Warriors or Worriers

 

Divide and conqueror is the mantra of Satan. We see it happening here in America and division is distraction thus in he did it also in Israel. When the people of Israel were about to go into the promised land Moses sent twelve leaders to spy out the land. When they came back, ten of them brought back a negative report while two of them, Caleb and Joshua, were ready to go conquer the land. Moses said:

“Go up there into the Negev. Then go up into the hill country. See what the land is like. See if the people who live in it are strong or weak, and if they are few or many. Find out if the land they live in is good or bad. See if the cities they live in are open or if they have walls. Find out if the land is rich or poor, and if there are trees in it or not. Then try to get some of the fruit of the land.” Numbers 13:17-20

After 40 days they returned and ten of the spies said:

“We went to the land where you sent us. It does flow with milk and honey. This is its fruit. But the people who live in the land are strong. The cities have walls and are very large. And we saw the children of Anak there. Amalek is living in the land of the Negev. The Hittites and Jebusites and Amorites are living in the hill country. And the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.” Numbers 13:27-29

These spies were worriers. They saw the strong people, the giants, the fortified cities and large walls and and went on to say:

“We are not able to go against the people. They are too strong for us.” So they brought the people of Israel bad news about the land they had spied out, saying, “The land we have gone to spy out is a land that destroys those who go there to live. All the people we saw in it are very large. We saw the Nephilim there. (The sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim.) We looked like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Numbers 13:31-33

Joshua and Caleb however were warriors. Caleb said:

“Let us go up at once and take the land. For we are well able to take it in battle.” verse 30

We are either warriors or worriers. Two men were motivated by faith and ten were motivated by fear, The ten saw the obstacles and the two say the opportunities. The ten saw the problems but the two saw the promise of God. Two saw the large fruit as proof of the goodness of the land. Ten saw sour grapes and the fruitlessness of going to war. The result of the spies' doubts resulted in every tribe dying in the wilderness and now being forbidden into the promises land. Joshua and Caleb despite being in the minority were the only ones allowed to enter in. They fought for the land and later on were blessed for their faith. Joshua went on to be the servant and then successor of Moses and Caleb was given the city of Hebron, a city of refuge in Judah as his inheritance. This was the burial place of Abraham and the patriarchs. Caleb was a warrior till the end. God blessed Caleb with strength in his old age:

“As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.”Joshua 14:11

We are called to be warriors not worriers. When God sends us to battle, it is not to loose but win. Worrying is a bi-product of fear and fear paralyzes and stops us in our tracks. Faith moves us forward in confidence knowing that the battle is the Lords but the victory is ours! Shalom!