Possessing the Promise…

Numbers 13:1-3; 17-33 – “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.

17 Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, 18 and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; 19 whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; 20 whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath. 22 And they went up through the South and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. 24 The place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there. 25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.

26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”

30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” NKJV

I do apologize for posting such a large portion of Scripture but wanted to make it easy for you to read as I delve into what I want to write about.  I believe that the Spirit of the Lord would have me take a Historic Life Experience from the pages of the Old Testament and communicate a Spiritual Principle from the New Testament.

Romans 15:4 – “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction….” NASB

1 Corinthians 10:6 – “Now these things happened as examples for us…”; “11 … they were written for our instruction…” NASB

Paul informed us that “these things” were an example or stamped as a model or a scar upon our hearts and were to be permanent reminders.  They were for our instruction or to be placed in our minds as constant reminders of this truth.  Therefore, I am confident that the Holy Spirit will communicate this to each of us in a most profound manner and we will receive enlightenment and thereby be drawn into what the Spirit of God is both saying and doing in our time!

God, in fulfilling His covenant to Abraham made some specific promises:

Genesis 12:7 –“The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants, I will give this land….” NASB

Galatians 3:7 – “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.” NKJV

Galatians 3:16 – “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.” NKJV

Galatians 3:17-18 – “And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” NKJV

Galatians 3:27-29 – “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” NKJV

Therefore, God instructed Moses as to how he was to Possess the Promised Land in Numbers 13:1-2.  God tells him, “Go get the needed information.”  Simply God was saying, “Do your research, evaluate the obstacle, the potential, the problem, the solution, and develop a plan.”  I realize that to some that might seem unnecessary and even foolish, but it is God’s Order and has been used by military strategists for centuries.  You know the enemy or discern the gates of the city!

Then in Numbers 13:3 as Moses is obedient God gave detailed instructions and the specially selected men were sent out.  In verses 17-20 we find specific instructions as to What to look for and Where to go in pursuit of that information.  God does not leave things to chance.  He gave four keys:  The Land, the People, the Cities, and the Fruit of the Land.  You will find as you study Scripture that God Never sends out an uninformed army.  He always desires to equip and prepare us for the battle.  Our problem often lies in our failure to understand or remember that “God’s ways are not man’s ways.”

When they came back there were both Unity and Division in their report and in the evaluation of that report.  It was a single report that was consistent, everybody agreed about the goodness of the Land.  However, they had two very diverse mental attitudes:  One group (10) could only see the Natural.  The other group (2) could see the Unseen Realm!  All agreed that the Land was everything God had said it was and was bountiful, but the majority saw the inhabitants of the Land as too strong to overcome and the Cities too fortified to take.

We see the same thing today.  People either view the problem and the promise through God’s eyes or natural eyes.  One opens the door to victorious overcoming and the other reduces us to a place of timidity and fear which will result in the paralysis of analysis and inaction!

I must stop here and pick this up tomorrow to further consider this thought of Possessing the Promise in more detail. 

So, until then may the Lord watch over you and guide you through His wisdom and love through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Blessings!