Fully Devoted: Israel, Act 1Sample

Scouting the Promised Land

Let’s review: God dismantled the deities of Egypt, neutralizing their power over His people, the Israelites. He parted a sea, allowing them to walk through on dry ground, which made a way when there seemed to be no way. He provided for every need they had throughout the journey. He gave them the Law—a tangible way for them to relate to Him and learn how to represent Him as holy, set apart people.  

He fulfilled every promise, and yet they remained marked by their time in Egypt. To enter into the land God had promised, they would need to confront their fears. So, Moses sent spies to scope out the Promised Land—12 guys, one to represent each of the 12 tribes of Israel.  

They came back with mixed signals. The land was incredible—super fertile and fruitful. But the people already living in the land were massive warriors and seemed ready for a fight. A group of former slaves stood no chance—or so they thought. 

Their bad report was born out of misplaced trust. The same God who had been miraculously working in their story was ready to do it again. Look what God says in Deuteronomy: 

Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?” Deuteronomy 9:1-2 NIV

God confirms their fears—the people in the Promised Land are stronger and superior than them in every way that could possibly matter in a battle. Yet, He then counters with this: 

But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you. Deuteronomy 9:3 NIV

The Israelites had gotten part of the equation right—don’t trust in their own abilities—but they had missed the second part: trusting in the name of the Lord. 

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7 NIV

See, from the very beginning, God has been inviting us to trust Him. In the same way that it made no sense to start a great nation with two old people who couldn’t get pregnant, it makes no sense to march into hostile territory with a bunch of wilderness-wandering, former slaves. 

But in God’s eyes, there was no better way to do it because He delights in showing Himself strong in the most unlikely circumstances and through the least expected candidates. 

There were two guys out of the twelve who understood this: Joshua, Moses’ apprentice, and Caleb, the representative from the tribe of Judah. This is what they had to say: 

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” Numbers 13:30 NIV

That confidence comes from trust in the Lord—trust based on evidence. The evidence of the Exodus. The evidence of the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. The evidence of the Red Sea. The evidence of the water from the rock and the quail sent from God.

Paul echoes this sentiment in the New Testament:  

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 NIV  

Joshua and Caleb’s confidence foreshadows the confidence that we get to have in Christ. The decisive battle has already been won. Our God fought for us and defeated death. Now, through our trust in Him, we are also more than conquerors.  

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:35-37 NIV

Journaling Questions 

• What passage stood out to you from today's reading? Write down the verses in your journal.
• God is inviting us to trust Him. What is the biggest area of your life that you want to trust God with?
• Where have you trusted your own strength over the strength of God?

Memory Verse

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV