The verse records the Lord speaking to Moses and directing him to send men to search Canaan, the land He was giving and had promised to Israel. Twelve men, a ruler from each tribe, were sent to search the land for forty days and returned with abundant fruit as evidence of its fertility and goodness, yet most focused on its dangers and spread unbelief while only Caleb and Joshua gave a faithful report and urged the people to go up and possess it in the strength of God. Those who hold the other account teach that the people first proposed sending the men, Moses brought their proposal before the Lord and received permission, God sometimes permitting people to follow their own wishes to teach them that His way is the only safe one. The evil report that followed brought God's judgment that Israel must wander in the wilderness forty years, and when they afterward tried to enter the land the favorable time had passed and their presumptuous advance ended in defeat. This history opening here applies to God's people today as they near the second advent of Christ, warning against the unfaithful spirit of unbelief and discouragement that weakens confidence and hinders God's work, and calling for few like Caleb who will stand firmly for God and the right with spiritual nerve and stamina.
Command to Search Canaan
The Lord spoke to Moses and directed him to send men to search the land of Canaan, the land He was giving and had promised to give to Israel. The command was to explore the promised land and to inspect it and report what was found there. It came while Israel was camped across the Jordan, before their later disobedience and defeat.
In another account of the same sending, the proposal to search the land came first from the people, Moses brought their proposal before the Lord, and received permission to proceed. God sometimes permits people to follow their own wishes in order to teach them that His way is the only safe one. Had they waited for God to direct them forward, they would have witnessed His glory as they did forty years later.
Twelve men were sent, a ruler selected from each tribe for the task. They searched the land for forty days and returned with abundant fruit as evidence of its fertility and goodness. Their report confirmed that the land was rich, fertile, and good.
Though they saw its fertility, most of the spies focused on its dangers and spread unbelief among the people. All except two discouraged the people from believing they could possess it, doubting that Israel could take it because of its strong inhabitants and people, its fortified cities, and the descendants of Anak. Only two, Caleb and Joshua, gave a faithful account of the land's richness and attractiveness. They urged the people to go up and possess it in the strength of God.
Consequences and Present Warning
The evil report that followed this command brought God's judgment that Israel was to wander in the wilderness for forty years. When the people afterward tried to enter the land, the favorable time had passed, their enemies were ready to resist them, and their presumptuous advance ended in defeat. Had they waited for God to direct them forward, they would have witnessed His glory as they did forty years later. The sending of the spies occurred forty years before Israel's later journey near Mount Hor, and the nations of Canaan remembered that visit with foreboding and watched Israel's movements, fearing an invasion.
The history opening here applies to God's people today as they near the second advent of Christ. Ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting, with few receiving God's faithful warnings, and the same scenes of cowardly complaining, drawing back from action when risks must be encountered, and unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel are re-enacted now. God's servants bear the burden of His cause with strict self-denial and suffering privation to help His people, yet are seldom better appreciated now than then, while the Lord long bears with His people, forgiving their wanderings and waiting for room in their hearts while false ideas, jealousy, distrust, darkness and unbelief crowd Him out. Truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded whose hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent, and discouragement threatens God's servants apart from continual evidences of their Master's wisdom and assistance. The call is for few like Caleb who dare come boldly forward and stand firmly for God and the right, for men of spiritual nerve and stamina who will not turn from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated though they become the target for hatred and malicious falsehood, to resist Satan's wakeful, wary working in these last days.
The unfaithful spirit of the spies, marked by unbelief and discouragement, warns against words and actions that weaken confidence and hinder God's work. Joshua's experience as one of the spies, together with his long service under Moses during most of the wilderness wandering, his seeing God's wonderful works through Moses, and his understanding and knowledge of the disposition of the people, qualified and fitted him to become the acknowledged leader of Israel after Moses' death and to lead Israel into the promised land. As a spy he was with one other in giving a faithful account of the land's attractiveness and richness and in encouraging and urging the people to go up and possess it in the strength of God.
The verse records the Lord speaking to Moses and directing him to send men to search Canaan, the land He was giving and had promised to Israel. Twelve men, a ruler from each tribe, were sent to search the land for forty days and returned with abundant fruit as evidence of its fertility and goodness, yet most focused on its dangers and spread unbelief while only Caleb and Joshua gave a faithful report and urged the people to go up and possess it in the strength of God. Those who hold the other account teach that the people first proposed sending the men, Moses brought their proposal before the Lord and received permission, God sometimes permitting people to follow their own wishes to teach them that His way is the only safe one. The evil report that followed brought God's judgment that Israel must wander in the wilderness forty years, and when they afterward tried to enter the land the favorable time had passed and their presumptuous advance ended in defeat. This history opening here applies to God's people today as they near the second advent of Christ, warning against the unfaithful spirit of unbelief and discouragement that weakens confidence and hinders God's work, and calling for few like Caleb who will stand firmly for God and the right with spiritual nerve and stamina.
Command to Search Canaan
The Lord spoke to Moses and directed him to send men to search the land of Canaan, the land He was giving and had promised to give to Israel. The command was to explore the promised land and to inspect it and report what was found there. It came while Israel was camped across the Jordan, before their later disobedience and defeat.
In another account of the same sending, the proposal to search the land came first from the people, Moses brought their proposal before the Lord, and received permission to proceed. God sometimes permits people to follow their own wishes in order to teach them that His way is the only safe one. Had they waited for God to direct them forward, they would have witnessed His glory as they did forty years later.
Twelve men were sent, a ruler selected from each tribe for the task. They searched the land for forty days and returned with abundant fruit as evidence of its fertility and goodness. Their report confirmed that the land was rich, fertile, and good.
Though they saw its fertility, most of the spies focused on its dangers and spread unbelief among the people. All except two discouraged the people from believing they could possess it, doubting that Israel could take it because of its strong inhabitants and people, its fortified cities, and the descendants of Anak. Only two, Caleb and Joshua, gave a faithful account of the land's richness and attractiveness. They urged the people to go up and possess it in the strength of God.
Consequences and Present Warning
The evil report that followed this command brought God's judgment that Israel was to wander in the wilderness for forty years. When the people afterward tried to enter the land, the favorable time had passed, their enemies were ready to resist them, and their presumptuous advance ended in defeat. Had they waited for God to direct them forward, they would have witnessed His glory as they did forty years later. The sending of the spies occurred forty years before Israel's later journey near Mount Hor, and the nations of Canaan remembered that visit with foreboding and watched Israel's movements, fearing an invasion.
The history opening here applies to God's people today as they near the second advent of Christ. Ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting, with few receiving God's faithful warnings, and the same scenes of cowardly complaining, drawing back from action when risks must be encountered, and unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel are re-enacted now. God's servants bear the burden of His cause with strict self-denial and suffering privation to help His people, yet are seldom better appreciated now than then, while the Lord long bears with His people, forgiving their wanderings and waiting for room in their hearts while false ideas, jealousy, distrust, darkness and unbelief crowd Him out. Truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded whose hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent, and discouragement threatens God's servants apart from continual evidences of their Master's wisdom and assistance. The call is for few like Caleb who dare come boldly forward and stand firmly for God and the right, for men of spiritual nerve and stamina who will not turn from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated though they become the target for hatred and malicious falsehood, to resist Satan's wakeful, wary working in these last days.
The unfaithful spirit of the spies, marked by unbelief and discouragement, warns against words and actions that weaken confidence and hinder God's work. Joshua's experience as one of the spies, together with his long service under Moses during most of the wilderness wandering, his seeing God's wonderful works through Moses, and his understanding and knowledge of the disposition of the people, qualified and fitted him to become the acknowledged leader of Israel after Moses' death and to lead Israel into the promised land. As a spy he was with one other in giving a faithful account of the land's attractiveness and richness and in encouraging and urging the people to go up and possess it in the strength of God.