Numbers 13-14 The Spies

The people are nearing the Promised Land. God calls Moses to send out the spies. Those who will go in and bring back a report of what awaits.

Let me say first, that God KNEW the report that would come back. He KNEW this group of people. He KNEW the challenges in the land. He KNEW that Israel couldn’t handle this on their own. But He also KNEW that HE could do for them what He had promised, IF they put their trust in HIM.

I don’t know WHY God even bothers with man! We fall FAR short SO MANY TIMES. Yet He chooses time and Time and TIME again to bring us to the place of promise. And we pull back. “But You don’t understand! It’s TOO hard! I can’t do it!!!” HE ALREADY KNOWS THAT. He is waiting for us to realize that HE can. And for us to partner with Him and watch His hand at work. “Hand over hand” is the ONLY hope for man. Let’s join the congregation and watch as they struggle with this lesson.

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The pillar of cloud has stopped moving forward again. It’s time to make camp. The land the Lord has promised lies over the next rise. The courtyard of the Tabernacle is marked out and the people begin to set up their Tents around it. MANY eyes look in the direction of that last hill and wonder.

“Why did the Lord stop us here? Why didn’t we just go on in?” This is the question on many minds. “I’m glad they can’t see us. Who knows what dangers lie ahead. Will they kill us where we stand?” Races through many minds as well. This is a people in turmoil.

Moses watches as the camp comes to order. He knows how close they are to completing their journey. Something is bothering him too. He wonders how many of the people truly want to be here, and how many feel they were forced into this life. He trusts the Lord’s faithfulness above all else. If only the people would trust Him, and STOP their complaining.

As soon as the Tabernacle is set up and the holy things are back in their places, Moses goes to the Tent. He washes his face, hands and feet at the bronze basin before stepping inside the door. He stands just inside the door, inhaling the aroma of the incense and enjoying the warmth of the Lord’s presence all around him.

Moses kneels before the altar of incense and quiets his mind. “I have missed this time in Your presence Lord as we walked. I know You are ALWAYS with me, but being here before you is… more than words can express.”

God cherishes this intimate time with Moses too. After a few minutes of just being together, the Lord turns to the next step for His people. Looking over what He has for them. He speaks to Moses regarding His plans.

 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” (Numbers 13:2)

Moses starts compiling a list in his head. He and the Lord fine tune that list together. By the time Moses exits the Tent, his list is complete.

Moses steps out of the Tent and calls Aaron to himself. “We need to blow one of the silver trumpets. I must speak to the leaders of the tribes. The Lord has a mission for a select few of them.”

Aaron nods, then quickly retrieves the trumpet and blows on long note on it. Mere moments after Aaron takes the trumpet from his lips, elders begin to arrive from various directions. Moses waits until everyone is assembled before speaking.

“As you are all aware of, we are at the edge of the land promised to us by the Lord. He has instructed me to send spies into the land to bring back a report to the people of what lies ahead for us. There will be one from each tribe. As I call your name, step over beside me.”

The men are all excited and wondering who Moses will choose. They wait quietly for Moses’s call.

After Moses has summoned the men he and the Lord chose, he commissions them in front of their brothers. “You are to go and spy out the WHOLE land and bring us back word. Bring back some of the produce so the people can see what awaits us.”

“When do we leave” asks Igal, from the tribe of Issachar asked.

“You will leave first thing in the morning. I expect it will take a while to complete this. Take as long as you need to do a thorough job.”

The next morning, the 12 men gather together in front of Moses one more time. The people have also come out to see them off. The scouts are ready. Each has a waterskin, bread, and dried meat for their journey. They also have parchment and charcoal for mapping as they go along. Hands are raised in farewell waves as the group looking to Israel’s future walks away.

Those left behind in camp settle into a normal daily routine that includes exercising great patience. Moses has forbidden them from posting a lookout for at least three weeks.

For the spies, the first few days are filled with wonder. The land is bountiful. Fig trees, wild and cultivated grapes, olives, pomegranates, wheat, and barley are in evidence everywhere. And the size of the ripened fruits is amazing! Grapes so plump that you can only hold two or three in your hand at a time. Olives that drip oil with the lightest squeeze. Wheat that is as tall as a man’s head. And streams, rivers, and lakes in every direction.

Then they started spying out the cities. The people were numerous and strong. There were fortified cities and strongholds that made many of their hearts faint. “Maybe we can skip this one” was said several times during their stay in the Promised Land.

They kept pressing on. Ten of the men kept getting more and more discouraged while two built their joy day by day. Their numbers were divided and nothing one group said would move the other. One saw victory, the other defeat.

“It doesn’t have to be that way. The LORD is on OUR side” pleaded Caleb to the ten.

“Sure. But, have you SEEN those guys!? They’re MONSTERS compared to us!”

It was no use. And they had seen all there was to see. It was time to go home. Joshua and Caleb decided to pray all the way home. If the people were anything like the rest of the spies, they were in for a battle.

Joshua reminded the others that Moses had told them to bring home some of the produce. “Why don’t we bring some of the grapes and olives. I’m sure they would be as impressed as we were.”

With that final piece decided, the group headed home. They picked some of the fruit when they got close to home; that way it would still be fresh.

“They’re coming!” was the shout that went up from the lookout. The cry quickly spread through the camp, and by the time the group arrived, everyone was there to welcome them.

“What did you find?” “When can we go?” “How big is it?” All these, and more, were shouted at the group as they made the last few paces into camp. The fact that they were carrying a LARGE clump of grapes got the people’s attention.

“Let them get their breath” Moses commanded.

The shouting stopped quickly and a path opened for the men to approach Moses. Moses watched their faces to gauge their reports. Ten were downtrodden. But two shone with joy. He noticed the grapes and was in awe of them too.

When they finally stood before Moses as a group, he asked for their report. “What has the Lord shown you in the land?”

“We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” (Numbers 13:27-29)

The people all started crying out at once. “We are going to DIE!” “It’s a disaster!” “YOU did this to us Moses!” “WHY did you drag us from Egypt?”

“QUIET Please!” called Caleb. “If you will just listen to me.”

The noise died down but there wasn’t silence. Caleb felt compelled to go on anyway. “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:30b)

The people turned on Caleb with venom. “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” (Numbers 13:31b)

The other spies who had gone with Caleb faced him and Joshua and proclaimed their report in a loud voice for the whole congregation to hear again. “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. ³³ And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” (Numbers 13:32-33)

The people became even angrier. They cried out even louder. They shook their fists at Moses and Aaron before voicing their darkest thoughts. “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:2-4)

Those words felt like a slap in the face; again. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the people. “PLEASE don’t commit this sin! You know the Lord is with us. Do not anger Him.”

Caleb and Joshua tore their robes, mourning the words of the people. Then the two of them called out to the people. “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” (Numbers 14:7-9)

These words didn’t calm the people, but inflamed them even more. They took up stones and were planning to stone the four of them. As their arms drew back, the Lord moved from above the Tent to right in front of it.

The stones dropped from their hands immediately and thunder rumbled. The people were terrified. They knew that the Lord spoke to Moses in the thunder. And they ran to their tents in fear.

After the people had left, the Lord spoke to Moses. “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” (Numbers 14:11-12)

Moses knew God’s anger was great. And he feared for the people. From the place where he knelt, he cried out to the Lord on behalf of the people.

“Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for You brought up this people in Your might from among them, and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For You, O Lord, are seen face to face, and Your cloud stands over them and You go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if You kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard Your fame will say, ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that He swore to give to them that He has killed them in the wilderness.’ And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as You have promised, saying, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Your steadfast love, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” (Numbers 14:13-19)

Moses can hear a change in the Lord’s voice. He has softened, but He hasn’t wiped the slate clean again. With steel in His voice, He pronounced judgment against the people. “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. ³³ And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.” (Numbers 14:27-35)

Moses sat silent at the Lord’s decree. He had no answer to give the Lord. He knew he would not be able to turn the Lord from this course of action. The words “All your number listed in the census will die” and “forty years you will wander” keep reverberating in his mind. “At least they won’t all die at once” reasons Moses.

Moments later, Moses hears screams coming from every direction in the camp. He ran to the closest sound and found one of the spies who had gone into the land. He was on the ground, thrashing about. After a minute, he lay still. Moses knelt down beside him. He witnessed the last breath leave his body. Moses KNEW right away that this was the just punishment of the Lord. The whole nation wouldn’t die at once, but the spies who brought the bad report did.

(to be continued)

The spies were right. The people ON THEIR OWN couldn’t take the land. Caleb and Joshua knew this too. But what they remembered was that they were NOT on their own. Taking the land was not for Israel to do, but God.

There are hundreds of things we cannot do on our own. We HAVE to put our hand in the hand of the One who can do it all. Through HIS strength we can do all things! Alone, we can do nothing. When He leads us to it, He will take us through it.

Father God, I’m SO GLAD I don’t have to do anything alone. You walk with me every step of the way. I don’t even know where I’m going on my own. Thank You for ALL You do for me.