Today it is the logo of the Ministry of Tourism for the State of Israel: two men carrying a pole bearing a huge cluster of grapes between them. It’s a proper symbol for the fertile country God prepared for His chosen people.

What more did Israel need, camped out there in the desert, poised to enter the land of promise? They had God’s word that He would give them this land(Numbers 13:1). They had the recent experience of His mighty deliverance from their slavery. And now they had visible proof of the bountiful provision awaiting them in Canaan. They had every reason to hope, to believe, to move forward into God’s future.

But they feared. They faltered. They shrank from their destiny. They showed contempt for the Lord God(Numbers 14:11). And their destiny was delayed for a generation.

Why? Because they believed the minority opinion. Yes, the vote of the twelve spies was 10-2 to abort the dream. But how can the verdict of ten small-minded men be measured against the promises of God? “If the Lord is with us,” good Joshua reminded them and us, “we will take the land.” God and even a few faithful followers always constitute the true majority.