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Why did the Lord allow only Joshua and Caleb to enter the promised land?

Topic: God

Joshua and Caleb Entered the Promised Land

The Israelites that were brought out of Egypt did not believe that the Lord could take them to the Promised Land. Only Joshua and Caleb had such faith. After all the miracles that the Lord did to bring His children out of slavery – the ten plagues, opening the Red Sea, and giving them bread from heaven…etc. – the Israelites still murmured and did not believe. “In this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God, Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day” (Deuteronomy 1:32, 33).

And when God brought them to the borders of the Promised Land, the Israelites sent 12 spies to check the condition of the land. Ten of them came back with doubts saying it is impossible to possess the land. Only Joshua and Caleb reported that God can surely give them victory over their enemies. And they added, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30).

Unfortunately, the people believed the ten spies with the negative report and they “murmured … and said, because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us” ((Deuteronomy 1:27). Their unbelief made them lose the entrance to the Promised Land.

Therefore, the Lord said, “Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers. Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD…But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither” (Deuteronomy 1:35-38).

Failure to believe God’s promises insults Him and His goodness towards men. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6). The believers need to be “fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21).

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In His service,
BibleAsk Team

Categories God

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