Aide

Bible School · Old Testament survey · Class 16 of 68

Unbelief at the border: the spies at Kadesh and forty years in the wilderness

Numbers 13–14 · about 25 minutes · Unbelief at the border

By the end of this class you should be able to

Read the passage

13And the LORD said to Moses, 2“Send out for yourself men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each of their fathers’ tribes send one man who is a leader among them.” 3So at the consent of the LORD, Moses sent them out from the Wilderness of Paran. All the men were leaders of the Israelites, 4and these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur; 5from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; 6from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 7from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; 8from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun; 9from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; 10from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; 11from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi; 12from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; 13from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; 14from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; 15and from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi. 16These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua. 17When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev and into the hill country. 18See what the land is like and whether its people are strong or weak, few or many. 19Is the land where they live good or bad? Are the cities where they dwell open camps or fortifications? 20Is the soil fertile or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous, and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.) 21So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath. 22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. 23When they came to the Valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs. 24Because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut there, that place was called the Valley of Eshcol. 25After forty days the men returned from spying out the land, 26and they went back to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for the whole congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27And they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit! 28Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there. 29The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.” 30Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!” 31But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!” 32So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature. 33We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”

Open Numbers 13 in the reader (BSB)

14Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept. 2All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” 5Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel. 6Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7and said to the whole congregation of Israel, “The land we passed through and explored is an exceedingly good land. 8If the LORD delights in us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and He will give it to us. 9Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!” 10But the whole congregation threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting. 11And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them? 12I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.” 13But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them. 14And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have already heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, that You, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, 16‘Because the LORD was unable to bring this people into the land He swore to give them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared: 18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’ 19Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.” 20“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied. 21“Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD, 22not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times— 23not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will see it. 24But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it. 25Now since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.” 26Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 27“How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me. 28So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. 29Your bodies will fall in this wilderness—all who were numbered in the census, everyone twenty years of age or older—because you have grumbled against Me. 30Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it. 32As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. 34In keeping with the forty days you spied out the land, you shall bear your guilt forty years—a year for each day—and you will experience My alienation. 35I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this entire wicked congregation, which has conspired against Me. They will meet their end in the wilderness, and there they will die.” 36So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land— 37those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD. 38Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive. 39And when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly. 40Early the next morning they got up and went up toward the ridge of the hill country. “We have indeed sinned,” they said, “but we will go to the place the LORD has promised.” 41But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed! 42Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you. 43For there the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, He will not be with you.” 44But they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of the LORD moved from the camp. 45Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.

Open Numbers 14 in the reader (BSB)

01Background

Numbers is the fourth book of the Torah. Its Hebrew title is 'In the wilderness', and it tells how Israel left Sinai and then spent forty years before entering the land. Jewish and Christian tradition ascribes it to Moses. Critical scholars see several sources woven together in and point to differences between the accounts, for example that names Caleb alone as spared while and name Caleb and Joshua together, and names Caleb only. Others see these as complementary details. The class takes the chapters as one story.

The events take place in the second year after the exodus, soon after Israel leaves Sinai (). The people are at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran, on the southern edge of Canaan. The date depends on the date of the exodus, debated between an early date near 1446 BC and a late date in the thirteenth century BC. retells the story and says that the people first asked for the spies, and Moses approved. says that the LORD told Moses to send them. The two accounts are usually reconciled by saying the LORD permitted what the people asked.

The first readers were the generation that had been preparing to enter the land, and later Israelites who heard the story in worship. For them, this is the story of how the first generation lost its inheritance, and why their parents' failure is remembered. The Psalms (; ) and the New Testament both recall it as a warning.

02Outline

  1. The LORD commands; twelve leaders are named, with Hoshea renamed Joshua
  2. The spies cross the land for forty days and bring back fruit
  3. Two reports: Caleb's 'we can' and the others' fear
  4. The people's weeping and rebellion; Joshua and Caleb plead
  5. The LORD threatens; Moses intercedes; pardon with a sentence
  6. The forty-year judgment on the unbelieving generation
  7. The presumptuous attack and defeat at Hormah

03How to read it

is narrative and the best way to read it is to follow the speeches. The story depends on contrasting voices. The spies bring back one set of facts but two interpretations. The ten say that the land is rich but the people are too strong to take it. Caleb says that they can. The difference is not in what they saw but in whom they trusted. The LORD later calls this despising him and not believing in him despite all the signs ().

