January 13

Numbers 13:21–25

21 So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.

22 And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

23 And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

24 The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

Biblical Insight

The timeframe of forty days appears several times in the Bible. Moses spent forty days on the mountain with God twice, both before and after the golden calf incident (Exodus 24:18; 34:28). Forty days was the length of time Goliath threatened Israel before David fought and killed him (I Samuel 17:16). When Elijah fled from Jezebel, he spent forty days traveling through the wilderness to Mount Horeb (I Kings 19:4– 8). Jesus famously spent forty days in the wilderness being tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–2). While biblical scholars must be careful not to read too much into numerology, the timeframe of forty is frequently used to indicate instances of struggle and decision-making. This trend might reflect that during the spies’ forty days in the promised land, they were struggling to believe God would deliver the land to them.

Daily Devotion

How many choices have you made today?

It is estimated that an adult makes approximately 35,000 conscious decisions each day and 226.7 of those decisions are regarding food (Wansink and Sobal, The 200 Daily Food Decisions We Overlook). Neuroscientists discovered that many of our daily decisions are resolved in approximately ten seconds whereas larger decisions can take months or even years. Researchers have also found asking for opinions can decrease or increase the time it takes to make decisions.

When asking a few, well-informed individuals for advice, decisions are made faster and with greater accuracy. In contrast, the more people one asks, it takes longer to make decisions and the accuracy is greatly diminished.

When facing decisions in life, it is biblical to seek wise counsel (Proverbs 12:15). However, we often seek the counsel of people before seeking the counsel of God. We tend to want instant feedback and affirmation. When facing large decisions, it is important for us to turn to God first. We need to make sure we can differentiate His voice among others.

Think back over your prayer time the last week. Did you make time to listen for the voice of God? Spend some time now being quiet in God’s presence.