(Corrected on March 3. 2016)
After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.” [Numbers 13.25-29]
After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.” [Numbers 13.25-29]
For years I have heard about this bad report the scouts brought back after exploring Canaan, the Promised Land. I have heard sermons and sat in teachings where these guys were made out to be faithless and doubting. Their report about giants and powerful people has been used for decades to reveal the scout's lack of faith.
But only today did I realize that the scouts only reported what Moses sent them to learn! So, was it a 'bad report' or a 'bad mission'? Here are Moses' instructions to the scouts before they left:
Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: “Go north through the Negev into the hill country. See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps? Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see.” (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.) [Numbers 13.17-20]
I just wonder what role Moses had as a leader in setting these guys up for faithless failure by telling them to look for the things that would be detrimental to faith? What difference should it make for the scouts to see if the people were strong or weak or if their towns were walled or unprotected if indeed God had promised the land to them anyway? Moses set the scouts up for doubt! For that matter, what difference did it make whether the land had good or bad fruit if indeed God had already said it was a land flowing with mild and honey (first reference way back in Exodus 3.8)?
Do we ever wonder why Moses sent scouts in the first place? Because God told Moses to send them! Numbers 13.1-2 says; The Lord now said to Moses, 2 “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.” Had God not already promised the land of Canaan to Moses and Israel? Had God not already proven to Moses and Israel that He was with them and that their endeavors were all subject to His supernatural blessing? Had not God already provided the most miraculous military victory on record at the Red Sea? (We have no record that anyone was sent on an exploratory mission into the Red Sea to see if it was wet or not!) But God had his reasons apparently for telling Moses to send the men.
Now, it may or may not be noteworthy that God is only on record of having instructed Moses to send the men to "explore" (NLT) the land. The word "explore" is defined in Strong's Concordance as "a primitive root; to meander (causatively, guide) about, especially for trade or reconnoitring" To Reconnoiter, according to Google is to: "make a military observation of (a region)." So, in a nutshell, God instructed Moses to send the guys to make an economic (trade) and military plan. The mission was not to see IF they could conquer the land, but to plan HOW they would conquer the land!
Perhaps we have lost some actual meaning in Moses' passing on this instruction to the 12 scouts, but Moses is on record of having instructed them to look for details the nature of which bear out the meaning of the word translated "explore" in the original language. In other words. what Moses told them to look for would be the exact information needed to effectively execute a militaristic acquisition of the land!
In conclusion of my correction to this post, I see that Moses did exactly what God told him. In fact, as for years I have been taught, ten of the twelve men let the circumstances they were to use as information for conquest as information that defeated them! Instead of preparing a battle plan, they let the circumstances cause fear.
Now, it may or may not be noteworthy that God is only on record of having instructed Moses to send the men to "explore" (NLT) the land. The word "explore" is defined in Strong's Concordance as "a primitive root; to meander (causatively, guide) about, especially for trade or reconnoitring" To Reconnoiter, according to Google is to: "make a military observation of (a region)." So, in a nutshell, God instructed Moses to send the guys to make an economic (trade) and military plan. The mission was not to see IF they could conquer the land, but to plan HOW they would conquer the land!
Perhaps we have lost some actual meaning in Moses' passing on this instruction to the 12 scouts, but Moses is on record of having instructed them to look for details the nature of which bear out the meaning of the word translated "explore" in the original language. In other words. what Moses told them to look for would be the exact information needed to effectively execute a militaristic acquisition of the land!
In conclusion of my correction to this post, I see that Moses did exactly what God told him. In fact, as for years I have been taught, ten of the twelve men let the circumstances they were to use as information for conquest as information that defeated them! Instead of preparing a battle plan, they let the circumstances cause fear.
Father, help us to see how easily we can instill doubt and unbelief in others. Help us to understand the necessity of living by faith when faced with daunting circumstances in a way that inspires others to do the same.
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