Irrelevance - The Ten Spies

“The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

Numbers 13:32-33

Read this list of biblical names and see if you can remember who they were: Shammau, Shaphat, Igal, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi, Geuel.

Hint: Ten names appear in this list.

These ten men went out as spies from the Israelite camp and returned to their countrymen with negative, discouraging reports.

Sure, they had plenty of good things to say about the land of Canaan. It would make a wonderful home for the people of Israel. But what about those giants—those huge men with bad dispositions who made them feel like grasshoppers?

If you know the story, you know that Moses sent out twelve spies, not ten. Two of them, Joshua and Caleb, encouraged the people to enter the land and take possession of it—right then! Alone among the dozen spies, they would one day possess the Promised Land.

Twelve men left the Hebrew encampment to spy out Canaan, but only two of them earned a reputation as men of faith. The others froze in their tracks the first time they perceived an obstacle, and we barely remember them at all.

Faith is a major element in our relationship with God. In its most basic form, this means believing that God always keeps his word and then acting on that belief. The story of the twelve spies gives us ten examples of crippling doubt and two examples of enabling faith.

Which example will you follow as you face your own giants?

When you focus on God and his ability to overcome obstacles, no giant will seem too big and no barrier too strong. That doesn’t mean that you won’t have to fight any battles! But when you enter the fight armed with the sword of God’s Word and the shield of faith, victory will be nearby.