The Bible is clear that speaking words can deliver us from adverse situations. In fact, Jesus and David provide vivid examples of how to use our mouths to steer the course of our lives into a positive direction. However, the Bible also provides accounts of people who speak words that do not deliver. Those accounts are also given for our example: “And these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted” (I Corinthians 10:6). In essence, when Biblical people spoke or did anything that did not manifest the will of God, we are supposed to use those things as examples of what not to do.
One such example stands out prominently! In Numbers 13, God expressed His will to Moses to bring the children of Israel into a land of abundance unparalleled in their individual and collective experience. He therefore gave Moses the following instruction: “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them” (v. 2). It is clear from this scripture that God had already determined to give Israel’s this land. He sent men simply to spy the goodness of the land. However, ten of these men returned with a report contrary to God’s will. These men stated, “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey… Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great stature” (vv. 27-28, 32).
Instead of using their words to speak the will of God, they used their words to offer excuses why the will of God could not be accomplished in their lives. Does this sound familiar to you? The Bible calls this an evil report. If you are doing this, you’d better stop! At any rate, the people were so incensed by this report of evil that they complained against the Lord and threatened to kill his ministers. The absolute importance of the words we speak becomes glaringly obvious in God’s response to the Israelites through Moses: “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.”
In essence, the Israelites got exactly what they said, which is a Biblical principle (see Mark 11:22-24). They said that they should have died in the wilderness. They said that they could not enter the land. And that is exactly what they got. Notice from the scripture above that it was God’s sworn will to bring them into the land. However, their words were so powerful that it kept them out of the sworn will of God. I assure you that your words have the same negative potential. Is that not an absolutely sobering thought? However, forty years after this incident, Joshua and Caleb entered the land; they connected to the will of God because of the words they spoke (see Numbers 13: 6-9). Now my friend, you have a choice to make today. Will you speak words that deliver or words that separate you from the will of God. It’s a decision that only you can make, but choose the right thing!
God bless you as you continue to hear and heed His Voice!
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