In Numbers 13 and 14, we read about Israel’s failure to trust God so that they “snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory.” Israel had been redeemed from Egypt where they had endured slavery for possibly most of the 400 years they lived there. God rescued them from the obstinate clutches of a pharaoh who refused to let them go but who finally caved in after the Lord had pummeled him and his land with one plague after another while Israel was spared. Once out of Egypt the Lord miraculously provided them with manna for food and water that flowed out of a rock when there was no prospect at all of finding water in the desert. They were given victories over enemies they encountered and were given guidance both by God’s special angel and a cloud that hovered over the mobile tabernacle day and night (Numbers 9:15-23) and moved in the direction that Israel needed to go. About a year out of Egypt Israel arrived at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran not far from their ultimate destination-the promised land that “flowed with milk and honey.” They were poised to receive all that God had promised them: a homeland of their own, health, victory over their enemies, prosperity and the abiding presence of God who would dwell among them. And then tragedy struck.
Moses had sent 12 spies out to survey the land and its inhabitants. Upon returning they verified that the land was fantastic, a veritable paradise (Numbers 13:21-27), but 10 of the spies went on to say that the land was inhabited by “giants’ that made them feel like grasshoppers. They so terrified the people, Joshua and Caleb, notwithstanding (they were urging the people to move on in faith and trust in a God who would enable them to “swallow” these giants like they would the succulent grapes of the Valley of Eshcol. The people simply lost it. They were trembling in their boots and they were about to kill their leaders and head back to Egypt until God appeared and took control. These rebellious people lost out on God’s best and had to settle for second best in that they were “sentenced” to 40 years wandering in the dessert (one day for every day that the spies surveyed the land) although God did not forsake them but preserved them and protected them until all the rebellious adults of that generation died a natural death. Only their children twenty years and under and their children entered the promised land.
What intrigued me through all this is that these people had a record of murmuring and complaining whenever they encountered danger or deprivation of any kind whether it was lack of food, water, or the monotony of a strict diet. They could not handle frustration or any threat to their well being. It seems that as a people who had been enslaved for centuries, they had developed a deeply ingrained habit of always expecting the worse and lacking the courage to move forward in the face of adversity. They had lost their faith and had a habit of unbelief that they just could not shake no matter how many times God rescued them over the course of two years or so. How do YOU handle pressure? Do you look for the nearest exit? Do you play it safe rather than move ahead? Are you quick to settle for second best rather than persevering in God’s promises to see you through and give you the victory? Do you have a bad habit of caving in “when the chips are down.” God can change that for you through prayer if you believe that God can deliver us from bad habits. “ Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (I Corinthians 15:57). Amen.
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