Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Numbers 13:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Send men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel; of every tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a ruler among them.”
The last post ended with the Israelites' journeying from one place to another, naming several various places they had stopped along the way. At this point it appears they are nearing their destination, as the Lord instructed Moses to send men into the land of Canaan to explore the land He was giving to them. The commentaries I study point out that in a future passage when Moses was recounting this time, we discovered that it was really the people themselves who wanted to check out the land before they actually took possession, and the Lord here was giving them permission rather than commanding them to do so. The people did not trust God that it was a good land and that He would put them in possession of it. They wanted to check it out for themselves first, and God allowed it, instructing Moses to send a leader from each tribe.
(3) And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran; all those men heads of the children of Israel.
As commanded by the Lord, Moses sent prominent men from each tribe out from them in the wilderness of Paran. These men were not the princes of each tribe, but appear to have been considered leaders in their tribes.
(4) And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
Here begins a list of the leaders chosen to go search out their new land. First named was Shammua, the son of Zaccur, who was chosen from the tribe of Reuben.
(5) Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.
From the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori, was chosen.
(6) Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. (7) Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. (8) Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.
From the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, was chosen; Igal, the son of Joseph, was chosen from the tribe of Issachar; and from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, who is Joshua, the son of Nun, was chosen. The commentaries I study all point out there is no further significance attributed to most of these chosen leaders; only Caleb and Joshua will be mentioned again. Actually, we have already learned that Joshua was a trusted servant of Moses.
(9) Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. (10) Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. (11) Of the tribe of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
From the tribe of Benjamin was chosen Palti, the son of Raphu; from Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi; and from the tribe of Manasseh, Joseph's son, Gaddi, the son of Susi, was chosen.
(12) Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. (13) Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. (14) Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. (15) Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
From the remaining tribes, Dan, Asher, Naphtali, and Gad, were chosen Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi, and Geuel, respectively.
(16) These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.
In summation, it is stated that the preceding list of twelve men were indeed the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land the Lord was giving the people. It is stated here that Moses called Hoshea, Joshua, which is how we had come to know him even before this time. Hoshea meant "deliverer" or "salvation"; Joshua, or "Yehoshua", meant "Jehovah is salvation" or "Jehovah-saved". Evidently, he had been born Hoshea, but it was Moses who had renamed him Joshua. It could have been partly out of affection for his protege, but it certainly placed honor on him, and would be an encouragement to him in this and all his future services with the assurances of God's presence. It could possibly be seen as prophetic of Joshua's succession to Moses in the government. Joshua is the same original name (Yehoshua) as Jesus, of whom Joshua was symbolic. Joshua was the savior of God's people from the powers of Canaan, as we'll soon see, and Christ is the savior of God's people from the powers of hell.
(17) And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way southward, and go up to the mountains, (18) And see what the land is like, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; (19) And whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are tents or strongholds; (20) And what the land is, whether it be
fat or lean, whether there be wood there, or not. And be of good
courage, and bring of the fruit of the land." Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.
Moses sent the twelve men to spy out the land of Canaan, directing them southward and up into the hill country of southern Canaan. He told them what to look for: what the land was like, rich or poor; whether the people were strong or weak, and whether their numbers were few or many; whether the people dwelt in tents or fortified cities; and whether there was timber for building, fuel, etc. He told the men to be of good courage, and not be afraid as they spied on this unknown land; after all, they had the power and protection of God. Moses also told them to bring back samples of the fruit of the land, for it was the time that the grapes and surely other fruits were ripening. Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, wrote that Moses's send-off, to "be of good courage", was probably not only meant to be an encouragement to them, but was a suggestion that they bring back a good report, with the samples of the fruit of the land, which would bring encouragement and excited anticipation to the people.
(21) So they went up and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, as men come to Hamath.
The spies went up the mountains in the south as directed by Moses. The wilderness of Zin was not the same as the wilderness of Sin from Exodus 16:1. Sin was nearer Egypt; this wilderness of Zin was on the south side of Canaan. From the south they passed through the whole land to the northern parts of it; from what I have read, Rehob was a city in the northwest part, and Hamath, a city in the northeast. The way the verse reads, it seems they went northward to Rehob, and then went eastward along the route that men took to Hamath.
(22) And they ascended by the south, and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
As they went up from the south, they went through Hebron, where the tribes of Anak and his three sons dwelt. A parenthetical note was made that Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. The notation declared the antiquity of Hebron, but also might have been "to humble the pride of the Egyptians, who boasted the highest antiquity, that this note concerning the higher antiquity of Hebron was introduced by Moses" (Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible).
