The Twelve Spies
God told Moses to send men to spy out the land of Canaan. He told him to send a man from each tribe. Twelve men were sent. They were to find out about the land and the people in the land. Moses said to find out if the people were strong or weak. Did they live in cities or in camps? He wanted to know what the fruit of the land was like, and if they had forests or not. He asked them to bring back some of the fruit that was ripe.
The men went into the land and found that it really was a good land. The grapes were so big that it took two men to carry a cluster of them on a pole between them. But the people there were very big and tall, and the spies were afraid of them. They were gone for 40 days.
When they returned to their own camp, they showed Moses the good fruit they had found in the land. Ten of the men began to talk about the giants and how fearful they were. They told of large cities with high walls around them. “We cannot go into this land,” they said. “We were just like grasshoppers in our own sight, and also in the sight of the people there.”
Two men; Caleb and Joshua said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are able to overcome it.”
The Israelites didn’t want to go and take Canaan as God had wanted. God punished them by making them wander in the desert for 40 years. They had to wander around one year for every day the spies had been gone.
Of the twelve men, only Joshua and Caleb got to go into Canaan.
First, our actions influence other people. If we have a positive attitude, we are an encouragement to others for good. If we have a negative attitude, we discourage others.
We can learn two lessons from the story of the twelve spies
Secondly, God doesn’t expect us to do everything on our own. Maybe you have started to a new school. Do you lack the courage to make new friends? Do you feel like you are a “grasshopper” in the sight of others? Take courage. God will help you.
“These [are] the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. 17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this [way] southward, and go up into the mountain: 18 And see the land, what it [is]; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they [be] strong or weak, few or many;19 And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; 20 And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes, 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. 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.” Numbers 13:16-20, 23-33
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne. “The Twelve Spies” Becker Bible Studies Library April 2022. https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p =5263. Retrieved [dateMLA].
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne. (2022). “This is a hurting world.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p =5263. Retrieved: [dateAPA].
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne. (2022) “This is a hurting world.” Becker Bible Studies Library (April), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/? =5263 (accessed [dateChi]).
