March 24, 2024
Read Numbers 13, Psalm 83, Mark 7
Mark Twain once said, “a lie travels around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” We all know the negative political ads always get more tracking and that people 75% of the time our own thoughts are negative in nature.
Here in Numbers 13 we have another case of where the negative over powers the good. Moses had selected 12 spies to go into Canaan and bring back a report and samples of the foods in the land. “They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there” vv. 26-28.
Ten of the twelve spies said they could not take the land. “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” vv. 31-33.
As the old hymn states, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” In this case, the bad report spread like wildfire throughout the camp and incited the people to give into fear rather than trust the Lord and obey Him. We have to be very careful when we talk about various things with people, we might not mean to start a wildfire but just a few negative comments can be dangerous.
What else do you read or see in these chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stand out to you?
Add your thoughts below.
DId God Really Say... 