And They Gave the Children of Israel a Bad Report of the Land Which They Had Spied Out: Numbers 13:26-33

Numbers 13:26-33: "26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said: 'We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.' 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, 'Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.' 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.' 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, 'The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.'"

The report of the spies, when they returned to the camp of the Israelites, we are told, is a "bad report." In the reading we are told of only one who contradicted the others, and that is Caleb. Caleb was a descendant of Judah, the son of Jacob. Caleb would also become the ancestor of David, and the whole line of kings. Which means this man Caleb is the ancestor of our Lord Jesus. Even though we are told here that only Caleb (whose name means "dog") stood against the other spies, we know from the next chapter (Num. 14:6) that Joshua, too, stood with Caleb. The reason Joshua's name is left out is probably due to the fact that Caleb was the one who calmed the crowd after the other ten spies drew them into a frenzy on account of their bad report, and because he is the one here speaking to the crowd.

This pericope, exemplifies the unbelief of the Israelites. This is compounded by the exaggeration of the spies who were afraid to into the land and take it. What is most shocking is that they have spent all this time in the wilderness, and they are shown how abundant the fruits of the land are in the land that is promised to them by the Lord God, yet, they would prefer to stay in the wilderness, and eat nothing but manna.

Furthermore, they had witnessed the great deeds of the Lord God over the Egyptians through the ten plagues. They had seen the Lord God destroy the Egyptian army, without them having to lift up an arm unto battle. They had seen how the Lord provided for them, with food and drink everyday. They had seen how He had dwelt among them in the Tabernacle of Meeting, and that He had gone before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. In short, they had seen what the Lord God was capable of, and that He desired greatly for them to be His chosen people. But none of this mattered to them.

This is one more example of the Israelites breaking the first commandment. For they did not fear, love and trust in God above all things. But instead they trusted in themselves, and in examining themselves, they fell short of the requirements that they perceived they had. If they had but placed their trust in the Lord God, as Caleb did, they would have had no fear of the Canaanites, and the spies would have gladly followed the Lord God into the promised land of Canaan. However, we know from history that that did not happen.

But in this Law heavy text. We do have some Gospel, and that is given to us by Caleb. He shows us what true faith is, and what trust in the Lord God really means, for he had also seen the stature of the people of Canaan, and that the descendants of Anak, the race of giants or nephilim, lived there. But what is his advice? To go immediately and take possession of it. What faith! To believe in the Lord God and His deliverance and salvation, even when one's eyes tell a different story. That, of course, is what faith is, to believe something to be true, even when one cannot see it to be true with one's own eyes.

We too have a Promised Land promised to us. It is the Promised Land of Heaven, however, we have not seen it with our eyes, although we have been told about and have heard about it with our ears. But we know that it exists, and that our Lord has already battled and conquered that enemy, the devil. And He has opened up the gates of our Promised Land, so that we might enter in. And even though we have not seen it, we know it to be real, for we see with the eyes of faith. And our eyes tell us that we will enter into the Promised Land of Heaven, and live with our Lord God forever and ever.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

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

So They Started Out For the First Time According to the Command of the LORD By the Hand of Moses: Numbers 10:11-36

