We need to learn from the history of the children of Israel the lesson of not being for ourselves but for God’s interest by mixing the word of God with our faith in prayer.
Because the children of Israel were for themselves and didn’t care for God and His interest, they hardened their heart, rebelled against God, and did not enter into the good land; Joshua and Caleb, however, took the word of God as their faith, mixed it with prayer, and pressed on to believe God.
Numbers 13-14 are such a warning to us all in our Christian life and walk with the Lord. Here we see twelve people, leaders among God’s people, who went to spy out the same land – the land of Canaan, and when they returned, they brought back two kinds of reports.
Ten of them brought back an evil report, testifying that the land was good but adding that the people in the land are giants and their cities are fortified, so they can’t defeat them. They measured the enemies by themselves and concluded that there’s no way for them to go and take the land.
Two of the spies – Joshua and Caleb, however, brought back a positive report, and their report was not based on what they can do but on what the word of God said.
God promised the children of Israel that He will take them out of Egypt and bring them into the good land of Canaan, which was their land, and He will give them this land. So He delivered them with a mighty hand from under the usurpation of Pharaoh and Egypt, took them across the Red Sea by miracle, and brought them all the way across the wilderness with His loving care.
God did so many things for His people to care for them and bring them to the good land, such as giving them food from heaven every day (manna), supplying them with living water from the rock that followed them, delivering them from their enemies, giving them the law as an engagement document to show them how much He loves them, and giving them instructions on how to meet with Him in the tabernacle, the building of God.
With a mighty arm and with loving care God brought His people all the way across the wilderness and to the border of the good land, yet the people chose to believe the negative report and, being for themselves, they rebelled against Moses and God, and they said it is better for them to go to Egypt than to have their children being killed by the giants in the land.
How did Joshua and Caleb get such a spirit of faith, to see the same facts that the other ten spies did, yet present a positive report to the people of Israel?
We need to prayerfully read Numbers 13-14 and ask the Lord to give us such a spirit, “a different spirit”, a spirit of faith that takes God’s word and mixes it with faith so that God would do in us what He said He will do!
Being Saved from being for Ourselves by being in God’s Word to Seek God’s Interest
Because the people of Israel believed neither in God nor in His word and even murmured against Him (Num. 14:1-4), God swore in His wrath that not one of the unbelieving generation would enter into the good land except Joshua and Caleb.
It is as if the children of Israel completely forgot how God carried them through the great and awesome wilderness (Deut. 1:33-34) and His care for them when they heard the evil report of the ten spies who went to take a look at the good land.
Thus, they had an evil heart of unbelief, which came from their seeking their own things, being for themselves; they did not believe in God or in His promised, but they murmured against God, saying that He brought them into the land to fall by the sword and for their wives and little ones to become a plunder (Num. 14:1-3).
When God saw and heard this, in His wrath He swore that none of the unbelieving generation would see the good land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, only Caleb and Joshua (Deut. 1:34-38).
As indicated by the evil report of the ten spies (Num. 13:31-33) and the murmuring of the people (14:1-4), the children of Israel did not care for God but cared only for themselves.
This is similar to what we see in Phil. 2 where Paul tells the Philippians that he sends Timothy to them, for he has no one like-souled who genuinely cares for what concerns the saints, for all seek their own things, not the things of Christ Jesus.
Timothy was of a different disposition than Paul, but Paul discipled him, perfected him, fostered his growth in life, and Timothy experienced the cross and all that Paul exemplified; therefore, Timothy became not just one spirit but also one soul with Paul, even like-souled with him.
When others saw him, they saw Paul, and Timothy genuinely cared for the things that concerned the saints. But others – so many others – cared for their own things, being for themselves!
In the church life and in our Christian life, it is possible for us to seek our own things and not God’s interest as revealed in His word.
We may raise up our children in the church life, but we may give them mixed messages; on one hand we tell them about God and how good it is to be in the Lord’s recovery, and on the other, we may want them not to be too extreme for the Lord, not to be too much for Him.
Some parents may not want their children to go to the full-time training, for this may delay their career and their getting married…there is more opposition today from within, from the church families, than from without.
Do we seek our own things in the church life today, or do we seek first the kingdom of God, believing that God will give us whatever we need (Matt. 6:33)? The distinction between the two and the ten spies is that Joshua and Caleb were focused on God, His interest, and His move, and they were constituted with His word, while the others were focused on themselves, their interest, their family, and their safety.
May the Lord save us from being for ourselves; may we pray over His word and see His interest, be one with Him, and believe into the Lord that He will carry out what He wants to do.
Daily we need to take Christ as our burnt offering, because we know that only He is absolutely for God and for His satisfaction. We cannot live without Christ, for if we even try to, we fall into seeking our own things.
