Then Moses Sent Them to Spy Out the Land of Canaan: Numbers 13:1-25

Numbers 13:1-25: "1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 'Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.' 3 So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. 4 Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph, that is, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 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. 17 Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, 'Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, 18 and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; 19 whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; 20 whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.' Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. 21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath. 22 And they went up through the South and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. 24 The place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there. 25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days."

Today we have the sending out of the twelve spies into the land of Canaan for forty days, to bring back some fruit from the land, as a testimony to the richness and abundance of Canaan. And also to ascertain what the Canaanites were like, whether they were strong or weak, and few or many. The sending out of the twelves spies was actually occasioned by a consent of the people of Israel to ascertain, by which way they should enter into Canaan. And after Moses laid the request before the Lord, the Lord God, told Moses to send out a representative from each of the tribes of Israel.

We are given their names, but two should stand out to us, and that is, Joshua and Caleb. Tomorrow we will get the account of the report of the spies. And these two men will play an important role. We are also told about Joshua, that Moses changed his name. His name was Hoshea (or Hosea). Hoshea means "help." But now Hoshea, will not be known as Joshua, which means, "savior, or help of the Lord." Joshua in the Greek of the Septuagint is translated as "Jesus," which also means "savior." Our Lord Jesus is our help from the Lord, He is our Saviour.

There is not much more to say about this pericope, since it is more of an introduction to the following verses, which we will get tomorrow. However, one thing that can be pointed out, is the abundance of the fruit that the spies brought back. We are told, they cut down a branch from a grape tree, and that it had to be carried between two of them on a pole. They called this land, the Valley of Eshcol, which means "cluster of grapes." This Valley is still today considers one of the finest places for the abundance and size of its grapes.

The Israelites after spending over a year in the wilderness, one would think, be happy to see the abundance of the land, and want to go and possess it immediately. Especially since this pericope does not come to shortly after the Israelites complaining about not having anything to eat except manna.

But as we will learn, this is not the case.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas