Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers chapter 13.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2013&version=NASB1995

I quote only the following verses.

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying, “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel;  you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.”  …

When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev;  then go up into the hill country.  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?  How is the land, is it fat or lean?  Are there trees in it or not?  Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.”  Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

…

When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh;  and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.  Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us;  and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.  Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large;  and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.  Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”  But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.”  So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants;  and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.”  Numbers 13:1-2 and 17-20 and 25-32.

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“The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me?  And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?  I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”  Numbers 14:11-12.

But, Moses interceded for the people.  “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.”  Numbers 14:19.

“So the LORD said, “I have pardoned them according to your word;  but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD.  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, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.  But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.”  Numbers 14:20-24.

But, there is hope for us too, because like Caleb, we have “a different spirit”!

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”  2 Timothy 1:7.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.  Peace I leave with you;  My peace I give to you;  not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”  John 14:26-27. 

“Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous!  Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9.

“but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 15:57-58.