Can I pray for you in any way?
Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.
The Lord said to Moses, "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders."
So at the Lord's command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. These are their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb, son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal, son of Joseph; from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, son of Raphu; from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, son of Sodi; from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi, son of Susi; from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, son of Gemalli; from the tribe of Asher, Sethur, son of Michael; from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, son of Vophsi; from the tribe of Gad, Geuel, son of Maki. These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)
When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, "Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land." (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there.
At the end of forty days they returned from exploring 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. 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."
Numbers 12:16, 13:1-27
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The people of Israel had gone through a lot of traveling after leaving Egypt. God had delivered them into the wilderness where their faith and obedience were put to the test. All along, God praised His people where praise was warranted and disciplined where it was needed but never swayed from the end goal: to complete His covenant promise by leading Israel into Canaan, the Promised Land.
After the account in Numbers, chapter 11, where we saw Aaron and Miriam corrected and punished by God for backstabbing their brother Moses, we read where "the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran." The northernmost part of this desert bordered the southernmost border of the Promised Land so it was accessible for Israel.
Indeed, they were close to the finish line but before they crossed over it in whole, we read where the Lord said to Moses, "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders."
In essence, God was sending an advance scouting party to go into Canaan and return to make report of their findings to Moses and the Israelites.
The scriptures tell us that Moses obeyed God and sent the prescribed group comprised of leaders from each tribe of Israel. He sent them out from the Desert of Paran toward Canaan with the following orders:
"Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land." (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)"
In our passage, we see where the names of those who went were mentioned, always of significance or the Word wouldn’t honor them specifically. They included:
“...from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb, son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal, son of Joseph; from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, son of Raphu; from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, son of Sodi; from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi, son of Susi; from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, son of Gemalli; from the tribe of Asher, Sethur, son of Michael; from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, son of Vophsi; from the tribe of Gad, Geuel, son of Maki. These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)”
These men did what God commanded through Moses and were gone for forty days. We read where they "explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath”, going “up through the Negev” before coming “to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived.” They then went onto “the Valley of Eshcol” where “they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes”. The branch must have been pretty large because it took two of the men to carry “it on a pole” together “with some pomegranates and figs”. That place was “called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there."
Well, the men were gone for forty days before returning and the people of Israel had to have been waiting with eager anticipation to hear about the land that God had promised them. They were probably wondering whether or not it would be as wonderful as He said it was and there had to be great joy in their hearts when the returning group made their report, further showing them a sample of the "fruit of the land."
Here’s a part of what they told “Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran”:
"We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit."
The people had to be fascinated, happy, and encouraged to not only hear about what awaited them but also to see it first-hand. Indeed, the fruit had to be very welcome sight after so many days of manna and quail but as we’ll see in tomorrow’s study, there was other news these men had to share that wasn’t so good. For challenges existed within Canaan, the land that God described as flowing with milk and honey, the land God had led His people to just as He promised.
Friends, this is a truth that we need to never forget. For we serve a God who always keeps His promises, always doing what He says He will do in the way and at the time He says He will do it. The Apostle Paul illuminates this through these words found in the Book of Acts, words that connect God’s Old Testament covenant with the New Covenant He brought through His Son Jesus:
“We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors, He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:”
‘You are My son; today I have become Your father.’
“God raised Him from the dead so that He will never be subject to decay. As God has said:”
‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’
“So it is also stated elsewhere:”
‘You will not let your holy One see decay.’
“Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. But the One whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.”
“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus, the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through Him, everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.”
Acts 13:32-39
God led Israel to the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and honey, but He then gave His Son Jesus to all mankind, a Savior who would lead anyone who believes in Him to an even greater promised land, the eternal land of Heaven where the Father and His Son reside, the divine and holy place flowing with everything worth living for.
If deliverance from Egypt and the subsequent entry into the Promised Land of Canaan was good news for the people of Israel, how much more so is the deliverance from sin and the punishment of Hell into the promised eternal life in Heaven through Jesus Christ good news for us today?
What a blessing it is to serve such an awesome God, a God who didn’t wish for anyone to perish out of His deep love, a God who always perfectly delivers on His promises yesterday, today and forever.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment