Kadesh Barnea

In Numbers 13 we find the children of Israel on the border of the promised land after a long journey on foot from Egypt and as they prepare to enter the land they send out a reconnaissance mission is launched, 12 men, one from each tribe, explore the land and bring back a report.

"Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs." Num 13:23

All looks good you might think but that was not all that they said

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. Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan." Num 13:27-29

God had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey, He had rescued them from the might of the Egyptians and brought them to the very border of that land but fear stopped them, after all that God had done for them they stopped beleiving He would continue to help and protect them. All except 2 men that is, Joshua and Caleb still believed but were out numbered and the advance halted.

The consequence of this fear was 40 years of wandering and this generation would never see the promised land except Joshua and Caleb.

Do we hold back for fear, how far will we trust God to deliver on His promises. To possess the land we need to move forward on the path God has set before us without fear because He in whom we put our trust is trustworthy and faithful to keep us and bring us into the promised land.