THE TWELVE SPIES

Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible…. 

THE TWELVE SPIES 

Numbers 13:1-3 ESV

¹ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

² “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.” ³ So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel.

Deuteronomy 1:21-24

²¹ See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’

²² Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’

²³ The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe.

²⁴ And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out.

These twelve men furnish Christians with a great lesson.  This is, “our service for God must be according to the instructions He gives us.” 

The two accounts of Moses sending the spies differ enough that they have given rise to interesting explanations.  Liberal Bible scholars see this as another example of the different authors and traditions that are found in the Pentateuch.  While some conservative teachers emphasize the account in Deuteronomy and claim Moses listened to the people rather than God.  By doing this he made the mistake which results in the “bad report” and God’s judgment which follows. 

It is simpler to see that God uses the influence that Moses recognized as a way of communicating with him.  The sending of the spies was by God’s direction and Moses acted obediently to the instructions he received. 

In Numbers 13:17-20 the twelve men are commissioned.  They have seven specific characteristics of the land and people they are to note and report on to Moses.  They are:

A.  The fertility and production of the land

B.  The number and battle readiness of the people

C.  The kind of cities in which they dwelt and the defenses they would have in battle

 It is worth understanding here that they had no responsibility to determine Israel’s strength relative to that land nor were they to determine whether the inhabitants were militarily strong or weak.  This responsibility lay with Moses. 

In Numbers 13:25-33 the spies make their report.  In Numbers 13:25-29 their report is factual and complete.  They need say no more.  If they would have stopped here we would have heard nothing more about them.  But they do not stop.  They are neither obedient to the commission they received nor are they faithful to God’s presence with them. 

In Numbers 13:31-33 they spread their unbelief, discourage the nation, and provoke God to judgment.  It cannot be overemphasized they knew their responsibility, knew the report they were to give, and yet they gave a majority report - 10 against 2 -  that was wicked in its disobedience and filled with craven fear for which there was no excuse. 

Their experience was no different from Joshua and Caleb.  Yet Joshua and Caleb saw the land as an opportunity.  Their only concern is stated by both, “If the Lord delights in us he will bring us into the land and give it to us.” 

Two men took their instructions seriously.  Ten didn’t.  The loss, judgment of God, and tragedy which followed is a consequence of disobedience and disastrous results. 

How the church of today needs to study and give its attention to what is there.  In I Corinthians 10:5 and Hebrews 3:16-19 this experience of Israel is pointed out for particular consideration. 

God requires honest faithful messengers and obedient devoted hearers.  We can see how necessary Isaiah 8:20 is for every believer.  ^“20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.” 

Application:

A.     The problem is never the giants in the land but having the faith to defeat them.

B.     No matter how bleak the complaints of others maybe there is always a “good report.”