Pam Padgett ... teacher
While in the wilderness God instructed Moses to send a man from
each tribe to see Canaaan, the land God had promised to the
children of Israel. A man from each tribe, including Caleb and
Joshua, were sent and found it was a good land ...
Numbers 13:1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Send
thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I
give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their
fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. 3
And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the
wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children
of Israel. ... 23 And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and
cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and
they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the
pomegranates, and of the figs. 24 The place was called the
brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the
children of Israel cut down from thence. 25 And they returned
from searching of the land after forty days. 26 And they went
and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation
of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to
Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the
congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27 And
they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou
sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and
this is the fruit of it.
However, the men other than Caleb and Joshua feared the people of
Canaan. As a result, these men gave an evil report about the
land, spreading fear throughout the people ...
Numbers 13:28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell
in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and
moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites
dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the
Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the
Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. 30
And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go
up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome
it. 31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able
to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32
And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had
searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land,
through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth
up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in
it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants,
the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our
own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
The people had experienced the harshness of the Egyptians, and
had cried out to God to deliver them from Egypt, which HE did.
And God promised to give them the land which had just been
seen ...
Exodus 3:7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the
affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard
their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their
sorrows; 8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand
of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a
good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and
honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and
the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the
Jebusites.
Yet now the children of Israel murmured, saying it would be better to go back to Egypt, and even spoke of setting a captain over them to lead them back ...
Numbers 14:1 And all the congregation lifted up their
voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2 And all
the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against
Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God
that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had
died in this wilderness! 3 And wherefore hath the Lord brought
us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and
our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to
return into Egypt? 4 And they said one to another, Let us make
a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
Caleb and Joshua spoke the truth about the land of Canaan ...
that it is a good land ... as well as truth about God ... that HE
was able to deliver the land into their hands. And they told the people not to rebel against God nor to fear the inhabitants of the land ...
Numbers 14:6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and
Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched
the land, rent their clothes: 7 And they spake unto all the
company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we
passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 8 If
the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land,
and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9
Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people
of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is
departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.
But the people wanted to
stone Caleb and Joshua ...
Numbers 14:10 But all the congregation bade stone them with
stones. ....
The people provoked God, not believing that HE would deliver the
land of Canaan into their hands though they had seen His wonders in the past ...
Numbers 14:10 ... And the glory of the Lord appeared in the
tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of
Israel. 11 And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this
people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe
me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
God did many signs and wonders among the Egyptians before
bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. Many of these
wonders afflicted the Egyptians while not touching the children of
Israel. After coming out of Egypt and while the Egyptians pursued
them, God parted the sea and allowed the children of Israel to
pass over on dry land. Yet when the Egyptians tried to cross the
sea, they were drowned. And while in the wilderness, God provided
food for the 600,000 men (plus women and children), manna from
heaven. These are just some of the signs God had showed to the
children of Israel.
Now, rather than believing that God would bring them into the
land as HE had said and trusting in the care God had shown for
them and HIS power which they had already seen, they feared the
inhabitants of Canaan and murmured against God. As a result, those 20 years old and older would not be allowed to enter the land. And God
answered the fear of the people that their children would be
destroyed by the inhabitants of the land ... promising to bring their children
into the land to inhabit it.
Numbers 14:26 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,
saying, 27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation,
which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the
children of Israel, which they murmur against me. 28 Say unto
them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in
mine ears, so will I do to you: 29 Your carcases shall fall in
this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according
to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which
have murmured against me, 30 Doubtless ye shall not come into
the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein,
save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 31
But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them
will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have
despised. 32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in
this wilderness.