A second feature is the echo of earlier scenes. The people's wish to return to Egypt and their complaints repeat the murmuring of and 16. Moses' intercession quotes the LORD's own words from , which makes it a deliberate return to the covenant renewed after the golden calf. A third is the narrator's contrast between pardon and consequence. The LORD says he has pardoned, and he also says that this generation will die in the wilderness. Both are true. Forgiveness does not remove every result of sin.

The spies' own words need careful reading. Their claim that the land 'devours its inhabitants' and that the descendants of Anak are Nephilim is part of their 'bad report', and the narrator does not endorse it. It is described as an evil report because it contradicts what the LORD had promised. Hebrew narrative often lets characters speak in exaggeration to show their state of mind. Last, the New Testament's use of this story is explicit and controlled by its own context: quotes as the bridge between the wilderness and the church.

04What the text says

. At the LORD's command Moses sends twelve men, one from each tribe and each a leader, from the wilderness of Paran to spy out Canaan, the land the LORD says he is giving. The list names Caleb son of Jephunneh for Judah and Hoshea son of Nun for Ephraim, whom Moses renames Joshua. The name means 'the LORD saves'. The change of name may have been given as a sign of what the LORD would do through him.

. Moses sends them to see what the land is like: whether the people are strong or weak, the land good or bad, the towns camps or fortresses, the soil rich or poor. He tells them to be courageous and bring back some fruit. They cover the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob near Lebo-hamath, pass through Hebron where the descendants of Anak live, and in the valley of Eshcol they cut a single cluster of grapes so large that two men carry it on a pole. After forty days they return.

. At Kadesh they give their report. They say that the land does flow with milk and honey, and they show the fruit. 'Yet' (the word turns the report) the people are strong, the cities fortified and very large, and the descendants of Anak are there. Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites and Canaanites are named. Caleb quiets the people before Moses and says that they should go up at once and take the land, for they can certainly do it. The others answer that they cannot attack, for the people are stronger. They spread a bad report: the land devours its inhabitants, the people are giants, and 'we seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight', and so they seemed to the others.

. The whole community cries aloud and weeps all night. They grumble against Moses and Aaron and say it would have been better to die in Egypt or in the wilderness. They ask why the LORD is bringing them to be killed, and propose to appoint a leader and go back to Egypt. Moses and Aaron fall on their faces. Joshua and Caleb tear their clothes and say that the land is exceedingly good, that if the LORD delights in them he will bring them in, and they urge: do not rebel, and do not fear the people of the land, for their protection has been removed and the LORD is with Israel. The community talks of stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appears at the tent of meeting.

. The LORD asks how long the people will despise him and refuse to believe despite all the signs. He proposes to strike them with disease and make Moses a greater nation. Moses pleads. The Egyptians will hear, and the nations will say that the LORD could not bring them into the land. He asks the LORD to show his power by quoting the words of and asks for pardon, according to the greatness of his steadfast love. The LORD answers that he has pardoned them as Moses asked. But as surely as he lives, none of those who have seen his glory and signs and tested him ten times will see the land. Caleb, who has 'a different spirit' and has followed the LORD fully, will enter.

. The sentence is spelled out: the bodies of those twenty and older who grumbled will fall in the wilderness. Their children, whom they said would become plunder, will enter and enjoy the land. The wandering will last forty years, a year for each of the forty days of the spying. The ten spies who spread the bad report die of a plague.

. When Moses tells the people, they mourn and then rise early and say they will go up to the place the LORD promised. Moses warns that the LORD is not with them and they will fall. They go anyway, though neither Moses nor the ark goes with them. The Amalekites and Canaanites strike them down as far as Hormah. They refused to go when God said go, and they went when God said do not.

05Key terms

spy out tur
To explore or scout. Used in for the mission to scout the land.
bad report dibbah
A slander or evil report. Used in for the ten spies' account, which the narrator treats as false in its conclusion.
grumble lun
To murmur or complain. It describes Israel's repeated reaction to the LORD's leading (, 27, 29).
despise na'ats
To treat with contempt, to spurn. The LORD says in , 23 that Israel despises him by refusing to trust.
pardon salach
To forgive. In the Old Testament this verb has God as its subject, and Moses asks for it in .
a different spirit ruach acheret
An attitude unlike that of the crowd. In 14:24 it names Caleb's trust and obedience.

