Numbers 13:1-33

It is amazing to consider how quickly the children of Israel were able to arrive at the Promised Land.  They were at point of entry to the land and God called them to send spies into the land so that they could report back as to the quality of the land and the size of the task ahead of them.  It was a clear task they were to go and see then come and speak.  The decision as to whether or not they would go into the land was not up to the group, that decision had already been made.  The purpose of the mission was to determine how to go into the land and not “if” they would go into the land.  We must be careful to do our jobs and let the Lord do His job and not become confused by trying to do the work that belongs to God alone.  We have a list of twelve names, then of which are known by almost nobody, the other two are names we all use to this day.  They all had the same job but they did that job in very different ways.  Here are two areas in which they were far different.

A DIFFERENCE IN VISION: All of the men saw the same thing the land was great, the people were big and the cities were strong.  There is a very big difference between sight and vision.  Sight is the perception of what is while vision is the perception of what could be.  We can have negative vision or positive vision.  Ten of the spies saw the situation and had a vision of the children of Israel defeated and dead.  Two of the spies saw the exact same thing but had a vision of God’s power permitting the children of Israel to live on this land and eating these clusters of grapes.  The key to their difference of vision was their understanding and perception of God’s power and faithfulness.  No matter what our circumstance, if our vision of God is correct; our attitudes and actions along with our faith will be pleasing to the Lord.  However, if our vision of God is faulty; our lives will be controlled by fear in the face of the slightest of difficulties. 

A DIFFERENCE IN VOICE: Perhaps one of the greatest dangers of a deficient vision of God is that we end up expressing this incorrect vision with our voice.  The report on the condition of the land of all twelve spies was identical.  However, when they began to voice their opinion on what could happen and what should be done the result was a far different story.  Our voices are powerful instruments of influence.  We can influence people to trust God or we can influence people to fear men simply by using our voice.  The problem is that people are much more easily influenced negatively then they are towards doing good.  May God give us the ability to use our voices to call others to trust our Lord, worship His holy name and speak of His glorious works.  When we recognize that our vision of God is weak we must discipline our mouths to be quiet.