Spying Out the Land

Numbers 13-15

            Moses sends representatives from each of the tribes to spy out the land. They discover that it is everything the Lord had said: a good land that produces good crops, a land flowing with milk and honey. But the inhabitants of the land are strong and they live in strong cities. The Israelites, only a year out of a slavery, are ill-equipped to make war against a better armed foe and the prospect of laying siege to walled cities must have been frightening. (Sieges take a long time.) One can understand why their spirits quailed at the prospect of invading. From a human perspective, they had a good argument. What they failed to account for was that that Lord had promised to give it to them. He had already delivered them from the power of Egypt, and He told them He would deliver this land into their hands, too.

            I think about that a lot. Jesus speaks in Luke 14 about the importance of counting the cost—of building a tower, of going to war, and of discipleship. Jesus seems to be affirming our human judgments. The question becomes, “When are we just supposed to blindly trust the Lord and when are we supposed to apply some sanctified common sense before we engage in a course of action?” Years ago, a church I pastored was involved in a building project, and the first estimates were way more than anticipated. Some argued we should scale back the plans; some argued we just needed to trust God. I’m a planner, so you can imagine what side I was on!

            I do think that we are on safe ground when we put our confidence in God’s final promises, that is, when we think about these things eschatologically. (Eschatology is the study of the last day, and to think about things eschatologically means to think about them with the resurrection and the new creation of the last day in mind.) Romans 8 is a great example of this: in a section about having hope in the midst of suffering and about confidently believing that nothing can separate us from the love of God, Paul cites Psalm 44:22, “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” In our present reality, we suffer and will make judgments that are more and less faith-filled. But we always live with the confidence of the final restoration. We will find ourselves in these quandaries where we don’t know if we should follow our human judgment or take a wild step in the confidence of the Lord. We may find ourselves rejoicing that it all worked out and praising the Lord for it; or we may find ourselves wondering how this all went so wrong. But we keep our eyes focused on the promises of God, that ultimately, because of what Jesus has done, He will work out all things for the good of those who love Him.

            Israel, of course, had a direct command and promise from the Lord, so the Lord was angry at their disobedience and they were sent back into the wilderness for an entire generation.