The Lord Is With Us (Joshua and Caleb) - March 3

Read Numbers 14:6-10

And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

Reflect

Have you ever allowed fear to get the best of you? Has fear ever kept you from doing what God commanded you to do?

Way back in Genesis 12, God called a man named Abram out of his country and promised to make him a great nation in the land of Canaan (v. 1-2). Abram trusted and obeyed God. The Lord said, “to your offspring I will give this land” (v. 7). Over and over again, God repeated this promise to Abram and his descendants (Genesis 15:18, Genesis 17:8, Genesis 26:3-4, Genesis 28:13…).

A lot happened between the promise and the possession of the land though. In today’s verses, the Israelites were standing on the brink of entering the Promised Land. In Numbers 13, the Lord commanded Moses to send spies into Canaan. After 40 days, they returned with this report: “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there” (Numbers 13:27-28). The descendants of Anak were huge, fierce warriors. The Israelites were ticking off the reasons why they were afraid to go into Canaan.

But one of the spies named Caleb spoke up: “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30). But the other spies disagreed: “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are…The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them” (Numbers 13:31,32-33). So, the people of Israel cried and rebelled against Moses and Aaron.

In today’s passage, we read that Caleb, along with Joshua, once again stood up to the angry mob. They reiterated that the land was just as God had always promised—beautiful and fertile. They also reminded the people that if God wants them to have the land (which He has already told them that He does), they can have it. If God is on their side, no one will be able to stand in their way. They warned the people not to rebel against the Lord and not to fear the people of the land.

You see, the Israelites had forgotten that God was going to fight for them and give them the land, but they didn’t want to hear Caleb and Joshua’s reminders. If the Lord’s presence hadn’t appeared, the mob would have stoned Joshua and Caleb to death. Their apparent crime? Believing that God was going to do what He promised and trusting Him more than they feared man.

No doubt, we all want to have the courage of Caleb and Joshua. But if we are being honest with ourselves, we’ve probably all experienced the fear and crisis of faith that the Israelites expressed. Our scary situation seems so big and we feel so small in comparison. We think that there is no way we’ll make it out of this. We are grasshoppers.

But I am here to remind you, that we are looking forward to the Promised Land, too, and Jesus has already won the battle over our enemies! If you have placed your faith in Christ, no matter what happens to you here on earth, no evil can actually hurt you. The Lord is with you! You are bound for glory for all eternity. So, “...Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

Respond

Lord, thank You for being with me. Help me to be strong and courageous like Joshua and Caleb so that I can speak up to remind people of Your power, Your presence, and Your promises. I want to trust You more than I fear anyone or anything in this world. Amen.

Reveal

When you hear God’s people speak in fear and doubt, speak up! Remind them of His power, His presence, and His promises.