Deuteronomy 1:19 says, And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea. Moses then reminded them of their journey in the wilderness, though God was still guiding them. They were still His chosen people. Verse twenty adds. And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us. Moses said they came to the mountain of the Amorites, which God had given to them. This didn't mean that they would not be required to obey God and fight for it. Verse twenty-one continues, Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. Mose told them to go and possess the land that God had set before them and to not be afraid. When God sends us somewhere today, we need to go without fear. Verse twenty-two states, And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. Moses said the people proposed sending spies into the land to check it out. This seems to have been their plan which God a)lowed more than God's plan to start with. If they were faithfully following God, it would have only reinforced their desire to go. When God sends us somewhere, we should simply go by faith without having to verify by sight that it is a good thing. Verse twenty-three adds, And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe: Moses said their plan pleased him, so he took the twelve spies, on from each tribe, to send into the land. They were all equally represented. We as Christians are all equally represented before God by Jesus Christ. Verse twenty-four continues, And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out. The spies went into the land to check it out, which really should have been unnecessary. If they believed God, they would have known the land was good, and have also known that God had promised them victory. We need to always remember that wherever God sends us in the world today that He goes before us and it is the best place to be. Verse twenty-five says, And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us. The twelve spies brought back the fruit of the land, and said it was a good land. This verified a part of God's promise, but it was the easy part. At times, we may be willingly to follow Jesus Christ as long as everything is going well and we are profiting from following Him, but that is not enough. Verse twenty-six adds, Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God: Moses said that even though the spies came back with visual proof of the goodness of the land that the people still refused to go and possess it. Living by sight and not by faith will always leave us short of salvation and the Promised Land of a heavenly home. Verse twenty-eight continues, And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. The people of Israel once again began to murmur against God, saying He had brought them out of Egypt only for them to be killed by the Amorites. After all God had done for them, they still had no faith in Him. If we are only following Christ for the material rewards, we will see obstacles and fail to follow Him by faith because of those obstacles. Verse twenty-eight states, Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there. The people asked why they should go up, since the spies, or at least ten of them, had discouraged their hearts. We should never allow what someone else says, even a fellow Christian, to discourage us from doing what God has called us to do or going where He wants us send us. Verse twenty-nine adds, Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. This is still good advice for us today as followers of Christ. We don't need to be discouraged by the things of this world that seem too big to overcome, but we need to follow Jesus Christ by faith. He has already assured us of the victory, just as God had assured the people of Israel of the victory then.
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