“So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
— Exodus 3:8
“See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications?”
— Numbers 13:18-19
When we arrive at the good land, we will have to deal with not only our flesh but also the powers and principalities in the air (Eph. 6:12). This is the nature of the spiritual battle. If we desire to win the victory, we have to gain the high ground. Therefore, we must go up!
Moses told the spies to discover whether the land was good or bad (Num. 13:19). God had already told him it was a land flowing with milk and honey (Exo. 3:8), but Moses wanted them to be impressed by seeing it for themselves. This is a principle.
For instance, if parents want their children to go to a certain university, it doesn’t work simply to decide for them. The parents should first take them to spy out that campus. It is the same in the Christian life. Even if we know a thing is good, we cannot simply force it upon others; they need to see it for themselves.
Adapted from Joshua: A Life of Service, page 30.
Tomorrow: “The Report of the Spies”