You Get What You See

Big Idea

Doing what God says despite what's around you.

Key Verse

Numbers 13:25–26 NRSV

At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

We

The most risky space mission ever

A 1 in 3 chance of success

50 years ago last month, NASA launched what was possibly the most ambitious and risky mission to date. It had a 1 in 3 chance of success. A 1 in 3 chance that it would be unsuccessful but wouldn’t crash but also a 1 in 3 chance of the three astronauts not coming back.

Delays after the tragedy of Apollo 1

NASA’s space programme had been delayed, especially by the tragedy of Apollo 1 in January 1967, when three astronauts were killed during a routine test.

The Russians were planning a circumlunar flight before the end of the year

But in September 1968, the Russians sent two tortoises to the moon, and the fear was that they would manage a human circumlunar flight by the end of the year. So Apollo 8’s commander, Frank Borman was called to a meeting with his boss and told he had 16 weeks to prepare himself and his team to circumnavigate the moon in Apollo 8 before the end of the year. Normally it would take over a year to train for a mission. Borman said it was like “drinking from a fire hose”.

They risked Saturn V but the mission was a success

The astronauts would have to use the Saturn V rocket to launch them into space. It had only flown twice, and last time it had failed catastrophically. But the mission was a success. They blasted off from Florida and circumnavigated the moon ten times over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. After the perilous return journey, they splashed back down into the Pacific Ocean on 27 December, safe and sound.

How would you have felt about that mission?

Would you have agreed with most of the American press and public that it was an irresponsible attempt to beat the Russians that was pretty likely to turn into a national tragedy? Would you have supported Frank Borman’s wife, who was convinced NASA was rushing things and that the mission would be a disaster? Or would you take the risk and say, as Frank Borman did to his boss, “Let’s go for it”? Would you put your confidence in the hundreds of people who were working diligently to ensure the mission was a success? Would you put your faith and trust in God to keep you safe? The report I read in the Daily Express doesn’t mention the astronauts’ faith, but it is surely significant that after a good deal of discussion, the astronauts decided the first words they would speak to the nation as they circled the moon were verses from Genesis.

The way you look at things determines those areas of your life

The eyes of faith or the eyes of fear

There is more than one way of looking at things. And how you look at life determines to a great degree how your life will pan out. As this story shows, you have two basic choices: to look at life with the eyes of faith or to look at life with the eyes of fear.

It’s our choice

And experience tells me, it’s our choice. We choose whether to look at our lives with fear, anxiety, worry or nervousness or whether we look at our lives with faith and confidence, trusting in God and taking risks in his power because faith in him trumps our fear in our circumstances.

An age-old choice

It’s an age-old choice as today’s Bible passage makes clear:

God

Numbers 13:1-3; 17-33, p.149

Numbers 13:1–3 NIV

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.” 3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.

Numbers 13:17–33 NIV

17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.) 21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. 26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” 30 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.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 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. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

The ten scouts’ eyes of fear

Numbers 13:32 REB

Their report to the Israelites about the land which they had explored was discouraging: ‘The country we explored’, they said, ‘will swallow up any who go to live in it. All the people we saw there are men of gigantic stature.

Great agricultural promise but powerful people

It is clear the ten spies looked at the Promised Land with eyes of fear. Despite the fact they return to tell God’s people that the land is indeed “flowing with milk and honey” as God promised, in other words, that the land is of great agricultural quality, despite the fact they evidence this with pomegranates and figs and a huge cluster of grapes that is so big it has to be carried between two scouts on a pole, the climax of their report is the human demographics. There are, they report, numerous and powerful people. They have huge, fortified cities.

The scouts disobeyed Moses

Moses’s commission in verse 17 was to go up through the Negev and into the hill country, which was the focus of his interest. Archaeologists have since found that this area was sparsely settled at this time. So if they scouts had obeyed Moses, they surely would have come back and said the territory was easy to take. But instead of following Moses’ orders, the scouts also took in the heavily populated areas near the sea and along the Jordan, so that they would stick to their fear agenda that the entire Promised Land was densely occupied and impenetrable.

The scouts also exaggerate what they see

If that isn’t bad enough, the scouts then start to exaggerate what they see. They claim the land will swallow up anyone who lives in it. But if the inhabitants they saw were big and strong, then how can the land swallow up anyone who settles there? Perhaps they mean it metaphorically. Perhaps they were concerned that those who settle in Canaan are decimated and weakened by war with those around them. But if so, how can the people already living there be so numerous, prosperous and secure that they would overcome the Israelites?

Then to top it all, they stray into the realms of fantasy. In verse 33, they say they saw the Nephilim there. They were possibly mythical creatures or great warriors that lived before Noah’s Flood. Quite how the scouts thought they had survived the Flood the Bible doesn’t say. But it all feeds into their fear.

Caleb’s eyes of faith

Numbers 13:30 REB

Caleb silenced the people for Moses. ‘Let us go up at once and occupy the country,’ he said; ‘we are well able to conquer it.’

Freedom to see with the eyes of faith and to serve God

Caleb was born a slave in Egypt. But God freed him and his people from captivity. And looking through the eyes of faith, he could see that this freedom didn’t mean freedom from all obstacles, and a life filled only with milk and honey, but freedom to serve God, his divine Master. Caleb refuses to look at life through the eyes of fear, cynicism and fear, and instead praises God who has set him free. He sees exactly the same things as the ten scouts, but he views them with the eyes of faith.

Was it unrealistic to say, let’s go?

After all, Caleb has seen the people of Canaan. He’s observed their fortifications. He knows his people lack the personnel, resources, infrastructure and budget to overcome these obstacles. But when Caleb says, “We are well able to conquer it”, he includes God in the “we”.

You

Mind your but and look with faith

For the person of faith, obstacles are temporary because God is real. For the disbeliever, obstacles are permanent because God is not real enough. (Roy Gane, theologian).

The two basic worldviews seen throughout the Bible

This passage shows us to the two basic worldviews we see throughout the Bible. You can either have faith in the Lord to overcome impossible odds. Or you can live in fear and disbelief, looking at the world and seeing the impossibility of your situation, but failing to take God into account.

The difference is where you put your but

The difference between those two worldviews, is where you put your but. Your but is the biggest problem in all of this! You can spend the rest of your life saying, Good News, but … God is good, but … I believe God answers prayer, but … God is real, but …. Or you can spend the rest of your life saying, I’m facing obstacles, but God. This looks impossible, but God. I’m fearful, I’m worried, I’m scared, but God.

Sort out your but by looking with faith

If you want to sort out your but in this new year, then learn to look with faith. Look at everything with faith: your future, your relationships, your finances, your career, your health, everything. Stop looking in fear and start living in faith. Ask God to open the eyes of your heart, to see him and to help you live in faith.

Next Steps

SB 270 - Open the eyes of my heart, Lord

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you, I want to see you. (Repeat) To see you high and lifted up, Shining in the light of your glory. Pour out your power and love, As we sing holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy, Holy, holy, holy, Holy, holy, holy, I want to see you. (Repeat) Paul Baloche © 1997 Integrity?s Hosanna! Music (admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing worldwide excl. the UK which is admin. by Integritymusic.com, a division of David C. Cook, [e-mail]) Used by permission.  Used By Permission. CCL Licence No. 30158 Copied from The Song Book of The Salvation Army Song Number 270