What’s a “Mahanaim”? - Part 1
- Bible Prophet
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
“Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel [Numbers 14:9-10].
In the schoolyard at elementary school the bullies tend to rule. The bullies are the biggest and baddest dudes, of course. If they can hoodwink the rest of the kids into being intimidated by their presence, then they continue to rule.
The next best thing to being the bully in the schoolyard is to be the bully’s best friend. No one picks on you then because no one wants to settle accounts with the bully. In effect the bully’s best friend has the stature of the bully himself.
The Israelites were at Kadesh-barnea. Two years prior they witnessed the Lord inflict the mighty Egyptian god, Pharaoh, with ten plagues, bringing bully Pharaoh to his knees in abject and unconditional surrender. This self-styled “god” cried “Uncle!” and pleaded for mercy from the Hebrew God, YHWH, i.e., the Lord. As terms of his surrender, Pharaoh released the Israelites from slavery. Yea, he even begged them to leave his land!
The Israelites then marched to the Red Sea, where Pharaoh attempted to renege on his agreement to set the Israelites free. He charged after them, hemming them in between the Red Sea and his armies. Once again the Israelites witnessed the Lord inflict the mighty Egyptian god, Pharaoh, with utter defeat. Pharaoh and all his military were drowned in the Red Sea, while the Lord’s people, Israel, crossed the seabed on dry ground.
From there the Israelites marched to Mount Sinai, where they spent a year receiving the Lord’s legal code to govern them in the Promised Land. And they constructed the tabernacle worship structure and crafted the priests’ wardrobe. Now they were able to maintain a covenantal relationship with the Lord. All that was needed was a land to call their own.
So the Lord directed them to leave Mount Sinai and march to the southern border of the Promised Land. And that is how the Israelites found themselves at Kadesh-barnea. The city was on the southern reaches of the Promised Land, on the edge of the Sinai Peninsula.
The Lord directed the Israelites to enter the land, conquer the peoples living there, and exterminate them. The land was their inheritance from the Lord. The Israelites thought it wise to send spies in first to reconnoiter the terrain and peoples, so as to plot a proper military strategy for conquering the land.
The Lord permitted it, though He was none too pleased that they didn’t trust Him enough to enter and conquer the land. So twelve spies went into Canaan and surveilled the territory. Alas, but they didn’t return with a unanimous verdict.
Two spies sided with the Lord and wanted to enter the land and conquer it according to the Word of God. However, ten spies claimed the inhabitants were giants whom the Lord was too small to defeat! To make matters worse, the entire congregation of Israel sided with the ten timorous spies.
This is mind-boggling, dear friends! We need to take our leave for now and gather our thoughts at the feet of Jesus. We will continue this tale tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my books in the Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes Bible study series. To purchase my books please click on the "Shop" tab at the top of this page, where you will find a complete list of my books. Each book is available in both paperback (Createspace) and eBook (Kindle).
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