We Can Certainly Do It

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.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 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 come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Numbers 13:30-33.

After God led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, He led them to the outskirts of the Promised Land, the land God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants. Moses sent the 12 leaders from the 12 tribes to spy out the land. The 12 all agreed that the land itself was indeed very good, flowing with milk and honey. But, ten of the 12 gave bad reports, striking fear in the people about taking the land. Only Caleb and Joshua spoke up that Israel can do it. They had the confidence because of their trust in God to lead them, to drive out the people currently living there in order to keep His promise. The other ten spies thought only in human strength, not with having the living God with them. That is why they were afraid of the Nephilim, the giants that made them feel like grasshopper. When you are faced with an obstacle, trust God and His promises to be an overcomer. You can certainly do it.
Extra credit study – track down the Nephilim. They are mentioned only twice in the Bible. The other time is in Genesis 6:4. There is a strange section there “and also afterward” describing the Nephilim. Genesis 6:4 is before the flood where all living things died except those in the ark with Noah. Is this part of the afterwards, after the flood? Who are they?