Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites

Numbers 13:1-33

The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”

When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.  What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.”

At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. 

They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.

Why?

Send some men to explore the land of Canaan to know the land situation before entering it. So as we preach the gospel we need to know the situation of the land and their mind, then we may have a strategy to preach the gospel to them.

The promised land both reported it does flow with milk and honey. But Ten of them report the person there were stronger than we are, all the people we saw there are of great size. They did not rely on the Lord but on their little faith. Except for Calen.

At the key point, the Israelites retreated for their faith loss, even though they have experienced so many miracles on their way here.

How?

Our God is faithful to all his followers, we need faith in our daily life to the Lord. God is my way and my strength.