These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.
Moses sent men to search Canaan, the land God had promised Israel, sending a ruler from each tribe. In that sending Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua, later called Joshua, making him one of the twelve men sent to spy out and search the promised land. The men returned after forty days with fruit from the land, and all agreed that the land was good.
All except Caleb and Joshua discouraged Israel from trying to possess the land, while Caleb and Joshua gave faithful reports of its attractiveness and richness with true counsel, urging Israel to trust God and go up to possess it in God's strength. The others answered with cowardly complaining and drawing back from action when risks were to be encountered. Joshua together with Caleb stood faithful when the other spies brought rebellion on their return, and their influence was to reprove evil and turn the whole current of wrong.
The spies' evil report became the occasion for Israel's rebellion and was followed by God's decree that the people wander in the wilderness for forty years, delaying their entrance into the land. When the people later decided to enter the land, the favorable time had passed, their enemies were prepared, Moses warned that the Lord was not with them, and their presumptuous attempt ended in defeat.
Joshua's long service as Moses' prime minister through most of the wilderness wandering, seeing God's wonderful works wrought through Moses and understanding the disposition of the people, qualified him to be appointed leader of Israel after Moses' death to conduct them into the promised land. With that appointment came the promise that God would be with Joshua as He had been with Moses and would make Canaan an easy conquest if he faithfully observed all God's commandments, which removed his anxiety about how to execute his commission in leading the people.
That history of the twelve spies has an application to God's people today and is re-enacted among them now with the same unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel. It is repeated in modern Israel when the loud, boisterous voice of rebellion and human prejudice is heard in council meetings and board meetings and in settling accounts with ministers. The servants of God who bear the burden of His cause with strict self-denial and privation to help His people are seldom better appreciated now than then, for ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting and few received the faithful warnings given them of God. Few professedly of Israel whose minds have been enlightened by divine wisdom dare to come boldly forward as Caleb did and stand firmly for God and the right, and because those chosen to conduct His work will not be turned from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated they become the target for hatred and malicious falsehood.
Darkness and unbelief do not decrease as the time of the second advent of Christ nears, truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, and their hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent. Though long the Lord has borne with His people, forgiven their wanderings, and waited for them to give Him room in their hearts, false ideas, jealousy, and distrust have crowded Him out. Satan is wide awake and working warily in these last days and God calls for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist his artifices. Those in responsible positions must exert the influence of Caleb and Joshua, speaking to reprove unjust, unprincipled actions instead of by silence suffering evil to swell to immense proportions.
Moses sent men to search Canaan, the land God had promised Israel, sending a ruler from each tribe. In that sending Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua, later called Joshua, making him one of the twelve men sent to spy out and search the promised land. The men returned after forty days with fruit from the land, and all agreed that the land was good.
All except Caleb and Joshua discouraged Israel from trying to possess the land, while Caleb and Joshua gave faithful reports of its attractiveness and richness with true counsel, urging Israel to trust God and go up to possess it in God's strength. The others answered with cowardly complaining and drawing back from action when risks were to be encountered. Joshua together with Caleb stood faithful when the other spies brought rebellion on their return, and their influence was to reprove evil and turn the whole current of wrong.
The spies' evil report became the occasion for Israel's rebellion and was followed by God's decree that the people wander in the wilderness for forty years, delaying their entrance into the land. When the people later decided to enter the land, the favorable time had passed, their enemies were prepared, Moses warned that the Lord was not with them, and their presumptuous attempt ended in defeat.
Joshua's long service as Moses' prime minister through most of the wilderness wandering, seeing God's wonderful works wrought through Moses and understanding the disposition of the people, qualified him to be appointed leader of Israel after Moses' death to conduct them into the promised land. With that appointment came the promise that God would be with Joshua as He had been with Moses and would make Canaan an easy conquest if he faithfully observed all God's commandments, which removed his anxiety about how to execute his commission in leading the people.
That history of the twelve spies has an application to God's people today and is re-enacted among them now with the same unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel. It is repeated in modern Israel when the loud, boisterous voice of rebellion and human prejudice is heard in council meetings and board meetings and in settling accounts with ministers. The servants of God who bear the burden of His cause with strict self-denial and privation to help His people are seldom better appreciated now than then, for ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting and few received the faithful warnings given them of God. Few professedly of Israel whose minds have been enlightened by divine wisdom dare to come boldly forward as Caleb did and stand firmly for God and the right, and because those chosen to conduct His work will not be turned from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated they become the target for hatred and malicious falsehood.
Darkness and unbelief do not decrease as the time of the second advent of Christ nears, truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, and their hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent. Though long the Lord has borne with His people, forgiven their wanderings, and waited for them to give Him room in their hearts, false ideas, jealousy, and distrust have crowded Him out. Satan is wide awake and working warily in these last days and God calls for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist his artifices. Those in responsible positions must exert the influence of Caleb and Joshua, speaking to reprove unjust, unprincipled actions instead of by silence suffering evil to swell to immense proportions.