It is a memorable and very melancholy story which
is related in this and the following chapter, of the turning back
of Israel from the borders of Canaan, when they were just ready to
set foot in it, and the sentencing of them to wander and perish in
the wilderness for their unbelief and murmuring. It is referred to
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. 4 And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. 5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. 6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. 8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun. 9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. 10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. 11 Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. 12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. 13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. 14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. 15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 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.
Here we have, I. Orders given to send spies
to search out the land of Canaan. It is here said, God directed
Moses to send them (
II. The persons nominated that were to be
employed in this service (
III. The instructions given to those spies.
They were sent into the land of Canaan the nearest way, to traverse
the country, and to take account of its present state,
IV. Moses dismisses the spies with this charge, Be of good courage, intimating, not only that they should be themselves encouraged against the difficulties of this expedition, but that they should bring an encouraging account to the people and make the best of every thing. It was not only a great undertaking they were put upon, which required good management and resolution, but it was a great trust that was reposed in them, which required that they should be faithful.
21 So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. 22 And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 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.
We have here a short account of the survey
which the spies made of the promised land. 1. They went quite
through it, from Zin in the south, to Rehob, near Hamath, in the
north,
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 showed 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.
It is a wonder how the people of Israel had patience to stay forty days for the return of their spies, when they were just ready to enter Canaan, under all the assurances of success they could have from the divine power, and a constant series of miracles that had hitherto attended them; but they distrusted God's power and promise, and were willing to be held in suspense by their own counsels, rather than be brought to a certainty by God's covenant. How much do we stand in our own light by our unbelief! Well, at length the messengers return, but they agree not in their report.
I. The major part discourage the people from going forward to Canaan; and justly are the Israelites left to this temptation, for putting so much confidence in the judgment of men, when they had the word of God to trust to. It is a righteous thing with God to give those up to strong delusions who will not receive his truth in the love of it.
1. Observe their report. (1.) They could
not deny but that the land of Canaan was a very fruitful land; the
bunch of grapes they brought with them was an ocular demonstration
of it,
2. Now, even if they had been to judge only
by human probabilities, they could not have been excused from the
imputation of cowardice. Were not the hosts of Israel very
numerous? 600,000 effective men, well marshalled and modelled,
closely embodied, and entirely united in interest and affection,
constituted as formidable an army as perhaps was ever brought into
the field; many a less has done more than perhaps the conquering of
Canaan was, witness Alexander's army. Moses, their
commander-in-chief, was wise and brave; and if the people had put
on resolution, and behaved themselves valiantly, what could have
stood before them? It is true the Canaanites were strong, but they
were dispersed (
3. But, though they deserved to be posted
for cowards, this was not the worst, the scripture brands them for
unbelievers. It was not any human probabilities they were required
to depend upon, but, (1.) They had the manifest and sensible tokens
of God's presence with them, and the engagement of his power for
them. The Canaanites were stronger than Israel; suppose they were,
but were they stronger than the God of Israel? We are not able to
deal with them, but is not God Almighty able? Have we not him in
the midst of us? Does not he go before us? And is any thing too
hard for him? Were we as grasshoppers before the giants, and are
not they less than grasshoppers before God? Their cities are walled
against us, but can they be walled against heaven? Besides this,
(2.) They had had very great experience of the length and strength
of God's arm, lifted up and made bare on their behalf. Were not the
Egyptians as much stronger than they as the Canaanites were? And
yet, without a sword drawn by Israel or a stroke struck, the
chariots and horsemen of Egypt were quite routed and ruined; the
Amalekites took them at great disadvantages, and yet they were
discomfited. Miracles were at this time their daily bread; were
there nothing else, an army so well victualled as theirs was, so
constantly, so plentifully, and all on free cost, would have a
might advantage against any other force. Nay, (3.) They had
particular promises made them of victory and success in their wars
against the Canaanites. God had given Abraham all possible
assurances that he would put his seed into possession of that land,
II. Caleb encouraged them to go forward,
though he was seconded by Joshua only (