Numbers 13:23-25 (NLT) When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of the pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol (which means “cluster”), because of the cluster of grapes the Israelite men cut there.
Number 13:25-29 …“We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
Eschol is located just inside the Promised Land. The Israelites came to the door of the Promised Land at Kadesh-Barnea and they appointed twelve spies. Those twelve spies went over into the Promised Land. They said it was a land that flowed with milk and honey. But they also saw the very real obstacles they had to overcome to take hold of it. The valley of Eschol is where the Jews made the decision of their life. It was at Eschol where they had to decide, “Shall we go forward or shall we go backward?” We will all go through valleys of decision.
Should we keep what we got or go after that which we where born to take hold of?
Should we run in the face of a fight?
Should we settle for second best or fight for first?
There are crossroads in life where a decision must be made. Do we go our way or God’s way? Our faith isn’t faith until it’s tested. The Israelites had to decide if they where going to go by what God had promised them or by their fears. When we are in the valley of decision we generally feel it. It’s as if the fabric of our faith is being pulled apart and we can feel that what we are really made of is about to become evident. It’s in these times that we must decide that the words and ways of God will win out. Faith is generally not absolute but its the winner in the fight with doubt. And in the valley of decision is when faith MUST win out because it is a decisive crossroad.
For those in the valley of decision, a place of deciding if God can be trusted and if his words are true, I pray you would feel his presence and that you would find your way through this valley in that your faith would be found tried and true.
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