Giants in the Land

Numbers 13:26-33

February 22, 2026 • Mount Pleasant UMC

Every time we drove highway 68 from Wilmore to Harrodsburg, Kentucky, we saw it. In fact, after a few of those trips, I started to look for it. Just around one of those sharp bends in the road that ran along the side of the mountain, if you looked down you could see it: a car hanging suspended above the valley floor. Apparently, its driver had missed the curve of the road and drove off the side of the mountain. Now I don’t know if the driver made it to safety or was injured in the crash. All I know is that when we left Kentucky, the car was still hanging there. For all I know, unless it rusted out, it may still be hanging there. One thing I learned: while I had grown up thinking of valleys as peaceful places, that car taught me that, depending on how steep the slopes around it were, a valley could also be a dangerous place.

This Lenten season, we are walking through the Holy Land—from the comfort of our pews—to visit some of the mountains and valleys that make up this “land of milk and honey.” And this morning we have arrived at the very edge of the land God promised to these rescued slaves generations before. About two years ago, Moses had been sent by God to get them out of slavery in Egypt. Rescuing them didn’t take very long, relatively speaking, but making them into people who could trust in this God of their forefathers was going to take a whole lot more time, more even than God planned on at first. The story we read this morning is one witness to how stubborn and fearful a people they could be.

The people are camped in a desert called Paran (12:16), in the Sinai peninsula, and God tells Moses to send some men to explore the promised land (13:1). Now, far be it for me to guess what God is thinking, but my guess is he wants them to be able to help the people get excited about this land he has promised to give them. He wants them to have a taste of it. And so twelve men are chosen, one from each Hebrew tribe, and they are sent to “spy” on the land. Moses tells them to bring back a report about the people, the fortifications, the towns, the soil, even the trees. And he tells them, “Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land” (13:17-20). Apparently Moses was tired of the bread-like substance called “manna” that God had sent every morning. He wants some fruit!

So the spies go. They do what Moses told them to do. And they end up in a place called the Valley of Eshkol, which is where they do a little fruit shopping. “They cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs” (13:23). So “Eshkol” means “cluster” (cf. Wenham, Numbers, pg. 118) and grapes are still grown in that area today just as they were then. When I was a kid, reading the comic book Bible, I still remember the picture of these ginormous grapes being carried between two burly men. I don’t know if it was like that then or now; I think the author means to tell us that the produce was abundant. So these men look around for forty days, grab some grapes (did they ask or pay the farmer?) and head back to report to Moses.

Their report, which we read this morning, is confusing at best. On the one hand, they affirm that the land does, in fact, “flow with milk and honey” (13:27). That phrase doesn’t mean literal rivers of milk and rivers of honey flowing through the land. It’s describing a land with a lot of pastures for raising goats and sheep and cattle; that’s where the milk comes from. And there is ample produce such as figs and dates, used to make honey. When I’ve been there, you don’t get served bees’ honey like we do here; it’s date honey, which is very good (cf. Goldingay, Numbers & Deuteronomy for Everyone, pg. 36). Land of plenty. Land of abundance. It sounds very, shall we say, promising. Oh, but wait, their report isn’t over yet. Yes, the fruit is large—but so are the people! They “are very powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large” (13:28). There’s no way we could defeat them. We aren’t strong enough to take the land. Maybe we should just stay here.

And suddenly, the valley of Eshkol becomes the Valley of Discouragement. Moses sent them, with a command from God, to what he believed was the land of promise, the land of their future. But these spies come back and tell the people there’s no way it could be their future. There’s too many obstacles and the obstacles are too large to be overcome. “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (13:33).

Have you been to this valley—the Valley of Discouragement? When what looked like a promise has become a nightmare? When what looked easy ran up against obstacles and you suddenly discovered that not only is there milk and honey up ahead—there are also giants in the land? We had friends who had plans for a life together and a large family. But having one child was difficult and as that child grew into elementary school, it seemed impossible. Then the wife was diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly a bright future took a sharp detour into the Valley of Discouragement. We have other friends who married with great optimism of twin careers of success and then they found he had a brain tumor. And though the cancer seems to be beaten, the after effects continue to present challenges—the Valley of Discouragement. Giants in the land. Or maybe when you were young, you found it easy to believe. But then things happened in your life and in your world and you’re left wondering if God cares about you at all. Where is the milk and honey? The giants seem overwhelming, like they cannot be defeated. The Valley of Discouragement has closed in on you and you wonder if you will ever have faith again like you had when you were young. The divorce was unexpected, the miscarriage appeared suddenly, the toxicity of your workplace is overwhelming. You never planned to have to take care of your parents and their medical needs, but the strokes came out of no where and the challenges are too great. It appears that those spies were right—there are giants in the land and they cannot be overcome. You know what this valley looks like. You’ve been there. Maybe you're living in the Valley of Discouragement right now.

