Hearing

We have choices in what we hear. We can hear the words of fear and doubt or we can hear God's words saying, "Take the land." This morning, I was reading the story in Numbers 13 and 14 about the twelve spies who went in to check out the land of Canaan.

I will try to tell it to you in my own words, but I am sure the New King James Version will slip in there once in awhile.

The children of Israel had been delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians and were led by God through the wilderness by following His cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and He was teaching them His ways and showing them His miraculous provision and He brought them closer to the Land He had promised to give to them.

The LORD told Moses that it was time to send a man from each tribe to go into spy out the land of Canaan which He was giving to the children of Israel. He, Himself, said that He was GIVING it to them. So Moses gave them directions on how to get there and everyone wished them the best. Moses gave them instructions and told them to check out the richness of the land, the quality of people, the strength of their cities, and the amount of trees. He also said, "Bring back some fruit for us to sample."

Off they went complete with bravery and butterflies in their stomachs, thrilled at being chosen, anxious to go and anxious to come back and get this show on the road.

First off, they found some grapes that were so large that one cluster had to be carried between two of them on a pole. They also found some pomegranates and figs.

After forty days they came back and showed everyone their gigantic fruit.
Everyone was excited.
Some of the spies began to talk.

"It's true that the land you send us to is a land flowing with milk and honey. There are cows and bees all over the place and just look at this fruit."

The people looked at each other excitedly and clapped for joy.

"But," they continued, "The people who live in this beautiful land are really strong and some are actually gigantic. The cities are well-protected and are of tremendous size." And their faces showed grave concern and fear.

The people looked at each other and noisily reacted to this bad news.

Caleb got up and said, "Quiet down, everybody."And they quieted down.
"We can do this,"he said. "Let's do it right away. Let's go take possession of the land that God has already promised to give us."
And his face showed bravery and hope.

But his voice was outnumbered by the naysayers.
"There is no possible way that we can go against these people. They are much stronger than we are." Blah, blah, blah. They went on. "The very land devours those who live in it and there are huge people living there. We looked like grasshoppers next to them. We thought so and they thought so too."

So everyone freaked out.
They freaked out all night long, wailing and working themselves into a general frenzy.
They started verbally attacking Moses and Aaron and said things like,
"If only we had died in Egypt! If only we had died in the wilderness! Why did the LORD bring us this far only to have us killed by the people in this land? Shouldn't we go back into Egypt so we can at least die in slavery?" And so on.

They convinced themselves with their own words that they should select a leader and head back to Egypt. That's just horrible, I know, but I wonder how many times we do something just as stupid.

Moses and Aaron fell down on their faces before the people perhaps in despair and/or intercession and Joshua and Caleb, the good spies, tore their clothes and tried to reason with the hysterical people, saying, "This land is really a good land. We've never seen anything like it. Don't give it up so easily! If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us. It's a beautiful land, flowing with milk and honey! Only don't rebel like this against the LORD, and don't fear the people of the land, because they are our bread-we will consume them- because their protection has gone from them and the LORD is with us. Don't be afraid of them!"

My heart is racing with the intensity of their entreaty and the anguish they must have been experiencing.

The people hated these words of encouragement so much that they wanted to stone the four of them and then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle before all the people.
The LORD had had it.
The people were screaming at Moses and then the LORD vented on him as well.

"How long will these people reject Me and not believe Me in spite of all the signs I've given them? I'm going to strike them with a pestilence and disinherit them as my people and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."

And Moses said, "Have at it."
No, not really.
If my name was Moses, that's what I would have said.

Actually, Moses said to the LORD, "What will people think of You if you did such a thing? The Egyptians will hear about it and tell it to everyone and say that You weren't able to deliver Your people like You promised. They'll say that you weren't able to bring them to the land so You killed them off in the wilderness. So show Your great power and may I remind You, that You, the LORD, are longsuffering and full of mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, etc. so please pardon the iniquity of these people according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have been forgiving them all along."

And the LORD listened to Moses and said, " Okay, I have pardoned them, according to Your word, but because these people, who have seen My glory, have tested Me and not heeded My voice, there will be a time that the earth shall be filled with My glory. As for these people, they will not ever see the land that I swore to give to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it."
And He said to the people,
"You will all die in the wilderness, but your little ones, 19 years old and under, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in and they shall know the land which you have despised. But they will have to be shepherds and bear the brunt of your infidelity until your carcasses fall in this wilderness. They'll have to wait forty years-one year for each day that you spied out the land-, and you will bear your guilt for forty years, and you will know My rejection."
"But Caleb has a different spirit than the others, and He follows me fully. Therefore, I will bring him into the land where he went and his descendants will inherit it."

And then, the spies who had given the bad report, and so changed the shape of the intended history of Israel, died by the plague before the LORD.
But Joshua and Caleb remained very much alive.

And believe it or not, the people realized that they had sinned and decided to try to obey the LORD too late. They presumptuously headed up to the mountains to fight the Amelekites and the Canaanites. But Moses and the ark of the covenant (the presence of the LORD) stayed at the camp. Moses tried to warn them, saying, "Don't do that! It won't work!" And he was right. It caused nothing but trouble.
Their enemies swarmed them and attacked them, and drove them back farther into the wilderness.
And they lived a nomadic life for forty more years in the wilderness, instead of being established in the Promised Land.
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There are many lessons to be learned here.

I am going to focus on the lesson of hearing.

The Scriptures say that we should be careful to hear what
the Spirit is saying to the churches and that he that has
an ear, let him hear. It also says that the person who hears
will be given more to hear.

The Spirit speaks to us and we want to hear what He has to say.
But there are other voices speaking to us as well,
and we should be discerning in regards to whose voice
is speaking and what we allow ourselves to hear.

God had already spoken and told the people that He was giving
them this land.
Caleb and Joshua gave a wonderful report that matched
up with God's promise.
But the majority of voices were full of fear
and those were the voices the people of God
listened to.

Who are we going to listen to?
We are all listening.
Who are we going to listen to?
It is time to listen to The Promiser
and to those who speak His Words.
It is time to walk into our Promised Land
and receive our inheritance.
So be careful little ears what you hear.