Numbers 13-14; Psalm 35:1-16

Numbers 13
1-24 - Spies Sent into Canaan

• One from each tribe
• Moses changes the name of Hoshea, son of Nun, to "Joshua"
  
• Instructions - To find out:
  
• what the land is like
• whether the people there are strong or weak
• whether they are few or many
• whether the land is good or bad
• whether the towns are unwalled or fortified
• whether the land is rich or poor
• whether there are trees in it or not
  
• "Be bold."
• Spies find cluster of grapes so large they carry it on a pole between two of them; also get pomegranates and figs

24-33 - The Spies' Report

• Return after 40 days
• Report:
• The land flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit
• The people are strong
• The towns are fortified and very large
• The descendants of Anak live in the Negeb (desert), the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites in the hills, and the Canaanites along the Jordan
• Caleb to Moses: Let us go up at once - we can overcome it
• Other spies: We are not able to go - they are bigger and stronger than we are - we seemed like grasshoppers to ourselves

Numbers 14
1-12 - The People Rebel

• The "whole congregation" complain to Moses and Aaron: "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt!"
• "Let us choose a captain and go back to Egypt."
• Moses and Aaron fall on their faces
• Joshua and Caleb tear their clothes, and plead, "If the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us...Only, do not rebel against the LORD, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than bread for us...." Interesting observation -- pagan people are just food to the people of God.
  
• The congregation threatens to stone them.
• God wants to "strike them with pestilence," disinherit them and make of Moses a greater nation.

13-25 - Moses Intercedes for the People

• Moses to God: If you kill them, the nations around will say you have failed.
• Moses to God: Remember what you said: "The LORD is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love...." See Exodus 34:6-7. Moses remembers the words of God and reminds God of them. Was this a test for God, or for Moses?
  
• God to Moses: I will forgive them, but they will pay the consequences of their rebellion: None except Caleb will possess the land.
• God to Moses: Set out for the wilderness to the Red Sea.
  

26-45 - Promise of Wilderness Wanderings; Failure of Attempted Invasion into Canaan

• God to Moses and Aaron: Tell the congregation that, except for Caleb and Joshua, all of them above the age of 20 will die in the wilderness. He includes Joshua this time, but not Moses...
  
• For 40 years you will know my displeasure as you wander in the wilderness; your children will suffer for your faithlessness
• The 20 faithless spies die of a plague
• The people: Okay, we're sorry. We'll go now.
• Moses: You can't go now -- the LORD will not be with you -- you will fail.
• They go anyway, and are defeated by Amalekites and Canaanites in the hill country. They confuse courage derived from faith in themselves with trust in God's strength.
  

Psalm 35:1-16
10 - "All my bones shall say, 'O LORD, who is like you? You deliver the weak from those too strong for them, the weak and needy from those who despoil them.'"