“THEN CALEB QUIETED THE PEOPLE BEFORE MOSES AND SAID, “LET US GO UP AT ONCE AND TAKE POSSESSION OF IT; FOR WE WILL CERTAINLY CONQUER IT.” BUT THE MEN WHO HAD GONE UP WITH HIM SAID, “WE ARE NOT ABLE TO GO UP AGAINST THE PEOPLE [OF CANAAN], FOR THEY ARE TOO STRONG FOR US.”

– NUMBERS 13:30-31

According to Merriam-Webster, promise means to pledge to do, bring about, or provide. So when God promised the Israelites the land of Canaan, He was pledging to provide them with that land. The Israelites were all on board with that promise until they decided to listen to a group of men over the Word of the Lord. Everyone knew that Canaan was where the Lord was bringing them. They even sent scouts into the land to see what it was all about.

When the spies came back, ten of the twelve gave the rest of the people an “evil report.” They began telling the rest of the Israelites how mighty the people in Canaan were, and how they couldn’t defeat them. Joshua and Caleb kept reminding them of God’s Promise and how He had delivered them up until now, but the Israelites were having none of it. God was not pleased with the Israelites and said, “But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. Your sons shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness. According to the number of days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], forty days, for each day, you shall bear and suffer a year for your sins and guilt, for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement because of your sin].”

The Israelites chose to listen to man instead of believing the Promises of God. As a result, not only did they miss out on God’s promise, they suffered in the desert for forty years. Sometimes we choose to believe the words of man rather than The Word of the Lord. As a result, we miss out on God’s blessing because we chose to put our faith in something else. We must always remember that no matter how good people’s intentions are, we must put our faith in God first and foremost. As you go through your week, ask yourself, “am I listening to the Word of the Lord or the Word of Man?”

…no matter how good people’s intentions are, we must put our faith in God first and foremost.