Giants in the Land

God keeps His promises. We see it over and over again throughout history in the Scriptures. In Genesis, God promised a land for His people to Abraham and God chose Moses to lead His people to the Promised Land in Exodus. In Numbers 13, Moses and the Israelites had finally reached the Promised Land; they were on the doorstep and Moses sent out twelve spies to explore the land.

“The Lord now said to Moses, ‘Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.’” (Numbers 13:1-2)

They had to find out some specific information: whether the people living there were weak or strong, few or many, whether the land was good or bad, whether the towns had protected walls or if they lived in unprotected camps, if the soil was fertile, if there were many trees, and then they were tasked with bringing back samples of crops they found. After forty days of exploring, they returned to Moses and the rest of Israelites.

“This was their report to Moses: ‘We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.’ But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. ‘Let’s go at once to take the land,’ he said. ‘We can certainly conquer it!’” (Numbers 13:27-30)

So the land is good but…. Dr. Phil McGraw explains the word “but” this way: “But is a powerful word. It means forget everything I just said, now I’m going to tell you what I really mean.” So the land is good but forget all of that, there are powerful giants living there and the towns are large and fortified. It doesn’t matter that the land God has promised them is ripe and good; they are too focused on their fear of the giants and the fortified walls. Caleb, however, doesn’t share in the others’ fear and this doesn’t sit well with the crowd. 

“But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. ‘We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!’ So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: ‘The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!’” (Numbers 13:31-33)

They are fearful and so they spread a bad report throughout the land among the Israelites. They spread their own version of what they found to stir up rebellion against the Lord among the people. Remember what the Israelites have been through. They watched ten plagues against their Egyptian masters, they were set free from slavery, they saw God part the Red Sea, they followed His pillar of fire at night, they got manna from Heaven, and quail until they were sick from it. These people have experienced one miracle after another, they have seen God move in their lives and take care of them every step of the way and yet, now they are fearful of fortified walls and giants.

“Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. ‘If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!’ they complained. ‘Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?’ Then they plotted among themselves, ‘Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!’” (Numbers 14:1-4)

This is what this generation of Israelites does over and over again: they see a situation and they don’t turn to God or remember His miracles or promises to them; they focus on their fear and then they panic and complain, and they suffer many consequences for this behavior. Joshua and Caleb were the only two of the twelve spies that remembered God’s miracles and knew they had no reason to fear.

“They said to all the people of Israel, ‘The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!’” (Numbers 14:7-9)

Giants? They are only helpless prey to us. When the Lord is with you, even a giant is helpless prey. When we focus on God and remember all that He has done for His people, giants look like helpless prey. Joshua and Caleb knew how strong and mighty and powerful their God is; they remembered the deliverance from Egypt and all of God’s miracles. As for the rest of the Israelites, they were punished to wander the desert another forty years while the younger generation would be allowed into the promised land. Joshua and Caleb were the only men from their generation to enter the promised land. As for the ten spies, those who spread the bad report…

“The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the Lord with their bad report—were struck dead with a plague before the Lord.” (Numbers 14:36-37)

So what are the giants in your promised land? God has promised us peace and joy; is there a giant in your life disrupting that peace and joy? God has promised us a hope and a future; do you fear a giant that is hindering that hope and future? Don’t live in fear of the giants in the land. Remember all God has done for His people, remember that He is always with you, that He goes before you, and that He keeps His promises and soon you will see that those giants are merely helpless prey in the presence of our great God.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed