Twelve Spies Survey Canaan

This chapter is based on Numbers 13 and 14. 

The Israelites camped at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Paran, which was not far from the borders of the Promised Land. It was here at Kadesh that the people suggested that spies be sent out to look over the country. Moses presented the matter to the Lord, and permission was granted. The men were chosen and Moses told them to go and see the country and the people—whether they were strong or weak, few or many, and to also evaluate the soil and its fruitfulness and to bring some of the fruit of the land. 1TC 255.2

They went and surveyed the whole land, returning after forty days. The news of the spies’ return was met with rejoicing. The peo ple rushed out to greet the messengers who had safely escaped the dangers of their risky undertaking. The spies brought samples of the fruit, showing the richness of the soil. They brought a cluster of grapes so large that it was carried between two men. They also brought figs and pomegranates which grew there abundantly. 1TC 255.3

The people listened intently as the report was brought to Moses. “We went to the land where you sent us,” the spies began, “It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” The people were enthusiastic—they would eagerly obey the voice of the Lord and go up at once to possess the land. 1TC 256.1

But then all but two of the spies started focusing on the dangers and voiced the feelings of their unbelieving hearts, which were filled with discouragement prompted by Satan. Their unbelief threw a gloomy shadow over the congregation. The mighty power of God, so often shown in behalf of the chosen nation, was forgotten. The people did not remember how wonderfully God had delivered them from their slave masters, cutting a path through the sea and destroying the pursuing armies of Pharaoh. They left God out of the question, as though they must depend only on human power. 1TC 256.2

In their unbelief they repeated their earlier mistake of complaining against Moses and Aaron. “This, then, is the end of all our high hopes,” they said. They accused their leaders of deceiving the people and bringing trouble on Israel. 1TC 256.3

A wail of agony arose, mingled with the confused murmur of voices. One of the spies, Caleb, was brave enough to defend the word of God, and he did all in his power to counteract the evil influence of the unfaithful spies. He did not contradict what the others had said—the walls were high and the Canaanites strong. But God had promised the land to Israel. “Let us go up at once and take possession,” urged Caleb, “for we are well able to overcome it.” 1TC 256.4

But the ten, interrupting him, listed the obstacles. “We are not able to go up against the people,” they declared, “for they are stronger then we. ... All the people whom we saw in it are men of a great stature ... and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” 1TC 256.5

Revolt and Open Mutiny

These men, having started on the wrong way, stubbornly set themselves against Caleb and Joshua, against Moses, and against God. They twisted the truth in order to keep their evil influence. It is a land that “devours its inhabitants,” they said. This was not only a bad report, it was a lying one. The spies had declared the country to be fruitful and the people of giant stature, which would be impossible if the climate were so unhealthful that the land could be said to “devour its inhabitants.” 1TC 257.1

Revolt and open mutiny quickly followed. The people seemed to lack all reason. They cursed Moses and Aaron, forgetting that the Angel of God’s presence, surrounded in the cloudy pillar, was witnessing their terrible outburst of anger. Then their feelings rose against God: “‘Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims?’ So they said to one another, ‘Let us select a leader, and return to Egypt.’” So they not only accused Moses but God Himself of deceiving them in promising a land they were not able to have. 1TC 257.2

Caleb and Joshua tried to quiet the loud uproar. They rushed in among the people, and their ringing voices sounded above the tempest of rebellious grief: “If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” 1TC 257.3

By the promise of God, the land was guaranteed to Israel, but the false report of the unfaithful spies was accepted. The whole congregation was deceived. The traitors had done their work. If just the two men had brought the evil report and the ten had encouraged them to take the land in the name of the Lord, they still would have taken the advice of the two over that of the ten, because of their wicked unbelief. 1TC 257.4

The cry went up to stone Caleb and Joshua. The insane mob rushed forward with yells of madness, when suddenly the stones dropped from their hands, and they shook with fear. God stepped in. The glory of His presence, like a flaming light, lit up the taber nacle. None dared to continue their resistance. The spies who brought the evil report were terror-stricken, and crouching, they hurried to their tents. 1TC 257.5

Moses now rose and entered the tabernacle. The Lord declared to him, “I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” But again Moses pleaded for his people. “I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy.’ ... Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” 1TC 258.1

