The words we speak have incredible power both for good and for evil. We see this demonstrated in one of the most important events in the history of Israel – the conquest of the land of Canaan.
Many of you may be familiar with the story of how God told Moses that He was going to give the land of Canaan to the nation of Israel. You can read all about this important part of Israel’s history in (Numbers 13 and 14). In summary God promised to deliver the inhabitants of Canaan into the hands of the people of Israel. When the 12 spies came back to report on the land, 10 of the 12 spies said that even though the land was a good land the inhabitants would prove too strong for them. As a result, they issued the famous bad report. So instead of going in and taking possession of the land of Canaan in a matter of a few weeks, the people of Israel were sentenced by God to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Even though two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, said they were able to go in and take possession of the land, the 10 to 2 negative vote proved too much of a discouragement and thus 40 years of wandering was their new lot in life.
I think the late Bible teacher, Derek Prince, summed up the event well when he said: “Ten of the twelve spies focused on the problems, not on the promises. Two of the twelve spies, Joshua and Caleb, focused on the promises, not on the problems. Joshua and Caleb said, “We are well able.” The other spies said, “We are not able.” Each got exactly what they said. They all settled their own destinies by the way they used their tongues.”1
In (Proverbs 18:21) we read one of the most profound verses in all of Scripture: “The tongue has the power of life and death…” In the case of the conquest of Canaan we see that because of the 10 to 2 negative spoken report, massive discouragement and the failure to take possession of the land resulted. And for this God punished Israel with 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. In this case we see how the tongue resulted in all of Israel having to suffer because they chose, along with the 10 negative spies, to look at the problems rather than the promises.
In addition, the 10 spies, who chose to focus on the problems rather than the promises, suffered an even greater negative fate because they were killed in a plague sent from the Lord. Sadly, they reaped what they had sown. But thankfully Joshua and Caleb were rewarded for their trusting in God and even though they had to endure the same 40 years of wandering, they ultimately went on to fame as mighty men of God and leaders in Israel.
We read of this account in (Numbers 14:36-38): “So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it— these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.”
My friends words have great power to either encourage or discourage, to build up or tear down, and to give life or produce death. I pray that we all strive to be a Joshua or a Caleb and when problems come our way to view them as opportunities to give glory to God! And may our mantra always be, “We are well able.”
As always, excellent. Oh, and Joshua and Caleb too…