Read Numbers 13.1-14.9
As we catch up with God’s people, they are on the brink of taking possession of the land which God had promised Abraham many years before. God commands a party of men be sent to check out the land, and they find it to be exceedingly fruitful – so much so that one bunch of grapes takes two men to transport! The land is described as flowing with milk and honey – milk speaking of basic necessity and honey of extravagance. The place God is providing for his people will both meet their needs and bring them great joy.
What’s the but? Well, this land isn’t empty. It has inhabitants, and the men judge these people to be both strong and to have built cities with good defences. Even more, the land itself eats people, and the people there are giants! The men Moses sent are not at all keen to take over this land, and the doom spreads amongst the people, until they begin to cry out that they’d rather have died in slavery in Egypt.
There’s a lot of darkness here. God’s people have completely forgotten his power and faithfulness which has brought them through time and time again. It was this God who released them from slavery with an incredible display of power. And more than this, they’ve forgotten what happens when people take matters into their own hands.
- Sarah getting handed over to another man because Abraham lied.
- Hagar being abused because Abraham and Sarah did not trust God to keep his promise.
- Joseph sold into slavery and then imprisoned falsely because his brothers were jealous.
- The Egyptians being pelted with 9 plagues and then losing their firstborn sons because Pharaoh clung to power.
- The worship of a clump of metal instead of the loving God who rescued them.
When people decide they know how to live, how to make themselves happy, how to solve the world’s problems, and ignore the God who created them and the universe, it always goes wrong. We are incredibly made beings, but we’re human, not God. We just aren’t able to see down the line to the consequences of all our thoughts and actions.
What about God though? Is it true that he can always be trusted to do the right thing? In this passage we see his people being directed to take over a land that’s already inhabited. The people who live there will come out and fight for their homes, and they’ll be slaughtered. How can God be ok with that?
Two answers.
One lies in a part of the story we’ve skipped over (see Exodus 17). After God’s people fled from slavery, they travelled through the desert. Men, women, children, infants, disabled, elderly, all walking through the heat, carrying everything they own. They stop to drink at a place called Rephidim, and the Amalekites come and attack them. They pick on a weak and weary group of travellers without mercy, and God promises they will be wiped out. Now these are one of the people groups whose land God is giving away. Those who showed no mercy are now to be shown no mercy.
And two – I just don’t know. I don’t know why God allows some to be slaughtered and others to live. All humans are imperfect and fail at times. Why is one group judged ‘better’ than another? I don’t know. I do know that this is absolutely not a mandate for Christians today to lay claim to anything on divine authority. Jesus will later tell his followers to love their enemies, and not to respond to violence with violence. This account, however hard to understand, is in its place in history. And ultimately, I have to accept that God is God, and I am not.
Reflect
What things has God done in your life that you’ve forgotten about?
Is there something in your life you need to trust God about just now?
Do you think God can always be trusted to do the right thing? If not, who can?
Susie lives in NE Fife and works in ministry. She loves being with friends, feeding people and half finished creative projects.
