When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)
Numbers 13:17-20
It was ten years ago today that I left for my first trip to Israel. I remember it well.
I was a jumble of emotions: excitement, fear, nervousness, joy. I was so excited for the opportunity, yet so nervous because this was going to be my first time flying alone, and it was the farthest I’d ever traveled.
It was a Sunday. My first flight left in the afternoon, giving me a chance to go to church that morning. The sermon was about the 12 who spied out the land of Canaan before the nation would enter (Numbers 13). They returned with a bad report, spreading fear among the Israelites. As a result, God made everyone wander in the wilderness for 40 years until that generation had died off. The question for us: will you enter the land or shrink back in fear? The sermon was using this as a metaphor for following God when we’re afraid or against seemingly impossible odds. But for me on that day, it wasn’t simply a metaphor. Was I going to literally enter the land? Was I going to enter the open door I felt God had prepared for me? Or would I be controlled by my fear? I felt like God was speaking directly to me that morning.
I hopped on a plane that afternoon. A couple connections and a day later, I entered the land, stepping off the plane into the Tel Aviv airport. It was the beginning of my journey. I would spend the next five weeks in Jerusalem and around the country. And if that’s not enough of a blessing, God has given me the opportunity to accumulated five months in that little country to date.