Spies in the Promised Land

Nnumbers 13 and 14

     When Moses and the people of Israel got to the borders of Canaan, God told Moses to pick leaders from each of the the twelve tribes of Israel.

     "Send these men into the land I have promised you to spy out the country," God said.

     Moses picked twelve men. "Go beyond the Negev desert, and see what the land is like," Moses told them. "See how many people live there and how strong they are. Come back and tell us whether there are trees, and bring us some of the fruit."

     The twelve men went to the Negev, and then to Hebron, where Abraham once lived. They found that tribes with many big men had moved into Hebron.

     This was the time when the grapes of this country were just ripe. So they went to a valley and cut a branch with a huge bunch of grapes on it, and two of the men carried it on a pole between them. They also picked figs and pomegranates.

     When the twelve came back from Canaan, they stood in front of everyone in the camp and showed them the fruit of the promised land.

     "We went into Canaan and found that it is full of good milk and honey and plenty of fruit," they said.  "But the land we saw is full of huge men, giants, who made us look and feel as small as grasshoppers."

     The people of Israel shouted and cried all night. They all said, "Oh, if only we had stayed in Egypt! It would have been better to live as slaves than to be killed out here in the desert. We want to go back to Egypt."

     When they heard this, Moses and Aaron fell on the ground and hid their faces. Then Joshua, one of the spies, stood up with Caleb. They were so angry at the people that they tore their clothes and shouted, "The land we saw was good! If the Lord is with us, he will give us the land. Do not rebel against the Lord."

     But the people of Israel would not listen. Suddenly God's shining glory filled the Tabernacle. All the people saw it. God called out and said, "Moses how long will these people insult me? What more do they want, after all the miracles I have done for them?"

     But Moses begged God not to kill the Israelites. "Please, Lord," he said, "forgive them for this, just as you have forgiven them for everything since we left Egypt."

     Then God said, "I will not kill them, because you have asked me, Moses. But listen to this. These people saw my glory, both in Egypt and in the desert, and still they turn against me. Tomorrow you will turn and go into the desert lands near the Red Sea. You will stay in the desert for years, until everyone who is now twenty years old or more is dead, except for Caleb and Joshua. These two wanted to obey me, so they will live to go into Canaan."

     The next day the people were sorry. "We will go into the promised land right now," they said. "We were wrong and disobeyed God, when we said we would not go."

     Moses said, "Are you trying to disobey God again?" God will not protect you now. It is too late."

     Some people did not listen. They went into Canaan, and tribes who lived there chased them out of the land.

     As for the rest of the people of Israel, they lived in the desert for forty more years before they could go into the land God had promised them.