Numbers 13:30-32 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.
Before Israel moved in to possess the land that God promised, 12 spies were sent up to reconnoiter and report back. They brought back two opposing opinions after witnessing the same things: the land is great, but it has some great cities and great people. However, Caleb and Joshua brought an optimistic report: we are well able; the other ten brought an evil report: we are not able. The one side responded with fear and trust in God; the other side responded with fear of men and trust in self. The report was called evil because it lacked faith.
Both knew the overwhelming dangers in attempting to possess the land. The believing response trusted that the Lord is able to do what we can’t, because He promised the Land. The unbelieving response could not trust the Lord to keep His promise; they knew their own weakness and the strength of the enemy.
Our response to the enemies of life and the obstacles to the Kingdom is to either trust God or trust self. When we believe in the faithful love of God we can be optimistic in Christ. When we only believe what we can see we are liable to be pessimistic. We are faced with “giant” enemies every day: sin, death, devil. But we have the greater One on our side. Therefore, we can be confidently optimistic. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” We enter the kingdom with the faith of Caleb.
This reaction was serious with the Lord: Israel was condemned to spend the next 38 years in the wilderness, a serious consequence for unbelief. We believe in the death and resurrection of Christ to lighten the burdens of living on earth.