Numbers 13:1-14:121And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. 3And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. 4And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. 5Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. 6Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 7Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. 8Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun. 9Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. 10Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. 11Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. 12Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. 13Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. 14Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. 15Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. 17And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: 18And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; 19And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; 20And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes. 21So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. 22And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. 24The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. 25And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. 26And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28Nevertheless 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. 30And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 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. 1And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! 3And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? 4And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. 5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. 6And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 7And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 8If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. 10But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. 11And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them? 12I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. (Numbers 13:1‑14:12)
We now come to a very interesting part of the wilderness journey. Twelve men were sent by Moses to spy out the land of Canaan. Moses told them to go through the land and see what it was like, whether it was good or bad, whether the people were weak or strong, and to find out all they could there. He also told them to bring back some of the fruit of the land for the people to see.
The men then started on their journey. They crossed over and went through the land, taking careful notice of everything they saw. They came to a place called Eschol where they found such a large bunch of grapes that, when they had picked it, they had to put it on a rod and carry it between two men. They also picked figs and pomegranates, and brought them back to the camp of Israel, where they returned after forty days.
All the people then came, together to hear about this wonderful land of Canaan to which the Lord had promised to take them. The spies showed the fruit which they had brought back, and said it was truly “a land flowing with milk and honey”—there was such an abundance of everything good there. But then they began to tell about the people who lived there. They said that they were strong, and that, the cities had great walls about them. They told of the mighty giants who lived there, and they felt so small that they were like grasshoppers before them. This made the people feel afraid and discouraged, but Caleb and Joshua, two of the spies, were men of faith. They did not think about the giants, the walled cities, and the chariots of iron, but they thought about the power of God that was greater than all the giants of the land of Canaan put together. They believed that God was well able to give then the victory, and that He delighted in them, and would surely do it. Alas, however, the rest of the people chose to believe the ten spies who were afraid, and who said they could never conquer the land. They began to weep, and they wept all night about it. They said, “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this wilderness!” They then suggested making a captain and returning to Egypt.
Moses and Aaron felt this very keenly, and they fell on their faces before the people. Then Caleb and Joshua rent their clothes as a sign of how badly they felt. They pleaded with the people, telling them what an exceedingly good land it was, and that the Lord would bring them into it. They warned them of what a solemn thing it was to rebel against the Word of God too, for when one rejects the grace of God he not only misses the blessings of God, but he must come under His judgment. The people, however, remained unmoved in their evil course, in spite of all these pleadings, and even spoke of stoning Caleb and Joshua. How awful is the heart of man, full of unbelief and enmity—even those who are in an outward place of favor as the people of God. Alas, how many “church-going” people there are today, who are without living faith in the Lord Jesus.
God had to deal again in His government. He sees and knows all, and it is useless to try and escape His hand. The glory of the Lord then appeared, and He said He would destroy the people and make of Moses and his family a great nation—but Moses interceded for them.
ML 10/07/1951