The Israelites had been wandering in the wilderness for and were finally on the cusp of the Promised land. Moses had sent out the 12 spies into the Canaan to check it out. As we know the 12 spies came back and did report on the fruitfulness and goodness of the land but 10 were fearful and stirred up fear in the hearts of the people. Only 2 - Joshua and Caleb returned with eyes full of faith, believing that the Lord would continue to be faithful and give the Promised Land into their hands. The bad report of the 10 spies and the fear and grumbling it stirred up in the people angered the Lord and this is where our scripture for today picks up, with Moses pleading on behalf of the people.
Numbers 14:18-24
18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children [h]to the third and the fourth generations.’19 Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
20 So the Lord said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; 21 but indeed, as I live, [i]all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.22 Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23 shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. 24 But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, [j]I will bring into the land [k]which he entered, and his [l]descendants shall take possession of it.
Because he had a different spirit. Only Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter the promised land because they were of a different spirit. They saw with eyes of faith, not fear. They knew that if the Lord said it, He would be faithful to perform it, to give them the victory. I also love these passages when Joshua had taken over as leader after the death of Moses. This is Caleb speaking:
7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart.8 Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people [d]melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God fully. 9 So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully.’ 10 Now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. 12 Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will [e]drive them out as the Lord has spoken.”
13 So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.14 Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite until this day, because he followed the Lord God of Israel fully.
Look at the faithfulness of Caleb and look at the faithfulness of the Lord. 45 years later, he is strong, vibrant and still fighting. And his spirit is still filled with passion and fire. The Lord gave him the land that he desired because he did not agree with a bad report. He one one of faith not fear and he did not stir up fear in the hearts of the people He and Joshua were both men who operated in faith and with a strong encouragement to the people. And that’s what I hope this show does for our listeners. And that’s exactly how I see the members of LACAG and our listeners. We are ones of a different spirit.
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