And They Gave the Children of Israel a Bad Report of the Land Which They Had Spied Out: Numbers 13:26-33

Numbers 13:26-33: "26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said: 'We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 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.' 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, 'Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.' 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.' 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, 'The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.'"

The report of the spies, when they returned to the camp of the Israelites, we are told, is a "bad report." In the reading we are told of only one who contradicted the others, and that is Caleb. Caleb was a descendant of Judah, the son of Jacob. Caleb would also become the ancestor of David, and the whole line of kings. Which means this man Caleb is the ancestor of our Lord Jesus. Even though we are told here that only Caleb (whose name means "dog") stood against the other spies, we know from the next chapter (Num. 14:6) that Joshua, too, stood with Caleb. The reason Joshua's name is left out is probably due to the fact that Caleb was the one who calmed the crowd after the other ten spies drew them into a frenzy on account of their bad report, and because he is the one here speaking to the crowd.

This pericope, exemplifies the unbelief of the Israelites. This is compounded by the exaggeration of the spies who were afraid to into the land and take it. What is most shocking is that they have spent all this time in the wilderness, and they are shown how abundant the fruits of the land are in the land that is promised to them by the Lord God, yet, they would prefer to stay in the wilderness, and eat nothing but manna.

Furthermore, they had witnessed the great deeds of the Lord God over the Egyptians through the ten plagues. They had seen the Lord God destroy the Egyptian army, without them having to lift up an arm unto battle. They had seen how the Lord provided for them, with food and drink everyday. They had seen how He had dwelt among them in the Tabernacle of Meeting, and that He had gone before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. In short, they had seen what the Lord God was capable of, and that He desired greatly for them to be His chosen people. But none of this mattered to them.

This is one more example of the Israelites breaking the first commandment. For they did not fear, love and trust in God above all things. But instead they trusted in themselves, and in examining themselves, they fell short of the requirements that they perceived they had. If they had but placed their trust in the Lord God, as Caleb did, they would have had no fear of the Canaanites, and the spies would have gladly followed the Lord God into the promised land of Canaan. However, we know from history that that did not happen.

But in this Law heavy text. We do have some Gospel, and that is given to us by Caleb. He shows us what true faith is, and what trust in the Lord God really means, for he had also seen the stature of the people of Canaan, and that the descendants of Anak, the race of giants or nephilim, lived there. But what is his advice? To go immediately and take possession of it. What faith! To believe in the Lord God and His deliverance and salvation, even when one's eyes tell a different story. That, of course, is what faith is, to believe something to be true, even when one cannot see it to be true with one's own eyes.

We too have a Promised Land promised to us. It is the Promised Land of Heaven, however, we have not seen it with our eyes, although we have been told about and have heard about it with our ears. But we know that it exists, and that our Lord has already battled and conquered that enemy, the devil. And He has opened up the gates of our Promised Land, so that we might enter in. And even though we have not seen it, we know it to be real, for we see with the eyes of faith. And our eyes tell us that we will enter into the Promised Land of Heaven, and live with our Lord God forever and ever.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

And Which of You By Worrying Can Add One Cubit to His Stature: St. Luke 12:1-34

St. Luke 12:1-34: "1 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, 'Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. 4 And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 8 Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. 9 But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. 11 Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.' 13 Then one from the crowd said to Him, 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.' 14 But He said to him, 'Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?' 15 And He said to them, 'Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.' 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: 'The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, "What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?" 18 So he said, "I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.'" 20 But God said to him, "Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?" 21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.' 22 Then He said to His disciples, 'Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? 29 And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32 Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.'"

Our Lord Jesus tells us today, to not worry. For our Heavenly Father, knows all our needs and well provides them. He also tells us that we should not be consumed with earthly possessions, for when we die, they will no longer be ours. He illustrates this by a parable about a man who couldn't fit his grain into his barn, so he built bigger ones, and then having acquired (in his own mind) all that he needed for this life, he states that he will, "Eat, drink and be merry."

This parable is prompted by an individual, who from the crowd, shouts to Jesus to make his brother divide his inheritance with him. Our Lord Jesus then points out that this man is breaking the ninth commandment, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's inheritance." Through the parable our Lord Jesus shows us why it is useless to covet, or to be obsessed with the acquistion of earthly goods. For this man in the parable, had all that he thought he needed. But he lacked faith in God. His faith was instead in his possessions.

This misdirected faith, we are shown, leads to our eternal destruction. The problem with worrying about what one has in this life, is first, it denies, or ignores, that our Heavenly Father, already knows that we have need of these things. Like our Lord Jesus states, "Consider the lilies of the field." These don't toil or spin, they aren't worried about making more money, or finding a better job, a bigger house, a nicer car, or anything like that. However, our Lord takes care of them, so that they grow. We are much more important to our Heavenly Father than lilies. Therefore, trust your Heavenly Father, and do not worry about your life. He will provide all that you need.

This brings us to the second thing that worrying about what one has in this life leads to. For we are often confused about what need is, and what a want or desire is. We often think that our wants are really needs. Needs are what we need to support this body and life. They include both spiritual and physical needs. Physical needs would be food and drink, a house or home, friends and family, and clothes. Spiritual needs would include forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation, those things provided through Word and Sacrament.

However, we often confuse our needs with our wants. Just using the needs listed above we can set an example. We may only need bread to live, but we want the best bread that our money can buy. We may only need water to drink, but we will want the best drinks we can buy. We desire the best home, the best clothes, the most popular friends, and family that is (in the eyes of society) the most acceptable.

So what would our Lord Jesus have us do? He would have us sell all that we have, and give alms to the poor and needy. He says this to make the point that if our earthly possessions are getting in the way of our faith, they should be done away with. It is better to have nothing of this earth, and live as a beggar, and have great faith, than to possess all things, and have no faith. The world would lead us to believe that the opposite is true.

Much of the economic problems in our society are due to the very fact that people try to live beyond their means. They have been taught by our society that the getting and having of things is the most important thing. Like the saying goes, "He who dies with the most toys, wins." What a shameful and horrible thing to say and believe! For it makes earthly possessions out to be the true god. And it doesn't just stop with earthly possessions, for our status amongst our neighbors also falls into this category. We are more worried about being "exposed as a Christian" than we are about living as who we really are. Do not be afraid of those who can only kill the body, or those who may heap shame on us, or belittle us on account of our faith. They will have their punishment. But if we join with them, the punishment will be ours.

This is why our Lord Jesus comes to us today, to give us Himself. He is the true treasure. The treasure that moth can not eat up, nor fails, nor that thieves can steal. The treasure that He gives is His Body and Blood offered as a once and for all sacrifice on the tree of the cross. For we are daily tempted to be worried about this life, and not trust in our Heavenly Father to provide for us. And daily do we fail, for the devil, the world and our flesh, constantly assail us, and lead us into shame and despair.

But our Lord Jesus shows us the lilies. On Easter, in most churches, there are many lilies that are in the church. The lily is a symbol of the resurrection. So when we consider the lily, we are considering our Lord's death and resurrection for our salvation. Therefore, let us consider the lilies, and not the things of this world, for the spiritual things of our Heavenly Father are worth more than anything this world has to offer.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas