Numbers 14:6-9(NKJV)
6But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ 9Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
Yesterday we looked at the parallel between the experiences of the children of Israel and the growth and development we go through as believers. The deliverance of Israel from Egypt, including their experience at the Red Sea, is like our salvation. The wilderness wanderings are like the growth and development we go through to move from being babes in Christ to fully functional members of His body.
In both cases we need to see that the wilderness is never the point. Israel was not delivered from Egypt to die in the desert. They were delivered for a purpose. They were to possess a land and cultivate a nation through which the Messiah would come. In that way they would bless the whole world.
As the Body of Christ we have both individual and corporate destinies. We are called to change our world. To do that we must become adults in our relationship with God. This is a lifelong process, but we need to be sure we cooperating with that process. If we don’t we will be like the first generation of Israelites who had to be removed before the plan of God could be carried out. I do not want that.
Why was the first generation of Israel, who witnessed such a great deliverance, unable to believe God to go into the promised land? Why were Joshua and Caleb different? I believe the answer lies in the difference in their vision for life. What we see as the highest possibility for our life is our vision.
Our vision for life can come from many things. It can come from personal experience. It can come from teaching and training. It can come from God or it can come from the devil. Many things go into the equation, but we can change that vision by choosing what glasses we will look through to see it. If we choose to focus through the Word of God and our relationship with him our vision will rise. If we choose to focus through our limitations and the world system it will fall.
The first generation had a particular focus that dominated everything. Survival. That is what slavery is all about. For a slave the only real choice they have is to survive or to die. The strong survive. Nothing else really matters. When these people were set free from bondage they rejoiced because their survival seemed more sure. That was all they cared about. They enjoyed the blessings that came to them with freedom, but every time their survival was threatened they panicked.
I have always wondered why they would want to go back to Egypt. Every time something happened that threatened them they wanted someone to take them back. I finally realized that it was the limitation of their vision. The one thing they knew about Egypt was that, for the most part, they survived. So that is where their vision always led them.
Joshua and Caleb grew up in the same place the rest of them did. They were slaves as well. However they developed a different vision. In Joshua’s case we know that he was always at Moses side. The influence of Moses on Joshua’s life certainly helped him develop a different vision. However what of Caleb.
I believe they both must have meditated on the promise of God. All of Israel knew the promised land given to Abraham when God made covenant with him. However Joshua and Caleb took it as their own. They knew that God was a God of his word. They took note when God delivered them with mighty power. If God could do that, he could give them Canaan. The more they thought on the promise of God, the more they came to trust the God of the promise. Joshua and Caleb shed the vision for simple survival and began to develop a vision for the Promised land.
That is why, when the twelve spies came back to the camp to report on Canaan, ten of them reported that the land was what God said it would be, but we cannot take it. They saw it as a threat to their survival and that is as high as their vision could go. Joshua and Caleb had a different vision and therefore gave a different report.
Their vision caused them to see past the opposition. They were not concerned about survival. They saw the promise of God and the God of the promise. That’s what they wanted. They knew that was better than survival alone. Because of the vision they had developed, they would not settle for survival when they could have the promise.
That is our challenge. We all have a vision determined by something. For too many Christians that vision does not go beyond survival. We need to look to the Word of God and let that begin to determine our vision. God has a Canaan land for you. Don’t settle for less than that. There may be risk involved, but Joshua and Caleb understood that if the vision comes from God and the God of the vision is on your side, the risk really does not exist.
Take hold of the Word this week. Find a promise that applies to you. Meditate on that promise until it begins to change your vision. It won’t happen overnight and you will need others around you to encourage you. I believe that’s why we don’t just hear of Joshua or Caleb. They are linked in their encouragement of one another. In time you will have a vision that is higher than survival. You will see a wonderful land of promises that God has provided for you in Christ Jesus.
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