October 25, 2024

Numbers 13:26-33  (HCSB)
Report about Canaan
26 The men went back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for them and the whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They reported to Moses: “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit. 28 However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!” 31 But the men who had gone up with him responded, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!” 32 So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. 33 We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.”

Rachel Raley
The men came back with a taste of what was good from the Promised Land, but also what riddled them with fear: the strong inhabitants. See, humans were comparing themselves to each other long before social media was here! Sometimes we are called to have faith in the known, like the Israelites did here. They saw what they were up against. They were even told what the outcome would be (victory), yet they still lacked faith. Other times we are called to have faith in the unknown. We don’t always get a preview of what’s up ahead and we must trust what we can’t see. We struggle with both. In the big picture we do know the ending and the outcome. God wins and we spend eternity with Him. Our human nature may never allow us to have complete faith, but the more we practice having faith daily the stronger our faith will grow!