Of the over 3 million people that left Egypt only Joshua and Caleb lived to enter the Promised Land. Note particularly in the passage Number 13:27-Numbers 14:9, the utterances of Caleb and Joshua in Numbers 13:30 and Numbers 14:8-9, “the Lord loves us…the Lord is with us and He has removed His protection from them.”

This was their report:

“We arrived in the land you sent us to see, and it is indeed a magnificent country—a land ‘flowing with milk and honey.’ Here is some fruit we have brought as proof. But the people living there are powerful, and their cities are fortified and very large; and what’s more, we saw Anakim giants there! The Amalekites live in the south, while in the hill country there are the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites; down along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and in the Jordan River Valley are the Canaanites.” But Caleb reassured the people as they stood before Moses. “Let us go up at once and possess it,” he said, “for we are well able to conquer it!” “Not against people as strong as they are!” the other spies said. “They would crush us!” So the majority report of the spies was negative: “The land is full of warriors, the people are powerfully built, and we saw some of the Anakim there, descendants of the ancient race of giants. We felt like grasshoppers before them, they were so tall!” Numbers 13:27-33 TLB

Then all the people began weeping aloud, and they carried on all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of complaint against Moses and Aaron. “We wish we had died in Egypt,” they wailed, “or even here in the wilderness, rather than be taken into this country ahead of us. Jehovah will kill us there, and our wives and little ones will become slaves. Let’s get out of here and return to Egypt!” The idea swept the camp. “Let’s elect a leader to take us back to Egypt!” they shouted. Then Moses and Aaron fell face downward on the ground before the people of Israel. Two of the spies, Joshua (the son of Nun), and Caleb (the son of Jephunneh), ripped their clothing and said to all the people, “It is a wonderful country ahead and the Lord loves us. He will bring us safely into the land and give it to us. It is very fertile, a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’! Oh, do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land. For they are but bread for us to eat! The Lord is with us and he has removed his protection from them! Don’t be afraid of them!” Numbers 14:1-9 TLB

What had they seen of the Lord in their journey of life so far that others did not see? Why did the others fail to see the same? The answers are summarised by the Psalmist in Psalm 106:24-27 (TLB), compare this with Hebrews 3:7-13 (TLB).

They refused to enter the Promised Land, for they wouldn’t believe his solemn oath to care for them. Instead, they pouted in their tents and mourned and despised his command. Therefore he swore that he would kill them in the wilderness and send their children away to distant lands as exiles. Psalm 106:24-27 TLB

And since Christ is so much superior, the Holy Spirit warns us to listen to him, to be careful to hear his voice today and not let our hearts become set against him, as the people of Israel did. They steeled themselves against his love and complained against him in the desert while he was testing them. But God was patient with them forty years, though they tried his patience sorely; he kept right on doing his mighty miracles for them to see.  “But,” God says, “I was very angry with them, for their hearts were always looking somewhere else instead of up to me, and they never found the paths I wanted them to follow.” Then God, full of this anger against them, bound himself with an oath that he would never let them come to his place of rest. Beware then of your own hearts, dear brothers, lest you find that they, too, are evil and unbelieving and are leading you away from the living God. Speak to each other about these things every day while there is still time so that none of you will become hardened against God, being blinded by the glamor of sin. Hebrews 3:7-13 TLB

Jesus never promised an easy life of faith but an abiding presence of His faithful love to sustain the believing. People, the Lord never promised a challenge-free life. Matthew 7:13-26 understood in context, warns of the influence of who you listen in the path you follow.

People, a better attitude to life’s challenges is to look for reasons to praise God. Challenge yourself and those tied to you to avoid complaints, and seek out and speak the good (Psalm 103:1-22 TLB).

Know also of a surety that in the specific areas of His promise to you is where your greatest tests will come. In the place of His unique grace upon you is where your greatest tests will come.

God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So, if God has given you the ability to prophesy, then prophesy whenever you can—as often as your faith is strong enough to receive a message from God. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If you are a preacher, see to it that your sermons are strong and helpful. If God has given you money, be generous in helping others with it. If God has given you administrative ability and put you in charge of the work of others, take the responsibility seriously. Those who offer comfort to the sorrowing should do so with Christian cheer. Romans 12:6-8 TLB

Finally, brethren there are no quick and easy solutions to all our problems, nothing quick and easy about life.

No matter how modern times change, faith in God’s promises is still the banner headline to victory. That’s the way you face your Jericho, from the position of strength of loud praise. He will always be God, situation notwithstanding. Dunsin Oyekan’s song ‘Always God’ is worth listening to.

Selah

Pastor Afolabi Oladele