SURVEILLANCE

I Was Just Thinking About – SURVEILLANCE.

In a devotional based upon First Samuel 16:1-11, A Humble Servant, Charles Swindoll wrote: “God saw in David the quality of humility. The Lord had gone to the home of Jesse in spirit form. Jesse didn't know God was there. Nobody did. God was on a secret surveillance mission in that home, and he spotted Jesse's youngest son and said, in effect, "That's My man!"

What is “a secret surveillance mission.” From a heavenly perspective, it is understood to be: “observation of a place, person, group, or ongoing activity in order to gather information.” From a human perspective, as Moses and God’s people are moving toward The Promised Land, 12 representatives are sent out to “explore” the land (Numbers 13, NIV). In the ESV, the translation is that Moses sent 12 spies to surveil the land. The objective for these 12 “explorers” or “spies” was: (Numbers 13:17-20) “to spy out the land of Canaan - Go up into the Negev…see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many,  and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds,  and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.”

After the surveillance mission, ten of the spies advise against continuing toward The Promised Land because the obstacles are too great and the defenders of the land are too superior and strong. Only Joshua and Caleb are positive and convinced that with the Lord’s enablement they will be able to conquer the walled cities and superior adversaries. When Joshua assumes the leadership following the death of Moses, he chooses two men - spies -  to “secretly” go view the land, especially Jericho,  on a surveillance mission (Joshua 2:1).

An old saying is: “A rose by any other name is still a rose.” The same is true of the word surveillance. It can be used in an attempt to blur its purpose but the end result is that its mission is to spy on a person, group, community, or activity. A person can influence the unsuspecting that he/she is there for positive input despite the fact of the surveillance effort is to “spy” and gather information about an opponent’s goals,  adversarial purpose, or mission. Within the group of 12 disciples, Jesus introduced a different word - betrayal - for the broad definition of surveillance -  (John 13:21-27), “Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and stated, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me…The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke…Jesus indicated: It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it…Jesus gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.  Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him (Judas): What you are going to do, do quickly.”

Just to satisfy any curiosity, the Synonyms for Surveillance are: “spying, wiretap, bug, stakeout, scrutiny, vigil, surveyance, etc.” The secular world attempts to restrict and obscure the dimensions and ramifications of “Surveillance.” The adversary (the devil) attempts to do similarly. Peter had this in mind when he wrote in First Peter 5:8 (NIV) “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” One paraphrase states the importance regarding the sober mind: “Be self-controlled and vigilant always” (J.B. Phillips).

Prayerfully – Consider these things with me.