Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli was the representative among the men sent to search Canaan. The verse belongs to the history of the twelve spies sent to search Canaan, the promised land, and their report. The spies' evil report led to forty years of wilderness wandering, and Israel's later attempt to enter the land came too late and ended in defeat. The unbelief and rebellion of the ten unfaithful spies brought judgment, and Israel's refusal to trust God led to forty years in the wilderness.
Joshua was one of the twelve spies and, with one other, gave a faithful report of the land's richness and attractiveness and urged Israel in God's strength to go up, enter, and possess it. The unbelief in that history warns against words and actions that discourage trust in God. That history of the twelve spies applies to God's people today, when cowardly complaining and drawing back from action when risks must be faced is re-enacted with the same unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel as in the days of Caleb and Joshua.
Ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting, with few receiving God's faithful warnings; as the second advent of Christ nears, darkness and unbelief do not decrease, truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, and hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent. The servants of God who bear the burden of His cause, practicing strict self-denial and suffering privation to help His people, are seldom better appreciated now than then. Those servants might become discouraged except for the continual evidences their Master gives of His wisdom and assistance. Long the Lord has borne with His people, forgiven their wanderings, and waited for them to give Him room in their hearts, but false ideas, jealousy, and distrust have crowded Him out.
Few professedly of Israel whose minds have been enlightened by revelations of divine wisdom dare come boldly forward as Caleb did and stand firmly for God and the right. Because those the Lord has chosen to conduct His work will not be turned from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated, they become the target for hatred and malicious falsehood. Satan is wide awake and working warily in these last days, and God calls for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist his artifices.
Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli was the representative among the men sent to search Canaan. The verse belongs to the history of the twelve spies sent to search Canaan, the promised land, and their report. The spies' evil report led to forty years of wilderness wandering, and Israel's later attempt to enter the land came too late and ended in defeat. The unbelief and rebellion of the ten unfaithful spies brought judgment, and Israel's refusal to trust God led to forty years in the wilderness.
Joshua was one of the twelve spies and, with one other, gave a faithful report of the land's richness and attractiveness and urged Israel in God's strength to go up, enter, and possess it. The unbelief in that history warns against words and actions that discourage trust in God. That history of the twelve spies applies to God's people today, when cowardly complaining and drawing back from action when risks must be faced is re-enacted with the same unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel as in the days of Caleb and Joshua.
Ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting, with few receiving God's faithful warnings; as the second advent of Christ nears, darkness and unbelief do not decrease, truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, and hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent. The servants of God who bear the burden of His cause, practicing strict self-denial and suffering privation to help His people, are seldom better appreciated now than then. Those servants might become discouraged except for the continual evidences their Master gives of His wisdom and assistance. Long the Lord has borne with His people, forgiven their wanderings, and waited for them to give Him room in their hearts, but false ideas, jealousy, and distrust have crowded Him out.
Few professedly of Israel whose minds have been enlightened by revelations of divine wisdom dare come boldly forward as Caleb did and stand firmly for God and the right. Because those the Lord has chosen to conduct His work will not be turned from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated, they become the target for hatred and malicious falsehood. Satan is wide awake and working warily in these last days, and God calls for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist his artifices.