06In the whole Bible

  • The first doctrine is unbelief as the root of failure. The people do not lack information. They lack trust in the LORD who has already carried them from Egypt. The text calls their refusal rebellion () and contempt ().
  • The second is the justice of God. The LORD does not simply forget the sin. A generation that refused to enter will not enter, and the sentence fits the offense: forty days, forty years.
  • The third is the mercy of God in the same chapter. He pardons, in answer to Moses, and he continues to dwell with the people, to lead them and to provide for them for forty years.
  • The fourth is the role of intercession. Moses appeals to the LORD's reputation among the nations and to his steadfast love, and the LORD says he pardons.
  • The fifth is faithful minority. Joshua and Caleb, against the crowd, trust the LORD. The two will be the only adults of their generation who enter the land (, 38), and Joshua will be the one who leads the people in.

In the whole Bible, is the pattern of a failed entrance. uses it to call each generation to hear the LORD's voice today and not harden its heart. remembers it as despising the pleasant land. takes the pattern further: the land was a picture of a rest, and the failure to enter is a warning that the rest can also be missed. The same pattern stands behind Paul's warning in and Jude 5.

07Where Christ is

Several connections are made in the New Testament. First, the name. Moses renames Hoshea as Joshua, 'the LORD saves' (), the same name that in Greek is Jesus. An angel tells Joseph to name Mary's son Jesus because he will save his people from their sins (). observes that if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. This is a type: Joshua brings Israel into the land, but a greater Joshua brings his people into the rest that the land pictured.

Second, uses the story directly. Those who heard and rebelled were those who came out of Egypt under Moses, and God was angry with those whose bodies fell in the wilderness. They were unable to enter because of unbelief. The writer then urges believers to take care that no one has an unbelieving heart. This is fulfillment in the sense that the New Testament shows the story applying to the new people of God, with Christ as the one to be heard (). Paul does the same in , saying that these things happened as examples for us.

Third, Moses' intercession is a type of Christ the mediator. Moses stands between a guilty people and judgment and pleads God's own character. says Jesus always lives to intercede for those who draw near to God through him. The type shows its limit: Moses can obtain pardon but cannot change the heart of the people, while the New Testament speaks of a new covenant that does.

Two echoes are offered tentatively. The forty days in the land and the forty years in the wilderness are echoed in Jesus' forty days in the wilderness, where he faces testing and trusts God's word, as Israel did not (). And some early Christian readers saw in the cluster of grapes carried on a pole a picture of Christ on the cross. The New Testament does not say so.

08How traditions read it

The warnings in and are read differently in Christian traditions. Reformed readers hold that true believers persevere to the end and that the warnings are a means God uses to keep them, and that those who fall away were never truly his. Wesleyan and Arminian readers take the warnings as addressed to real believers who can fall away through persistent unbelief. Some Baptist and free-grace readers see the loss as one of reward or rest within salvation. Catholic teaching holds that grace can be lost through grave sin and restored, and the Orthodox speak of a continuing struggle in which a person can turn away. All agree that the wilderness generation is a serious example. This class does not decide the question.

09Review questions

  1. What instructions does Moses give the spies in , and what do they bring back?
  2. In what do the ten spies and Caleb differ in their report, given that they saw the same land?
  3. What does Moses appeal to in his intercession in , and what does the LORD grant and not grant?
  4. Why does the presumptuous attack in fail, and how does it differ from the earlier refusal?
  5. How does use the story, and what does say about Joshua?

Prepared with AI assistance. A scholar's review is still to come; if you spot anything to correct, please tell us.

Your notes

Only you can see your notes.

Ask a question about this class

0/600
Places and dictionary for this chapter ▾

Places

CanaanParanNegebLebo-hamathRehobEgyptHebronZoanAmalekGreat SeaJordanWay of the Red Sea
Dashed outline: region boundary as scholars identify it. Locations are best identifications, not certainties.Geocoding: OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) · Map: Natural Earth

Dictionary

Sign in to keep your progress← Previous