Terrain Day 2 Canaan & Egypt: Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
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The Questions
1) At the direction of the Lord, Moses sent 12 men, one from each tribe, to scout out the land of Canaan. What was their initial report? (verses 27-29)
2) Caleb believed they could conquer the Canaanites. What gave him this confidence? (verse 30)
3) After the scouts’ initial good report, why was there a sudden and exaggerated bad report of the land? (verses 31-33)
Numbers 13:26-33
26 The men went back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for them and the whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They reported to Moses, “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit. 28 However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev; the Hethites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “Let’s go up now and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!”
31 But the men who had gone up with him responded, “We can’t attack the people because they are stronger than we are!” 32 So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. 33 We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.”
Original Intent
1) At the direction of the Lord, Moses sent 12 men, one from each tribe, to scout out the land of Canaan. What was their initial report? (verses 27-29)
The Lord first promised the land of Canaan to Abraham as an inheritance. The Lord told Abraham to leave his country and his people to travel to an unknown location. When Abraham finally arrived in Canaan, the Lord told him, “I will give this land to your offspring.” (Genesis 12:7) The Lord repeated this promise to Abraham’s descendants, Isaac and Jacob. The Lord even told Abraham his descendants would be enslaved and mistreated in a strange land (Egypt) for 400 years. (Genesis 15:13) In the midst of their suffering, the Lord declared to Moses from a burning bush, “Because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:9-10) Through Moses, the Lord would lead Israel into Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey that had been promised to Abraham and his descendants. (Exodus 3:4-8) The term “flowing with milk and honey” signifies prosperity with livestock and horticulture. The spies’ exploration of Canaan lasted about 40 days and upon their return, they confirmed to Moses of the land’s bounty, even bringing large fruit as proof. (Numbers 13:23-25) However, they also said the land was heavily protected with large and powerful occupants. The odds of victoriously overtaking such a formidable people seemed impossible. Therefore, nearly all of the spies doubted their ability, and God’s assurance, that they could indeed conquer Canaan’s inhabitants and possess the land.
2) Caleb believed they could conquer the Canaanites. What gave him this confidence? (verse 30)
The first report the men gave to Moses frightened the Israelites, not because the land had proven to be scarce and lacking in abundance, but because the current inhabitants were too formidable. Caleb sought to quiet the people and convince them that, despite the obstacles, they could defeat the inhabitants and occupy the land because the Lord had given it to them. Caleb was not afraid of the giants he saw in Canaan. No doubt, he remembered the Lord’s promise to give them the land. His confidence was not in the strength of Israel, rather in the faithful God who accomplishes His work. Caleb’s faith did not waver in the face of giants; he believed God’s promise, knowing the Lord cannot lie. Unfortunately, it was not enough to convince the others.
3) After the scouts’ initial good report, why was there a sudden and exaggerated bad report of the land? (verses 31-33)
Despite Caleb’s urgings to trust the same God who had defeated Egypt’s army and freed Israel from slavery, the other spies were quick to incite fear by describing Canaan’s inhabitants as giants, Nephilim to be exact. Nephilim were characterized as children born from the sons of God (likely meaning fallen angels/demons) who married human women. (Genesis 6:2-4). According to the NKJV Chronological Study Bible Notes, this union produced semi-divine, semi-human offspring who possessed superhuman qualities. Therefore, the image the spies portrayed were superhuman people who could not be defeated. The spies were afraid for many reasons, and their exaggerated report incited fear in the Israelites, who cried and complained to Moses about their fate. They even plotted to choose a new leader to take them back to Egypt. (Numbers 14:1-4) They displayed a lack of faith in their God who not only had rescued them from Egypt, but also guided and provided for them during their escape. The Israelites even spoke of stoning Caleb and Joshua (Joshua was the only other spy who sided with Caleb) all because of their faith in the God who faithfully keeps His promises. In the face of death, Caleb and Joshua refused to recant their faith while urging their fellow Israelites to cease their rebellion against God and instead follow Him with faith and obedience. Israel’s lack of faith resulted in God’s justice being delivered as He refused any Israelite of that generation entrance to the Promised Land of Canaan. (Numbers 14:21-25) They wandered in the wilderness 40 years until the entire generation died. Only Caleb and Joshua, because of their faith, were privileged to enter Canaan.
Everyday Application
1) At the direction of the Lord, Moses sent 12 men, one from each tribe, to scout out the land of Canaan. What was their initial report? (verses 27-29)
When the scouts returned from their mission, they reported Canaan as lush and fruitful. However, it was tightly secured and its settlers mighty and powerful, causing them serious doubt for defeating and occupying the Promised Land. While they remembered the Lord stating that the land was flowing with milk and honey, they forgot, or chose to ignore, the other part of His statement, “…and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land…” (Exodus 3:8) They focused only on the giants instead of on the Lord’s promise to give them an inheritance. Our journey of life is fraught with doubts and uncertainties. When I was growing up, my parents made my decisions for me, but there came a time for me to leave and build my own life. At the age of 20, I left home and rented a few places, but when things became difficult, I returned to my parents. An opportunity arose for me to purchase a piece of land at a fair price. At the time, I said I was lucky, but looking back, I understand this wasn’t luck, it was God’s provision. From purchasing the land, to securing a small mortgage, to building a decent house, I was faced again and again with the challenge to either trust myself or God. The Lord promised Abraham his descendants would inherit the land. The Lord promised Israel He would lead them out of slavery and into their inheritance. Israel and Abraham were faced with a choice, just as I was in following where God was leading me with my house adventure. We each have the same decision as we follow Christ. Will we trust God despite the circumstances, or will we walk away and trust ourselves when the odds seem too overwhelming?
2) Caleb believed they could conquer the Canaanites. What gave him this confidence? (verse 30)
Caleb had the utmost faith in God’s ability to help Israel occupy Canaan as He promised many, many years before. In my faith journey with my house, approximately seven years passed before I could build. I definitely felt as if I was in the wilderness wondering when the time would come for me to finally finish my home. Nevertheless, it happened, and I attained an adequate mortgage for a small house. I also believe God used my “wilderness waiting” for much more than simply earning enough money. While I waited, He matured my heart to trust Him, learning to depend on Him instead of pushing ahead with my ways and my timing. While I waited, I never doubted, but I was just impatient. I knew it would happen, I just didn’t know when. Each moment of impatience was an opportunity to trust God’s plans over mine.
3) After the scouts’ initial good report, why was there a sudden and exaggerated bad report of the land? (verses 31-33)
Just as the ten spies allowed fear to hinder their faith, fear can also prevent us from faithfully following Christ, especially when our circumstances seem more powerful than our God. A few years after moving into my newly built house, I met a former schoolmate in the area. He commented on how great the community turned out. He too had the opportunity to purchase land and build but feared it would eventually become a ‘less than desirable’ place to live. When I sensed the Lord was providing me space to build, I didn’t consider how the community might turn out, I simply stepped out in faith. If you are a believer, God will faithfully lead you and never forsake you (Psalm 37:25), even when your circumstances look ‘less than desirable’ and your giants seem formidable. Failing to believe the Lord in the midst of our struggles, and choosing faith over fear, can result in missing out on our own “promised land” of favor and blessing from the Lord. (Hebrews 3:7-19) Instead, we can choose to rely on the faithfulness of God as Caleb and Joshua exemplified, trusting His work and ability over our own. With God, all things are possible that He has set out to accomplish! (2 Corinthians 1:20)
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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