How do we know what is right or wrong? Is there an objective standard? It is tempting to defer to the majority. What do most people believe is right?
When God sent the twelve spies down into the land of Canaan to see their inheritance, they returned with a mixed report. 83.3% of them thought the Israelites could not overcome the Canaanites and receive the land God had promised. Two of the spies, or 16.7% said they should take the land. Who was right?
The majority prevailed by instilling fear in the hearts of the people. “We saw Giants who made us look like grasshoppers,” they reported. So the Israelites did not get to go into the land. At any point, do you suppose anyone said, “But wait, God is with us. One plus God is a majority.” Well there were Joshua and Caleb who represented two of the tribes. Without reading the text again, can you remember any of the names of the ten spies who succumbed to fear? Neither can I.
Truth is not determined by majority opinion. Right is right, though all the world says it is wrong. Wrong is wrong, though all the world says it is right. The Israelites squandered their chance to receive God’s blessing because fear prevailed. For forty years they took laps in the wilderness waiting to receive what God already had given them. Their children would enter the land after the fearful generation died off. All except Caleb and Joshua. Caleb marched in to the land after forty years at the age of eighty plus and said, “I am as strong now as I ever was. Give me this hill country!”
In Westminster Chapel, on the tombstone of Sir Alfred Lawrence, we read these words: “He feared God so much he never feared any man.” May God give us the grace to trust him today. Let us not take counsel of our fears. We may be sure that God will enable us to do everything he calls us to do. No need to fear. God is here!
