A Different Spirit

Numbers 14:24 (NIV), “But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.”

God brought the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, miraculously. Thier constant grumbling and complaining had finally gotten so out of hand that God tells Moses that He will scatter and destroy them all. In their place God promises to make a great nation out of Moses.

Think about this for a minute, if God’s patience was tried, what do you think poor Moses was feeling? Had I been him, I would have probably jumped at the chance to be rid of the great responsibility of leading an ungrateful people. Not Moses. He reasons with God and he prays for God to show mercy.

Numbers 14:17-19 (NASB), “But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’ “Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.””

Of course God relents and this is what He tells Moses in Verses 20-24,

“So the LORD said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. “But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.”

Those who didn’t trust God, or the leader God placed over them, were not going to see the Promised Land. They instead, would die in the wilderness. They brought a bad report and believed a lie rather than the promises of God.

Fear and unbelief always questions, “Is it really mine?” and “Does He really want to do this for me?”

That wasn’t Caleb.

Notice that God said of him, “But my servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.”

God calls Caleb “My servant.” Then points out that he has a completely different attitude than the others, and in some versions it says he wholeheartedly followed God or that he remained loyal.

Fear may question God, but Faith says, “If God said it, then it is true and He will do it.”

Out of all those people who came out of Egypt, all of the adult, only two got to enter into the Land that was promised, Caleb and Joshua. Not even Moses ended up going in because he disobeyed God in his own anger and impatience with the people. Another forty years of wondering in the desert was added to their time. Each person who hung on to the slave mentality died in that desert. Each one who lived in unbelief and couldn’t seem to take hold of faith, perished.

However, those who trusted God, were loyal, remained in faith, those men got a portion of the inheritance. Not just with their tribes, or part of a group. God blessed them each with their own land.

Those that perished are a warning to us, and those that received their blessing are a promise.

Hebrews 10: 35-39 (BSB), “So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward. You need to persevere, so that after you have done God’s will, you will receive what He has promised. For, “In just a very while little, He who is coming will come and will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

What spirit is in you?

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