Be the Exception

BE THE EXCEPTION

Part two of two in Trust God series

Numbers 13:30

“’Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’”

 

            The first part of this Trust God series showed that ten of the twelve  explorers who God said were to check out Canaan were scared.  Their report added the seemingly insignificant word but.  After that word, the spies and the people who heard the report ignored the good news. 

            What scared them?

            “We even saw descendants of Anak there.”  Numbers 13:28b added this phrase, almost as a matter-of-fact.  The Anakites were said to be the Nephilim.  Mentioning the “descendants of Anak” intended to scare the Israelites—because those explorers were scared of descendants of Anak.

            Wouldn’t God ensure the safety of whomever He offers a promise? 

            Genesis 6:4 says, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days [before God brought a flood to earth, saving only Noah and his family from destruction]—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them.  They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”  (Numbers 13:33 shows that Nephilim were giants, too).

            People love heroes.  We invent them, write about them, then make movies about them.  Spiderman and Superman are heroes.  But Hancock can do stuff they can’t, so he’s a super-hero.  God created heroes once-upon-a-time.

             But after mankind became too wicked, He destroyed everything and started mankind over with Noah and his family.

              So, Nephilim descendants scared the Israelites from entering their promised land.  Only Caleb wasn’t scared.  He hushed the crowd.  Then he urged the Israelites to enter Canaan.  I’ll bet that you could have heard a pin drop when Caleb dared the Israelites to obey God. 

            When God gives people a direction to go, they often find excuses to disobey.  They have no idea what they lose.  They may even receive God’s wrath for disobeying!  I dare you to check out the lesson, linked below, to see how God dealt with the rebelling Israelites compared to how He blessed Caleb for obeying.

            Joshua also agreed with Caleb.  But Caleb spoke out first.  He boldly stuck out his neck and stood up for God.  Both men dared to go against the crowd and stand firm to claim the land God promised to the Israelites.  

Take Home Nugget 

            “The one who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd.  The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been.”  Albert Einstein      

Walking with God always stands on truth.  But we often walk alone—as the exception—going where the crowd can’t go.

J.D. Griffith

Click here for Interactive-Online-Lesson for Be the Exception

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