The enemy used a trick when Moses showed the people the land promised by God. The Israelites should have jumped for joy, shouted and smiled at each other, embracing Moses, while confessing that past events were incomparable to the imminent victory. However, the opposite occurred: they asked the leader to consult the Lord, as they wanted to know if they could send spies to scout the region (Deuteronomy 1:22,23).

Why doubt the One who came to save us and identified Himself in the following way: Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6)? Why send spies, if God, being the Truth, would never declare a lie? However, sometimes we also act with disbelief and, without realizing it, offend the Lord. Therefore, we cannot accuse them.

Moses already foresaw that the people, stumbling over their words, would affront the Most High. God was happy because of the end of that trek. In fact, in the new land, His servants would live in happiness and peace, enjoying the love that the world had never known. When the Lord said, "The place is here," they should have climbed the mountain and held a worship service in thanksgiving, for soon they would be a consolidated nation.

People should only do their part: take possession of what has been given to them. Moses stated that the Lord had granted the Israelites the land that was before their eyes. But how were the children of Israel supposed to act toward the population of that locality? Now, to obtain good harvests, those inhabitants would throw their little children into the fire as a sacrifice to the idols (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). Therefore, they had to lose their own home.

Moses continued encouraging the people to climb the mountain and take possession of the place, trusting in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their forefathers. The Lord had made a covenant with those patriarchs, in which He promised to give that region to their descendants. While the devil kept Israel as Pharaoh's subject, the evil one made other peoples inhabit the promised land. However, they not only resided in foreign territory but also sacrificed their own children to demons.

Those people believed that the devil met their needs and did not recognize the Lord as the only God. Because of this, sooner or later, they would be dispossessed. The Most High would honor His Word, and they would return to the old house. When Jesus returns, those who have not repented will return to the kingdom of the wicked!

The Israelites did not need to be afraid of anything — neither the devil nor the peoples who inhabited the land. This is because, as a result of the actions of those wicked inhabitants, the spiritual and moral structures of the territory were already weakened. Moreover, the land legally belonged to the heirs of the promises made to the patriarchs of the Hebrews. Besides their fearlessness, the people of God also could not be intimidated by the size or strength of the inhabitants of the region. The land belonged to the children of Israel!

In Christ, with love,                                                       

R. R. Soares