But hallelujah, we have this wonderful Christ who went through such a process to become the burnt offering; we identify with Him, and in union with Him we are for God’s interest, we are filled with faith, and we can go up and possess the land!
Lord Jesus, save us from seeking our own things and not the things of Christ Jesus. Keep us in Your word, praying Your word and mixing it with our faith. Amen, Lord, we take You as our burnt offering, for only You are absolutely for God and for His interest. We admit that in ourselves all we care for is our interest, our things, and our family; Lord, we lay our hands on You, we identify with You, and in union with You we declare that we are for God and for His move on earth! Amen, Lord, we are well able to overcome the enemy, for You are with us; let us go up at once and possess it!
Taking the Word of God as our Faith, Obeying the Lord, and Pressing toward the Goal
Because the children of Israel were for themselves, they didn’t believe in God, and they offended God to such an extent that they became abhorrent to Him. When the test came, when the trials and difficulties came, they revealed that they believed in and trusted in themselves, not in God.
Their situation brought in God’s judgment and punishment.
However, in the midst of such a dark, rebellious, and negative background, Joshua and Caleb took the word of God as their faith. They quieted the people before Moses and told them, Let us go up at once in the good land and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it (Num. 13:30).
Furthermore, they encouraged the people not to rebel against Jehovah nor to fear the people in the land, for their protection has been removed from them, Jehovah is with the people of Israel, and the enemies are their food (Num. 14:9). Wow, what words of faith!
Joshua and Caleb were not like the others in Israel who cared for their interests, their safety, their peace, and their existence; rather, they believed in God’s word and took God’s word as their faith.
God promised them to bring them into the good land; Joshua and Caleb stood on God’s word, mixed it with their faith, and spoke God’s word in faith.
We need to realise that the environment is not real but rather a lie; we may have many difficulties, sufferings, and trials, but if we exercise our spirit of faith to pray over God’s word, we will realise that what we see outside us is not real.
Worries, anxiety, and even physical sickness – all these are lies; what is real is God’s word mixed with our faith, for this is what God is doing in us and around us.
Faith is always real and true, the environment is a lie, and we should believe the word of God and not what we see.
When we read and pray God’s word, the word of God imparts faith into us; when we pray the word and come to the Lord, the word will bring forth faith in our being.
We shouldn’t try to conjure up faith in ourselves or try to be a spiritual hero; rather, we should simply come to the word of God, mix it with our prayer and faith, and faith will rise up in us.
We may look at ourselves, however, and we realise our faith is small and weak… So we just need to confess this before the Lord in prayer, repenting for our small and weak faith and asking Him to forgive us.
Then, we need to pray over God’s word and be infused with faith. Like Joshua and Caleb, we need to believe in the word of God, obey the Lord, and press toward the goal.
This means that the outward situation may not change, the trials may still be there, and the enemies are like giants, but we believe in God and we stand on His word, and we press toward the goal.
We don’t just “stroll into the good land” – we need to press toward the goal, actively pursuing to gain Christ, take possession of Christ, and be His kingdom and expression on earth.
Lord Jesus, we choose to not believe what we see in our environment but believe the word of God! Hallelujah, God’s word is true and real, and the enemies, the trials, and the environment is just a lie! Lord, we take Your word as our faith; we exercise our spirit over the word to be infused with faith. Amen, Lord Jesus, we refuse to believe the lies of the enemy, we refuse to worry about the future – we simply believe in your word, we obey You, and we press toward the goal. Amen, let us go up at once and possess the land!
Read this article / blog post in Romanian – puteți citi acest articol și în limba română la următorul link – Suntem pentru Interesul lui Dumnezeu și nu pentru noi înșine când amestecăm cuvântul Său cu credința noastră.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 2, lsn. 29 (Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallisation-Study of Numbers (1), week 11, Partners of Christ Fighting for God’s Interest.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Pray with one accord in spirit, / Pray as in the heavenlies; / All the earthly interests treading, / Fight the principalities. / Pray with one accord in spirit, / Supplicate relatedly; / Seek the Lord, His mind, His leading, / In the Spirit’s harmony. (Hymns #779)
# Seek the coming of His kingdom; / Seek the souls around to win them, / Seek to Jesus Christ to bring them: / Seek this first. (Hymns #667)
# We have the Word! The written Word’s our daily food; / We mix this Word with faith and say “Amen!” / Then thro’ the day, the spoken Word will speak to us / And regulate our living from within. / Let’s take the land! O Christian brothers, / The land that God has given us. / Be strong and take it, for we can make it / And gain this land so glorious! (Hymns #1287)
About aGodMan
