Joshua and Caleb

The Land Flowing With Milk and Honey

“And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. And Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them who searched the land, rent their clothes. And they spoke unto all the company of Children of Israel, saying, the land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land; a land which flows with milk and honey” (Numbers 13:30 & 14:6-8)

Moses sent spies into the land of Canaan to search it out. The Lord had already promised the land to them, but the rulers in Israel had demanded that the spies be sent in to search out the land and the Lord allowed it. It was unbelief on their part to demand this, and it did not end well for them. It would cost them 38 years of wandering in the wilderness.

The heads of the tribes of Israel each sent one man to spy out the land. They returned after forty days and all of them except Joshua and Caleb gave an evil negative report. Joshua and Caleb’s response was one of faith as we saw in our introductory verse.

The unbelief of those sent to spy out the land was seen clearly in their report upon their return. They said, that although the land “flows with milk and honey,” the people of the land are strong with giants living in the land. They brought a negative report back saying that there were walled and very great cities and that the people there were too strong for Israel. They questioned God’s motives in bringing them out of Egypt and saw only defeat before them if they ventured into this “land.” They saw themselves falling by the sword in battle and their wives and children being prey to the inhabitants of the land. They wanted to return to Egypt and they threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb for their positive report.

The Lord’s reaction to their lack of faith in His promises was one of anger toward them. Numbers 14:10 says, “The Glory of the Lord appeared in the Tabernacle of the congregation before all the Children of Israel.” The Lord then threatened to destroy them with a plague and Moses interceded on behalf of Israel.

The Lord did harken to Moses’ intercession and did pardon, but those who had gone into the land and returned with a bad report died by the plague due to their unbelief. The Lord’s pardon saved all those who had come out of Eygpt and had seen the Lord’s miraculous provisions in the wilderness, but due to their unbelief, the Lord said that all the men living at the time (those 20 years old and older), who had witnessed His great power in providing for them on their journey, would not enter the Promised Land but would die in the wilderness.

The exception to this was Joshua and Caleb. This would cost the nation of Israel greatly in a delay of 38 years before they would obey the Lord and believe Him by finally stepping out in faith and entering the land He had promised them as a blessing.

This had been a time of testing for Israel and they had failed the test miserably. It would cost them greatly as those men age 20 and over would not see the Promised Land and would die in the wilderness. God was with them but they didn’t operate from a place of faith, but looked to themselves, to their flesh, and doubted God. He was well able to deliver them. They had seen the greatest of miracles upon their exit from Eygpt and in their journey through the wilderness. Had they now believed God they could have left the wilderness and entered “the land flowing with milk and honey.”

The flesh always sees reasons to not believe the promises of God. Joshua and Caleb were walking in faith believing that the Lord would give them victory over their enemies. They were the only two of that generation to enter the Land. Bringing this forward to today, faith will see us through all that is before us. We are not to shrink back but boldly go forward in faith. Notice that the people wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb. When you go the Lord’s way you will experience strong opposition at times. We can know, and expect, that there will be opposition from Satan, but we will also experience opposition even from within “the church” and from our family. The Lord will see us through these obstacles of faith if our faith is anchored in Christ and Him Crucified.

Joshua and Caleb saw what was before them and believed the Lord would give them victory. Our victory comes in the same way. Our enemies are the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Our Heavenly Joshua will see us through and bring us the victory that we seek as our faith remains in Him. The battle is the Lord’s.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).

Always Remember,

God Loves You!

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Here I Am, Lord – Tom Quinn Ministries – tqministries.com 2024