Christ in all the scriptures Fear of man or faith in God

 Christ in all the scriptures

Fear of man or faith in God?  Numbers 13

This chapter is pivotal to the whole book, indeed to the history of the whole nation; it is also practical for us in the present day.  This goes to the very heart of things; where are we in relation to God and the things of God?  The Lord did not command Israel to send men to spy out the land.  It was they who asked Moses to "spy out the land"-Deuteronomy 1v22; for some reason Moses approved this, and, graciously the Lord allowed it.  Nevertheless it was a demonstration of their mistrust in the word of the Lord.  God had repeated time and again that He would "give them the land", so why did they need to spy it-Genesis 12v7 to Abraham, "Unto thy seed I will give this land"; Genesis 15v18, "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, unto thy seed have I given this land (not will I give, but I have given-it was a done deal in the mind of God); Genesis 17v8, "And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God; did they think God would break His covenant?; He repeats it to Isaac in Genesis 26v3, "Sojourn in this land and I will be with thee, for unto thee and to thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto thy father Abraham"; again to Jacob Genesis 28v13, "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed."  Was God's word to the three Patriarchs not enough?  Or did they doubt the quality of the land God had chosen for them, of which He said it is the "land flowing with milk and honey", the best and richest land on earth (a fact confirmed by experts today, and possibly the reason there is so much interest in it down to the present day); also a fact declared by God through His prophet Ezekiel in chapter 19, where twice He called it "the glory of all lands"-v6 and v15.  Legend has it that Napoleon, in his conquests, while passing through Israel, said "the man who owns this land will rule the world!".  Reputation about this land of giants and fortified cities, made them cower in fear, fear what man could do to them.  Had they not witnessed the destruction of the superpower Egypt?  Had they not seen the parting of the Red Sea?  Were they not partakers of the miraculous food from the heavens? Did they really doubt God's ability to overcome the Canaanites.  It was a display of incredible mistrust.  

Fearful of their own inability, they asked Moses permission to spy out the land before any conflict.  Moses allowed it, perhaps considering their weakness, and the Lord accepted it.  Moses instructed them to search the length and breadth of the land; to assess the inhabitants; to report on the produce of the land and bring samples.  He appointed and named 12 leaders of each tribe for the task.  These were known men whose word the people would accept.  Leadership was never secretive.  In the event they did a thorough job, taking 40 days to look into every aspect.  Ten of the twelve brought back a negative report; two, namely Joshua, who was leader of the expedition, and Caleb, who gave a positive outlook with encouraging words, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it"-Numbers 13v30.  However the majority (10 of 12) gave a negative report saying "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we"-13v31.  What they saw were men of great stature (giants-nephilim-similar to the supernatural beings produced by angelic corruption in Genesis 6).  These were cruel to the inhabitants and made the spies fearful.  They saw giants, they did not see God, to whom giants were nothing.  This spread fear and unbelief in the camp, and the advance was halted in its tracks.  They had succumbed to the fear of man and discarded faith in God.

Faith in God is not for the fainthearted and God expects us to move with Him, without doubting and without reserve.  There was no one more courageous and steadfast than the Lord Jesus against great opposition, and He taught His disciples the value of real faith in God. God will put our faith to the test and our Lord prepared His disciples for this, as He does with all disciples today.  He spoke of no faith, little faith, great faith, and so great faith.  Faith is more than a transaction for eternity, it is a living daily reality.  It is proving God in real time, just as through it He is proving us.

Hebrews chapter 11 is the great chapter of faith, tracing the men and women of faith through the ages of the Old Testament.  An overview of that is as follows:

Hebrews 11v1-1-3 The ESSENCE of faith; 11v4-32 the EXAMPLES of faith; 11v33-56 the EXPLOITS of faith.  Faith is positive, it is active, it is productive.  Faith in God grows into ever increasing enterprise.  It is not a momentary mental assent, it is a permanent lifestyle which changes things for good.  Jesus said that if we have faith as small as a grain of mustard seed we can remove mountains.  Faith trusts God's word, it trusts God's goodness, it trusts God's power, His sovereignty, His purpose, His wisdom, His judgments.  It was the fear of man against faith in God for the majority of Israelites.  What will it be for us??  This tragic decision set them back almost 40 years, and cost almost a generation their lives.  The issues are huge, not just for us personally but for our family, for our community, for our generation.  The fear of man brings a snare, but trust in the Lord is safety-Proverbs 29v25. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding"-Proverbs 9v10 (see also Proverbs 1v7 and Job 28v28).