Trees Planted By The Water: That great RECON mission

Remember that great recon mission?

Twelve Scouts Explore Canaan

Numbers 13:1-4

The Lord now said to Moses, “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.”

So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran. These were the tribes and the names of their leaders:

Tribe	Leader
Reuben	Shammua son of Zaccur
⁵Simeon	Shaphat son of Hori
⁶Judah	Caleb son of Jephunneh
⁷Issachar	Igal son of Joseph
⁸Ephraim	Hoshea son of Nun
⁹Benjamin	Palti son of Raphu
¹⁰Zebulun	Gaddiel son of Sodi
¹¹Manasseh son of Joseph	Gaddi son of Susi
¹²Dan	Ammiel son of Gemalli
¹³Asher	Sethur son of Michael
¹⁴Naphtali	Nahbi son of Vophsi
¹⁵Gad	Geuel son of Maki

¹⁶These are the names of the men Moses sent out to explore the land. (Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name Joshua.)

reconnaissance noun

Military. a search made for useful military information in the field, especially by examining the ground.

God was telling them to go look at what I am giving you. Prime real estate that is flowing with "milk and honey".

Exodus 3:17

And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

Leviticus 20:24

But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.

God was telling them about the land that He'd prepared for them with great abundance and provision, for them and their little ones. The best of the best. Theirs for the taking with HIS mighty right hand to HELP them.

They had already witnessed all the MIRACLES God preformed for them.

- First of all, we're told that not one of them were feble upon leaving Egypt.

-The crossing of the Red Sea, on dry ground no less.

-The complete annihilation of their enemies that were pursuing them.

-The miraculous provision of their food every single day of their lives in the desert.

-The miracles of their clothes and shoes NEVER wearing out, and supernaturally growing with them as years went by.

-They always had WATER in the desert. FOR ALL of the millions of them.

Their Assignment

¹⁷Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: “Go north through the Negev into the hill country. ¹⁸See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. ¹⁹See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps? ²⁰Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see.” (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.)

So they went up and explored the land and brought back with them pomegranates, figs and grapes.

The Scouting Report

²⁵After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned ²⁶to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. ²⁷This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. ²⁸But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! ²⁹The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea^[a] and along the Jordan Valley.”

The Good Report

Numbers 14:

⁵Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel. ⁶Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. ⁷They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! ⁸And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. ⁹Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them.

WHAT KEPT THE IRAELITES FROM

THEIR PROMISED LAND WAS AN

UNBELIEVING HARDENED HEART

LORD WE BELIEVE

HELP OUR UNBELIEF

Well, we are familiar with this account and that those with the evil report wound up dying in the desert without going into their PROMISED LAND. Joshua and Caleb knew full well that their GOD was able to HELP them occupy the land.

What "land" has God stationed you in and promised YOU?

What promises have we been given by our Father God.

What giants are occupying YOUR land posing a threat to you?

Each one of us are well able to take what WE HAVE BEEN PROMISED by God.

Zechariah 4:6

⁶Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by (your) force nor by (your) strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Jeremiah 33:3

Call unto Me and I will answer you and show you great an mighty things, which you know not..

Numbers 23:19

God is not a man, so he does not lie.
He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?

Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

Luke 10:19, 20

Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. ²⁰But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”

Isaiah 55:11

It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,

and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Romans 8:37

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

Isaiah 55:3

Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—

The sure mercies of David.

Confidence and Compassion in Prayer

^{I John 5:14, 15}

¹⁴Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

His Word IS HIS WILL - HIS LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT TO US ALL.

Hebrews 4:16

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Father, THANK YOU for HELPING US.

Thank You for Your Great and Mighty provision

Thank You that You give us YOUR STRENGTH.

Thank You for You HELP US to be strong and very courageous to do ALL YOU would have us to do with overwhelming VICTORY.

In the NAME OF JESUS.