Reflections on Numbers 13

Numbers 13 (Contemporary English Version)

1. The LORD said to Moses,
   
2. "Choose a leader from each tribe and send them into Canaan to explore the land I am giving you."
   
3. So Moses sent twelve tribal leaders from Israel's camp in the Paran Desert
   
4. with orders to explore the land of Canaan. And here are their names: Shammua son of Zaccur from Reuben, Shaphat son of Hori from Simeon, Caleb son of Jephunneh from Judah, Igal son of Joseph from Issachar, Joshua son of Nun from Ephraim, Palti son of Raphu from Benjamin, Gaddiel son of Sodi from Zebulun, Gaddi son of Susi from Manasseh, Ammiel son of Gemalli from Dan, Sethur son of Michael from Asher, Nahbi son of Vophsi from Naphtali, and Geuel son of Machi from Gad.
   
5. (SEE 13:4)
   
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17. Before Moses sent them into Canaan, he said: After you go through the Southern Desert of Canaan, continue north into the hill country
    
18. and find out what those regions are like. Be sure to remember how many people live there, how strong they are,
    
19. and if they live in open towns or walled cities. See if the land is good for growing crops and find out what kinds of trees grow there. It's time for grapes to ripen, so try to bring back some of the fruit that grows there.
    
20. (SEE 13:19)
    
21. The twelve men left to explore Canaan from the Zin Desert in the south all the way to the town of Rehob near Lebo-Hamath in the north.
    
22. As they went through the Southern Desert, they came to the town of Hebron, which was seven years older than the Egyptian town of Zoan. In Hebron, they saw the three Anakim clans of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai.
    
23. When they got to Bunch Valley, they cut off a branch with such a huge bunch of grapes, that it took two men to carry it on a pole. That's why the place was called Bunch Valley. Along with the grapes, they also took back pomegranates and figs.
    
24. (SEE 13:23)
    
25. After exploring the land of Canaan forty days,
    
26. the twelve men returned to Kadesh in the Paran Desert and told Moses, Aaron, and the people what they had seen. They showed them the fruit
    
27. and said: Look at this fruit! The land we explored is rich with milk and honey.
    
28. But the people who live there are strong, and their cities are large and walled. We even saw the three Anakim clans.
    
29. Besides that, the Amalekites live in the Southern Desert, the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites are in the hill country, and the Canaanites live along the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.
    
30. Caleb calmed down the crowd and said, "Let's go and take the land. I know we can do it!"
    
31. But the other men replied, "Those people are much too strong for us."
    
32. Then they started spreading rumors and saying, "We won't be able to grow anything in that soil. And the people are like giants.
    
33. In fact, we saw the Nephilim who are the ancestors of the Anakim. They were so big that we felt as small as grasshoppers."
    
    

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    A little over a year after leaving Egypt, the Israelites arrived at the southern border of Canaan which was to be their land of promise. At this point they were faced with a crisis of faith. Would they believe God or their own assessment? God instructed Moses to send scouts into Canaan to bring back a reconnaissance report of the land. Did He have them do this so they could develop a strategy for entering the land and overtaking it or was it to test their faith?
    
    Twelve men were selected for the reconnaissance mission, one from each tribe, and set out on a 40 day excursion. Their instructions were to "See what the land is like, and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. Is the land they live in good or bad? Are the cities they live in encampments or fortifications? Is the land fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not?" (13:18-20) Again, what was the purpose of this mission? Were they to determine their capability of overtaking the land? If so, what were they to do if they determined they couldn't do it? Was it to determine how to overtake the land? Though this may have been on the minds of the people as a reason for the mission, it was not likely God's reason. He expected them to rely on Him for how they would overtake the land. It seems most likely that God's intent for this mission was a test of faith. The Deuteronomy account of this event (Deut 1:22) attributes the idea for scouting the land to the people themselves. This would mean that God's instructions to Moses to scout out the land came in response to Moses' enquiry on behalf of the people. It would further mean that the idea was inspired by a weak faith and permitted by God to run its inevitable course.
    
    The scouts returned with evidence of a land "flowing with milk and honey." (13:27) But the perspective of the scouts regarding the people they would have to displace did not include God in the equation. "To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them." (13:33) It was as if God had never performed any mighty works on their behalf.
    
    We all face similar issues daily. Will we rely on God to take us through the circumstances of life or will we rely on ourselves?