An Evil Report

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“Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan...And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:28-29, 32-3328Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. (Numbers 13:28‑29)
32And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. (Numbers 13:32‑33)).
On their return, ten of the spies, brought up an “evil report.” They admitted that it was indeed a “good land” and they even brought some of the fruit of the land back, in the form of a cluster of grapes so large that it had to be carried on the shoulders of two men. However, because of a lack of faith, they became occupied and overwhelmed by two apparent obstacles that seemed insurmountable and formidable. Those who should have been encouraging the people to go up and take possession of the land, were the very ones who, with two exceptions, were so filled with unbelief themselves that they succeeded in dissuading and dismaying the whole congregation of Israel. They were not unlike the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, who took the place of leadership amongst God’s people, in the days when the Lord Jesus was here on earth. They were the very ones who should have been standing for rectitude and righteousness, recognizing who this heavenly personage was, and pointing the people to their Messiah. Yet they were the very ones of whom he had to say, “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:1313But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. (Matthew 23:13)).