11/1/11 SPYING OUT THE LAND
Numbers 13:1-25 Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Key Verse: 13:1-2
“The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
Dear Lord, thank you for your grace. Thank you for giving me strength to serve you and an absolute reason why I must seek your face and serve you. I must know your holiness and my sinfulness and stand firm on the grace of God. Lord, revive my heart and my ministry that I may be your joyful servant. Lord, please plant your word in my heart with the right focus. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!
1. Explore the land (1-20).
Verses 1-20, “ 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.” 3 So at the LORD’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. 4 These are their names:… 16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.) 17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)”
The Israelites reached the border of the land God had promised them. At the Lord’s command, Moses sent twelve spies, one from each tribe, to explore the land from one end to the other. They were to find out about the land and its people. God had promised to give Canaan to the Israelites, but they had to go in and take possession of it. It requires faith, obedience, and action to claim God’s promises.
I can see that God gives his promises, but we must step out in faith. God was has mercy on those people who are hopeless, but they must claim the promised and step out in faith. I need to go out in NIU and spy out the land and see the fruit and show the fruit to others. I can do this with the upcoming report at the staff conference about NIU. I pray that I may repent of despair and sitting on my laurels. I may go out and spy the land of mission and know that the mighty , holy God will be with me, despite my sinfulness.
2. The leaders returned (21-25).
Verses 21-25 read, “So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,[a] they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.:”
The land was good, but the people were fearsome. The spies brought back a cluster of grapes so big that two of them had to carry it on a pole. They also brought back figs and pomegranates. The land was really good.
The land of NIU is really good. I repent that I have thought it to be a closed mission field. I have prayed for my kids to leave it. But I land is good. There are so many students. There are so many possibilities for the work of God to happen. I pray that that I may know that the fields are ripe for the harvest. Lord, I have had such small vision. I have been focusing in on my own needs and self. How foolish. Please help me to full of your vision and not just my own puny limited vision.
Prayer: Lord, help me to hold on to your promises and see my situation from your eyes and with your vision.
One Word: Claim God’s promises. God see the fruit of the land.
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