Our insistence of “rightness” has been a cause for much misery and fighting. This ego in us is wide spread from the top of the human hierarchy to the bottom.  As a result of this insistence, leaders disagree. The scenario caused by insistence of being right can be scary; in the international arena, there are wars, on the national level there are riots and mobs, in any other organisation, there is in-fighting.  When leaders disagree, they drum up support from those masses below them. There were two different sets of reports between Joshua and Caleb against the ten other spies (Numbers chapter 13 and 14).  Joshua and Caleb had a positive report. They asked the people to go take over Canaan, the land of milk and honey that God promised. On the other hand, the ten spies reported that Canaan was occupied by giants and that the Jews would be like grasshoppers in comparison. Disappointedly, having seen and tasted God’s goodness, the people chose to believe the negative report. They blamed God for bringing them out of Egypt. For this those above twenty years old would not be able to enter the Promised Land (except Joshua and Caleb). The Jews would have to be in the wilderness for forty years. 

      You might wonder as to why after witnessing the goodness and the greatness of the Lord in their flight out of Egypt, the first group of 10 spies made such a negative report. Perhaps they fear the opposition and the will to proceed to the Promised Land. Fear will make us lose our faith and confidence in anything. If we look at ourselves as grasshoppers, then how would the enemy look at us? For this reason, the most common encouraging word used in scripture after the exodus is “Fear not.” 

      Joshua and Caleb went to the same place and their report was positive. They gave an honest report and that their faith was strong. 2 Corinthians 8:21 “Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.” They were sure that God would deliver because He said so. We have not seen heaven but when God said that those who trust in the Lord Jesus will get to heaven, we accept and it is settled so far as eternal life is concerned. We do not worry about the after life anymore. Numbers 14:9 “Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.” Pray that our leaders will be honest and faithful to lead us through difficulties and trials. We face many obstacles in the church too. Our leaders must have the courage to say “Fear not”. Just as Joshua and Caleb were ready for action to charge forward, let us pray that our leaders will have the same spirit. 

      Do not be surprised that the people wanted to stone both Joshua and Caleb instead of taking their advice to move into Canaan. We may be behaving in the same way as the Israelites during Joshua’s time. We may have heard the good or positive news a hundred times, but we will act and be fearful of that one bad news. It appears that we thrive on bad news. Fear among members will cause split decisions which will develop into camps. Once there are different camps in the church, there would be discord and the people would want to stone the leaders who are honestly leading them toward higher spiritual growth. We must not be affected by some negative reports. It is easy to do nothing but to complain as the Jews did. They complained against God and blamed Him for taking them out of Egypt to die in the desert. God has only one purpose and that is to lead them into the Promised Land and there is only one reason. God loves them. 

God loves us too but very often we choose to believe otherwise. We lose our confidence when something goes against what we expect. We choose to shut our ears to the many good advice but listen to one single thread of news through the gossip channel. We get all upset and despite all the assurance, we choose to believe the negative remark. Pray that we continue to serve God and not be affected by such negativity. It is sad to know that many have given up service in the church when someone said something unpleasant about them. Worst of all, some even skip attending church. These actions are against God. Did God offend you that you stop attending church or stop serving Him? Pray that we would be obedient and not be punished to wander in the wilderness for forty years.

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