When
we as believers purposely fail to do the will of God for our lives, we are
acting like the world and heading for chastening that could have been avoided
by being obedient to the will of God. Billy Graham believed that if we simply
obeyed the Bible, we would avoid 95% of all our troubles! Imagine that! Funny
thing, we get mad at God for all of our troubles, but it is us bringing most of
them upon ourselves, yes?
Concerning
these ten men identified below, all of them was a leader in their tribe and brought
upon themselves a plague that was quick at getting to the point of it all (Num 14:37). They
in their infinite wisdom signed their own death warrant due to their fickle,
fearful, and faithless thinking and actions. What a legacy they left: “We can’t
do God’s will!”
I
would say, “You’re absolutely right if you are trying to do God’s will in your
own strength (cf. Jn 15:5)!” It couldn’t be done back then, and it certainly
cannot be done now without His help in doing His will, yes? This requires
spiritual regeneration and submission to His sovereign right to rule in our life (Jn 3:3).
Apparently, of the twelve spies, only
Joshua and Caleb knew we cannot do His will without help from Him and lived to see it happen (Num 14:38). By their survival, Yahweh communicated to all the rebels and those 19
years and younger at Kadesh Barnea, and for the next thirty-eight long and
dreary years in the wilderness – “Joshua and Caleb were right; the dead ones were
wrong!”
Shammua, son of Zaccur (Num
13:4, tribe of Reuben)
Shaphat, son of Hori (Num
13:5, tribe of Simeon)
Igal, son of Joseph (Num
13:7, tribe of Issachar)
Palti, son of Raphu (Num
13:9, tribe of Benjamin)
Gaddiel, son of Sodi (Num
13:10, tribe of Zebulun)
Gaddi, son of Susi (Num
13:11, tribe of Joseph, tribe of
Manasseh)
Ammiel, son of Gemalli (Num
13:12, tribe of Dan)
Sethur, son of Michael (Num
13:13, tribe of Asher)
Nahbi, son of Vophsi (Num
13:14, tribe of Naphtali)
Geuel, son of Machi (Num 13:15, tribe of Gad)
Selah.
It
would have been so easy for Joshua and Caleb to go along with these ten shaky
spies. Sticking to their swords just about got them stoned to death (Num 14:10a).
I do not want to give you the impression that J&C were super saints, but
there is no evidence that either one of them strayed from the faith! Now, if
you read Yahweh’s words to Joshua in Josh 1:6-9, and if you read between the
lines, we see that his sinful nature was still intact and fully operational.
Keep
in mind that his position and mission were requiring great fortitude. This suggests
that latent within him was the potential, as with all of us, to falter, be
weak, be afraid, be discouraged, make a wrong turn, feel like a failure, or
quit altogether. No matter how saintly we see ourselves, though we are forgiven
sinners, we still have a sinful nature. Except for the grace of God, go you and me
down that rabbit hole by choice!
The
death of these ten spies teaches us that we must be ever so careful not to
discourage others from doing the will of God for their lives (cf. Prov 4:23).
Have you ever noticed how fickle, fearful, and faithless people love to drag
other people, not like them, down to their level with them? It’s like an
obsession, drowning in their fear and spiritual stupidity, “Let me take
somebody with me!” Don’t go down the rabbit hole with Alice, right?
In
stark contrast to these ten evil men above, Joshua and Caleb were steadfast, intrepid,
and faithful to Yahweh. Caleb
was from the tribe of Judah, the son of Jephunneh
(Num 13:6) who was a Kenizzite (Num 32:12). Hoshea was from the tribe of
Ephraim, the son of Nun (Num 13:8). Moses changed Hoshea’s name (“desire for
salvation”) to Joshua (“the Lord is salvation”), Num 13:16. Nonetheless, some esoteric
expositors see Joshua as mystical in nature, never having a father (cf. son of Nun, Josh 2:1),
yes?
Yes,
I am of the opinion that Joshua, the former chief assistant to Moses (cf. Ex 24:13; Josh
1:1), revisited his brief spy tenure (that is if he ever got free of it) thirty-eight
years ago when he commissioned those two men to scout out the surrounding area of Jericho
and the city itself, Go, view the land, especially Jericho (Josh 2:1a).
How
could he ever forget all of those wasted years in the wilderness because ten of his
spy colleagues embellished what they saw, causing people that were fickle, fearful, and
faithless to buy into a bad report of the land and its inhabitants? Do
you think they thought that since God did all the work getting them out of
Egypt that Yahweh was going to do all the fighting in
the Promised Land for them? That was a quantum leap of self-entitlement, yes?
The
spies and the people end up rebelling against the will of God and sullied His
person and promises of a land flowing with milk and honey. It proved to be one
colossal and costly mistake by the ten spies who were leaders in their own
respective tribes (Num 13:2) and the ungodly behavior of the people (Num 14:29,
except for Caleb and Joshua, Num 14:30)!
But My
servant Caleb, because he has a different [another]
spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring
into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it (Num 14:24, emphasis mine).
A
different spirit should be interpreted in contrast to those of a worldly spirit
rejecting the will of God for their lives, in this case: the ten spies and
those siding with their spy report. Caleb’s attitude was to follow Yahweh fully (Heb., mala). The
same Hebrew word mala is translated wholly in Num 32:12. The NIV translates mala in
this latter passage, wholeheartedly (Num 32:12, NIV). The idea of a different or another spirit is one who
follows Yahweh for His glory without reservation, immediately and completely, hence,
fully, wholly.
