NUMBERS LESSON 17
We will begin this lesson in Numbers 13:1 "And the LORD spake
unto Moses, saying,"
In the last lesson, we ended with the camp moving to the
wilderness of Paran, near the promised land. After they arrived, God
speaks to Moses for the people.
Numbers 13:2 "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."
Moses was to search out the leader of each of the tribes of
Israel. They would represent their family, as they search out the land
of Canaan. Remember, they are near the promised land. They could go in
right now, if they would remain in their faith.
Numbers 13:3 "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."
These men were to go and search out the land. The heads of these
sons of Israel were usually speaking of their princes. Since some of
the princes were elderly, these are, probably, just men of importance
in their tribe who were chosen for this hard job. In Deuteronomy
chapter 1 beginning with the 20th verse, there is another explanation
of searching out the promised land.
Numbers 13:4 "And these [were] their names: of the tribe of
Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur."
We remember, Reuben was the first son of Leah and Jacob. The
names of the leaders from each tribe that were sent are not known
elsewhere, except for Caleb and Joshua. There is no representative of
the tribe of Levi, because they will not receive land.
Numbers 13:5 "Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori."
Simeon was the second son of Jacob and Leah.
Numbers 13:6 "Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh."
The tribe of Judah is the tribe the Lord Jesus will come through.
Caleb was 40 years old, when he was chosen to spy out the promised
land. We will find that Caleb will be one of two who brings back a
good report. In Chronicles, Caleb is spoken of as a Kenezite.
Numbers 13:7 "Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph."
Issachar was the ninth son of Jacob and the fifth of Leah.
Numbers 13:8 "Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun."
The tribe of Ephraim was actually of the tribe of Joseph. Oshea
is the same as Joshua. He was the other of the two who came back with
a good report.
Numbers 13:9 "Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu."
Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob. His mother was Rachel.
His full brother was Joseph.
Numbers 13:10 "Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi."
Zebulun was the tenth son of Jacob and the sixth of Leah.
Numbers 13:11 "Of the tribe of Joseph, [namely], of the tribe of
Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi."
Manasseh was the oldest son of Joseph, but Ephraim got the right
hand blessing. Joseph had two sons, that were part of the twelve
tribes. Ephraim and Manasseh were the two sons.
Numbers 13:12 "Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli."
Dan was the fifth son of Jacob and the first of Bilhah, Rachel's
maid.
Numbers 13:13 "Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael."
Asher was the eighth son of Jacob and the second of Zilpah,
Leah's maid.
Numbers 13:14 "Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of
Vophsi."
Naphtali was the sixth son of Jacob and the second son of Bilhah.
Numbers 13:15 "Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi."
Gad was Jacob's seventh son and the firstborn of Zilpah.
Numbers 13:16 "These [are] the names of the men which Moses sent
to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua."
The main thing in this verse is the change of the name of Oshea
to Jehoshua, or Joshua. The two names we must remember, in the twelve
that were sent to spy, are Caleb and Joshua, who were the only two to
bring back a good report.
Numbers 13:17 "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:"
This closely resembles the account in Deuteronomy, except it was
the peoples request to search out the land. God knew what the land was
already. He wanted His people to have enough faith to take the land.
It seems, Moses sent the spies on pressure from the people to see
whether the land would be easy to take, or not.
Numbers 13:18 "And see the land, what it [is]; and the people
that dwelleth therein, whether they [be] strong or weak, few or many;"
This seems to be questioning God's ability to help them take the
land. These people would be no match for God, even if they were
giants. It would not matter how many they were, or how strong they
were, if God decides to overthrow them.
Numbers 13:19 "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;"
Again, all of this is unnecessary. God chose this land for them.
They should not be questioning God's judgement. We find that Moses
told them to go, and take the land as God had commanded them. It was
the people who wanted to search the land. Deuteronomy 1:20 "And I said
unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the
LORD our God doth give unto us." Deuteronomy 1:21 "Behold, the LORD
thy God hath set the land before thee: go up [and] possess [it], as
the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be
discouraged." Deuteronomy 1:22 "And ye came near unto me every one of
you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us
out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and
into what cities we shall come." It really had been the people
questioning God, not Moses.
Numbers 13:20 "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."
The time was, probably, toward the end of July, because that is
when the grapes were ripe. God had promised them the land was a land
of milk and honey. They should have asked no more.
Numbers 13:21 "So they went up, and searched the land from the
wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath."
The wilderness of Zin was in the extreme southern area. Rehob was
on the road to Hamath, quite a distance from the wilderness of Zin.
