The Ten Spies

Mark Dunagan
11/10/13 - Sunday Evening

The Ten Spies

Upon visiting the "Land flowing with milk and honey" God had promised to Israel, the ten spies frightened by its occupants exclaimed to those “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us" (Numbers 13:11)

They Were Leaders

God was clear about the selection of the men to be sent, they were to be leaders among their tribes (Numbers 13:2).  And like all God-appointed leaders, they were to be self-motivated, diligent, courageous men of self-control—men who had distinguished themselves—the cream of the crop among the tribes.  And yet ten of them will offer a very discouraging report—and one that was not completely true (13:31).  Lesson? Before believing lock, stock and barrel anything and everything the latest discoveries by "the experts” in our time, we need to make sure that we are not siding with the “10 spies”, so to speak, rather than siding with God.  If we are struggling spiritually, then we need to identify those areas in our lives in which we are currently listening to the voices and believing the modern equivalent of the “10 spies”.

They Gave a “Balanced” Report:

The Holy Spirit says that they gave a “bad” report (Numbers 13:32).   Yet they probably would have argued that they had given a balanced and fair report, for they did mention the good things about the land (13:27), and that it was everything that God said it was.  But quickly they add a “nevertheless” (13:28) and then go on and mention all the obstacles or challenges that existed in the land.  I know that I have acted, at times, like these 10 spies.   Here are the types of things that Christians can say today that can be just as discouraging.  We may not view our negativity as a bad report. We might even couch the negativity between two positive statements, but in the end our we can communicate a defeatist attitude.  For example:

• “Christianity has made a world of difference in my life, but I have tried to teach others and it just looks like no one wants the truth anymore”.
• “Our children have a lot of advantages today, but the world is so wicked and I just don’t know how a young person could remain faithful in today’s world”.
• “The Bible is the word of God, but I doubt if anyone is really following it today—we are probably all erring Christians on some point or another”.
• “If we teach what Jesus said about marriage —then we are eliminating most of the people on the planet from being prospects for the gospel, for who would ever willingly comply with Jesus' spoken standards regarding divorce and remarriage. ”

What Made it a Bad Report

• It prevented the people from obeying God and going up and taking the land.
• It contained no confidence in God, His plan, His ability to help them, and it completely ignored God’s past track record of helping them defeat the Egyptians and others who attacked them in the wilderness.
• It accused God of sinister motives: Numbers 14:3
• It lead to rebellion against God’s will: Numbers 14:4

A Lesson About Fear

A recently heard a talk by mountain climber, Matthew Childs, who, after 30 years of mountain climbing, he has come up with some principles that not only have an application to mountain climbing, but to real life, and I would add, principles that would be applicable to successfully serving God:

• Do not let go.  Too often the mind will think about letting go far before the body fails.  The same is true with people who let go spiritually and become unfaithful.  Like the ten spies, people often convince themselves that they can’t go on or continue to do something, when it reality, because of the strength Christ supplies, they can very much avoid failing or being weakened. Determine to remain mentally strong, not buying into the devil’s lie that you cannot take another step or hold on any longer. Take it moment by moment when you must.
• Hesitation is Bad: Momentum is good, don’t stop.  In certain types of rock one's  best grip is when one first grabs or puts one's foot down—any lack of forward movement and you'll begin to slip.  Being a Christian is like that—if we are not moving forward we are certain to slip back: Hebrews 2:1-2.
•  Have a Plan:  Map your entire climb—your entire life.  While the unexpected is sure to happen, people can flame out and quit if they have not thoughtfully planned for each next step of their lives.  In fact, the speaker observed that often climbers are successful through some of the most challenging parts of a climb—then fail right at an easy step at the end.
• Execute Every Opportunity To Move Forward:  To get to the top you have to be able to complete each move in-between.  For the Christian, our “moves” in-between are things like daily prayer, daily Bible reading, being very involved in a congregation, worshipping regularly, going to group meetings, supporting gospel meetings, taking advantage of various classes, hanging out with Christians and resisting temptation today.
• Know how to Rest:  The best climbers are the ones that even in the most extreme situations, can find a restful body position to calm themselves and refocus.  The same is true for believers (Mark 6:31).
• Fear really Stinks.  Fear means that you are not focusing on what you are doing, rather you have turned your attention instead to the consequences of failing.  We need to realize that serving God is so important that it deserves our best concentration.  For example, if fear is keeping us from sharing the gospel with someone, then we are essentially saying by our actions that sharing the gospel with them is not as important as whatever may be distracting our attention.
• Know how to let go:  Once you get to that point when you know that you can’t hang on much longer—then you need to start thinking about how you are going to let go and fall in such a way that minimizes the hurt.  While we never let go of God, there are things in life that Christians, from time to time, will need to release—such as people who continue to resist our attempts to help them or an activity that gives us a financial advantage but at the price of a spiritual disadvantage. :  Matthew 7:6

The Forgotten Resource

It is interesting how the spies talk in this section.  As Caleb tries to encourage them (13:30), they quickly ignore his exhortation and counter, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us” (13:31).  What I find missing here is any mention of God.  This is another aspect of fear.  When we are afraid we typically have removed God from the picture along with His help and promises.  In fact, too often we might say, “I can’t”.  We never say, “Though I have God's help, I still can’t”. 

Blaming God for Failure—Before We Even Try

In hearing the bad report, the people say, “Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword?  Our wives and our little one will become plunder” (14:3).  Note this about fear:  It moves us to write a future scenario about how God did not come through for us—before we even give Him a chance to demonstrate His power.  Yet Satan can convince us to do something very similar. 

•  “The people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large” (Numbers 13:28).
• “We also saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight” (Numbers 13:33).

Are we also tempted to think there is no way that we, with our small  material resources, can be salt and light in this world when we are doctrinally going up against well-funded, entertainment-based, huge religious bodies? That "all the territory is already claimed" (13:29).  That "...everywhere one goes to spread the gospel, there is opposition and someone has already occupied that place".  Is this true? Not in Israel.  The next generation would quite successfully come in, take the land, and defeat the “invincible Nephilim” because they trusted God.  Do we?  

Mark Dunagan  |  mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ  |  503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net