(23) And they came to the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it between two of them on a staff; and they brought some of the pomegranates, and some of the figs.
When they came to the brook of Eschol, they cut down a branch that had just one cluster of grapes, but was so large it had to be carried on a staff between two men. Adam Clarke wrote of the historians who wrote of the extreme size of the grapes in that region--"each grape as large as a plum", "some bunches...weighed above forty-five pounds". Mr. Clarke also wrote, "From the most authentic accounts the Egyptian grape is very small, and this being the only one with which the Israelites were acquainted, the great size of the grapes of Hebron would appear still more extraordinary." The men also brought some samples of the pomegranates and figs.
(24) The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from there.
It appears the name Eschol was given by the Israelites, Eschol meaning "cluster". The brook or valley of Eschol was so named because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut from there.
(25) And they returned from searching the land after forty days.
They took an entire forty days to search out the whole land and then returned.
(26) And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the
congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to
Kadesh; and brought back word to them, and to all the congregation,
and showed them the fruit of the land.
When they came back, they went to Moses and Aaron, and before all the congregation; they brought back word to them, and showed them the fruit of the land they had brought back with them.
(27) And they told him, and said, “We went to the land where you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it."
The men reported to Moses that they had gone where he had sent them, and the land surely flowed with milk and honey, as the Lord had promised them; the fruit they had brought back was evidence of that.
(28) “Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are walled, and very great; and moreover we saw the children of Anak there."
Even though they had seen God's word confirmed that the land flowed with milk and honey, they couldn't accept that He was giving it to them, because of what they had seen in the strong people who dwelt there in fortified cities. Additionally, they had seen the children of Anak there, who must have been a terrifying tribe of which they had heard. Think about that for a moment. We don't hear of them encountering the Anakim before they are mentioned here. Yet the spies seem to believe reports they have heard from men over what their Lord God had told them, that He would give them the land.
(29) "The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south; and the Hittites, and the
Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites
dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan."
Imagine that! The Canaanites dwelt in Canaan! Of course, there were inhabitants in the land. Did they really believe that they were going to march into an uninhabited land flowing with milk and honey just waiting for only them? Their report of each of the tribes and where they dwelt was to demonstrate that they felt there was no place they could safely enter the land. However, God had already told them that He would drive out these tribes from the land He was giving them (Exodus 33:2).
(30) And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it."
Caleb calmed and quieted the people, and said that they should immediately go up and possess the land, stating they were well able to overcome the tribes there; of course, they were, with their Lord leading them, and based on His word that He would drive out those tribes. Matthew Henry pointed out Caleb's confidence and boldness in that he said they should go in immediately and possess the land. He didn't say they should go in and conquer it; that had already been done by their Lord who said He was driving the tribes out and giving them the land; all they needed to do was to go in and take possession.
(31) But the men that went up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”
Ten other men who had gone up with Caleb (we will see that Joshua was not included in this group) disagreed with Caleb and stated they could not go against the people of the land because they were stronger than they were. It's really amazing how weak and cowardly these men were, besides the fact that they did not believe their Lord; were they not 600,000 able men of war? Even of themselves they could have gone in to conquer the land, but the worse part is that they didn't believe their Lord to go in and possess it, as Caleb had said they should do.
(32) And they brought an evil report of the land which they had searched to the children of Israel, saying, “The land through which we have gone to search is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature."
The land they had first reported as one flowing with milk and honey (v. 27) now was said to be a land that devoured its inhabitants, either now insinuating that the land was not fruitful enough for all its inhabitants, or perhaps their meaning was that the different tribes of people in the different corners of the land attacked each other. They reported that all the people they saw were men of great size.
(33) "And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
Here we see what must have been the reputation of the sons of Anak, that they were giants, and the men saw themselves as tiny in comparison, and so must they have seemed to the Anakim.
This promised land, Canaan, was a symbol of the kingdom of God. The wilderness through which the Israelites journeyed was illustrative of the difficulties and trials in this present world. The promise of the kingdom of God is given to us all, if we just believe in the One who makes the way. However, how many, including believers, get discouraged by the dangers they see ahead? May we all go up at once and possess the kingdom of God, as He has promised us, if only we trust His word that He will give us everlasting life if we accept His gift of Christ who covers our sins.
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