Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori was the ruler chosen to represent his tribe among the twelve men sent to search Canaan, the land promised to Israel. Beyond his name and tribal identity no further detail is given about Shaphat individually, and he is grouped with the ten spies later identified as unfaithful. The chosen men searched the land for forty days and returned with abundant fruit showing its fertility.
All of the spies except Caleb and Joshua then discouraged Israel from trying to possess the land, reporting that its strong inhabitants and fortified cities made it impossible to take. Joshua, himself one of the twelve spies, joined Caleb in giving a faithful report of the land's richness and urging Israel to enter and take possession in God's strength.
The evil report led to rebellion, so Israel was sentenced to wander in the wilderness for forty years, causing a long delay in entering the promised land. When the people afterward tried to enter on their own, the favorable time had passed, their enemies were prepared, and they were defeated.
This history of the twelve spies' report applies to God's people today, as the same cowardly complaining, drawing back when risks must be met, and unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel seen in the days of Caleb and Joshua are re-enacted now. Like ancient Israel, which was repeatedly tested and found wanting with few receiving God's faithful warnings, His servants today who bear the burden of His cause with strict self-denial and privation to help His people are seldom better appreciated; though He has long borne with His people, forgiven their wanderings, and waited for room in their hearts, false ideas, jealousy, and distrust have crowded Him out. As the time of Christ's second advent nears, darkness and unbelief do not decrease and truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, whose hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent; few with enlightened minds dare come boldly forward as Caleb did to stand firmly for God and the right, and those leading His work who will not turn from integrity to gratify selfishness become targets of hatred and malicious falsehood, because Satan is awake and working warily in these last days that call for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist him.
Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori was the ruler chosen to represent his tribe among the twelve men sent to search Canaan, the land promised to Israel. Beyond his name and tribal identity no further detail is given about Shaphat individually, and he is grouped with the ten spies later identified as unfaithful. The chosen men searched the land for forty days and returned with abundant fruit showing its fertility.
All of the spies except Caleb and Joshua then discouraged Israel from trying to possess the land, reporting that its strong inhabitants and fortified cities made it impossible to take. Joshua, himself one of the twelve spies, joined Caleb in giving a faithful report of the land's richness and urging Israel to enter and take possession in God's strength.
The evil report led to rebellion, so Israel was sentenced to wander in the wilderness for forty years, causing a long delay in entering the promised land. When the people afterward tried to enter on their own, the favorable time had passed, their enemies were prepared, and they were defeated.
This history of the twelve spies' report applies to God's people today, as the same cowardly complaining, drawing back when risks must be met, and unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel seen in the days of Caleb and Joshua are re-enacted now. Like ancient Israel, which was repeatedly tested and found wanting with few receiving God's faithful warnings, His servants today who bear the burden of His cause with strict self-denial and privation to help His people are seldom better appreciated; though He has long borne with His people, forgiven their wanderings, and waited for room in their hearts, false ideas, jealousy, and distrust have crowded Him out. As the time of Christ's second advent nears, darkness and unbelief do not decrease and truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, whose hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent; few with enlightened minds dare come boldly forward as Caleb did to stand firmly for God and the right, and those leading His work who will not turn from integrity to gratify selfishness become targets of hatred and malicious falsehood, because Satan is awake and working warily in these last days that call for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist him.