Selective Hearing (and Believing!)

When the children of Israel reached the border of the land God promised to give them, they sent 12 men into the land for 40 days as spies.  They brought back fruit from the land a report that the region truly flowed with milk and honey as God had said.  But 10 of the spies brought back a damning report and asserted they were unable to enter the land because of the inhabitants.  They said in Numbers 13:28-29, "Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan."  Though God brought the children out of Egypt and through the Red Sea with signs, wonders, and a mighty hand, they faltered at the sight of those who dwelt in the land God promised.

It seems the spies and people who mourned the bad report assumed the land would be gifted to them without needing to exercise a degree of faith in God!  Their hysterical grief and refusal to trust God after being "tricked" to leave Egypt "because there weren't enough graves there for them" suggests they did not listen to the promise God had given them.  Notice the repetition of God's word to Moses, and how He mentioned again and again the many inhabitants of the land He would give them:

• Exodus 3:8:  "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites."
• Exodus 3:17:  "...and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey."
• Later after instituting the Passover, God said in Exodus 13:5, "And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month."

Overall the Israelites were pleased to be free from bondage in Egypt, but they faltered when they discovered there were strong fortifications and mighty people in the land.  They had joyfully travelled to the promised land thinking of milk, honey, and fruit but forgot what God had promised:  there were many people in the land and the almighty God swore to bring them in.  This selective hearing and believing bears a resemblance to us at times, doesn't it?  We might come to Jesus desiring peace and rest, and when there is tribulation and trials we wonder how such things could befall a child of God!  Jesus promised in this world we will have tribulation but to be of good cheer because He has overcome.  Peter later wrote to Christians in 1 Peter 4:12-13, "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; ¹³ but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."

God does not trick us with disclaimers and caveats in fine print, but He will allow circumstances to unfold which test our faith in ways we did not expect.  The problem begins for us when we do not heed God's Word and when we refuse to trust Him, looking to ourselves rather than Him.  Our flesh rebels against a life of faith, justifying we are right to mourn because of the giants in the land:  we didn't sign up for this!  But Caleb and Joshua maintained the correct and godly perspective, that their enemies would be as bread easily consumed.  Have you ever been intimidated by a loaf of bread?  I haven't.  Sliced bread makes a great sandwich and when it grows mould it is easily chucked in the bin.  In Sydney we have to take special precautions with our bread because of the heat and humidity and without special care will go mouldy in days!

Let's be those who trust God and heed His Word.  When our expectations are dashed because of our selective hearing or believing, let's choose to look to God who is greater than any giant, can level any stronghold, and will keep His promises without fail.