“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride” (Ecclesiastes 7:8).
In the desert, the Israelites lived between freedom and the promised land. They had been set free from the Egyptians. Moses had parted the Red Sea and the Egyptian army drowned once the Israelites had crossed. The Israelites, nearly a million of them, had been set free from slavery in Egypt. And yet, while in the desert, they were not in the promised land. In fact, their complaining and disbelief during that time led to their punishment of never making it into the promised land. They spent forty years in the desert waiting for the older generation to die out before the younger generation could go into the promised land. Caleb and Joshua alone from that generation made it. They made it because of their faith.
How many of us are living in the desert? We have been set free from living for ourselves and found freedom through a relationship with Christ. And yet, we do not feel we have made it to the promised land! In a sense, Heaven is our promised land. The entire Christian life could be considered a life lived in the desert. And yet, we have promised land moments on this earth.
Let’s review briefly the difference between Caleb and Joshua, who entered the promised land as opposed to those who did not make it. The Lord told Moses to send twelve men, one from each tribe, “to explore the land of Canaan, which [God] is giving to the Israelites” (Numbers 13:2). Note that God said nothing about exploring the people who lived there, initially. God also said nothing about a battle that the Israelites would need to fight in order to win the land. The Lord simply said to explore the what? The land. That was it, just the land. And how were the people to get the land? God was giving it to them. It was a gift! Thank God for Caleb and Joshua, right?! Thank God that two of them had faith and obeyed! The Lord did give more detailed instructions once the men had been chosen to go exploring.
“Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land” (Numbers 13:17b-20a).
God does ask to explore the people here, but it is not the focus of their instructions. The people are only to be noticed as a part of exploring the land. What happened next? What of this special investigation did they find? Let me summarize. Ten of the spies spoke about one sentence about the land and a couple paragraphs about the enormity of the people and how impossible it would be to take the land. They felt like grasshoppers in comparison. But, our favorite part, is that two of the spies jumped in and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (Numbers 13:30). Note that if you read the list of other spies’ names in the Bible in Numbers 13, none of the others are names you have heard of. No one named their kids after the other spies, only the faith filled ones! Caleb and Joshua believed God. They saw the good land. They trusted that the Lord had good in store for them. They asked the people to join them in believing the good that God had for them. But the people disobeyed. The people followed the crowd. They believed God had set them free to slaughter them.
“That night all of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, ‘If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?'” (Numbers 14:1-3).
They were living in the desert. They had been set free, but had not yet received the promised land. How often and how easy it is for us to complain to God when we think things are not turning out the way we want! We have accepted Christ. We have chosen to follow Him. We thought we would not struggle so much financially if we followed Christ. We thought we would not have to deal with lawsuits or go to prison if we followed God. We thought following Christ meant a life of rainbows and butterflies, miraculous healings, and prosperous living in a land flowing with milk and honey. We thought it would be…easy. We never expected to go through the desert in order to get to the promised land. We never expected to be stuck in the desert for an undetermined amount of time. And yet, God!
“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride” (Ecclesiastes 7:8). Keeping the faith for forty years would not have been easy for Caleb and Joshua. They looked like the odd men out for the next forty years while the Israelites stayed in the desert. If the Israelites’ food came from Heaven, what on earth did they do with all that time in the desert? Do you think they became really good at scrabble? Or binge watched the Chosen until they knew every line? Wait, God gave them food in the desert? Right, mana from Heaven. God sustained them in the desert, even though they were there longer than He wanted. He gave them what they needed, their daily bread. He strengthened them while there and taught them to obey. He taught them new ways to live. He renewed their minds. Then one day, God led them into the promised land, and by then, they were ready to receive it.
“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride” (Ecclesiastes 7:8). Perhaps you find yourself in the desert today, set free from something, but not yet in the promised land. It might be because of a choice you made, or someone else’s choice, or it might be because a desert just happened to be on the map on the way to the promised land. Maybe God needed you to cross the desert before entering the promised land. Whatever the reason, let’s praise God that you have been set free! While I cannot promise deliverance into the promised land, I can promise that God rewards those who put their faith and trust in Him. Be encouraged. Be faithful. Be patient. “The end of a matter is better than it’s beginning, and patience is better than pride” (Ecclesiastes 7:8). God will give you what you need in the desert. He will sustain you and bring you through to the promised land, in His good timing.