“To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance,” when they were few in number, indeed very few, and strangers in it. (Psalm 105:11-12)

The Lord spoke these words — “To you I will give the land of Canaan” — individually, to each of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Later, God reaffirmed this promise to the nation saying, “this is your inheritance.” Interestingly, however, those men and their families spent very little time in Canaan compared to the time they dwelt in other lands. Not only that, but the time they dwelt in Canaan, they were vastly outnumbered by the other inhabitants of the land, hence the statement, “when they were few in number and strangers in it.”

It’s fascinating to consider that, as a nation, Israel multiplied and grew while they were sojourners in other lands. In his younger days, Jacob left the land alone and returned twenty years later with wives, children and a great company. In his later years, he and seventy souls went down into Egypt; two centuries later, his descendants left Egypt in numbers estimated to be in the 3 million range. The point is God caused His people to grow when they were outside of Canaan and then brought them into the land of promise. It occurs to me that it would have proved impossible to conquer the land when they were few in number, and if they had started to grow while in the land, their enemies would have tried to put a stop to the growth. That’s certainly what Pharaoh tried to do.

So, what are we to glean from this? First of all, we should never despise the day of small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10); we should appreciate the fact that great things start out as small as a mustard seed. That a people so few in number, and seemingly insignificant, can develop into a nation as powerful and influential as the people of God is a testament to His sovereignty and faithfulness. Therefore, you and I should take heart when we find ourselves outnumbered by our enemies and vulnerable to attack; this type of scenario is when our God demonstrates His might and good will toward His people. He takes a few and scatters the many, as it is written, “Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you” (Leviticus 26:8). Amen.

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill