Rantings, misunderstandings, slander, lies, rudeness, and more are all part of the current atmosphere on social media. Someone posts something. Someone else responds with their opinion. Original poster or even someone else repeats the original post with inflammatory words to accentuate their point of view. Someone else responds, exposing the truth of the situation. Those who posted inflammatory words to accentuate their view get irate and begin a campaign to destroy the poster of truth’s reputation. Feelings are hurt. Friendships are destroyed. Families are divided. The old phrase “airing the dirty laundry” becomes real. The social media world sits and watches (or even participates) in the division of family, friends, and brethren.
Today I was studying Numbers 13-14 for a ladies’ Bible study tonight. As I was reading the words of the spies as they returned from spying out the promised land, I couldn’t help but think I was reading a social media post. Here is how it played out:
The 12 spies return from spying out the land and proceed to give a report of their finding. A factual finding. The land is as God said it would be. It flows with milk and honey. The fruit — grapes, pomegranates, figs — are amazing. The land is good. The cities are large and fortified. The people are strong.
Social media post #1 — truthful report
“Look at this fruit! The land we explored is rich with milk and honey. But the people who live there are strong, and their cities are large and walled. We even saw the three Anakim clans. Besides that, the Amalekites live in the Southern Desert; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites are in the hill country; and the Canaanites live along the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.” Numbers 13:27-29
Social media post #2 — honest opinion
Caleb calmed down the crowd and said, “Let’s go and take the land. I know we can do it!” Numbers 13:30
As you can see here, someone posted facts about a situation. Someone else posted an honest opinion about the facts. So far, so good. Nothing wrong with healthy dialogue.
Social media post #3 — adds information to first post
“But the other men replied, “Those people are much too strong for us.” Then they started spreading rumors and saying, ‘We won’t be able to grow anything in that soil. And the people are like giants. In fact, we saw the Nephilim who are the ancestors of the Anakim. They were so big that we felt as small as grasshoppers.’” Numbers 13:31-33
Concerned that the person who posted social media post #2 didn’t quite get the full intent of the original post, a reply is made to add more information. This time, it is more than facts. There are inflammatory words used to incite fear. Words like “too strong for us”, “we won’t be able to grow anything in that soil” and “people are like giants”. And just accentuate his point he adds the way they felt “as small as grasshoppers”.
So, the message has turned from a factual description to an opinion post about how dreadful this place really is. If it was so dreadful, why didn’t he just say that to begin with.
The fear mongering worked. The people are now afraid they are going to die by the sword and their families will become victims of violence. They become irrational as they let their fears overtake common sense. They want to ditch their leader, Moses, and find one who will take them back to what they consider safety and comfort — slaves in Egypt.
Social media post #4 — a call to action
“We wish we had died in Egypt or somewhere out here in the desert! Is the Lord leading us into Canaan, just to have us killed and our women and children captured? We’d be better off in Egypt.” Then they said to one another, “Let’s choose our own leader and go back.” Numbers 14:2-4
The response to this is that the leaders, Moses and Aaron, fall down on their faces and the two men speaking words of truth and common sense, Joshua and Caleb, tear their clothes in utter dismay at the reaction their brethren are displaying. Then they respond with an additional post.
Social media post #5 — encouragement to do the right thing
“We saw the land ourselves, and it’s very good. If we obey the Lord, he will surely give us that land rich with milk and honey. So don’t rebel. We have no reason to be afraid of the people who live there. The Lord is on our side, and they won’t stand a chance against us! “Numbers 14:7-9
Joshua and Caleb just want everyone to put their faith in God. They don’t want an argument. They don’t want anyone to get hurt. They just want to speak the truth and do what is right. It is the last post on the subject. From here on out, it gets physical. What started as a reasonable discussion has escalated into divisive, threatening, violent, inflammatory behavior.
“The crowd threatened to stone them to death.” Numbers 14:10
We think we are all advanced in technology. It doesn’t take technology to incite division and violence. We think that we are more civilized than people of old. What I read in the book of Numbers looks similar to what I see going on online and in some of our cities. We think that we won’t be punished for our misbehavior online or in person. I did not go on to tell what happened to these people who caused the division and violence or what happened to those who were speaking words of truth and common sense. You can read that on your own in Numbers 14:11-38.
Diana Dow
This was excellent, thanks!