A Lesson From the Bible

In the Old Testament, there is a story that takes place during the life of Moses after the Exodus of the nation of Israel from Egypt. God has let the nation to the edge of the "Promised Land." Under the direction of God, Moses sends 12 "spies" into the promised land to scope things out.

Two of these "agents" came back with the report that the land was indeed a prosperous and fruitful land. They speak of huge grapes in the vineyards, fertile fields and abundant pasture land.

The other ten "spies" see the "glass half empty" side. They see giants in the land and believe that even with God's help, they could face certain death by going to war against the inhabitants of the land. They advice against invading into the land that God has promised, in spite of God's promise that He would lead them to victory.

The nation of Israel grumbles and complains to Moses that they don't have enough faith to enter the land, and, to make a long story short, God condemns the nation to wander in the desert for 40 years until that "faithless" generation dies off.

In light of this weeks' events, I couldn't help but think that the ten advisors who convinced the nation of Israel to not have faith in God, would probably have won the Nobel Peace Prize for avoiding war. Never mind that it wasn't what God wanted. Never mind that it wasn't in Israel's best interest. Never mind that it condemned a generation to die in the wilderness.

Peace at any cost isn't always desirable, is it?