§43. The Twelve Spies (Num. 13:1, 2, 17-21, 25-28, 30-33; 14:1-10, 26-33)

A. THE MISSION OF THE SPIES

The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, "Send thou men, that they may spy out 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 prince among them."

And Moses sent twelve men of the tribes of Israel, and of them Caleb was of the tribe of Judah and Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim. And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, "Get you up this way by the South, and go up into the mountains: and see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, whether they be few or many; and 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 camps, or in strongholds; and 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 first-ripe grapes. So they went up, and spied out the land. And they came unto the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it upon a staff between two; they brought also of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

B. THE REPORT OF THE COWARDS

And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to the children of Israel, and showed them the fruit of the land. And 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. Howbeit the people that dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fenced, and very great: and moreover we saw the giants, the children of Anak, there."

And 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."

But the men that went up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we." And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."

C. THE DISCOURAGEMENT

And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and said unto them, "Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore doth the Lord bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones shall be a prey: were it not better for us to return into Egypt?"

And they said one to another, "Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt."

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the children of Israel.

D. THE ADVICE OF THE HEROES

And Joshua and Caleb, which were of them that spied out the land, rent their clothes: and they spake unto all the children of Israel, saying, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it unto us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is removed from over them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not."

But all the people cried to stone them with stones.

E. THE SENTENCE OF THE LORD

And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the children of Israel. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, "I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, 'As I live, saith the Lord, surely as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: your carcases 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, surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I lifted up my hand that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb and Joshua. 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 rejected. But as for you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years.'"

§44. After the Forty Years (Josh. 1:1-11; 11:16-18; 14:6-13)

A. JOSHUA'S REWARD

Now it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, Moses' minister, saying, "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, to you have I given it, as I spake unto Moses. From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest have good success whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, "Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, 'Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it.'"

B. JOSHUA'S CONQUESTS

So Joshua took all that land, the hill country, and all the South, and the lowland, and the hill country of Israel, and the lowland of the same; and all their kings he took, and smote them, and put them to death. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord spake unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes.

C. CALEB'S REWARD

Then the children of Judah drew nigh unto Joshua: and Caleb said unto him, "Thou knowest the thing that the Lord spake unto Moses the man of God concerning me and concerning thee in Kadesh-barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, 'Surely the land whereon thy foot hath trodden shall be an inheritance to thee and to thy children for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God.' And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he spake, these forty and five years, from the time that the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, and to go out and to come in. Now, therefore, give me this mountain, whereof the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the giants, the sons of Anak, were there, and cities great and fenced: it may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out, as the Lord spake."

And Joshua blessed him; and he gave Hebron unto Caleb for an inheritance. And the land had rest from war.

THE MEANING OF THE STORY

141. We have followed the story of Moses to the time of his death. Now we shall go back to notice the part that two other heroes played in the wilderness. It was at the time when Moses had led the people from Mount Sinai toward the southern part of Canaan. Locate this journey on the map.

142 (§43A). Notice that we take up the Book of Numbers, which is so called because it tells of the census of the people in the wilderness. Try to imagine the feelings of the people who had come from slavery in Egypt and had reached the borders of the strange new land. They would wish to know what was before them. What plan was to be used to find out?

143 (§43A). The southern part of Canaan was called "the South." Locate it. They were to go through there and then to the higher country where the vineyards were planted on the hills. What seven different things were these men to find out? What were they to bring back with them? What time of the year was it? We can imagine how the settlers in the early history of our country might have sent scouts to go through the Indian lands to find out what they were and what kind of people the Indian tribes were.

144 (§43A). These twelve men went all through the land. What did they get as a sample of the fruit? Why did two men have to carry it? What does this show of the character of the land?

145 (§43B). How long did it take them to find out about the country? What did they do when they came back. What report did they give? The children of Anak were very tall men. It seems that there must have been a tribe of exceedingly big men in Canaan. These frightened the spies.

146 (§43B). There was one of the committee who spoke out a bold word. Who was he and what did he say? But what did the others reply? Notice that at first they said they saw some tall men. Soon they began to think that all the Canaanites were giants. So difficulties grow in our minds when we are cowardly.

147 (§43C). What happened when the people heard the discouraging report? It shows how a few men can discourage a whole army. What rebellion did they plan? Would it have been wise to go back to Egypt?

148 (§43D). Moses and Aaron were very much troubled. But the two heroes out of the twelve spies made a great speech. They were troubled so they tore their clothes. But what did they say about the land? Who did they say would bless the people if they would be faithful and brave? How did the people respond? Think of the two noble men standing against the great crowd.

149 (§43E). The message of the Lord tells of the punishment for the rebellion. What was to happen to all the grown men? What two men were to be an exception? What was to happen to the children? Notice that the punishment is that they shall not go into the land. But they did not want to go. Sometimes the worst punishment is to take a person at his word.

150 (§44A). Now imagine forty years to pass. All the old men are gone. The great leader is gone. Let us see what became of the two brave men. We turn to a new book, the sixth in our Bible, which is called after the name of the hero. Who was chosen to succeed Moses? Was not this an honor and reward? What was to be his duty for the people? What spirit was he to have? What was to be his guide? Who promised to be with him? What did he immediately do as the first act of his leadership?

151 (§44B). The first eleven chapters of this book give the account of Joshua's wars to gain the land for his people. This passage tells how he succeeded. Tell it in your own words.

152 (§44C). The old hero Caleb comes up to get his share of the new land. Tell what he says to Joshua. As he states that it is forty-five years since Moses gave him the promise, there must have been five years spent in conquering the land. It was a long time to wait for his reward, but at last the old man receives it. It is interesting to note that he chooses his own reward. He asks to be given the very highland country that the spies were so much afraid of. He expects the Lord to help him to drive the giants out. One would think that an old man would ask for an easy place. Caleb asks for a hard one. What do you think of Caleb? What kind of a place do you want in the world—an easy place with plenty to get or a hard place with plenty of chance to do good? Think about that question and then answer it to yourself.

WRITTEN REVIEW

This week you will undoubtedly have some difficult lessons assigned in school. It will seem that they are too hard and you will feel inclined to give them up. Do not be afraid of the giants, be like Joshua and Caleb and you can conquer if you are brave enough. Make up your mind to conquer some hard task each day. When you are sure you have really conquered a difficulty think how those heroes must have felt about the giants. Write in your notebook the reason why Caleb and Joshua wanted to do the hard duty.