Missing OUT God’s BEST due to our ‘UNBELIEF’!
February
13 Bible Reading: Numbers Chapters 13-15
Missing OUT God’s BEST due to our ‘UNBELIEF’!
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron,
saying, "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain
against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make
against Me. Say to them, 'As I live,' says the Lord, 'just as you have spoken
in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against
Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to
your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son
of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land
which I swore I would make you dwell in." (Num 14:26-30)
When we read
Numbers 13 and 14, we shake our heads in dismay seeing how the Israelites displayed
their unbelief as they were about to enter the Promised Land that God had
promised their forefather Abraham back in Gen. 12:1-3. Under the leadership of
Moses, God had brought them up even to the boundary of Canaan after showing mighty
signs, wonders and miracles to display His infinite power and majesty. The only
reason God displayed all these signs and wonders were so that the Israelites
would just believe His Word!
God had made
it very clear to the Israelites that the land of Canaan was a gift from Him to His people. Notice what
God had said: "Send men to spy out
the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel..."
(Num 13:2). The twelve Israelite spies soon found out that Canaan was indeed the land that was flowing with
milk and honey being fruitful in every way (v. 27). However, they had to drive
out the strong inhabitants who occupied the land, and they were a formidable
enemy (vv. 28-29). The Israelites now had
to believe God at His Word without doubting, trust in the power of God to help
them, march forward in faith and occupy their land of promise!
Unfortunately,
their faith in God turned to fear as they lost their confidence in
God as well as their self-confidence (vv. 31-33). They saw their own
inabilities instead of the power of God that would have been unleashed on their
behalf had they rallied together to fight their enemy with God’s help. Acting
in this manner, they rejected God due to their unbelief (14:11) as they even
planned to select a leader to return to their old life of slavery in Egypt
(14:4). The tragedy in this episode was that none of these people could enter the Promised Land, except Joshua and Caleb who alone trusted
in God (14:29-30).
God has
called us to "stand fast in the
faith" (1 Cor 16:13), "walk
by faith" (2 Cor. 5:7), "live
by faith" (Rom. 1:17) and "fight
the good fight of faith" (1 Timothy 6:12). Let us understand that we are missing out the best that God has in
store for us because of our unbelief (lack
of faith). If we truly have to live a rich and satisfying life that God has
in store for us (John 10:10), then let us trust
completely in the word of God and
in the power of God that will work
for us in the right moment. We can only truly
please God through our faith in Him!
