The Walk Of Faith

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel;’” Numbers 13:1-2 “…the land ...which I am giving to the children of Israel…” Stop right here. This statement is the source of tremendous controversy. The land of Canaan was occupied by many peoples, so some would say it’s unjust to uproot them and give their land to Israel. But there are a couple points to remember here: First of all, the earth is God’s creation and he can give portions of it to whomever he will: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Psalm 24:1 The second point is that God is just. Throughout his Word the Lord repeatedly states that he is just and righteous. So how then, can he uproot a pagan people and give their land to someone else? Well, God does not need to justify himself to us. He knows what he is doing. He formed man and not the other way around. Man does not have the right to accuse God. When you think deeply on this, you might arrive at the absurdity of a man accusing the great God, the Creator of all that is. One cannot be a follower of Christ unless he settles this in his heart, otherwise Satan will harp on this constantly, accusing God to man. Have thoughts of accusation toward God come into your mind? Satan delights in getting you to believe evil or unfairness toward God. “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God?” Romans 9:20 Always remember, you are the creation, God is the Creator. Satan's chief characteristic is that he is a liar . (John 8:44). The story here in Canaan is that it was occupied by peoples steeped in idolatry, people who sacrificed babies to their gods, and did all sorts of abominable things in their worship of false gods. The Scriptures reveal that fallen angels came down and cohabited with humans, corrupting the human genome and producing these hybrid races, all part of the Satanic opposition to the survival of God’s creation. Many of the pagan tribes in Canaan were “giant" tribes. REAL giants - as in the story of David and the giant Goliath. The word “giants” is the Hebrew “nephilim,” meaning “fallen ones.” Scripture says Goliath's bed was more than 13 feet long and 6 feet wide. These creatures had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot. The hybrid genetic code was corrupted, and God was about to destroy these corrupted tribes. “There we saw the giants, the descendants of Anak came from the giants, and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Numbers 13:33 The children of Israel dared not go into the land to take it because they were terrified of the giants. “…And we were like grasshoppers in our own sight.” That was literally true, these giants were huge. Here a stumbling block is revealed which happens to all believers at one time or another. God had sent them into the land to take a look at it, and he told them HE was going to give the land to the children of Israel. However, they balked, from fear. The point is that God is not going to tell them to go out and be murdered if he says he is going to give them the land. He’s not going to tell them to take the land and then leave them to their own resources to do it. The fear in a case like this is a normal human reaction, but then the decision to do what God has said to do - will reveal the level of faith they have. Can God tell you to do something and then put you in an impossible situation and leave you to your own resources? Of course not. If he sends you, he will take responsibility for the outcome. And on THAT, a person’s faith must rest. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him,” said Job. Job 13:15 “...and if I perish, I perish,” said Esther. Esther 4:16 Job did not perish, and Esther did not perish. Their hearts were set surely on the faithfulness of God no matter what. Brothers and sisters, God is faithful. But he says his ways are as far above ours as the heavens are above the earth. That's where the problem comes in - when the situation looks impossible. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9 He also says that his purpose for each of us is good: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 How we get to the fulfillment of that hope is his decision. It may mean following him in blind faith. Blind faith is not really blind, it is the absolute conviction that the purpose of God in any and every situation is to bring salvation and all that is good to his people. You might ask, “how can you say that when believers are being martyred?” If a believer is martyred, he instantly steps into heaven. When he finds himself in the glories of heaven, he will not regret that he died, he will rejoice! PLUS, he receives the martyr’s crown, and only heaven can reveal the worth and glory of this crown. Every suffering of a believer will result in something good, something necessary to the believer's growth. God causes ALL things to work together for the good of his followers (Romans 8:28), and the only way to walk the walk of faith is to totally trust his faithfulness …no matter what.