Did you ever stop to consider how much, or rather, how little, of the Bible was written when David gave expression to his appreciation of the Scriptures? If not, it would be well to do so. It will not take too long to discover that when he wrote: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; " (Psalm 19:7) or, "Through your commandments, You have made me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for your testimonies are my meditation, (Psalm 119:98-99) there was very little of the Scriptures written except the five books of Moses. When you read the one 119th Psalm with this thought in mind, it will help you to appreciate those simple records as never before. You will then see more force to the words: "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning; that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4)
All the law and the Gospel, and all the truths proclaimed by the later prophets is in those books.
In studying the report of the spies, do not be content with the meager references given in the lesson outline, as indicated at the head of this article. Read the whole of the 13th and 14th chapters of Numbers, and the 1st chapter of Deuteronomy, if you would know even a small portion of the Gospel lesson that the event has for us. The Jews themselves did not learn the lesson, and we find Christians to this day going over the same ground.
We read in our lesson that, " The Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Send men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: for every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a ruler among them. And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran." (Numbers 13:1-3)
But we must not hastily conclude that Moses was the one who first proposed the plan. If we do, we shall certainly lose a large portion of the lesson. In recounting the experiences of the people to them, just before he was taken from them, Moses said: "And I said unto you, You are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God does give unto us. Behold, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has said unto you; fear not, neither be discouraged. And you came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe." (Deuteronomy 1:20-23)
So the spies went up, with these instructions: "Get up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwell therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not." (Numbers 13:17-20)
A Useless Expedition
A very wise and necessary precaution, some will say; but the fact is, it was a very foolish and useless expedition. There was no need to send spies to find out what the land was, and whether it was fat or lean. Before they left Egypt, and many times afterward, God told them that it was "a good land and a large, ... a land flowing with milk and honey." (Exodus 3:8; also vs. 17, 13:5, 33:3)
Moreover, it was wholly unnecessary to send spies to find out by what way they must go up to the land, when the Lord himself went before them in a cloud by day, and fire by night, to search them out a place to pitch their tents in, and they could not journey except when and where that pillar went. Their searching was so much useless labor.
And what difference did it make what sort of cities the people dwelt in, or whether they dwelt in tents, when the Lord had promised to drive them out before the Israelites? "For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arms save them." (Psalm 44:3)
A giant is no more than a pigmy to the Lord, and a walled city is no stronger against Him than a gauze curtain. To Him nothing is great, nothing is small.
See how it was when they actually entered the promised land. Jericho, one of the strongest cities, fell without a blow, or the loss of a man, because they had faith in God; or as when they trusted in their own strength they were repulsed with great loss from the little town of Ai. Numbers do not matter with the Lord. As King Asa said to the Lord: "It is nothing with You to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power." (2 Chronicles 14:11) "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in His presence." (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)
Evidence of Lack of Faith
Is it not evident from all these things that the sending of the spies was an evidence of lack of faith? The result demonstrated that it was; for ten out of the twelve "brought up an evil report of the land which they searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof." (Numbers 13:32)
This was in direct contradiction to the report God had given of the country, and contrary to the evidence which they brought back in their hands. They literally, "spread a slander" against land, and so against God, who had recommended it. And then the people, in spite of the repeated assurances from God that He would bring them into the land, declared that it was of no use to think of going further, and determined to go back into Egyptian bondage. But all this was the natural development of the unbelief that led them to send the spies in the first place.
The foolish wickedness of the ten spies in bringing an evil report of the land, the goodness of which was certified by the fruits that they had gathered, is often commented on; but we must not overlook the fact that all the people bore the same unfaithful witness against God, when they sent to enquire into the truthfulness of what He had said about the land. "He that believes not God has made Him a liar." (1 John 5:10)
Giving People Their Own Way
But why did the Lord tell them to send spies? For the same reason that he told Balaam to go with the messengers of Balak. He had told Balaam not to go; but Balaam was set on going, and so at last the Lord told him to go. Likewise the Lord directed Israel in the choice of a king, although He had expressly told them not to make one, for He was their king. Thus we see that when men are determined to do a thing, it is not only easy for them to find a good "reason" for doing it, but they can even get God to assent to it; and, still more, to give directions concerning it, although He has forbidden it.
From this we see how terrible a thing it is for men to choose their own way; for God always gives every man his own choice; but the result of not being content with God's first choice for us is always disastrous.
How many there are who, with the plain, explicit commandment of the Lord before them concerning the Sabbath, will presume to ask the Lord if they shall keep it! We need not doubt in the least their statement that they have received an answer from the Lord, to the intent that they need not; but we may pity them, because they do not see that the commandment which they follow is one which they themselves have devised, and not the Lord's commandment.
When people undertake to lead the Lord, they are sure to get into trouble. It is better to let the Lord lead us into difficulties, then to insist on going the easy way.
Not Children of Abraham
How different it was with Abraham. When God told him to go into the land which he was afterward to receive for an inheritance, he went forth, "not knowing where he went," (Hebrews 11:8) and not asking. It was "to Abraham, and to his seed," (Luke 1:55) that the promises were made; but the unbelief displayed in sending spies to search out the land which God said was good, and to which He had promised to lead them, show that these people were not really the seed of Abraham; and, "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." (Hebrews 3:19)
It is not always best to try to know everything. God mercifully hides the difficulties that the future contains for us, in order that our spirits may not be alarmed or downcast by them. He would not have us needlessly disturbed by the long contemplation of them; He knows that He will remove them, or help us through them when the time comes, and so He says, "Sufficient unto the day, is the evil thereof." (Matthew 6:34)
I know not what awaits me;
God kindly veils my eyes;
And o'er each step of my onward way
He makes new scenes to rise;
And every joy He sends me comes
A sweet and glad surprise.
One step I see before me;
'Tis all I need to see:
The light of heaven more brightly shines
When earth's illusions flee;
And sweetly through the silence comes
His loving, "Follow me."
So, on I go--not knowing,
I would not if I might;
I'd rather walk in the dark with God
Than go alone in the light;
I'd rather walk by faith with Him
Than go alone by sight.
--Mary G. Brainard, Hymn: He Knows, 1869.
"Our doubts are traitors," and they always bring defeat wherever they are entertained. The children of Israel thought that they could not take possession of the land of Canaan, and they did not. "This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." (1 John 5:4)--Present Truth, July 31, 1902--Numbers 13:1-32
E.J. Waggoner