! What was the result? God told them they would never enjoy the promised land because of their unbelief so they spent the rest of their lives living as nomads in the desert. They lived far below what God had for them simply because they were afraid to face challenges and believe God for miracles.

But what about Joshua and Caleb? Weren’t they in faith? They were but two men can’t fight the enemies they were facing. They needed the entire force of the people behind them. So what happened? Joshua and Caleb had to wander in the desert with those people for forty years. They were young robust men at that time, now they are at the Jordan river again as eighty year old men. But they were BLESSED by God in the middle of the wilderness because their strength never waned.

Now they are ready to go into the Jordan river but the tribes of Gad and Reuben are lazy and don’t want to fight. They want to stay on this side of the Jordan river where they won’t have to die for someone else’s’ land. So here Joshua and Caleb are ready to go in and there is a segment of the body full of unbelief, fear, and doubt. Can you see how poisonous unbelief is to other peoples’ faith? The promised land was theirs to lose.

Here in America, we are at a “Jordan river” ourselves. We are facing an unprecedented voter fraud perpetrated on the American people by one party determined to get power at any cost. We are facing “giants” that seem to have got everything locked up and fortified. They are spreading lies among the people to bring fear, doubt and unbelief into their hearts–and it’s working for them too. Many Christians are in despair, and yes God does have a remnant of prayer warriors and intercessors standing against this in prayer and yes, there are many Christians who are standing against it as well. The question is: will the voices of the unbelievers silence the voices of the faithful? How many people of faith are willing to take this challenge in prayer head on and trust God to bring victory? Israel only had two: Joshua and Caleb. How many do we have?

I daresay we are even at a “Red Sea” moment, where we either retain our freedoms by believing God to bring justice in this situation or we go into the slavery of Communism. They can sugarcoat their agenda all they want but it boils down to slavery. No freedom of speech, no freedom to protect yourself, forced vaccinations, property confiscation, and the list goes on. This kind of “utopia” they are espousing is that the elite have everything and everyone else is equally poor and miserable. Just ask any Cuban in Miami or anyone from Venezuela and they’ll tell you what it’s really like.

What strikes me about this story is that Joshua and Caleb had to suffer right along with the unbelievers even though God preserved them until they could go in and eventually they got to live free in their land and died as very old men. A true testament to God’s faithfulness to those who believe Him and Trust Him.

The people of God are at a crossroads. Do we believe God or believe the evil reports? God spoke through the Prophets that President Trump would serve two terms and I believe he will be re-elected. Now 2024? Who knows? But God has an agenda and Joe Biden/Kamala Harris are not on it. I don’t usually speak about politics on this blog, but I feel that Christians need to make the right choice to trust God and believe God to bring about His promises in spite of the “giants” in the land.

Even if you don’t believe it, don’t say anything negative because our words have an impact in the world around us even if we don’t realize it. Remember: life and death are in the power of the tongue. We will eat the fruit of it one way or another. This election, like the promised land for Israel, is ours to lose if we don’t trust God and speak His words over it.

Keep the faith….

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