This
concept of a different spirit ties right into the spirit of the Shema (Deut
6:5, our Mt 22:37; Lk 10:27; Mk 12:30), loving Yahweh with the totality of our
being. You realize that God translates our love for Him through our loving
obedience to His commands (cf. Jn 14:15). Oh, the penetrating question that questions
our love for Him, But why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I
say (Lk
6:46)? Well, we read nowhere
that Joshua had a different spirit. However, Joshua wholly followed Yahweh His
God as well (Num 32:11-12) which fits the criteria of a different spirit, yes?
Caleb’s
testimony after spying out the land forty-five years ago was, I wholly followed
Yahweh my God (Josh 14:8; cf. Josh 14:13-15). The will of God was
everything to Joshua and Caleb, having a different spirit that wholly
followed Yahweh their God. The heart and soul of a different or another
spirit are found in Josh 22:5 in the words of Joshua addressed to the tribes of Reuben,
Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh to be permanently located on the east side of the Jordan
River,
But take
careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the
LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep
His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and
with all your soul (Josh 22:5).
Isn’t
that a thing of beauty! A different spirit conforms to Josh 22:5 seamlessly. Oh,
Father, if this was the driving passion of us all who know you relationally! You
can see the prime directive (Deut 6:5) was good not only for the Jews but for
all believers whose God is Yahweh regardless of the timeline (cf. Mk 12:30-31).
As
I have said in the past, the only meaningful love for Yahweh is our obedience
to His commands (cf. Jn 14:15), yes? If you and I do that, we will have a
different or another spirit rather than the herd mentality. Only Yahweh knows
if we love Him with all of our hearts or not. He already knows if the heart is divided, a lukewarm
heart, a cold heart, or there is little to nothing in the heart tank for Him (cf. Jer 17:10).
Joshua and Caleb were geared up, yes!?
Since
that time, men of a different spirit, like Joshua and Caleb, served as an
example to all of us who believe (cf. Rom 15:4) in how important it is to
wholly follow Yahweh our God, making a difference for His glory. A different
spirit is blessed by God. A selfish and unthankful spirit deprives his or
herself of divine blessings; it’s just that simple, yes?
Advanced
in age (Josh 23:1; cf. Josh 24:29), Joshua had summoned all 2 the tribes of Israel to Shechem (Josh 24:1). He rehearsed the blessings of God upon all
the tribes. He basically presented them with a choice of keeping in covenant with
Yahweh to be blessed or breaking the covenant with Him by mingling and merging with
the heathens and serving their gods and suffering the consequences of
disobedience to Yahweh. These are the only two choices given to the people
after the conquest of the Promised Land. Joshua said it best,
And if it
seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will
serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the
gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we
will serve the LORD (Josh 24:15). The people said to Joshua that day, No, but we will
serve the LORD (Josh 24:21).
Here
is the cool thing.
Israel
served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who
outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for
Israel (Josh 24:31).
(Jdg 2:6) And
when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his
own inheritance to possess the land.
(Jdg 2:7) So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.
Now
comes the really sad news,
(Jdg
2:10, emphasis mine) When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another
generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which
He had done for Israel.
(Jdg 2:11) Then
the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals;
(Jdg 2:12) and
they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the
land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the
people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they
provoked the LORD to anger.
(Jdg 2:13) They
forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
(Jdg 2:14) And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.
It
is abundantly clear that those who wholly follow Yahweh their God avoid needless
troubles. That’s good to know in times of spiritual conflict. It is a choice
you and I make to be blessed or experience unrest. As for me and my house, my
friend, well, you know the option I chose; I strive not to chase after the “same
spirit” (a type of the world) but a different spirit as Joshua and Caleb did so
long ago, a breed apart for the glory of God (cf. Jn 4:34).3
Those
two men that were sent out by Joshua from Acacia Grove in our text: Joshua 2:1a. I
believe; they had a different spirit and not the same spirit as the herd, yes? They
would be the kind of men that reminded Joshua of Caleb and himself, a different
spirit. When we leave these four men of biblical history with the closing of
our Bible for this day, we know that Caleb, Joshua, and these two unknown men
glorified Yahweh because they had a different spirit within them that made all
the difference with their difference for the glory of Yahweh, their God! We may
never know the size of that difference, but Yahweh does and that is all that
matters. It means nothing to a lost world, but it means everything to us for
eternity.
If
Yahweh, our Creator God, sees a different spirit within us because we wholeheartedly
follow Him, a difference we will make with His help to further the objectives
of the kingdom of God for His glory. May we long for and never relinquish a different
spirit that says “Yes” to Yahweh and “No” to the world.
One question remains, however. Do we have a different spirit, that wholeheartedly follows Yahweh our God for His glory, or do we have the same spirit as the herd who are half-hearted and lukewarm with cafeteria-styled obedience because of a fear of the giants in the circumstances of life? The spirit of the herd will never make a difference for Yahweh, only dying in obscurity in the weeds. I think that the Holy Spirit can answer that question of whether we have a different spirit or not should we dare to ask of Him (cf. Psa 139:23-24), yes?! Truth can be tough, but only Truth can set us free. A different spirit revels in the truth – “We can do this with God’s help!” <><
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2. All the tribes of Israel (Josh 24:1) and all the people (Josh 24:2) should be understood as a synecdoche and not taken literally for obvious reasons. Joshua summoned to Shechem all of the elders, heads, judges, and officers of their respective tribes, and in turn, they would relay Joshua’s address to their respective tribes; thus, Joshua was speaking to all of Israel through their tribal surrogates.
3. If interested, there are more details concerning “a
different spirit!” Go to M-G Archive page or click on M-G:10.2.13 // Numbers 14:24, A Different Spirit.
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