Numbers 13:27 And they told him that we came to the land where you sent us and it does flow with milk and honey; and this is the fruit from it. 28 However, the people are strong that live in the land and the cities are walled and very large: and also we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the land of the south: and the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Amorites live in the mountains: and the Canaanites live by the sea and by the coast of the Jordan. C-MATS
Question: What did the spies do wrong? On the surface, the spies did nothing wrong in describing what they had seen. They had been sent to make their own observations and they could not be faulted for reporting the truth as they saw it. Yet they were, in effect, telling the nation that no matter how rich and blessed the Land was, it was beyond their reach. The inhabitants were too strong and their cities too impregnable. Ordinary human beings could not do battle with giants. Thus the spies were advising the nation not even to attempt an assault on Canaan. Then, compounding the frightening effect of their comments, they mentioned the dreaded Amalekites and the equally powerful nations that would never surrender their land easily. The very mention of Amalek was treacherous and was calculated to incite the people against Moses, because the land of Amalek was not even part of Israel, and the Amalekites would not have been a threat to a nation that was not crossing its borders. Chumash
Question: What is wrong with frightening people by bringing them bad reports about world events? Causing people fear, not only damages their physical and emotional health, but can also cause them to act in a harmful and reckless way. We are in this world to be kind to and help others and certainly not the opposite. We should focus on what יהוה can do to protect us, not what harm a world situation can bring us. Where is your faith- in the world system or יהוה?
Question: Deuteronomy 10:20 אֶת־ יהוה your Elohim you will fear אֹתֹו Him; serve Him and cling to Him and swear by His name. We have been taught that one should be afraid of no one but יהוה. What do you think this means? It doesn’t mean that יהוה is ‘angry’ or ‘scary’. יהוה is the most loving, caring Being imaginable. It means that when we set out to do something worthwhile, we shouldn’t fear any obstacles – human or otherwise – that try to get in our way. ‘Fearing’ יהוה, means that we understand how important and beneficial it is to us to have a close spiritual connection to יהוה and being afraid of acting in any way that could weaken or distance that connection.