Joshua 14:8: “Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God.”
We all know the story of the twelve spies sent out to scout out the Promised Land. Ten returned with a bad report and a recommendation that they not enter the land due to an overwhelming display of power. Only two spies, Joshua and Caleb said: “God gave us the land, let’s go get it.”
The report of the ten spies made the heart of the people melt. The word melt is masah which is used in a Hiphal form and literally means to cause to flow down. Some modern translators will insert the word fear in here to indicate that the people were overcome with such fear, that their hearts melted. That is a part of it, but not all of it. Another use of the word masah is melt which is a picture of a candle with a bright flame being fueled by the wax. Once the wax has melted the flame has gone out.
It wasn’t just fear; it was the final melting of the wax that held the flame of their expectations alive. This candle had been melting since the beginning of their journey. The wax of this candle was made of self-sufficiency, pride, and an expectation of comfort and security. Their journey was anything but easy. They faced fear of starvation, thirst, poisonous snakes, invading armies, disease, etc. Sure God delivered them, but they were getting tired of it all. Their wax was melting. Now when they are about to reach their final destination, about to finally get their reward for all their struggles in the wilderness, what do they learn? Sure it is a land of milk and honey, but it is also a land filled with giants.
“That did it that was it. God, couldn’t you make it easy on this final approach? Haven’t we learned enough, couldn’t we just sit back and slide right into the Promised Land without another struggle.” Charles Dickens wrote in Domby and Son “As the last straw breaks the laden’s camel’s back.” This was taken from an old Arab proverb about how a camel wearing shoes is loaded beyond its capacity to move. It is meant to express that there is a limit to every one’s endurance, everyone has a breaking point.
This was that point for the nation of Israel. They had reached their breaking point. This final challenge wasn’t much different than previous challenges where they faced certain death due to starvation, thirst or even invading armies. They saw water come from a rock and food from heaven and a sea part to deliver them from these armies. So there are giants in the land, big deal, they have been down this road before. The only difference is that now they had a choice to move forward or not. Their candle wax was made of selfish desires and not filled with the desire for God. In the past they had no other choice but to depend upon God when they needed water, food or deliverance. Now they had a choice, they could once again face the impossible and trust in God, or they could just threw another piece of straw of comfort, safety, the known verses the unknown on that poor camel’s back. This time the camel was loaded beyond it capacity to move.
Yet, when Joshua relates this story he says: “I wholly followed the Lord my God.” The word follow is not in the Hebrew, all you have is the word mala’ti which literally means to be completely filled. He was saying: “I was completely filled with God.” Unlike the people who let their flame of hope go out, Joshua’s flame only got stronger. His wax was not in the arm of the flesh but in a heart completely filled with God. Such wax will never melt and the flame will only grow. To Joshua, this last test, the final exam was not another obstacle to the Promised Land; it was another opportunity to see the power of God, this time by his own choosing.
I remember working in a mail room where one of my co-workers was really venting after someone left some work that was not his job, but had to be done. He angrily declared: “This is not my job, I am going to leave it, and I am not going to cover for someone who is too lazy to do his own job. I am tired of always being the fall guy. etc. etc. etc.” The old school teacher in me could not resist. I said: “Bill, those guys just gave you a great gift. You keep talking about wanting a promotion, but no one gives you an opportunity to show your stuff. Here is a perfect opportunity landing right in your lap. This is your chance to show yourself better than the others, to show your dedication, to show you are a company man by doing a job that is not in your job description. Rather than be angry with those guys who left this work, I would thank them.” Bill stood there for a moment, scratched his head and said: “Yeah!” Oddly, Bill’s last name was Straw.
I tell you; in my case that old camel’s back has had so many last straws thrown on it, its poor old back is so shattered there is no hope of recovery. As I stand there venting against God over yet another major obstacle in life’s journey, perhaps I should consider Joshua’s advice, say a blessing over that poor creature loaded down with all my fears, worry, concerns, failures, pride, self-righteousness, and self-sufficiency and say: “Yeah, I’ve got nothing more to lose. Ok God I sure ain’t gonna make it into the Promised Land on the back of this poor creature so point the way to the promised land and lets you and I go get it without ‘em.”
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