And while this report is the majority report, there is also a minority report. Two of the spies speak up when they hear the discouraging words that the other ten are giving. Caleb speaks up on behalf of himself and Joshua: “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (13:30). A side note: Caleb is from the tribe of Judah and Joshua is from the tribe of Ephraim. Guess which two tribes are the ones who survive after being conquered by empire after empire? The tribes who believe they can defeat the giants. That’s centuries in the future from this story, but we see glimmers of that here. “We can do it. In fact, we must do it.” Caleb and Joshua are the most valuable voices in this story, and they are the voices we need when we are in the Valley of Discouragement. They shine a light into what would otherwise be a dark and lonely time. “We can do it! You and me against the world, all of us, together, we can beat the giants!”

We desperately need those voices today. The church in North America is struggling in a time when average church participation is at an all-time low. We’ve been through a pandemic, and for us, church and people disaffiliations and General Conference actions—and suddenly we have life-long friends who are gone and won’t talk to us anymore. That’s even showing up in our weekly prayer gatherings and monthly Ministerial Association meetings. The Ministerial Association, which ten years ago would have 30 to 40 people for lunch, now struggles to get 4 or 5 at our meetings. The focus on unity that once permeated this community has gone, and I’m not sure why. It’s easy to end up in the Valley of Discouragement. There is great uncertainty about the future of the church in our nation—not about the future of the church itself. Not at all. Jesus said the gates of hell itself would not prevail against the church (Matthew 16:18) and there are places in the world where the church is growing leaps and bounds. There are giants in the land keeping us in the Valley of Discouragement.

There was a time early in my ministry when I was living firmly in the Valley of Discouragement. Several things were happening at the church and one of our leaders had walked out angry in the middle of Sunday School. That was the only time in my life where I actually looked for another job. I got the newspaper and scanned the want ads. However, I quickly learned that I’m not actually qualified or trained to do anything else. That was Monday night. On Tuesday morning, I went as I always did to the community pastor’s gathering, and I was firmly camped out in Eshkol. When we got to the point in the morning where we shared what was going on in our ministries, I shared very briefly about my discouragement. Usually, conversation would just continue around the circle, but that morning, Pastor Phil sort of put on the brakes, turned to me and said, “Tell us more about that.” He didn’t have any big words of wisdom, but he had a listening ear, a caring heart and an encouraging spirit. No, I didn’t walk out of that meeting with all my discouragement gone, but I still remember that moment as one turning point. We need Calebs and Joshuas who can speak a contrary word when all we hear is the voice of the ten spies and when all we can see are the giants in front of us. Caleb and Joshua speak a better word that could turn the tide.

However, that’s not how the story goes in Numbers 13. After Caleb and Joshua try to convince the people that they can do it, the other ten start what we might call a “disinformation campaign.” Numbers says they spread a “bad report” among the people (13:32), and that’s when the Valley of Discouragement becomes a Valley of Rebellion. Do you remember why they were spying out the land to begin with? Let me read again the exact instructions God gave Moses: “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites” (13:2). Did you hear it? God is giving the land to them. This spying mission was not a chance to figure out if they could conquer it or not. This was not about the strength or the might or the fight in their army. This spying mission was a chance for them to see what God was giving them. It’s meant to be a “preview of coming attractions” of sorts. What should have happened is that they come back to the people and tell them, “This land is beautiful! It’s a desert in the south and it’s lush and green in the north. There are beautiful cities and there’s this wonderful river that runs the length of the land. God is giving us a fantastic gift!” That’s what should have happened.

But at some point in the spying trip they forgot about the God who sent them and they focused on the people who already lived there. At some point it became less about the gift and more about the giants. Their fear of the giants overwhelmed their memory of what God had already done for them. I wonder if the twelve of them argued about what to say to the people as they were headed back, because obviously ten of them were firmly living in the valley of discouragement. And they were so firmly there that they didn’t mind helping the rest of the people turn it into a valley of rebellion. When they describe the land to the people, notice that they call it the land that Moses sent them to, not the land that God was giving to them. The words they use show that they have forgotten (or conveniently ignored) the fact that God was giving them this land (cf. Wenham 119). They believed they had to do all the work and so they decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Just give up. Just quit. They failed to trust God because there are giants in the land.

