May 15, 2023

Unbelief comes from the heart, not circumstance.

Numbers 13

Craig Wenning
Monday's Devo

May 15, 2023

Monday's Devo

May 15, 2023

Big Idea

God's instruction can always be trusted.

Key Verse | Numbers 13:27-28

And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there."

Numbers 13

Spies Sent into Canaan

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” 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 people of Israel. And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, 18 and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19 and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it 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 to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, 1 13:24 Eshcol means cluster because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.

Report of the Spies

25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people 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 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then 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 are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Footnotes

[1] 13:24 Eshcol means cluster

S2:091 Numbers 13

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Dive Deeper | Numbers 13

What's in a name? When we were pregnant with our first, we prayed for the right name for our son, ultimately asking: Who do we want him to become? We chose the name Caleb, which translates to "faithful," "wholehearted," and "devoted to God." Here in Numbers 13, we see Caleb in action. 

In Numbers 13:30 we see that after the other spies spoke, Caleb "quieted the people" and said, "[W]e are well able to overcome it." I initially see William Wallace-like courage here—godly men like Caleb step up, lean in, and speak out. While that's true, upon further reflection, I believe Caleb really just remembered. Caleb remembered God's promises of this land to come from Genesis 15:18-21. Caleb remembered God's power—the pillar of cloud and fire in Exodus 13 and parting the Red Sea in Exodus 14. Caleb remembered God's previous provisions for the Israelites, sweetening the water at Marah in Exodus 15, providing food via manna and quail in Exodus 16, and defeating the Amalekites at Rephidim through Moses' raised arms in Exodus 17. Caleb remembered that God is faithful!

Said differently, do we trust the witness of men over the witness of God? It is easy to belittle the other spies, but they did exactly what they were asked. It wasn't that they didn't follow the God-ordained directions to spy on Canaan, nor did they give a warped, inaccurate account. These were Israel's best leaders and warriors. Think Navy SEALs; these spies weren't wimps. Caleb saw the same giants as the other spies, but he remembered their God was bigger than the giants. See also Romans 8:31: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" 

They all saw God firsthand in the desert, and most forgot. Lest we fall into pride, we all forget! Forgetfulness isn't just a stumbling block for the bumbling Israelites. See also me and you!

Do I want my son Caleb and my other kids to be warriors for Christ? Absolutely! But I want them to remember God's faithfulness as much as to be courageous.

This month's memory verse

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

– Philippians 2:3-4

Discussion Questions

1. Do you tend to forget God's promises or His power? What can you do to not forget either? (See 2 Peter 1.)

2. Which of God's previous provisions in your life do you too quickly forget? What's preventing you from writing down when and how the Lord has shown up before in your life, so you can review them regularly? (See Joshua 4.)

3. When you don't speak up like Caleb in the face of objection, is it more from a lack of faith or a fear of man? What can you do to change that? (See Hebrews 13:6.)

As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!

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Hugh Stephenson

Good morning, Craig. Awesome devo. I LOVE your link to Braveheart. Among my favorite movies. Q1. I forget many things but God’s promises are top of mind most of the time. My all-time most cherished promises are: JOY, (John 15:10-11) PEACE, (Philippians 4:6-7) REST, (Matthew 11:28-30). Q2. Like the Exodus generation I am prone to look beyond God’s provisions for me towards whatever I need/want next. Probably the ones I most often take for granted are Amy; three healthy children, my own health, & material comforts. Q3. Greg Koukl’s book “Tactics” has been extremely helpful in this- He uses what he calls the Colombo questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF70xjPirHo
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Hugh Stephenson

