1: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2: Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan , which I give unto the children of Israel : of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.

3: And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel .

4: And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.

5: Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.

6: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

7: Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.

8: Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.

9: Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.

10: Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.

11: Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.

12: Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.

13: Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.

14: Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.

15: Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

16: These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land.  And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.... ... ...

 23: And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

24: The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

25: And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

26: And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel , unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.

27: And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

28: Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

29: The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan .

30: And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

31: But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

32: And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel , saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

33: And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

     What does real unity look like? Well the answers undoubtedly will vary. However, we have a story of what can be obtained when Godly leaders are unified and the focus remains on “MINISTRY” and not “ME-ISTRY.”

    The divide within the body of Christ is tremendous. The lesson of “ONENESS” not being “SAMENESS” is one that we must be taught again. It must be reverberated throughout.

    A few key points within this story help us to see what can occur when we understand… Godly Purpose. Notice that the twelve (12) spies that were sent out to spy out the land of Canaan were not just garden variety spies. Each of them were leaders of God’s people.

    Collectively they represented the whole of Israel . The problem however, is that 10 of them did not represent God very well. They were all commissioned to go out. They all saw the exact same things but they rendered different reports. Ten (10) rendered negative reports that stirred fear, feelings of futility and mutiny and rebellion within God’s people. These 10 leader's greatest error was their inability to confirm what God had already promised. Only Joshua and Caleb were faithful, positive and encouraging.

    The 10 negative leaders reported, “we are as grasshoppers in their sight.” Notice, it was not the inhabitants of Canaan who said this but the Israelites leaders. The text gives no indication, if in fact, they were ever spotted by the Canaanites. God protected the twelve (12) for forty (40) days as they surveyed the Promised Land and all that it contained. God protected the people of the Promise (He does the same thing today, for God is the same yesterday, today, and forever).

    There lived the sons of Anak which were giants, men of great size and strength. However, an insight into the 'what' in which God promised reveals that God promised them “GIANT” blessings! WOW! They would occupy the homes that giants occupied! They would eat the fat of the land that was sufficient for a giant’s appetite. If these giants possessed chariots, the children of Israel would soon ride in luxury. Since the negative ten (10) considered themselves as “grasshoppers” they should have understood that God’s promise was one that would “Supersize” them-- it was the promise of UPGRADE! (See Ephesians 3:20-21 here the Apostle Paul explains the principle of Upgrade).

 These twelve leaders were to come back and confirm and affirm that the promises of God were “Yes” and “Amen!” They were to come back and ready the people to prepare and receive their wealthy places in God.

Consider these facts:

• The twelve had already received physical evidence of the promise.

• They returned in good physical health.

• They didn’t encounter any trouble or conflict.

• They received and brought out of the Land of Promise a variety of tangible blessings from God.

• They returned with a plethora of fruit from the land.

(We too have received more than we thought we would ever possess. We too, live in a land of plenty and too much. We too, should be encouragers and confirm and affirm that the Word and promises of God are true. Not just in material blessings but also blessings that are intangible... i.e., life, health, strength, and faith.).

    Consider the territory that God has promised His children today. We too have a diversity of leaders that God has allowed to see the same things, experience the same things, and yet, the reports vary. Real UNITY and prosperity is realized when we confirm and affirm the Word of God; when we promulgate the Gospel message to a "Mess- Age": when we share our various experiences to embolden, and we confirm what God has already said. This does not mean that there will not be enemies, even giant ones. We live in a society that has enemies a plenty and yes, many are gigantic. Remember the song Giants? "The bigger they are the harder they fall!"

    Because the God whom we serve is even greater. The liberty that Christ secured on Calvary is even more comforting, collective, and comprehensive. The questions for all leaders and followers alike can be summed up in a simple question… “Whose report will you believe?” When facing your trials and tribulations (giants) as you sojourn in this temporary mosaic of living, there are two ways of viewing your giants.

1)   We can collective view our giants as being too big, or too insurmountable.

2)  Or, we like David when facing his Goliath, we can look at our giants and say, “They’re so big we cannot miss!”

     When a house "isn't" divided it not only CAN stand, it also can..."WITHSTAND!"

Keep the faith and let our collective reports be… 

“Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” 

Be Encouraged, Be Empowered, Be Committed!

                                              Pastor Jerome A. Rogers, Sr.