And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.” (Exodus 13:32 NIV)

Notice the evil report was not because they said, “What God promised, He cannot do. God promised this Land but God is too weak to drive them out by our hand.” Rather what they said was focused on empiricism, or what they can see. They saw giants. They saw they were small compared to them in height. They saw the fortified cities and armies and saw they destroyed their enemies.

They did not directly attack God’s promise; rather they only reported what they could see, touch and hear. They gave testimony of sight. And God called this an evil report. God wanted to destroy them right there on the spot. Moses had to step in and plead with God, not to kill them right there. God relented but promised they would never see the Promise Land, and they would all die in the wilderness. God rejected them as reprobates saying, “You will never enter My rest.”  They reported they were too weak and the others were too strong, based on their sensation and observation. God said, you will therefore be bound to this report based on sight. You are too weak for them, and they are too strong for you; you do not have the strength to enter into my good land.

Based on their five senses, human observation, and inductive calculation, it was true that they were weaker than the inhabitance. They did not lie about what they saw. Thus, all they did was give a report based on sight. They testified correctly to what they saw and touched. And yet, God wanted to destroy them for giving a correct testimony of what they saw.

These people truthfully testified about what they saw, and God called them evil and rejected them over it. Think carefully about that.

It was evil and bad because “we live by faith not sight,” 2 Corinthians 5:7. If we see a contradiction with what we see and what God has said, God considers it evil to testify correctly to what you observe. God expects you to testify to what He has said. Because there is a contradiction, if you affirm one and just leave it at that, then you in essence deny the other. This is an either-or logic, where the two terms are a known contradiction and thus if you affirm one you deny the other (fulfilling the requirements of the deduction). It is two testimonies that contradict one another. It is like two people who give two contradictory answers: “2 + 2 = 4,” and “2 + 2 =7.” If you pick one, then you are denying the other. As Jesus said, if you are not with Him, you are against Him. If you do not directly choose Him, then you are against Him. If you do not confess the promise against what you see, then you are against God. If you do not confess faith against your observations, you are God’s hated enemy. 

The command of God is to speak faith. Abraham’s very name was a constant spoken confession of faith in God’s promise. We prove ourselves to be children of Abraham if we do the same.

An evil report is speaking what you see (empiricism/observation), rather than God’s promise. Even if your testimony truthfully describes what you observe, if there is a promise about the same circumstance, you are evil. You are the type of person who spreads evil reports. The more people who see you publicly confess your observations (even if true) rather than the promise, the more wicked the report becomes, and as a consequence the more guilt you heap on yourself. 

I can hear these self-righteous Israelites saying, “but we only testified to what we saw! They are bigger and stronger, with more weapons. They are aggressive people. WHY is God angry with us for speaking the truth?”  The same happens today. “I only testified to what the doctor and I saw. I spoke the truth. The cancer was stage four, all over my body. Why does God call my observation an evil report?”

Yet, God has commanded us to speak His word. He has commanded us to trust His promise. He has commanded us to agree that His word is permanent, faithful and true. He commands us to not only believe in our hearts, but to confess with our mouth.

Adam and Eve had a problem with this. God told them something, and they faced the contradiction that the tree looked good to eat. The first school lessen for mankind was one of faith in God’s word. Faith, as Vincent Cheung says, is the first primordial orthodoxy for man. No other doctrine revealed later will override faith. Faith overrides all doctrines because all other doctrines came after the orthodoxy of faith.[1]

Abraham had a similar situation. Romans 4 said he believed against all hope. That is, he believed against what he saw, felt and observed.  His name, “father of many nations, was a contradiction to reality itself. Yet, it is God’s word that creates and controls reality. If you have faith in God’s word, the Word will always prevail over your observations. This is why we live by faith, not sight.

It is not as if you cannot under any circumstances say what the reality is, but it needs to be said in a way that does not negate your confession that God’s promise is true over what you observe. Jesus said that Lazarus was only asleep. But then when pressed He admitted he was dead, yet again affirmed Lazarus was as good as being alive.

People want to see themselves like Caleb and Joshua, while they still speak like the Israelites who gave a bad (correct) report on what they saw. They read God’s promises of healing in the bible, but then they will get a doctor’s report. They will then give a true testimony of what the doctor saw and spoke. “The cancer is strong, and my old body is weak.” This is exactly what the Israelites said, and God was so furious He wanted to kill all of them, right there and then. If you want to be like Joshua, who received God’s approval, then be like Joshua. Say, “the doctor saw the cancer, but it is food for me. Jesus left my sickness on the cross because it died there with Him. The Father considers Jesus as a substitute atonement for my sickness in my place, and therefore, I do not bear it. By His stripes I am healed. I declare in Jesus’ name, “I am healed.” His promise is more real than what I feel or observe.”

The only way to be obedient is to directly and constantly speak the promise of God against what you see. If you merely omit this and only speak what you see, you are an evil person who spreads evil reports. You will partake in the same destiny as the Jews who died in the wilderness. You will not enter into the good land, into the good promises, into the good things God has. They will be denied to you, if you give correct testimony of your observation over God’s promise.

But why stay silent? If you only believe, then the promise land of blessings are yours for the taking. God has already spoken and revealed His promises. Stand up and agree with Him. Be like Abraham your father and speak the contradiction to all you see and observe. Speak the confession of God’s promise and receive it like Abraham did. The only way to speak good reports and spread good reports is public confession of absolute certainty in God’s promise over reality.  Be a super spreader of faith confessions, and you will have God’s approval. Men, especially church men will hate you, and even try to stone you for good faith reports, but God will approve of you. He will give you what you ask of Him. Joshua and Caleb was delayed from entering the promise land as God rejected that current generation, but they did finally enter. The good report they confessed is the reality they lived and experienced.

God is not the one holding you back. The unbelief spoken by the Israelites is what held them back from entering the promise land. The faith Joshua spoke what allowed him to enter the good things of God.  Unbelief or faith is what will cause you to be held back or move forward into God’s good things.

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[1] See Vincent Cheung, “Faith Override.”