Tony Ng

Ten Other Spies Who Saw Canaan

Many children are familiar with the story about the twelve leaders who spied out the promised land of Canaan. In the story, Joshua and Caleb are standout examples of people who trusted and had faith in God. However, how many of us can name one of the other spies? Despite this, we can still learn from their examples.

Over-planning for Nature Walks

Many people enjoy nature walks. However, I am a risk-averse indoor person. Before an outdoor walk, I tend to over-plan and over-prepare. I would map out the route, estimate the time needed, check the weather, wear suitable clothing, and bring several supplies (water, maybe some food, a small first aid kit). Because I hate mosquitoes, I would also bring plenty of bug repellent. After lots of planning and packing, I would finally feel ready for the great outdoors. My ultimate focus is to avoid mishaps and return home safe and sound. My planning is often successful so my wife calls me the family’s safety officer.

Years ago, I went on a short walk with a nature expert. As we walked, he pointed out evidence of all kinds of wildlife living in the woods among us. He listened to the bird calls and told me what kind of birds they were. He found egg shells and knew that nests were nearby. He knew what kind of nests these birds built and knew what to look for. He quickly spotted a nest hidden in a tree and pointed it out to me. I looked up to where he was pointing but I failed to see it because I did not know what it looked like.

He also pointed out paw prints, nests, dens, bones, egg shells, feathers, and much much more. Things that I never noticed before because I’m usually preoccupied with the mosquitos flying around me.

I would like to challenge us to apply the same metaphor to our spiritual journey. Are you more like me who tend to over-plan and over-prepare so that you would not have to deal with the dangers and obstacles you may face? Or, are you more like my nature expert friend, who can look past the mosquitoes and enjoy the amazing wildlife usually hidden from us?

God’s Fellowship in Our Spiritual Journey

In our lives, we face many spiritual obstacles and dangers. Some are minor while some are monumental. But God desires for us to not focus on these obstacles and distractions. Our spiritual journey is to enjoy the fellowship we have with our Creator, to see His handiwork, and to sing His praises as we take part in His good plans. God wants us to trust Him to take care of us throughout our journey.

Why God Sent Spies to Canaan

In Numbers 13:1-2, God promised to give the Israelites the good land of Canaan. It was God’s idea to send leaders from each tribe to spy out the land. God could have just led the people into the promised land and cleared out its inhabitants by Himself. Or, God could have made the inhabitants weak and feeble. God is more than capable of doing that. However, He chose not to do it that way. Why did God choose to send leaders to spy out the promised land? What did He want them to see?

In Numbers 13:17-20, Moses instructed the leaders to spy out the land and to give a report. They spent 40 days throughout Canaan to make a full assessment of the land. They assessed the quality of the soil, the formation of the land, the strength of the defenses, the structure of their society, the number of the inhabitants and their physical attributes. Imagine hiring twelve consultants with expertise in geology, botany, agriculture, sociology, security, military strategy and more for a period of 40 days. What a huge undertaking that would be. God does not want us to just submit and follow Him blindly. He gives each of us different experiences, skills, talents, and abilities. He wants us to use them for His purposes. God wants us to fulfill His plans with Him.

God sent these spies because these were leaders who held positions of respect and influence. They were public figures. These were not people who would just blindly follow others. God desires from all of us faith and trust in Him amidst our fears and doubts. Despite being leaders, God desired the same from the spies. By sending the spies out, and letting them see the overwhelming odds against them, God provided the Israelites an opportunity to witness His power in full display when He gives them the land.

Failing to See God’s Handiwork

Faith in God does not require us to put aside our intelligence, our talents, or our abilities. In fact, God designed each of us to be the person we are for His good purposes. We often overlook God in our lives because we fail to recognize His handiwork all around us. God is constantly working in our professional or academic life, our home and family life, our finances, our relationships, and even our recreation and vacations. When we fail to see how God is actively working around us, we minimize God while exaggerating our own significance. It’s easy to fall into thinking in terms of “me or God” instead of “God and me”.

In Numbers 13:31-33, the spies reported back. Indeed, Canaan was a good land as God had promised. However, they focused on their own inabilities. Ten out of twelve leaders omitted God from their assessment. Thus they totally missed out on the opportunity to see how God was going to give them the land.

Often, I am in awe when I hear testimonies of God performing miracles in the lives of others. However, I seldom expect similar miracles in my own life. Like winning the lottery, winning only happens to other people. People would tell me, “you can’t win if you don’t play.” I would like to say the same about God’s miracles. “You can’t expect to experience God’s miracles if you don’t pray.”

I would contend that the problem with the ten spies existed before their 40 days in Canaan. The ten spies failed to see God working in their everyday lives. They did not know God well enough to recognize His handiwork. Like me missing out on the wonders of the wildlife on my nature walks, these ten spies were not accustomed to seeing the wonder of God working among them in the common and mundane parts of their daily lives. Despite surviving ten plagues, led by pillars of smoke and fire, and crossing the Red Sea, the ten spies were unable to see God working up close and personal.

Who is God to you?

Many people only see God as a superhero who would swoop in when there is danger to save the day at the very last moment. However, in the absence of danger, we go about our lives without the need for a superhero. We can handle the daily stuff by ourselves. Only when trouble arises, we will send out the signal for help by falling to our knees and praying for help.

God is not a superhero but a loving Father. He cares about every aspect of our lives. He is involved with every aspect of our lives whether we can recognize it or not. Our loving Heavenly Father lives with us. He guides, teaches, protects, provides, comforts, disciplines, and so much more.

Who is God to you? Is He a superhero or is He a loving Father? Do you only seek God in the midst of danger and trouble or do you also seek God in the mundane daily activities of your life? Do you only praise God for the big answered prayers? Or do you also praise God for providing all the small things that you didn’t even bother praying for?

Depending on God

God does not want us to worship Him from afar like a superhero. He wants a personal relationship with us. He calls us His children.

As parents, many of us dream for our children to become independent, self-sufficient, and successful. We teach them to stand on their own two feet and be contributing members of society. We look forward to the empty nest stage of life when our children start their own homes and can provide for their own needs.

However, the desire of our Heavenly Father for us is opposite of our desire for our children. Our Heavenly Father desires us to return home to Him and learn to become more and more dependent on Him.

The ten spies failed because they did not learn to depend on God. They trusted only their own abilities. They could not see what was possible with God. Therefore, they rejected their promised home and instead wanted to go back to their former lives in Egypt.

Dwelling in Fear vs Responding in Faith

In Numbers 14:1-4, the faithlessness of the ten spies quickly spread among the people. They feared the giants and they doubted their own abilities. They also doubted God’s promise and His power. They wanted to turn back to the bitter days of crying and weeping in slavery in Egypt instead of going forward the land of milk and honey. Their lack of faith and trust in God prevented them from drawing closer to a loving Father and receiving His protection and His good gifts.

In Numbers 14:5-9, only Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb responded with faith and trust in God. But in verse 10, rebellion had already set in and the people were ready to stone their God appointed leaders.

In the midst of danger, fear and doubt are natural responses. They are survival instincts that help us live another day. Fear and doubt have their purposes. Without fear and doubt, faith and trust would be unnecessary. However, when seeking God, we need to respond supernaturally with faith and trust in Him despite having fear and doubt. This is not the same as simple wishful thinking. Our faith and trust in God has to be based on knowing who He is, what He can do, and what He has done. It has to be consistent with God’s character and His promises.

Fear and doubt is a natural response. It doesn’t take much for them to quickly spread among people like throwing a lit match into dry brush. A small flame can easily consume the dry brush and quickly spread to become an uncontrolled wildfire. The lesson here is that we must all be very careful with how we handle our own personal fears and doubts. Extreme caution must be exercised.

When we share our fears and doubts with others, are we seeking perspective and encouragement? Or are we seeking validation and affirmation of those fears and doubts? Do we want others to share our fears and doubts? Similar to how we should guard against gossip and slander, we need to be very careful when sharing with others. The spread of fear and doubt by the ten spies should be a warning for us.

On the other hand, faith and trust in God is not a natural response. Faith and trust needs to be intentional, practiced, encouraged, and nurtured. Faith and trust is like starting a controlled burn with the purpose to clear potential hazardous fuel for wildfires, to encourage new growth, and to promote the overall health of the existing forest. So when faced with the flames of adversity, do we allow it to burn out of control like a wildfire? Or do we allow God to use it to clear away dead brush so that our faith might grow stronger and healthier?

In Numbers 14:17-19, we are fortunately reminded that God is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sins. When our fears and doubts overcome our faith and trust in God, we need to repent and seek forgiveness. Unfortunately, we are also reminded that God is just and holy who does not leave the guilty unpunished. In these two chapters in Numbers, the consequence to the faithlessness of the Israelites is 40 years of wilderness wandering.

Examining Our Lives and Our Church

We need to examine our own lives and the life of our church. What do you see? The good and the bad – are they just random events? Is this just how life happens? What’s your focus? On your spiritual walk, are you distracted and worried about the giant spiritual mosquitoes buzzing around? Or are you able to see beyond that and be amazed by the wonders of God’s handiwork? Can you see daily evidence of His love and care for us?

Our Heart Attitude Matters

Our responses, actions or inactions do matter but even more importantly the attitudes of our hearts. They matter because this is what our Heavenly Father sees and cares about. It is hard to correlate between the causes and effects of our responses. God and His plans are much bigger than our limited understanding. His timing is His own. Our lives are intertwined with each other. Our lack of understanding does not mean that God is not in control of the big things as well as the small things in our lives. He cares and He lives among His people. We are His family and our Almighty God is not a superhero nor is He an absent father.

Tony Ng is the Director of Children’s Ministries at CBCGB. This article is based on Tony’s sermon at CBCGB on July 23, 2023.

Edited by Hei Man (Grace) Yeung