When the children of Israel left Egypt, they left for a place they had never seen. No wonder they were a little uncertain about their future.

This new land had been promised to Abraham, and it had taken many years for the promise to be fulfilled. No wonder they were skeptical.

There were thousands of people to feed, and they had a leader who was not well known to them. No wonder they were afraid.

They returned to their idol worship, grumbled, and complained; but God continued to assure them that His promise would be fulfilled. God fed them and provided them water. He gave them laws by which to live. They left their idols, for a time, and served God.

Finally, they came to the edge of the land that had been promised to them. They chose a man from each of the twelve tribes to spy out the land and see what lay ahead for this nation of God’s people. These were their instructions:

“Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land” (Numbers 13:17-20 ESV). 

The people went up, spied out the land, cut down a branch of grapes, gathered some pomegranates and figs, and returned to report their findings. It was a land that flowed with milk and honey, and they had the fruit to prove it.

The visual effects of their adventure must have been overwhelming to Moses, Aaron, and the people. Canaan was certainly a productive land, exactly what God had promised; however, the rest of the report was not so encouraging.

“However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large” (Numbers 13:28). In addition to this, the Israelites saw giants in the land and a host of other nations of whom they were afraid.

Ten of the spies stirred up the people, and the people wanted to choose a new leader to lead them back to Egypt. Two of the leaders, Joshua and Caleb, wanted to proceed into the land of Canaan. This was their advice:

“Do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them” (Numbers 14:9).

This is good advice for us. We can have the same comfort Joshua and Caleb had as they stood before the congregation of Israel.

We should not rebel again God. He has given us a book of instruction, the Bible, from which we can learn His will. Those that rebel against His laws will not survive. “…when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (Second Thessalonians 1:7-8).

We should not fear the people of the land. Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

 The disobedience of the people of Israel came with punishment for those who refused to take the advice of Joshua and Caleb. “None of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it” (Numbers 14:22-23).

The scoffers of today, like the ten spies, have their own special warning. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (Second Peter 3:10).

 We are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells (Second Peter 3:13). We should do as Peter suggests:

• “Be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (verse 14).
• “Take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability” (verse 17).
• “Grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (verse 18).

On whose side will we be, the scoffers or the obedient?

Sandra Oliver