Angelic Conflict part 180: Human history – Deu 1:22-36; 20:1-4; Num 13-14; 1Sa 17; Psa 27:14; 31:24; Jos 1:5-9.

Deu 1:22 "Then all of you approached me and said, 'Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up, and the cities which we shall enter.'

Deu 1:23 "And the thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe.

God agreed with the proposal because it would test the Israelites and show if they indeed trusted Him. Their failure results in 38 more years in the wilderness.

It was a bad request, but God allowed it so that they may be tested.

Deu 1:24 And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.

Deu 1:25 Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought us back a report and said, 'It is a good land which the Lord our God is about to give us.'

Deu 1:26 "Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God;

Deu 1:27 and you grumbled in your tents and said, 'Because the Lord hates us [common excuse in all generations of believers], He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.

Deu 1:28 'Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there."'

Deu 1:29 "Then I said to you, 'Do not be shocked, nor fear them.

Deu 1:30 'The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

Deu 1:31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked, until you came to this place.'

Deu 1:32 "But for all this, you did not trust the Lord your God,

Deu 1:33 who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.

Deu 1:34 "Then the Lord heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and took an oath, saying,

Deu 1:35 'Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers,

Deu 1:36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed the Lord fully.'

Num 13:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying,

Num 13:2 "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."

Num 13:3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel.

The prominent heads of each tribe were chosen. These are Israel's best.

Num 13:4 These then were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;

Num 13:5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;

Num 13:6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

Num 13:7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;

Num 13:8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun;

Num 13:9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;

Num 13:10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;

Num 13:11 from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;

Num 13:12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;

Num 13:13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;

Num 13:14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;

Num 13:15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

Num 13:16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.

Num 13:17 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.

Num 13:18 And see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many.

Num 13:19 And 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?

Num 13:20 "And 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.

Num 13:21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath.

Num 13:22 When they had gone up into the Negev, they came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

Num 13:23 Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs.

Num 13:24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.

Num 13:25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days,

Num 13:26 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.

Num 13:27 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.

Num 13:28 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.

Num 13:29 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."

What did they expect? 10 out of the twelve were not living in reality. We have to all understand that our opposition exists and is powerful. However, power will succumb to greater power, even though reluctantly.

Did they expect no one to live in such a prosperous land? Do we get shocked when the flesh of man, the world, and the KOD inhabit and influence all of this world? Are we alarmed and surprised when they resist our desire to live spiritually?

1Pe 4:12-13

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.

Num 13:30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it."

Mat 10:32

"Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.

Num 13:31 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."

Mat 10:33

"But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

Num 13:32 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.

Thus they spread an evil report of the land among the Israelites, by exaggerating the difficulties of the conquest in their unbelieving despair, and describing Canaan as a land which "ate up its inhabitants."

The phrase, "men of great size" is also used by Isaiah 700 years later:

Isa 45:14

Thus says the Lord,

"The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush [Nimrod's father]

And the Sabeans, men of stature,

Will come over to you and will be yours;

They will walk behind you; they will come over in chains

And will bow down to you;

They will make supplication to you:

'Surely, God is with you, and there is none else,

No other God.'"

Num 13:33 There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

There were no Nephilim. The only persons to survive the flood were Noah, his wife, and his three sons and their wives. Whether the sons of Anak acquired this title because they were tall or whether the 10 spies were trying to scare the others so that they would not have to fight is unclear.

But what is clear is that they are cowards who saw themselves as small because they saw themselves without God.

Do you view yourself as a grasshopper? Does your self-consciousness reveal a weak believer?

We contrast them with a young teenage boy:

1Sa 17:26

For who is this uncircumcised Philistine [9 ½ feet tall], that he should taunt the armies of the living God?"

1Sa 17:45

Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.

1Sa 17:46

This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

1Sa 17:47

and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hands."

Psa 27:14

Wait for the Lord;

Be strong, and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the Lord.

Psa 31:24

Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

All you who hope in the Lord.

Isa 35:4

Say to those with anxious heart,

"Take courage, fear not.

Behold, your God will come with vengeance;

The recompense of God will come,

But He will save you."

Deu 31:7

Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.

Deu 31:23

Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you."

Jos 1:5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.

Jos 1:6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

Jos 1:7 Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.

Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Jos 1:9 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."

Num 14:1 Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.

Because of fear, emotion has come to dominate the soul of this generation. Perfect love casts out fear – beloved!

Num 14:2 And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!

Emotional revolt turns to self-pity.

Num 14:3 "And why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?"

Self-pity turns to disillusionment and a defeatist mind.

Deu 1:27-28

and you grumbled in your tents and said, 'Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. 'Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there."'\

Num 14:4 So they said to one another, "Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt."

Who in the world would want that job?

Disillusionment turns to worldly solutions and therefore bad decisions.

Principles on fear:

Fear is used two ways in the Bible.

Deu 20:1 "When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.

Deu 20:2Now it shall come about that when you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near and speak to the people.

Deu 20:3And he shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them,

Deu 20:4for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.'