THE Children of Israel—the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—had
come down to Egypt in consequence of the seven years of famine. Joseph
was there, and was great in the eyes of Pharaoh, and the king made old
Jacob and his sons, with their families and their flocks, welcome to
live in the land of Goshen.
For a time, they were very happy and prosperous, and God blessed them
and they increased in numbers and riches.
But by and by, the Egyptians began to look round upon these Children of
Israel, and jealousy of their success filled their hearts.
The Pharaoh who had made them so welcome for Joseph's sake, was dead.
And another king arose who had forgotten all about Joseph, and he began
to lay burdens on the Children of Israel, and to force them to build
his palaces and cities.
[Illustration: He began . . . to force them to build his palaces and
cities.]
At length, the cruelty and the burdens became intolerable, and the Lord
God in Heaven saw their affliction, heard their groaning, and sent down
to deliver them.
Moses was His chosen servant, and under him, after many wonderful
deliverances, the people were brought right out and set free, and were
taken back to the borders of the land which God had promised to give to
Abraham and his children after him.
But the Children of Israel were disobedient, and forgetful of all the
wonders that God had shown them, in delivering them from Egypt. He had
made a way for them to walk dry-shod through the Red Sea; He brought
water out of a rock for their thirst; and He sent down manna every day
for their food.
But because of their murmuring, complaining spirit, God told Moses that
He could not let them go into the land of Canaan just yet.
So He led them about in the wilderness; spreading His cloud over them
in the day to shield them from the sun's scorching rays; and by night
He put a pillar of fire to give them light and comfort.
At length, in the second year after they came out of Egypt, they
reached the wilderness of Paran. And now God told Moses to take one
chief man out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, and he was to
send them into the land of Canaan to bring back a report of what they
found there.
There were twelve men chosen, but of these only two, Caleb and Joshua,
were faithful to God all through.
The twelve men set out, and at the end of forty days they returned with
their report of all they had seen.
They brought with them pomegranates and figs; and the grapes were so
plentiful, that from one place called Eshcol they brought a bunch which
required two men to carry it on a pole between them.
For God had promised when they left Egypt, that He would bring them to
a land flowing with milk and honey, and that He would drive out all
their enemies before them.
If only they had remembered this!
So the messengers began to tell their tale. They said that indeed it
was a rich land, flowing with milk and honey. "And see," said they,
"here is some of the fruit of it."
You can imagine for yourselves how Caleb and Joshua stood by, listening
to the eager words of the other ten.
And now came another word, which made those two faithful men
tremble—and it was an unbelieving, faithless word!
"Nevertheless," the ten spies went on, "the cities are walled, there
are giants there, and numbers of enemies dwell on every side; we are
not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we
are!"
Then you can imagine Caleb and Joshua starting forward to still the
people, and they cried: "Let us go up at once and possess the land, for
we are well able to overcome it!"
But the ten spies persisted that they could not go up, and all the
people mourned and wept, and told Moses that they had better return to
Egypt, for they would die in the wilderness, and their wives and their
children would be a prey for their enemies.
Oh, how sad is want of faith! They forgot the power of God and the
promises of God! They let Satan whisper in their hearts that, after
all, God would fail them, and though the land was beautiful and full of
food and plenty—"Nevertheless" there were too many enemies to face.
God was very grieved at the unbelief of the people, and He said that
none of those who had distrusted Him should enter into the land of
Canaan, but their children should in due time enter in and possess it.
This is a solemn lesson for us all. There are right times to say
"Nevertheless."
Peter said to Jesus: "Nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the
net," and they got a great draught of fishes!
Paul said: Nevertheless the Lord stood by me, "and strengthened me,"
and he fought a good fight to the end!
God did not forget the faithfulness of Caleb and Joshua; for Joshua
was chosen, years afterwards, to lead the people into the land and to
fight the Lord's battles; and Caleb, "because he had wholly followed
the Lord," entered with his children into the Promised Land, and had a
happy possession in it.
It was true of them both: "None of them that trust in Him shall be
desolate."
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