The bad report

“And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.’” Numbers 13:32-33
We all know this story: Moses sent twelve men to explore the land of Canaan, one from each of the tribes of Israel. They came back with a huge bunch of grapes and other fruit (Num. 13:23). But ten of them also came back with a bad report.
Here was this land that had been promised to them by God. It was a land of blessing and abundance, a land that God had chosen and prepared especially for them. Yes, there were other people living in it, but their expiry date was fast approaching (see Gen. 15:16). Just as the Israelites would not have to work hard to make the land produce fruit, neither would they have to work hard to defeat the people inhabiting the land, because God would go before them and give them victory.
But ten of the men brought a bad report, even saying that the land was evil, devouring those who dared to enter. They exaggerated everything: “All the people we saw there are of great size.” It was true that there were some giants, but not all of the people were enormous. Rahab, for instance, was not. “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” I don’t get the impression that the spies actually went into any of the Nephilim cities and asked the people there what they thought of them. What this boiled down to was a lack of faith, and letting fear take control. They had completely left God out of the equation. He would give them the victory, if they would just trust Him. It’s the same for us. We shouldn’t trivialise the presence of giants that stand in our way; but neither should we fear that we will be destroyed by them. If God has promised us something, He will fulfil it. Don’t speak badly about what God is doing – otherwise, like these men, you might miss out on it altogether.