At last! They have arrived. After two years in the wilderness, they reached the Promised Land. Hundreds of years before, the Lord pledged Canaan to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses must have been happy that the journey ended. Now he can rest.

At the directive of the Lord, Moses sent twelve men, one from each tribe, to scope the territory. Setting out from the Desert of Paran, heading north, they toured the entire area reaching as far as Rehob of Lebo Hamath. Then, entering Canaan via the Negev, they came to the city of Hebron.

Hebron was formerly known as Kiriath-Arba, named after its founder, Arba the Anakite. A giant of a man. It was here that Abraham settled and eventually died, buried with his first wife Sarah, in the cave of Machpela.

From Hebron, they came to the Valley Eshcol where they discovered grapes. Huge grapes. So huge it took two men to carry a single cluster on a pole. These grapes were proof enough of the fertility of the land. In biblical times grapes were widely grown for making wine. If a grape harvest failed, this meant trouble (see Isaiah 32:10-14). The spies also gathered samples of pomegranates and figs to take back. After 40 days of exploration, they returned to camp.

Back at camp, everyone gathered to hear the spies’ report. The men related everything they saw and presented their findings. Imagine the people’s delight when they saw those luscious grapes. They must have thought, “Finally, no more wilderness food.”

But wait, there’s more. The cities were heavily guarded, fenced with thick high walls. And the inhabitants were giants, descendants of Anak.

“What? Giants! We’re doomed. We can’t defeat them. Why did you bring us here to die Moses? Why?”

The Israelites were chronic complainers. During the journey in the wilderness, they constantly complained to Moses and Aaron.

“Moses, we have nothing to drink.”

“Aaron, we have nothing to eat.”

“Moses, why did you bring us out here to die? We want to go back to Egypt!”

Caleb interjected, “Hush! Listen, we can do this. We can seize this land. It’s not hard at all. Let’s do it now!”

Caleb, from the tribe of Judah, was one of the spies. He, and Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim, were the only two spies who were optimistic they could conquer the Canaanites. But the ten others disagreed.

“No, we can’t. Those people are Nephilim, gigantic. They will eat us alive!”

Thus the people did what they do best – lamented. They even thought about choosing another leader to take them back to Egypt. However, Joshua joined Caleb in pleading with the people not to rebel against the Lord. The duo did their best to convince the Israelites they could take the land; that the Lord would lead them and protect them. Alas, to no avail. For their effort, they were almost stoned. Then the Lord intervened.

“Moses, I am tired of these people. They refuse to trust me despite all the miracles I have performed for them. I’m going to kill all of them and turn you into a greater and stronger nation than they.”

But Moses interceded for the Israelites.

“Listen, Lord, if you destroy the Israelites, the Egyptians and other nations would hear about it and say, ‘Aha, the Lord failed to bring them into the Promised Land and therefore killed them in the wilderness.’ So, Lord, show your power and your love for these people. Forgive them just as you kept forgiving them for their transgressions since we left Egypt.”

So, the Lord relented and forgave them, but there were consequences. The Lord struck the ten troublesome spies with a deadly disease. But he spared Caleb and Joshua, the only two persons from the entire Israelite community that left Egypt, to enter the Promised Land. Not even Moses entered, because he, too, disobeyed God when he struck the rock rather than speak to it (Numbers 20:8-11 NIV).

The Lord punished the faithless Israelites by allowing them to roam for 40 years in the wilderness, one year for each of the 40 days the spies explored the land of Canaan. Everyone twenty and over would eventually die in the wilderness.

The Israelites missed the opportunity of making Canaan their home, all because of disobedience.

Let us not do the same but heed the words of Proverbs 3:5-6 ERV: “Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge. With every step you take, think about what he wants, and he will help you go the right way.”

This Old Testament Feature was taken from the Book of Numbers Chapters 13 – 14.