Dealing with the Spirit of Kadesh-barnea, by Pastor Amos Dada PhD;P.Eng

And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight Number 13:26, 31-32

I was a young boy in the 60s when the leaders of our Church, CAC Oke -Ayo, Igede-Ekiti, organized a revival. The evangelist was a tall, blind man. I cannot recall his message for that night but I can never forget the song he kept singing. “ Kadesh-barnea la de yi o aginju isoro. Aginju, isoro, aginju irewesi, Kadesh-barnea lade yi ooo aginju isoro.”

Paraphrased it means we have gotten to kadesh-barnea, a place of difficulty, distress, discouragement and pain.

The Physical Kadesh-barnea is a region located in the Desert of Zin. The name Kadesh-barnea is thought to mean “the holy place of the desert of wandering.”

Although there are many places where Kadesh-barnea was mentioned in the Bible, the most prominent was the place where the 10 spies gave a bad report concerning the promised land and triggered God’s pronouncement that the Israelites’ two days journey to enter Promised Land be turned into 40 years. Because the Israelites had failed to believe and obey the Lord, their arrival into the land “flowing with milk and honey” was postponed until Joshua led the younger generation out of the wilderness by the command of the Lord. The consequence of that was that all the people that left Egypt died in the wilderness while circling kadesh-barnea.

The second most prominent issue at Kadesh Barnea was their opposition to Moses at not having enough water. (Numbers20:2–5). These two events, marked by unbelief, grumbling, and disobedience, directly affected Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites

The third one is Kadesh-barnea seems to have been a regular camping spot for the Israelites throughout their years of desert wandering (Numbers 13:26; 20:1, 14; 33:36).

The dangers of Kadesh-barnea could be put as these:

It was the place of evil report, trepidation, confusion, and weeping where all the Israelites were turned back because of foolishness and faithlessness.

Kadesh-barnea is the place of death where all the 10 people who gave the bad report were killed by plague immediately,( Num 14:36-37).

It was the place where Moses hit the rock instead of speaking to it and God’s penalty was that he will not see the promised land.

Kadesh-barnea was the wilderness where human wastage took place in the millions.

It is the place of senseless and intimidating report of fear instead of faith.

It was the place where Israelites failed to believe that God would give them victory in acquiring the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 9:23).

It was at Kadesh Barnea that Miriam died and was buried (Numbers 20:1).

It was a place of combat in the book of Genesis when Abraham fought the Amalekites. (Genesis 14:7).

On a positive note, it was at Kadesh-barnea that Caleb and Joshua distinguished themselves and believed God’s Word and were given express visa to the promised land.

How do you deal with the Spirit of Kadesh-barnea that we, like the Israelites of old, have found ourselves?

1. Get to know God personally, so that no matter the leadership of the church, you can make your independent decision based on the Word of God and not their interpretations.

2. Don’t follow the crowd. It is in politics that the crowd matters not in matters of faith.

3. Trust God not man. Trust God, not Satan. Whatever God says is not only the Truth, it is final. God’s word is superior to man’s ideology and idiosyncrasies.

4. Drop the chicken mentality, the spirit that says you are a grasshopper when God has made you an eagle. Believe What God says you are rather than what your feelings and environment calls you.Eph 2:6

5. Pray against the spirits I mentioned earlier: death, confusion, wastage, indecision, disobedience, anger etc that provokes God.

6. Don’t take God for granted. God is not your mate! God had instructed Moses to speak to the rock to bring forth water for the grumbling Israelites, but he disobeyed by striking the rock twice (Numbers 20:12). Moses that pleaded for the Israelites in Numbers 14 is the one that despised God and therefore missed the promised land. It is not the beginning that matters, it is the end.

7. Obey God’s instructions, whether you understand it or not, whether it makes sense or not, that is what is called FAITH. That is what distinguished Joshua and Caleb. It can distinguish you!

Conclusion: Kadesh-barnea is a place of choice, death or life. Kadesh-barnea is the place where God shows he can listen to intercessors like Moses who pleaded that God should not wipe out the Israelites. Num. 14:11-19. Are you willing to intercede for this generation?

My prayer is that we shall not follow the path of those who perished in Kadesh-barnea because of their unbelief. When times of testing come, may we display the faith that Joshua and Caleb had in trusting God(at Kadesh-barnea) so as to enter our earthly and heavenly promised land. Shalom–

O taste and see that the Lord is good.(Psalm 34:8). I have tasted and found that the Lord is good. I do testify that the Lord is good. Join me to taste him.