Despising God

Despising God

Unfortunately, not only worldly people despise and blaspheme God, it is also largely and very extensively done by religious people—by people who confess Jesus as their Savior and who speak in His name.

Numbers 14:111 and 23 are a powerful testimony of this.

How did they despise God? They despised Him because they would not believe that God was mighty to give them the victory over all the large, strong, walled cities of their enemies that were in the pleasant land into which God had promised to lead them. It is one thing to have poor, lowly thoughts about yourself and your own strength. That is well enough. It is a totally different matter to have lowly thoughts about God and what He is able to do!

This is precisely what they were guilty of then and what the masses are guilty of in these days. This is the very thing that called down God’s wrath over them, for this is truly despising God, even blaspheming and blaming God (German translation).

God desired to lead them into the pleasant land, but in their opinion, He could not do it; He was unable to do it; He was, in a manner of speaking, (blasphemously!) a poor creature. The sons of Anak of the family of giants were stronger than they and God put together!!! God asks in verse 11: “How long will these people not believe Me . . . ?”

It is of the utmost importance for us to be able to convey the pattern of the old covenant to the reality of the stewardship of the new covenant.

For us, the fact that they did not believe that God was mighty to give them the victory over their enemies in those days means that in these days we do not believe that God is mighty to give us victory over all sin; that He cannot—regardless of His desire to do so—restore all things in an individual’s life and the ministry in the church. Heb. 9:10.

This is obviously terribly difficult. It is impossible for man. That is one thing!

But that God Himself—in spite of this difficulty—is so indescribably great and good and mighty that He both can and will do it, that is the exceedingly great, good, joyful, and above all true message, just as we see it developing in the midst of the church. Glory to God!

Believing this message is honoring and revering God. This is what Joshua and Caleb did in those days! What a glorious model! What a glorious example worth following!

God be praised! He has given us grace to react to the reality with which Jesus came, in the same way as these two men did—in contrast to the shameful way in which the 599,998 men reacted.

These two men entered the pleasant Land in reality. Now it concerns a totally different and everlasting land! Now it is our turn! Now it is either/or!