Learning by Example

Mar 18 2025 - Eric Buresh

The history of Israel in the Old Testament is written for our instruction, that we might not fall into the same unbelief that plagued our spiritual ancestors. I love the story of the twelve spies (Numbers 13-14) sent to search out the land of Canaan that God had promised to give to the people. The examples are so clear cut. We find two groups: ten who walked by sight and two who walked by faith. The ten looked at the situation and saw an impossibility. The two—Caleb and Joshua—remembered the promise of God and saw a victory. The difference between the two groups was not the circumstances they observed, but the eyes through which they observed them. 

The ten spies came back with a report that was, to the natural mind, entirely reasonable. They saw a land flowing with milk and honey, just as God had promised, but they also saw giants and fortified cities. They saw difficulties so great that they lost hope. Their grievous error: they left God out of the calculation. They did not compare the giants to the Almighty! They measured the problem according to their own strength, and thus they were filled with fear and despair. This is the great sin of unbelief—it takes the promises of God and weighs them against circumstances, as though circumstances could limit the power of the Almighty! It is the same mistake Peter made when he walked on water: while his eyes were on Christ, he stood on the waves, but when he looked at the circumstances, he sank. 

How often do we do the same? We know what God has said, we even rejoice in it at first, but when difficulties arise, we begin to murmur, doubt, and despair. We say, "I know God has promised to provide, but my resources are too few." "I know He has promised to strengthen me, but my weakness is too great." "I know He has promised to bring victory, but my enemies are too strong." While we try to dress it up, this is a most wicked unbelief! It is nothing less than calling God a liar. 

Now let us consider Caleb and Joshua. They saw the same giants, the same walled cities, the same difficulties. But they had a different conclusion. Why? They believed God! And faith sees what the natural eye cannot. Caleb did not say, "We are able in ourselves," but he knew that the Lord had promised the land to them, and therefore it must be theirs. He reckoned not on the strength of Israel, but on the faithfulness of Jehovah. This is how we must live. Faith is not blind—it sees more than unbelief sees! Unbelief sees only the danger; faith sees the victory already won on the promise and faithfulness of God. 

The Israelites chose to believe the report of unbelief, and what was the result? They wandered in the wilderness for forty years, dying outside the land of promise. Let us learn from their example, lest we, too, shrink back from trusting God's promises and find ourselves wandering in spiritual dryness, missing the fullness of what He has for us. How do we walk by faith? Not by mustering up feelings, nor by ignoring the difficulties before us, but by clinging to what God has said, trusting that He who promised is faithful.  We must meditate on His word, pray for the Spirit to grow our faith, and act upon what God has said, even when it seems impossible.