The Lord promised to spare Israel from immediate destruction, but because of their unbelief and lack of bravery He could not use His power to subdue their enemies, so in His mercy He had them turn back toward the Red Sea. 1TC 258.2

In their rebellion the people had exclaimed, “If only we had died in this wilderness!” Now this prayer would be granted: “Just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. ... But your little ones, who you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.” And of Caleb He said, “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.” As the spies had spent forty days in their journey, so the people of Israel were to be wanderers in the wilderness for forty years. 1TC 258.3

An Example of False Repentance

When Moses told the people God’s decision, they knew that their punishment was fair. The ten unfaithful spies, struck by God with the plague, died in the sight of all Israel, and in their death the people could see their own doom. 1TC 258.4

Now they seemed to repent sincerely, but they were sorry for the result of their evil course rather than from a sense of their unthank fulness and disobedience. When they found that the Lord did not change His decision, their self-will came back and they declared that they would not return into the wilderness. In telling them to go back, God tested their outward submission and proved it was not real. Their hearts were unchanged, and they only needed an excuse to start a similar outbreak. If they had been sorry for their sin when it was faithfully pointed out to them, this sentence would not have been pronounced; but they were only sorry about the judgment. Their sorrow was not repentance and could not give them a change of their sentence. 1TC 258.5

The people spent that night sorrowing, but in the morning they decided to redeem their lack of bravery. When God had told them to go up and take the land, they had refused; and now when He directed them to retreat, they were equally rebellious. 1TC 259.1

God had made it their privilege and duty to enter the land at the time He had appointed, but through their willful refusal that permission had been withdrawn. Now, in the face of God’s forbidding, Satan urged them on to do the very thing that they had refused to do when God required it, leading them to rebel the second time. “We have sinned against the Lord,” they cried. “We will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us” (Deuteronomy 1:41). They had become so terribly blinded! The Lord had never commanded them to “go up and fight.” He did not intend them to gain the land by warfare, but by strict obedience to His commands. 1TC 259.2

“We have sinned,” they confessed, acknowledging that the fault was in themselves, not in God, whom they had wickedly charged with failing to fulfill His promises. Though their confession did not come from true repentance, it served to confirm the fairness of God. 1TC 259.3

The Lord still works in a similar way to glorify His name by bringing people to acknowledge His fairness. God uses opposition and setbacks to reveal the works of darkness. Although the spirit that prompted the person to do evil is not radically changed, confessions are made that establish the honor of God and justify His faithful people who have reproved sin and have been opposed and misrepresented. This is how it will be when the wrath of God will be poured out at the end. Every sinner will be brought to see and acknowledge the justice of being condemned. 1TC 259.4

How Rebellion Made Their Situation Worse

Regardless of the divine sentence, the Israelites prepared to set out to conquer Canaan. In their own estimation, they were fully prepared for conflict. Against the command of God and the solemn warning of their leaders, they went out to meet the armies of the enemy. 1TC 260.1

Moses hurried after them with the warning, “Now why do you transgress the command of the Lord? For this will not succeed. Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you.” 1TC 260.2

The Canaanites had heard of the mysterious power that seemed to be guarding this people, and they now gathered a strong force to repel the invaders. The attacking army had no leader. No prayer was offered that God would give them the victory. Though untrained in war, they hoped by a fierce assault to crush all opposition. Boldly they challenged the enemy that had not dared to attack them. 1TC 260.3

The Canaanites had stationed themselves on a rocky plateau reached only by a steep and dangerous climb. The immense numbers of the Hebrews could only make their defeat more terrible. Massive rocks came thundering down, marking their path with the blood of the slain. Those who reached the summit, exhausted with their climb, were fiercely rebuffed and driven back with great loss. The army of Israel was utterly defeated. 1TC 260.4

The enemies of Israel, who had awaited with trembling the approach of that mighty host, were inspired with confidence to resist them. All the reports they had heard concerning the marvelous things that God had done for His people, they now considered to be false; there was no cause for fear. By inspiring the Canaanites with courage and resolve, that first defeat of Israel had made the conquest much more difficult. 1TC 260.5

Israel had not choice but to fall back from the face of their victorious foes, into the wilderness, knowing that there a whole generation must die. 1TC 260.6