Numbers 10:11-36: "11 Now it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. 12 And the children of Israel set out from the Wilderness of Sinai on their journeys; then the cloud settled down in the Wilderness of Paran. 13 So they started out for the first time according to the command of the LORD by the hand of Moses. 14 The standard of the camp of the children of Judah set out first according to their armies; over their army was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 15 Over the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. 16 And over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. 17 Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set out, carrying the tabernacle. 18 And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out according to their armies; over their army was Elizur the son of Shedeur. 19 Over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 20 And over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 21 Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things. (The tabernacle would be prepared for their arrival.) 22 And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set out according to their armies; over their army was Elishama the son of Ammihud. 23 Over the army of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 24 And over the army of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni. 25 Then the standard of the camp of the children of Dan (the rear guard of all the camps) set out according to their armies; over their army was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 Over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. 27 And over the army of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. 28 Thus was the order of march of the children of Israel, according to their armies, when they began their journey. 29 Now Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, 'We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, "I will give it to you." Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.' 30 And he said to him, 'I will not go, but I will depart to my own land and to my relatives.' 31 So Moses said, 'Please do not leave, inasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes. 32 And it shall be, if you go with us--indeed it shall be--that whatever good the LORD will do to us, the same we will do to you.' 33 So they departed from the mountain of the LORD on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them for the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them. 34 And the cloud of the LORD was above them by day when they went out from the camp. 35 So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said: 'Rise up, O LORD! Let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.' 36 And when it rested, he said: 'Return, O LORD, to the many thousands of Israel.'"

In today's reading from the Old Testament we see the order and structure with which the Lord has arranged the marching of the tribes of Israel. Notice the time that they have sojourned in the wilderness so far, after leaving Egypt. A year, two months, and twenty days have passed since they left Egypt. It has taken them this long to make all the preparations necessary that our Lord God wanted accomplished in order for Him to be their God, and lead them into the promised land of Canaan. This lectionary doesn't go into all minutia of the Law, and all the details that were required by our Lord God in the building and preparation of the Tabernacle, and other holy things. But from the time line we can see that it took some time for these things to be ordered and completed. And now that all those preparations have been completed, the Israelites begin their march toward Canaan.

We are told that the Israelites left the Wilderness of Sinai and went to the Wilderness of Paran. This is just a summary of the entire journey, for we learn in a later chapter that they stopped at one other place along the way, i.e., Hazeroth. But the entire journey is summed up by Moses, because the Wilderness of Paran is where the twelve spies were sent out into the land of Canaan. So that where they made preparations, and the land where they were told that they would spend the remainder of forty years wandering in the wilderness because of their unbelief are mentioned by Moses.

Another interesting thing about this pericope is the order of the march of the Israelites. The sons of Judah, being the rightful heir, lead the procession. Being flanked by Zebulun and Issachar's children on the left and the right. Then the Gershonites and Merarites of the tribe of the Levites, charged with the task of carrying the Tabernacle of Meeting. These would go before the Israelites to find a suitable place to camp, and would be able to set up the Tabernacle of Meeting, before the Holy Things arrived.

Next came the tribe of Reuben, flanked by Gad and Simeon. Following them, would come the Kohathites of the tribe of Levi, who had been charged with the task of carrying the Holy Things, the instruments for use in the Tabernacle of Meeting. When they arrived at the camp, the Gershonites and Merarities having already set up the Tabernacle, the Kohathites could place these sacred items directly into the Tent of Meeting.

The next group was the tribe of Ephraim, flanked by Manasseh and Benjamin. All these were the sons born to Rachel. Ephraim and Manasseh being sons of Joseph. Finally, in the rear, was Dan, flanked by Asher and Naphtali. The tribe of Dan was in charge of keeping the entire host of Israel together. That is, so that none got left behind.

Therefore, twelve tribes marched in four groups of three, with the Levites, carrying the Tabernacle of Meeting, and the Sacred Things for the Tabernacle between Judah and Reuben, respectively.

In front of them all, was the Ark of the Covenant. And above the Ark was the pillar of cloud that first led them out of Egypt. When the Israelites had left Egypt, they were led by a pillar of cloud by day and by a pillar of fire at night. These pillars were the embodiment of our Lord God, now, He would lead them by the carrying of His throne, the Ark of the Covenant. And the pillar of cloud, being above the Ark, would lead and direct the Ark-bearers where to go. He would go before them, and find them a suitable place to rest and camp. Therefore, our Lord God leads His people, just as He leads us today by His holy Word and Sacraments, showing us the way of salvation, and giving us a place of rest and comfort from the wilderness of the sin-parched life.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas