Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu was the man sent to explore Canaan. Moses sent twelve men, one ruler from each tribe, to search the promised land that God had promised to Israel. After forty days they returned with evidence that the land was fertile and fruitful. Ten of them gave a discouraging report that its strong people and fortified cities made it impossible to possess, with Caleb and Joshua as the exceptions.
Joshua was one of the two who faithfully reported its richness and attractions and urged Israel to enter and possess it in reliance on God's strength. His faithful encouragement to go up in God's strength showed he was well qualified to lead Israel into Canaan after the death of Moses. Their report became the occasion for cowardly rebellion followed by Israel's forty years of wilderness wandering. Afterward Israel made a presumptuous attempt to enter the land when their enemies were ready, and they were defeated. Israel later wrongly blamed God and Moses for the delay, imagining they could have conquered Canaan sooner.
The history to which the verse belongs applies to God's people today, exposing cowardly complaining, drawing back from action when risks must be met, and unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel as in the days of Caleb and Joshua. Servants of God who bear the burden of His cause with self-denial and privation to help His people are no better appreciated now than then. Ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting, with few receiving the faithful warnings God gave them. Darkness and unbelief do not lessen near the time of Christ's second advent; truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, and hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent. Long God has borne with His people, forgiven their wanderings, and waited for room in their hearts, but false ideas, jealousy, and distrust crowd Him out. Few with enlightened minds dare come boldly forward as Caleb did to stand firmly for God and the right, and those God has chosen to conduct His work become targets for hatred and malicious falsehood because they will not turn from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated, while Satan works warily in the last days and calls for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist him.
Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu was the man sent to explore Canaan. Moses sent twelve men, one ruler from each tribe, to search the promised land that God had promised to Israel. After forty days they returned with evidence that the land was fertile and fruitful. Ten of them gave a discouraging report that its strong people and fortified cities made it impossible to possess, with Caleb and Joshua as the exceptions.
Joshua was one of the two who faithfully reported its richness and attractions and urged Israel to enter and possess it in reliance on God's strength. His faithful encouragement to go up in God's strength showed he was well qualified to lead Israel into Canaan after the death of Moses. Their report became the occasion for cowardly rebellion followed by Israel's forty years of wilderness wandering. Afterward Israel made a presumptuous attempt to enter the land when their enemies were ready, and they were defeated. Israel later wrongly blamed God and Moses for the delay, imagining they could have conquered Canaan sooner.
The history to which the verse belongs applies to God's people today, exposing cowardly complaining, drawing back from action when risks must be met, and unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel as in the days of Caleb and Joshua. Servants of God who bear the burden of His cause with self-denial and privation to help His people are no better appreciated now than then. Ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting, with few receiving the faithful warnings God gave them. Darkness and unbelief do not lessen near the time of Christ's second advent; truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, and hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent. Long God has borne with His people, forgiven their wanderings, and waited for room in their hearts, but false ideas, jealousy, and distrust crowd Him out. Few with enlightened minds dare come boldly forward as Caleb did to stand firmly for God and the right, and those God has chosen to conduct His work become targets for hatred and malicious falsehood because they will not turn from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated, while Satan works warily in the last days and calls for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist him.