spies – Dancing In The Kingdom

Courage and memory

[Bible references: Numbers 1; Deuteronomy 31:1-8; Joshua 1:1-9; Joshua 3-4; Joshua 5:13-14; Deuteronomy 6:10-12]

When the people of Israel first approached the Promised Land, twelve spies were sent out to scout out the land. Joshua and Caleb were the only two spies that did not bring back a report of discouragement. The discouragement brought by the other ten spies caused all the people of Israel to rebel against God as they forgot all the miracles of God’s provision in their flight from Egypt. This resulted in God subjecting the people of Israel to encamping in the wilderness for forty years. All the adults except for Joshua and Caleb, were subject to die in the wilderness before the people of Israel would enter the Promised Land.

It was therefore Joshua who was chosen to lead the people into the Promised Land at the end of the forty years. As before, the nation of Israel would encounter other people already living in the land, so Israel would need to fight for the land; it would not be easy. Before Joshua led his people into the land, God repeatedly said to Joshua, “Be strong and of good courage … do not be terrified or discouraged.” Then as a refresher, God also performed miracles as the people entered the land, causing the Jordan River to cease flowing to allow the people to cross on dry land – repeating the miracle of the parting of the sea as they fled Egypt.

Before Israel even left Egypt, the people were given gold and other wealth that was not theirs, the water from miraculously made springs and the manna that fell from the sky was not theirs. Now the homes and fields that God gave them to capture were the provision of God as well.

Reflect

Joshua was certainly encouraged when the nation crossed the Jordan River on dry land just as the nation crossed the Red Sea on dry land 40 years earlier. When trying to follow God, what encourages you?

Observe

Read Joshua 1:1-9. How might the instructions to Joshua help to give him courage?

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 1 – Shadows of the Kingdom – Chapter 1 – Prelude

Moses and the Exodus

[Bible references: Exodus 8-11; 14-15; Numbers 13-14; Deuteronomy 1]

430 years would pass after the promise was given to Abraham, that his people, now named after his grandson, Israel, would walk out of Egypt. God told Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved in Egypt for four generations[1] before they return to the Promised Land at which time the “sin of the Amorites would be complete.”

At the scheduled time, God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and it would take 10 plagues, including the death of the firstborn, to convince the Pharaoh to let Israel go. Moses led the people out of Egypt by way of the “Red Sea.” The Commandments were given, and the building of the Tabernacle occurred, at Mt Sinai, location uncertain, before Israel would leave for the “Promised Land.” When 12 spies were sent into the land, 10 of them focused on the difficulty of taking the land, inspiring fear among the people and causing God to consign Israel to wander in the wilderness for 40 years where all the adults 20 and over would die before Israel would finally go into the Promised Land.

^[1] LeBrun, Ken. “The 400-Year Prophecy and the Fourth Generation”” Thoughtlines www.thoughtlines.org/2013/09/the-400-year-prophecy-and-fourth.html; BibleAsk “Did the Israelites spend 400 years in Egypt?” BibleAsk bibleask.org/did-the-israelites-spend-400-years-in-egypt/; Glatt-Gilad, David. “How Many Years Were the Israelites in Egypt?” TheTorah.com www.thetorah.com/article/how-many-years-were-the-israelites-in-egypt; Got Questions. “How many Israelites left Egypt in the exodus?” Got Questions www.gotquestions.org/Israelites-exodus.html; It would be 430 years from the time Abraham’s son Isaac was born but the time spent in Egypt would only be for four generations. Linked to that is the apparent size of the Israelite people leaving Egypt. Allowing for only 4 generations in slavery and, starting with a population of 70 people, something less than 10,000 people would have left Egypt with Moses. This helps to make sense of the Biblical events in the Promised Land and also of the archaeological evidence now available.

Reflect

Think of situations where you had to overcome fears in order to spiritually grow.

Observe

Read Genesis 15. Abram was living in the land of Canaanites which the Lord had promised to give to Abram’s descendants, but in a dream the Lord about how Abram’s descendants would first be enslaved and then return to the Promised Land, but only after “the sin of the Amorites reached its full measure. What does that say about how God works in the present day?