Num 13:23 — Num 13:33
And they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two [of them]; they brought also some pomegranates and figs.
That place was called the Valley of Eshcol [cluster] because of the cluster which the Israelites cut down there.
And they returned from scouting out the land after forty days.
They came to Moses and Aaron and to all the Israelite congregation in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought them word, and showed them the land’s fruit.
They told Moses, We came to the land to which you sent us; surely it flows with milk and honey. This is its fruit.
But the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities arefortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak [of great stature and courage].
Amalek dwells in the land of the South (the Negeb); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and along by the side of the Jordan [River].
Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it.
But his fellow scouts said, We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are stronger than we are.
So they brought the Israelites an evil report of the land which they had scouted out, saying, The land through which we went to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.
There we saw the Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
The children of Israel were wondering around in a desert place with a promise from God of a land flowing with milk and honey. Moses sends out 12 men to spy out the land.
Ten of the men come back with a report about the land and how it does indeed flow with milk and honey. They even brought back some grapes that had to be carried by two of the men. This land was prosperous and had so much to desire.
But ten of these men got their eyes off the blessings of the land that the Lord had promised them and got their eyes on two things
1. The people of the land were huge and strong.
We get our focus on the people around us sometimes and we get our eyes off the blessings that God has in store for us. We focus so much on what it would take to not have to deal with the ridicule and the looking down on us.
By looking at the people around us, we cower into our little shells and we decide not to come out or just stay where we are. We become frozen in our situation and miss out on all the blessings.
These men saw the blessings of the promised Land, but determined that they could not get the blessings because of others.
2. They looked at themselves and determined that there was nothing they could do.
These ten men considered themselves grasshoppers in their own eyes. They had such a low self-esteem that they could not even see past the end of their noses. They would rather hide than step out because they had no self worth or faith in a God who can do anything.
We miss out on a lot of blessings because we only see our own abilities, or what we see are inabilities. We end up with our heads in the sand hoping that no one will ask us to do anything because we just don't have the ability.
Sounds familiar doesn't it? Sounds like Moses. If God had let Moses live based on what he saw as his inabilities, God would have either had to find someone else to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt or no one would have lead them out.
Two of the spies didn't look at their own abilities or how big the current residence of the promised Land were. They looked at God and determined that He was bigger than all of them put together.
What a humbling way to look. Those guys are big, I am small and don't have much ability, but God is huge.
Too often we miss out on blessings because we can't fight a battle that isn't even ours to fight. Don't miss your blessings. God has promises for you if you will let him take care of the obstacles.
Thank you Lord for being so great and mighty. Thank you for the blessings you have for me no matter what I can or can't do. I depend completely on you for everything. I know you desire to bless me, but when the blessings mean I have to go against something, Lord, fight my battles for me.
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