Wrestling with God means Wandering from God

As a family, read Numbers 12-14:1-9 together.  Afterwards, share the discussion below.

What happened?

God had brought Israel a long way from their captivity in Egypt.  However, Israel once again found their faith tested. Israel was at the doorstep of the land to which God had been leading them.  They had been wandering and in search of a land they could call their own.  Here in Numbers we find that Israel is at the border of the land God had promised them.

So God commanded Moses to send twelve men into the land to explore it and return with a scouting report.  When the men came back, they had both good news and bad news.  The good news was that the land was incredibly beautiful and full of great sources of food and livestock. So what was the bad news?  Well, the land God was giving to Israel was inhabited by a nation much bigger and stronger than the Israelites.

When the twelve scouts presented their findings to Moses and the rest of Israel, the people of Israel rebelled. They said, “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”  Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”

But two of the scouts, Caleb and Joshua, were courageous and brave because they believed God would give them what He had promised them. Caleb, Joshua, Moses, and Moses’ brother, Aaron, tried to remind the rest of the Israelites that they could defeat those in the Promised Land and that the nation should follow God by faith!  But because Israel wouldn’t listen, God would punish them with forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Israel did not have faith that God would pull them through the challenge ahead. Because of that, Israel would need to wait another generation until they would finally experience the blessings that God wanted to give them.  Even though Israel wasn’t faithful, God remained faithful.  Joshua, one of the faithful scouts, would eventually lead Israel into the Promised Land.

Why is this important to us today?

We can learn a great lesson from Israel’s failure to follow God.  The people of Israel could have experienced the great blessing that God wanted to give them, but they didn’t have enough faith in God’s power.  As a result, they didn’t believe they could defeat the bigger nation in the Promised Land.

This is a powerful reminder that to please God, we must have faith in Him.  Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “It is impossible to please God without faith.  Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him” (NLT).

We should follow and obey God because we believe in Him and believe that He loves us and knows what is best for us.  Israel would learn to obey God through faith, but unfortunately it took failure and wandering in the wilderness to learn that faith in God is much better than wrestling with God.

Spend a few minutes talking about what you just read by answering the following questions together:

What are the good things in the land God wanted to give the Israelites? Why do you think the majority of the spies focused on the negative? Why do you think Caleb and Joshua were ready to take the land?

How can we better follow God this week?

As a family, take some time to talk about how important it is to have faith in God.  What can we learn from Israel’s mistake in not following God into the Promised Land? In what situation have you been focusing on the negative rather than trusting in God? How does believing that God knows what’s best for you change that attitude?

This week, commit to follow and obey God because you believe that He loves and cares for you.  And remember Israel’s lesson that it is far better to trust and follow God rather than to wrestle and wander.