Gods Sabbath

K ADESH B ARNEA

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where Satan accomplished his objectives. The people were quite willing to accept the general order to go in and possess the land, but they did not trust God to supply the specific orders of how to go about it. Instead, they confidently proceeded to work these out themselves by commissioning twelve spies to search out the land, devise a plan of attack, and bring it back for them to follow. God’s people saw no reason to suspect that they had fallen into serious error. Was not their commissioning of the spies a witness to their faith? Was it not adding works to their confident faith in God’s word that the land would be theirs? What else could they do to obey the Lord more perfectly? How could anything be wrong with such a procedure? They imagined that God would surely be pleased with their faith, enthusiasm, and good works! How terribly mistaken they were. They did not understand that both general and specific orders must come from God. If not, He cannot produce a good outcome. Of those people in that situation, the Holy Spirit sadly declared, “‘they have not known my ways.’ So, ... ‘They shall never enter my rest,’” and they did not. Hebrews 3:10, 11. Here the Lord plainly tells us that if we accept His general or ders but make our own specifics, we do not know His ways and will not enter into His rest. That means we are not true co-work ers with God and cannot participate in the final victory over the powers of darkness, nor walk the streets of gold. “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:11.

Why did God not Protest?

When Moses brought the people’s plan to God, the Almighty neither voiced disapproval nor made any attempt to point out their error. He had done this earlier when they asked for flesh foods (see Numbers 11), and He did later when they asked for the institution of the monarchy (see 1Samuel 8). Some argue that the absence of disapproval indicates Jehovah’s approval of the scheme, especially when Moses declared that the people’s propo sition pleased him well (see Deuteronomy 1:23). Such reasoning