Numbers 13:22 "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.)"
These three tribes of Anak were run out of Hebron 50 years later
by Caleb. Hebron was a very old city, known in the time of Abraham. It
is still possible to find Hebron today.
Numbers 13:23 "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."
This is speaking of the valley of Eshcol. There is a brook that
runs through it. It is located between Jerusalem and Hebron. The fruit
in this area grow very large. The cluster of grapes, the spies found
here, was so large it had to be carried upon poles with two men
lifting it. They actually carried a branch with the cluster of
grapes.
Numbers 13:24 "The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of
the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from
thence."
The name Eshcol dates back to the time of Abraham for this
valley, but it took on the new name of Brook Eshcol, because of the
large cluster of grapes.
Numbers 13:25 "And they returned from searching of the land after
forty days."
It is very significant that the time they searched out the land
was for forty days. The number forty means time of testing.
Numbers 13:26 "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."
The Israelites had remained in Kadesh, the forty days the spies
were searching out the land. It seemed, the congregation gathered to
hear the news of their spy journey.
Numbers 13:27 "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."
Just as God had promised, it was a land of milk and honey. Exodus
3:17 "And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of
Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the
Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto
a land flowing with milk and honey."
Numbers 13:28 "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."
We read the same report in the following Scripture. Deuteronomy
1:28 "Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our
heart, saying, The people [is] greater and taller than we; the cities
[are] great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the
sons of the Anakims there." God had not said there would be strong
people in opposition. He had said He would be with them. They soon
forgot that Pharaoh had a mighty army, and God had defeated them. They
are putting their faith in the arm of flesh, rather than in God.
Numbers 13:29 "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."
God was fully aware of all of these people, before He sent His
people there. The Amalekites were descended from Esau. They were wild
people, mighty warriors. The Canaanites were descended from Ham. They
could have even been the Phoenicians {maritime traders}. All of the
people in the land had been given ample time from God to give up their
evil ways and follow God, and they did not. Now, God will take this
land for the people who will follow Him.
Numbers 13:30 "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."
Caleb stopped them from all of this negative talk, and insisted
on going in and taking the land now, as God had told them. Caleb had
faith that with God, he could do all things. He had no fear, only
faith in the Living God.
Numbers 13:31 "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."
Ten of the twelve that went up did not believe Caleb. They were
afraid, because of the size of the enemy. Fear is the opposite of
faith. They had no faith in the ability of God to help them. For that
matter, the Israelites had the largest number of soldiers.
Numbers 13:32 "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."
They saw the men of the land as giants, because they were afraid
to fight. They were looking for all sorts of reasons not to fight and
take the land. The worst part of this, is their lack of faith in God.
Numbers 13:33 "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."
The key to the verse above, is in the statement {and we were in
our own sight}. Goliath was an extremely tall man of 9 feet. This is
very unusual, but is not unheard of. These faithless people thought
all of the enemy to be giants. Even if they were, they would have been
no match for God. Their lack of faith caused them to exaggerate the
facts.
Numbers 17 Questions
1. Where was Paran?
2. Who was to go and search the land?
3. Who were the heads of the sons in this case?
4. Where is there another account of searching out the promised land?
5. Reuben was the first son of _______ and ________.
6. Why is there no representative of Levi sent?
7. How old was Caleb, when he was sent out to spy?
8. What is unusual about Caleb, out of the 12?
9. In Chronicles, Caleb is spoken of as a ______________.
10. What is another name for Oshea?
11. Who was Benjamin's mother?
12. Who were the two sons of Joseph, who each had a tribe?
13. What are the two names we must remember of the twelve, who were
sent to spy?
14. How does Deuteronomy differ from this account?
15. What does verse 18 seem to be questioning?
16. In verse 18, they were spying to find out what?
17. Who really wanted to search the land?
18. Quote Deuteronomy chapter 1 verses 20 through 22.
19. What time of year are the grapes ripe?
20. Where was the wilderness of Zin?
21. Who ran the three tribes of Anak out of Hebron?
22. How big was the cluster of grapes?
23. What was the place called, where they got the cluster of grapes.
24. How long did they search the land?
25. Where were the Israelites, when the spies returned?
26. Who did they report to?
27. What had God said about the land, that they found to be true?
28. What did they see that frightened them?
29. Who were dwelling in the land?
30. Who were the Amalekites descended from?
31. Who tried to quiet the doubt?
32. Who had the largest army?
33. They saw the men of the land as __________.
34. Who was a well known giant from this area.
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