For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

              Hebrews 4:2

Is there a place in scripture where we can go to see the details of exactly what was going on with the people of Israel and to see why they missed out on the promises of God? Yes! If we move to Numbers 13-14, we will see exactly how this happened. In order to streamline the story a bit, we will look at the highlights of this time in human history.

There is a misnomer often floating around this time in the history of Israel. Many people are under the impression that God delivered the people from Egypt only to take them on a forty-year wandering through the wilderness before taking them to the promised land. This simply is not true. God did deliver the people from the Egyptians but took them straight to the threshold of the promised land. The forty-year wandering did not occur until after the people refused to go into the land (to what the writer of Hebrews is referring.) The people would never have wondered had they believed God and they would not have missed out on the promise. However, unbelief ruled the day and that is what cost them everything.

So we begin our story as the people are standing at the threshold of the land. God told them to send in twelve spies to spy out the land before all of the people were to move. It is vitally important to remember throughout this story that God had already promised them the land and as we have stated before, the promises of God are always sure and true. So the spies go into the land and upon their return they give this report. Consider their words:

Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.”

        Numbers 13:27-28

The report begins on a very positive note but is quickly interrupted by the word “nevertheless.” When we see this word it usually means that the conversation is about to take a very different turn. “Nevertheless” is like the word “but” and takes the conversation in the opposite direction. Consider this example: “I would love to have lunch with you but I have to work so I won’t be able to make it.” For the spies, they testified that the land was everything that God had said that it was. But the problem began as they also pointed out that there were people groups living in the land and that these people were large in size and very intimidating to the people of Israel. So what would the people decide to do with this report? They could believe and trust what God had told them or they could shrink back into fear and allow their concern about the people groups to keep them from possessing the land. Here is the conversation regarding their next move:

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out…

      Numbers 13:30-32a

Two of the spies (Caleb and Joshua) stood and encouraged the people to believe God and trust that He would protect them from the people living in the land. “We should by all means go up and take possession of it (the land).” That was their rallying cry. But the other ten spies didn’t agree and gave a bad report by saying, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” This is where the unbelief began. 

We would do well, at this point, to make the case that when it comes to spiritual things, the majority is not always correct. Applying some simple math, we can see that Caleb and Joshua were outnumbered ten to two. If we break that down by percentage, 83% of the spies gave a bad report while only 17% believed that they should go and take possession of the land. And what’s worse is that the bad report spread throughout the whole of the people. Anytime we are told to not believe the promises of God found in scripture, even if that message comes from a majority, we must ignore such bad advice and remember that mankind will often take us astray but the Lord will not. He can be trusted in every situation of our lives.

So the people didn’t go into the land because of fear and unbelief. This is what led to the forty-year wandering of the people in the wilderness. God was allowing an entire generation to, literally, die off so that He could give the land to the next generation. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be known as the generation that missed out on the promises of God because of unbelief. So the people did not go in because of unbelief, something to which the writer of Hebrews refers (Hebrews 3:19). This same message is also reported to us in Jude, the little book that sits just before the last book of the Bible, Revelation. Consider the following:

Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.

            Jude 1:5

And what was the outcome of this unbelief and refusal to believe God? Consider the following:

Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword?”

        Numbers 14:1-3a

What is brought about in the people’s lives due to unbelief is predictable. Crying, weeping, grumbling, and the blame game were all byproducts of unbelief. Instead of God’s best, these people put themselves in a bad position and missed out on everything. The same is true for us today. Anytime we decide to go our own way, sadness, grumbling, and usually the blaming of others will be the byproduct. 

Before we close, it is important to point out that God does keep His promises to those who seek Him and to those who believe. Even the unbelief of 83% of the spies did not keep God from honoring the faithfulness of Caleb and Joshua. When we fast forward through Israel’s history, we see that Caleb and Joshua did, in fact, get to go into the land. Our faithfulness will be rewarded by God regardless of whether anyone else joins us in that faith or not. Be encouraged as you completely trust in the Lord!

“So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19). Take these words to heart. Did God keep the people from entering? No. Did they not enter because that was God’s desire for them, to not enter? No. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that they missed out because the good news that they heard was not untied by faith. They didn’t go in because they wouldn’t go in. 

What about salvation? The good news (the gospel) can be preached but it will not do anyone any good unless it is united by faith. God desires a relationship with us and it can happen because of His willingness to save us. However, this relationship requires that we receive salvation from Him and this is done by faith. Faith is an appropriate response to a loving God. Have you placed your faith in the Person of Jesus Christ?