3Gs: The Challenge for the Joshua Generation

This is something I wrote, hope you all can take some time to read it:

One of the most heartbreaking and yet inspiring stories in the Bible for me is the story of Joshua and Caleb. The story of Numbers 13; how close the Israelites came to conquering the Promised Land. Yet, one step away from victory, they were punished and ended wandering the desert for 40 years. Let’s put things into context.

God’s mercy spurned

Israel was a nation of slaves under the Pharaoh, and they cried out to God for help. God answered and sent Moses to lead them out of Egypt. The Israelites were witnesses to the 10 plagues that destroyed the once powerful nation of Egypt. And later on they were lead out of Egypt by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. (Exodus 13:21) By now, surely they knew that it was not Moses but God who led them and that there was nothing to fear!

But no, once they reached the Red Sea and were pursued by the Pharaoh’s army, what did they say?

Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” – Exodus 14:11-12

But God had mercy, and opened the Red Sea and destroyed the Pharaoh’s army. Surely after seeing such a miracle they would have believed that it was God Himself who led them and that there was nothing to fear.

But no, once again, when they reached the wilderness of Shur and spent 3 days looking for water, finally they came to Marah and found some water, but the water was bitter and undrinkable. And the Israelites started to complain again. But God in His mercy performed yet another miracle before their eyes.

Then he (Moses) cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. – Exodus 15:25

After this miracle, surely they must know that God is in control of the situation! But no, once again just a short time later they start to complain about their food.

The sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out here into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” – Exodus 16:3

But once again, God had mercy on them, and sent quail (birds) right into their camp for dinner! And He “rains bread” from the heavens for breakfast! Can you imagine that? Surely by now the Israelites know of the Lord’s great power.

But no. A short time later when Moses goes up to Mount Sinai to receive the Law, the Israelites, seeing Moses gone for so long built an idol in the image of a Golden Calf and start to worship it. This time God is really angry and threatens to destroy the Israelites, (Exodus 32:10) but Moses bargains with God and God changes His mind (Exodus 32:14) and spares them.

God was once again merciful to them. Later in Exodus 34, He renews this covenant with the Israelites, promising them that He will deliver the Land of Canaan into their hands. Surely by now, after seeing God’s wonderful mercy and God’s awesome and miraculous power, the Israelites would believe any promise God would make! But no, they did not.

Joshua, Moses’ protégé

Amidst the wayward Israelites, there were a few who stood out. Among them, a young man by the name of Joshua; he was Moses’ servant. He was there during the 10 plagues, he was there when God provided water in the desert, and he was there when God provided food for the Israelites. And he followed Moses up to Mount Sinai to receive the Law as well. (Exodus 24:13)

Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to a friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. – Exodus 33:11

He would follow Moses into the Tent of Meeting; he would be with Moses as God Himself spoke to Moses. He would hear all that the Lord would want to say to Moses, and he would not leave the tent. He understood full well the glory of God. He understood full well the power of God. He knew first hand the presence of God, and he could not bear to depart from it! He knew of the covenant given to them; that the conquest of the Land of Canaan was a sure victory! He knew all this; he saw; he experience everything first hand.

3Gs: Giants, Grasshoppers or the Glory of God

Fast forward to Numbers 13; the Israelites have reach Kadesh Barnea, the edge of the Promised Land and Moses sends out spies to survey the Land. Among the spies are Caleb and Joshua. After 40 days, the spies return bearing the spoils of the land.

Can you guess the excitement in the camp as they saw the single cluster of grapes so large that it had to be carried by 2 men! Can you imagine the excitement as the spies told them that the land indeed flows with milk and honey? Can you imagine what the Israelites must have felt, after seeing the miracles God performed in the desert and knowing the covenant to deliver the land into their hands? Surely they should have felt confident that this was a conquest already won, a certain victory! But NO. Instead, 10 of the 12 spies said this:

“The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land which devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 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.” – Numbers 13:32b-33

Instead of feeling excited and certain of victory, the Israelites rebelled. Moses, Aron, Joshua and Caleb pleaded with the Israelites to look at the promise at God made, surely God would not turn His back on that promise, but the Israelites would not listen, instead they would almost stone the 4 of them. Then the Lord intervenes.

