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Ten leaders ruined everything for two million Israelites.

Leaders are crucial in the purposes of God. They will lead God’s people forward or backwards. 

The destiny of the church and of the world depends on faithful leaders who lead from humility, sacrifice, unity and courage, believing and acting on the Word of God.

Moses was such a leader.

“…My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household;” (Num. 12:7 NASB)

God used him to miraculously deliver the Israelite slaves from Egypt, take them across the desert, and bring them to the edge of the Promised Land, their inheritance.  

God had promised them a wonderful land where they could at last flourish free from hundreds of years of oppression and slavery. At last they would be free to worship their God and be free to flourish as a people under the blessings of their God. 

They had the promise, the covenantal assurance from God Himself that He would not only redeem them from slavery but also go before them, defeating their enemies and give them a wonderful new home land.  

Now on the edge of the Promised Land, Moses, like a good general, selected twelve leaders to go and spy out the land, and especially to spy out the cities, giving them this instruction:

“See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are* strong or weak, whether they are few or many. How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications?” (Num 13:18-19. NASB)

As we shall find in the book of Joshua the land was to be taken through warfare city by city. So to spy out the cities was very important. 

These twelve leaders had an important assignment on behalf of the whole nation of Israel, as they expectantly camped on the edge of their long awaited inheritance, the very promise from God Himself. 

For forty days they scouted the land. They were impressed with the fruitfulness of the soil but shocked at the fortified strength of the cities and an enemy army containing giants.

Ten of the twelve leaders gave a negative report to the waiting people. 

“Thus they told him (Moses), and said, “We went into the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.” (Num. 13:27-28 NASB)

“So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out...” (Num. 13:32 NASB)

They looked at the fortified cities and basically said they were too hard to conquer, even though God had said He would go before them and defeat their enemies. 

Only two of the spy leaders gave a positive report, Caleb and Joshua. Caleb stepped forward with faith and confidence. 

“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”" (Num. 13:30 NASB)

Unfortunately the ten spy leaders persisted with their negative report and the people chose to believe them. Then the people began to grumble against Moses and Aaron and sought to appoint another leader to lead them back to the so-called safety of Egypt. (Num. 13:31-14:4)

Moses summed up this rebellion and its implications. 

“But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, who goes before you…” (see Deut. 1:26-40)

The people believed the ten leaders, not only over the two faithful spy leaders, but over the promise of God and His proven ability to deliver miracles in their time of need as He had done when He brought them out of Egypt.

God's punishment was to consign them to forty years in the wilderness until all the adults of fighting age had died and a new generation of people of faith would arise to take the land.

God had promised them this land including the cities. The people saw the fortifications of the cities as too great an obstacle to overcome. The cities seemed impossible to take in battle so they wanted to return to the past, to the known. 

In this day God is speaking to His church to arise and take the good news of Jesus into the cities of the globe. Many city gospel movements have sprung up in hundreds of cities on every continent. There is much to rejoice over in this new move of God. Already many cities are reporting on what God is doing amongst them. 

However the majority of the Body of Christ is still anchored to the old paradigm of building a local church as the means to reach the wider community with the gospel. While there are many wonderful local churches with good outreach programs, most cities remain places of a growing darkness with much pain. 

It would seem that many Christians have traded the ultimate plan of God for the achievable plan of “man.”

The Bible makes it clear that it will take the whole church of the city, with the whole gospel to reach the whole city. This is the plan of God.

This is where leadership is critical. The church needs leaders today with the faith to believe the promises of God and the courage to lead in the face of what could seem insurmountable odds. 

For the first time in history more people live in cities than not. Many cities are huge, and in comparison, the church seems small and ineffective. But the church has the clear mandate and promise of God to disciple nations city by city, as recorded in Acts. 

The danger is that a complacent church not wanting to go to war against the darkness in cities appoints leaders who lead in terms of the known and the comfortable. It seems that fear and ignorance is triumphing over the clear biblical mandate that should be infused by the courage and faith of leaders. (See Num. 14:4) 

This generation is faced with the greatest church disunity in history. Added to this is the fact that the cities of the world are larger and more complex than ever before in history. The temptation to retreat to the “four walls” of church life is great. 

Israel took on a negative confession and turned its back on the promises of God by looking at the size of the problem, “... their cities are huge, their defences massive—we even saw Anakite giants there!'" (Deut. 1:28 Msg) 

If this generation refuses the challenge of reaching cities with the gospel, the church will find itself in another season of “wilderness” with the young in particular suffering from the lack of faith and courage of leadership. 

The Lord’s word to Moses and Aaron over the people’s disobedience, “... your children … shall suffer for your unfaithfulness...” (Num. 14:33)

However, even when a generation rebels against God’s word, He will pursue His goal with another generation who will believe His promises and “conquer” cities by driving out the darkness and redemptively healing the pain through the gospel.

“But indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD.” (Num. 14:21 NASB)

The post script to this sad story is that even though Israel was now consigned to 40 years of wilderness wandering, Gods still forgave them and continued to go with them by providing for them. (See Num. 14:20)

The message for this generation: The future of the world lies in the hands of leaders who will lead a unified people of God with faith and courage into the darkness of modern day cities by bearing the light of the gospel in word and deed.

By Ian Shelton Coordinator of Movement Australia