Is that ever your story? Notice the progression that happens in the Valley of Eshkol. God does what God always does: he gives a God-sized blessing, a promise of something you can’t imagine. But to do it is going to take more than you think you have. In fact, you’re sure you don’t have it in you, and so there is some legitimate fear. You begin to look around at others, at what they are able to do, and you fall into the comparison trap. That leads to negative assumptions, blame and doubt. And the end result is that this blessing God wanted to give you is set aside, delayed (cf. Armstrong, Valleys, pgs. 19-20). Jason Rankin and I were talking in the office the other day and he said something that really stuck with me: how he believes that one day, God will show us a pile of blessings he wanted to give us if only we had been obedient, if only we had followed faithfully. It’s so easy to stay where we are and miss the blessing God has for us all because we can’t imagine that he actually wants to bless us.

The word of the ten spies spreads so quickly. Why is it that negative words and negative assessments spread and stick much more easily than positive ones? Can anyone else testify to that? I can. They say a lie can go around the world while the truth is still tying its shoes. I know that’s true. I’m much more likely to listen to and remember negative words than positive ones. So the word of the ten spies becomes the accepted truth. The people forget that this land was a gift and they know they can’t conquer it on their own so why bother? In their rebellion, they leave God out of the equation. Listen to the way they respond: “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? [See how they’re blaming God now? They don’t trust him, but they are willing to blame him.] Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?…We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt” (14:2-4). Sure, we were slaves in Egypt, but at least we knew what to expect. They yell at Moses and Aaron either because they’ve forgotten that it was God who made the promise to them, or because it’s just easier to yell at these leaders who they can see than to yell at God who they can’t see (cf. Goldingay 36). It’s the Valley of Rebellion, a valley I know all too well, and you probably do, too.

Yes, the voices of ten fearful men can easily out shout two brave men. And maybe it is true that they can’t take the land by themselves. But the point is: they don’t have to. That’s never been the plan. God has already promised the land to them! What they are actually saying has nothing to do with them or the people of Israel. What they are saying is that they don’t believe God is able. They don’t believe God has the strength to actually give them the land (cf. Allen, “Numbers,” Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, pg. 811). They don’t trust God’s promise. And so it’s better to go back to a godless land like ancient Egypt than to try to move forward into that promise.

It seems easier to go back, doesn’t it? When things get hard, it’s easier to just go back to what is familiar. Or to throw a tantrum like a toddler who didn’t get his or her way. People leave their faith behind because it’s too hard, or it’s not the way they imagined it would be. People walk away from God because following Jesus is harder than they were told it is. We give people unreasonable expectations when we tell them following Jesus makes life easy, that it’s just a bed of roses and a life of getting whatever you ask for. That’s not what Jesus said; that’s not what Jesus promised. Following Jesus, as we’ve talked about the last few weeks, can be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. He may call us into unexplored territory and scary places. But going back doesn’t make life easier either because the blessing doesn’t lie behind us; it’s ahead of us.

Fear of the giants doesn’t go away overnight. Because of the report of the ten spies, the people spent time in the Valley of Rebellion. And they spent a long time there. Their refusal to trust in God’s promise meant none of them—well almost none of them—would ever enter the land. They wouldn’t get to experience the promise. Their children would, but they would all die before the promise was fulfilled. Forty years they would wander in the desert. Forty years they would have to regret bowing to the giants. Forty years they were given to learn that the blessing lies ahead and not behind (Armstrong 20). But, friends, you don’t have to wait forty years—thanks be to God! God has a promise for you of “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). There will be giants in the way of that blessing, but Jesus promised that he has overcome all of the giants already (John 16:33). We don’t have to ignore or dismiss our doubts and fears. What we need to do, according to the New Testament, is this: “Hold our original conviction firmly to the very end” (Hebrews 3:14). Or, I think another way to say that might be this: “If God brings you to it, he will bring you through it.” Hold tight to your conviction because the blessing lies ahead (cf. Armstrong 24).

On that journey from Wilmore to Harrodsburg there was another spot that always attracted my attention once a friend of mine pointed it out. From the place where the car hung over the edge, you would go down to the valley floor and cross the Kentucky River, then you would start back up the other side of the valley. Most of the trip was just this single highway but about halfway up the mountain, there was a small little road that went off to the left. I never turned that way but I thought about it several times. I was curious what was down that road, but I knew that if I went that way I would never get to my destination. I just might get lost since there was no GPS in those days and Kentucky roads were anything but straight! The same is true in our spiritual life. We have to hold onto our original conviction and stay on the path God has set us on. Stay on the main road if you want to get to the place God is leading you. We may wonder about the other roads, but we know the only one what will lead us to the blessing God has for us is straight ahead. That’s the road that will take you around the giants and into his presence. There are giants in the land, and they are big, but God is bigger still. Let’s pray.