While they were camped in the Wilderness of Paran, the Lord spoke to Moses with the command to send spies into The Promised Land. Moses was to send a man from each tribe of Israel. It was while he was assigning these men that Moses gave Hoshea the son of Nun, from the tribe of Benjamin, the new name of “Joshua”.(Numbers 13:8)

The spies were to “see what the land was like; whether the people…(were) strong or weak, few or many;….whether the cities (were) like camps or strongholds; whether the land (was) rich or poor; and whether there (were) forests or not.” Numbers 13:17-20

Each time I have read this, I envisioned that the Promised Land was close. But, if you look at a map, it really was quite a distance. They were camping in the Wilderness of Paran, you remember. Actually, it would have been hard to hide a camp as large as the Hebrews had become. So the spies had a long journey, past the Wilderness of Zin,  before they were able to see anything of the land or the people.

The spies returned to the camp after 40 days. But, they came back with reports that exaggerated the power of the cities and the strength and size of the people! It was only Joshua and Caleb, (from the tribe of Issachar), that showed courage and faith in God and encouraged Moses and the people to “go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome!” (Numbers 13:30) But fear caused the other spies to lie about the land!

We know by now that it didn’t take very much to discourage the Israelites and cause them to forget all that God had done and what Moses had also done for them! They were ready to choose a new leader and just give up and go back to Egypt!! In Numbers 14:6-9, Joshua tried to convince the people that ” If the LORD DELIGHTS in us, then He will bring us into the land which flows with milk and honey! Only don’t rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people,—“
But the people’s lack of faith caused them to want to kill Joshua and Caleb!

Again, God has been angered with these people to the point of wanting to destroy them and start all over with a new covenant, with Moses in place of Abraham! (See Exodus 32:11-14 & Numbers 14:11-12) And again, Moses intercedes for the people!

Aren’t we grateful for Jesus, who intercedes for us! For we really aren’t that different from the Israelites! I think it is even more evident now with the Presidential election so close! It really has become a time when people forget they are to be the Bible for unbelievers! We can’t forget that God is still in control! Have mercy on our land, too, LORD!

‘Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord— because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it” Numbers 14:20-24

So the people that left Exodus on this journey to the Promised Land would not even get to cross into it, because they had hardened their hearts, not once or twice; but according to God’s Word: “ten times”!! So we are learning that all the people that were on this journey, an entire generation,  would die in the next 38 years!

Read in Numbers 14:36-38 what happened to the spies and Joshua and Caleb!  Always check for yourself what I write!  And. please let me know when you find an error!!