The Lord is With Us: Fear Them Not

When the children of Israel were close to the land of Canaan, Moses sent twelve men as spies into the land to search the land. They returned after forty days and they brought back the grapes, pomegranates, and figs of the land, saying, “We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.” But ten of them also gave this negative report: “Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there…. We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” They compared themselves to grasshoppers as they described “the giants, the sons of Anak” who were in the land (Numbers 13:23-33). The report of Caleb and Joshua, though, was different: “The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.” Unfortunately the people were more convinced by the first report and they sought to stone Caleb and Joshua. They declared, “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?” (Numbers 14:2-10) Despite all of the miracles they had seen—from the plagues in Egypt to the parting of the Red Sea to the manna from heaven and the water out of the rock and the presence of Jehovah Himself in the mountain—they still did not believe enough in the Lord to trust Him.

                The Lord’s response to their unbelief was this: “Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it.” He declared that they would “wander in the wilderness forty years” because of their faithlessness (Numbers 14:22-23, 33). Their past experiences had showed them over and over that they could trust in the Lord, that He would deliver them and bless them and take care of them. And yet they still did not believe. They could not seem to apply their faith for the future and believe in His promises and power. Surely there are few things that provoke the displeasure of the Lord as much as our lack of faith, especially when we have every reason to believe. One of His laments in mortality was this: “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?” (Matthew 17:17) He said to Thomas, “Be not faithless, but believing” (John 20:27). That is His call to all of us in whatever struggles we face—we must exercise faith in Him. He also reassured His apostles this way: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In our dispensation He declared simply, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36). Moroni exhorted us, “Doubt not, but be believing” (Mormon 9:27). Over and over the Lord has invited us to trust Him, to believe in Him, to have faith in the future that His promises will be fulfilled. To be His disciple is to believe that He can take us to our promised land no matter what challenges we may face. We must see the future with the eyes of Joshua and Caleb and not the rest of the children of Israel, declaring, “He will bring us into this land, and give it us…. The Lord is with us: fear them not.”  

                I love how Elder Holland put it: “God’s grace is sufficient! The Lord would tell Joseph again and again through those early difficult days that, just as in the days of old, these modern children of Israel would

be led out of bondage by power, and with a stretched-out arm. . . .

Therefore, let not your hearts faint . . . : Mine angel shall go up before you. . . .

. . . and also my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land. [D&C 103:17–20]

What goodly land? Your goodly land. Your promised land. Your New Jerusalem. Your own little acre flowing with milk and honey. Your future. Your dreams. Your destiny…. With Paul, I say to all of you:

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. [Hebrews 10:35–36]

I acknowledge the reality of opposition and adversity, but I bear witness of the God of Glory, of the redeeming Son of God, of light and hope and a bright future.” We cannot ever stop hoping and believing in that bright future through the redeeming power of the Son of God.