Numbers 13

CHAPTER 13

Exploring Canaan (13:1–25)

1–2 Send some men to explore the land (verse 2). According to Deuteronomy 1:2122, Moses first commanded the Israelites to take possession of the land, but the people had urged him to first send spies. Moses agreed (Deuteronomy 1:23–24); but it was also the Lord’s will to send the spies first (verse 1). One wonders if the Lord “gave in” to the people’s weakness; why should they need to explore the land He already knew all about? They preferred to walk by sight rather than by faith.

3–16 The leaders who were sent out as spies from each tribe were different from the leaders named in Numbers Chapters 1–2; the previously mentioned leaders were doubtless older men, whereas these spies had to be younger and more vigorous because of the difficult task assigned to them.

Notice that Joshua, Moses’ assistant (Numbers 11:28), is singled out in verse 16. Moses changed his name from Hoshea, which means “salvation,” to Joshua, which means “Yahweh saves.” The Greek form of Joshua is Jesus. The change of name signaled that Joshua now had a new relationship with Moses—that of son and successor rather than merely assistant.

17–21 The first part of Canaan the spies entered was the Negev (verse 17), the desert area in the south (Genesis 13:1). The very southernmost part of the Negev was the Desert of Zin (verse 21), which lay just over the border from Kadesh in the Desert of Paran (verses 3,26), where the Israelites were encamped.

The central part of Canaan was called the hill country (verse 17). The spies were to go northward through Canaan as far as Lebo Hamath on its northern border (Numbers 34:8). The journey was about four hundred kilometers one way; the round trip took the spies forty days (verse 25).

22–25 The first city the spies came to was Hebron (verse 22), which was the burial place of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives. But instead of seeing Hebron as a reminder of the great promises God had given their forefathers, the spies instead saw only three great men who lived there, descendants of Anak. These Anakites were noted for their large size; many years later Caleb would finally drive them out of their city (Joshua 15:13–14).

On their way back, the spies gathered some fruit to show the Israelites. The cluster of grapes they picked was so large that two men had to carry it on a pole! (verse 23). The place where they picked it became known as the Valley of Eshcol, which means “cluster.”

Report of the Exploration (13:26–33)

26–29 First, the spies confirmed that Canaan did indeed flow with milk and honey (verse 27), just as God had promised Moses in Exodus 3:8. But even though God had promised them such a spacious and fertile land, all that the spies could think about were the obstacles—the large and intimidating Anakites, and the fortified cities of the other tribes living in the land. It was especially sad that most of the tribes the spies mentioned—the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites and Canaanites—were the same tribes whose land God had promised to give to the Israelites (Genesis 15:18–21; Exodus 3:8).

Had the Israelites so quickly forgotten how the entire Egyptian army had been destroyed without their having struck a blow? (Exodus 14:19–31). Had they forgotten how the Lord had already enabled them to defeat the Amalekites, the southernmost tribe of Canaan? (Exodus 17:8–14). Had God not promised Moses that the Israelites would drive out those very tribes that the spies were so afraid of? (Exodus 33:1–2). How could the power and promises of the Lord have been so quickly forgotten? The answer: unbelief.

30–33 Then Caleb, the spy representing the tribe of Judah (verse 6) and one of Israel’s great heroes of faith, silenced the people (verse 30). Placing total trust in God’s promises, Caleb urged the Israelites to take possession of the land without delay—“for,” he said, “we can certainly do it.” Because of his faith, Caleb would be one of two men in all that generation of Israelites (the other being Joshua) who would be allowed by God to enter the promised land—forty years later.

But the other ten spies who had gone with Caleb and Joshua had not seen Canaan through the eyes of faith.“We can’t attack those people,” they said (verse 31)—in effect calling God a liar, since He had told the Israelites to do that very thing. Then they began to give a bad report—a false report—about this marvelous land that God had promised to give them. They began to exaggerate the difficulties. The Anakites grew into Nephilim (Genesis 6:4), the legendary giants of pre-Flood days; and the Israelites by comparison shrank to the size of grasshoppers (verse 33)—and so did their faith.

The ten spies put the difficulties between themselves and God; Joshua and Caleb put God between themselves and the difficulties. Unbelief sees obstacles; faith sees opportunity. The ten took their eyes off God and saw only difficulties; the two took their eyes off the difficulties and saw only God.

Too many Christians today are like those ten spies. They have heard the promises of the Gospel. They have “spied out” their inheritance in Christ. They have even tasted a few of the “fruits” of Christ’s blessing. Yet because of unbelief they do not enter fully into their inheritance. They do not fully enjoy the promised blessings. Because of unbelief, they are afraid to cast themselves upon Christ and to follow Him without looking back. And they wonder why the Bible seems so dry and Christ’s fellowship so distant!

To speak evil of God’s great gift, as the ten spies did, was to speak evil of God. What began with complaining and grumbling had now ended in falsehood and unbelief. But the worst was yet to come—complete rebellion. That will be the sad story of Numbers Chapter 14.