Death And Life Are In The Power Of The Tongue

We continue our study of how our words settle our destiny with the example of Caleb and Joshua in the book of Numbers. This is what the Lord later said:

“And the LORD said, ‘I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men which have seen My glory, and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice; surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.’” (Numbers 14:20-24)

By his positive confession, Caleb settled his destiny for the positive. Numbers 14:26-32 continues:

“And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, ‘How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against Me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against Me. Say unto them, ‘As truly as I live,’ saith the LORD, 'as ye have spoken in Mine ears, so will I do to you: your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against Me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness.””

Notice the words, "As you have spoken in My ears, so will I do to you." God is saying, in effect, "You have settled what I will do to you by the words that you have spoken."

“And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD. [They settled their own deaths. They spoke words of death, and death was the outcome.] But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.” (Numbers 14:36-38)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue. How much more clearly could that be illustrated? The men that spoke negatively settled for death. The men that spoke positively received life. They settled their own destinies by what they spoke. The ones that said, "We are not able," were not able. The ones that said, "We are able," were able.