God once again want to destroy the Israelites, but Moses (despite almost being stoned) pleads for his people and once again God spares them on Moses’ account. But the sin of the Israelites will not go unpunished, and they are to spend 40 years in the wilderness, till every person (at that time) above the age of 25 is dead with the exception of Caleb and Joshua. (Numbers 14)

Can you imagine the heartbreak that Joshua and Caleb must have felt when they were turned-away at the edge of the Promised Land and instead had to spend 40 years watching their friends, families die? From certain victory, they were made to wait another 40 years before they could taste their spoils. How could this have happened?

The Giants: The Israelites were afraid of the “men of great size” and were terrified by the Nephilim! (We can discuss who or what the Nephilim are some other time, Genesis 6:4) It was not the Israelites’ fault that the giants were there, the giants were after all the natives of the land. But the Lord had promised the giants would be delivered!

The Grasshoppers: Make no mistake, the giants were there all the time, but not one giant harmed an Israelite. But, the grasshoppers WIPED OUT an entire generation of them! Read Numbers 13:33 again. It was the spies that claimed that they were grasshoppers and it was the spies that said that they seemed like grasshoppers to the giants. It was their personal impression of themselves in the eyes of a giant, not the actual representation. They had made themselves to be small and weak and easily trampled on. (Later in the book of Joshua, these giants are actually fearful of the Israelites, for they had become a powerful army)

The Glory of God: Joshua would eventually take over the leadership of the Israelites from Moses. And Caleb’s tribe, Judah, would be the only tribe to completely conquer all its allocated territory. Eventually, Judah would form the southern Kingdom and be spared would not lose its identity as Jews. Jesus, would come from the tribe of Judah and in Revelations, Jesus is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. (Revelations 5:5)

Instead of being weighed down by their grasshoppers, or looking up and seeing nothing but giants, Joshua and Caleb would choose to look higher and see the Glory of God. The same signs and wonders that had been performed, the same covenant that was given to the Israelites was the same one given to Joshua and Caleb, and it was those things that they chose to see instead.

The Challenge

What are our giants? School pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure etc. These are the problems that we cannot take away, the problems that we cannot remove no matter how hard we try. These will always be there. But take heart, the same God who eventually delivered the giants into the hands of Israel is the same God we worship today! But there is one significant change; lets discuss that later.

What are our grasshoppers? These are our personal problems that plague us. Inferiority Complexes, our “bochap” attitude, our own stubbornness etc. These are the problems that are inherent inside us. No one put them there, but us! And these problems are fatal, they can kill us, they can eat us alive. But they can be overcome.

At the end of 40 years, the Israelites were transformed from a nation of grasshoppers to a nation of soldiers! Were they afraid? Surely! They were going to war, some would lose their lives, but they chose not to look at that, but instead they choose to look higher!

We too can overcome our grasshoppers, be it alone or with the help of someone, it can be done. But it must be done by an action initiated by ourselves. But take heart, the same God the Israelites worship before and after the 40 years is still the same God we worship today. But there is a significant difference; and that is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Glory of God for the Israelites was reflected in a pillar of fire or smoke and in the numerous great victories they won. But for us, it is not some thunderous bolt from the sky, but rather a man who chose to die a criminal’s death on an instrument of torture. Jesus gave us a new covenant and by His death on the Cross, sealed that covenant. We are supposed to see victory, but sometimes, giants and grasshoppers block our view.

Will you choose to see the Glory of the Cross, above your giants and grasshoppers?

We are the Joshua Generation. The generation that will one day rise up and take the lead from our elders. But will you reflect the spirit of Joshua and Caleb who looked above the problems and focused on God and saw victory. Or will you be like the Israelites, who on the edge of victory, were turned away?

Live this life, focused on the Cross, on what Jesus has done for you, choose to see that instead of your problems. Will you choose to see the Glory of the Cross, above your giants and grasshoppers?