God does an unusual thing when he talks to Joshua about the upcoming battle with Jericho. He says, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands." In God's eyes, the war was already over. God was the deciding factor. The weapons and defenses and soldiers of Jericho do not need to be taken into account before an omnipotent God. It was time again for the nation to trust, to witness, and to prepare for building another memorial of faith.
While such faith is laudable (see Hebrews 11), God did not mean it to be rare. Such trust is the only possible answer when the circumstances are understood as they really are. The problem comes when our eyes fix on the circumstances of war and not on the Lord of Hosts. The people become big in our minds and God becomes small. And God calls that rebellion.
"How long will these people treat me with contempt?" he asks Moses (Numbers 14:11). God argues that refusing to believe in spite of the miraculous things he has done (Remember the Red Sea parting?) was equal in His mind to rebellion. God's glory and reputation were bound up in His activity. His people had seen miracles yet refused to believe. God says that first generation tested Him 10 times, the full measure of His patience, and that not one of them would see the land He had promised to them.
In the passage in Numbers, Caleb provides the laudable pattern of response. "My servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly." If we are going to see miracles, then we need a spirit of submission, humility, and obedience. We need a desire to follow Christ wholeheartedly. May God grant us a tribe of Calebs.
God, forgive the focus of my eyes. I did not mean to turn them from You. Remember my weakness. Restore a right spirit in me.
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