Numbers chapter 13 tells us that Moses’ idea in sending spies into the land of Canaan (at God’s instruction) was for reconnaissance before Israel invaded Canaan. He wanted to know what they would face across the river.

Two of the spies he sent, Joshua and Caleb, did their job from that viewpoint. Their job was to get their information into the hands of their leaders for planning purposes so they wouldn’t go in blind.

The other ten spies focused on the obstacles that stood in the way of their success. For them, all the evidence of the goodness of the land paled in light of the problems they would face (verses 27-29). When it appeared that Caleb intended to invade anyway (verse 30), the ten spies re-emphasized the problems (verses 31-33), adding graphic and emotion-loaded descriptions of the disaster that invasion would bring.

In chapter 14, Joshua and Caleb tried once more to shift the focus (verses 6-9) from the hindrances back to the Lord Who took responsibility for their success and Who would shift the balance of the whole enterprise. Caleb says that they would be the hunters rather than the hunted. But the ten, along with the excited crowd, rejected them and decided to kill Joshua and Caleb to shut them up.

Whenever an army goes into battle, its leaders need to stand on high ground to accurately assess the layout of the battlefield and evaluate the chances for success. For believers, God is the high ground, and a true perspective comes from viewing all of life with God as the starting point. You should cultivate that view by practice, training yourself to first see that God tips the balance in your favor. That confidence makes the difference between being the hunter and being the prey.

Remember 2nd Chronicles 16:9: For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.

                             Lon

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