I’m thinking about the intended audience for these chapters. It seems that it’s not so much the failed members of Exodus generation but the next generation and those following. So what does God want me to learn from what He’s telling them? For me, I see the truth that all 7,487 of His promises are true and that He can be trusted. I note that God is referred to here as Yahweh, (LORD), the covenant-keeping relational God. This makes the non-belief and rebellion even more noteworthy, https://www.gotquestions.org/meaning-of-Yahweh.html Even so, fear dominates the people. The notes indicate that God uses a structure in chapters 13-14 that centers on 14:1-10a, the people’s response to the report. Their response is the center of the lesson. https://www.gotquestions.org/chiasm-chiastic.html Then comes 10b- “But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.” Uh-Oh Further, after returning, Caleb calls on the people to act immediately, “Let us go up at once at occupy it.” Occupy sounded like a passive verb tense to me so I looked it up in Strong’s. Occupy in the Hebrew is “yaresh”; to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place). If I reword it, I’d say, “I promised you this land would be amazing. If you go see it, you’ll see that this promise, like the rest of them, is true. What about the last few years makes you doubt me? I am going to show you that you can overcome these people because I am with you. Have you forgotten when I came down into the tabernacle to dwell with you? I’ll be with you in these battles just like all the others. I understand you’re scared and you wanted to send in the spies first. If that’s what you want, then OK. But I promise you all you must do is trust and obey me and this magnificent land will be yours right away.”
HS

Hugh Stephenson

“Clearly, the Israelites were not rebelling against God by sending the spies, but neither were they stepping forward in bold obedience with strong confidence in God, as they should have done.” “Why did God not lead Moses to record here (vv. 1-3) the fact that the sending of the spies was the people's idea (Deuteronomy 1:22)? The reason may be that this was not the sin that resulted in God's postponement of their entrance into Canaan. Their reaction to the spies' report caused that result. The mission of the spies had some genuine value to the Israelites (vv. 18-20), but it also opened the possibility of fear and failure to obey God.” The results were so tragic it’s hard to imagine. What was to be a very short journey, the notes posit perhaps 11 days, becomes 40 years. In the ensuing chapters were going to see all kinds of hardship brought on by their failure to trust. I know all too well what that looks like. “What John Gardner said about the political arena can be applied to the spiritual arena and the Christian's walk of faith: 'We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.'"
MS

Michael Sisson

Re: Num 13:6 Num 13:6a (NASB) >>>from the tribe of Judah, Caleb<<< the son of Jephunneh Re: Num 13:8 Num 13:8 (NASB) >>>from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea<<< the son of Nun; Hoshea (a.k.a. Joshua; see Num 13:16) Re: Num 13:23 Num 13:23 (NASB) Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a >>>single<<< cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. "single" = Heb. "echad"; See Dt 6:4 When sharing the Gospel, particularly with Jews, it’s difficult to describe the triune nature of the G-dhead when the word “Trinity” never appears in the biblical text. However, the same truth is hinted at in Dt 6:4, perhaps THE most familiar verse in Judaism. Deuteronomy 6:4 (NASB) “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! The Hebrew word translated “one” is “echad.” While G-d might have chosen “yachid” to describe an indivisible singularity, instead He chose to use the word “echad”…a word which can describe a compound unity. In Dt 6:4, it’s describing a compound unity of persons in the G-dhead. Num 13:23 provides another important example where “echad” is used to describe many grapes forming “one” cluster. Re: Num 13:30 Num 13:30 (NASB) Then >>>Caleb<<< quieted the people before Moses and said, >>>“We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”<<< Re: Num 13:31-32 Num 13:31-32 (NASB) But the men who had gone up with him said, >>>“We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out,<<< saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.
SF

Shawn Foster

Thank you very much Craig. We’ll done! I’ve found that Journaling and music (with Godly lyrics) helps us remember God’s promises, power & provisions more effectively. Like the sunrise coming up everyday- God has a proven track record of everlasting faithfulness. May we never forget that. Amen?! HAGWOW.
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Michael Scaman

There will be some huge pictures of the importance of entering the promised land by faith: Joshua and Caleb will enter the land BY FAITH, them only, of their whole generation. Here. Moses the greatest lawgiver will not enter because of disobedience and NOT BY WORKS OF THE LAW The first convert in the promised land is a prostitute. GRACE AVAILABLE FOR ALL Time for a song 10 said NO! There are giants in the Land 2 said GO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDRsluKX-BE
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Amy Lowther

1.. No. Consistent practice and study of God’s words through reading the Bible, listening to sermons at service, and serving others helps me remember God’s promises and His power. 2. There is nothing at this time. I agree it is a good idea to write down when and how the Lord has shown up in one’s life so you can review it when needed. Currently this is something I do not do but I am working on this. 3. If I do not speak when I face objection, I probably don’t need it what is offered and know God has something better in store for me. If someone gives me an objection, I count on God to help me receive it and work through it so I turn it into something positive.