Another Look At The Ten Spies

When the ten spies from Numbers 13 are discussed, it is generally done in a manner as to point out their faithlessness. I'm sure you can recall hearing a sermon about the faith of Joshua and Caleb. They had heard from YHWH and they wanted to "take the land." However, the ten spies said, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land eating up its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. And we saw there the Nephilim, sons of Anaq, of the Nephilim. And we were like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so we were in their eyes." Their lack of faith kept them out of the Promised Land. It is so easy to condemn them as faithless. However, maybe we should look at them again in light of our facing our own "Promised Lands."

Have you ever been faced with adversity and doubted in your ability to hear YHWH? Most people have faced a problem and just were not sure that what YHWH had promised would really happen. I have seen this with people facing a promise of healing, financial breakthrough, or an answer to prayer. If we were to be honest, I think we would admit that there are times that we don't sense YHWH in our lives. The times of silence cause us to experience doubt. I have a picture of the ten spies who want to believe, but they just can't overcome what they see. I think they want to, but they are afraid. I think this is how we are sometimes. We might want to judge these ten spies with a little more compassion and mercy.

If you are facing a season of doubt, it is time to immerse yourself in YHWH's Word. Meditate on it and embrace it as a life line to heaven. Know that what He has said is true, but don't be so hard on those that see their "smallness." Let us try to uplift each other and not bury those in difficulty. Revisiting the ten spies is a good place to start.