INTRODUCTION

1. Debriefing of the 12 Spies

2. Division among the Spies became evident

 

THE REPORT GIVEN

26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of

the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the

congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.

29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains;

and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” Numbers 13:26-29

1. Moses and Aaron were there

2. The congregation of Israel was there too

3. The Report (Positive)

a) It flows with milk and honey

b) They brought back some of the fruits of the land (grapes, pomegranates and figs)

4. The Report (Negative)

a) Nevertheless

b) The people are strong

c) The cities are fortified

d) Very large cities

e) They saw the descendants of Anak (giants)

f) List of hostile tribes noted:

“The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains;

and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” Numbers 13:29

g) A bad report of the land was given

5. The Impact of this Negative Report

a) Devastating

b) Disastrous

 

APPEALING THE NEGATIVE REPORT

30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”

1. Caleb stood up against this Negative Report

2. He quieted the people

3. His strong words of encouragement

a) Let us go up at once

b) Take possession

c) We are well able to overcome it

 

PREVALENCE OF THE NEGATIVE REPORT

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”

32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying,

“The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.

33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants);

and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Numbers 13:31-33

1. We are not able to go up against the people

2. They are stronger than us

3. The land devours its inhabitants

4. All the people are men of great stature

5. We saw giants

6. We were like grasshoppers in our own sight

7. The Report had changed along the way

a) Exaggeration

b) Lies were added

c) This was not a Report

d) This was an opinion that was laced with fear and doubt

e) God was never in the picture

f) Faith was hugely missing

 

CONCLUSION

1. The battle between Negative and Positive

a) It is still being fought frequently

b) Often Negativity prevails

2. Caleb’s Faith

a) It stood out

b) He had a faith that was truly inspiring

Our Challenge

i) To cultivate our Faith

ii) To control our fears

iii) To become overcomers