Twelve Spies

“The LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!” — Numbers 14:9

The Israelites travelled on until they came near the edge of Canaan, the land God had promised to give them.

God told Moses to send twelve men, one from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, to explore the land. “Go and see what the land is like,” Moses told them. “Are the people strong or weak? Is the soil good? Are the towns protected by walls? And bring back some of the fruit.”

So the twelve spies went. They explored the land for forty days. In one valley they cut off a bunch of grapes so enormous that two men had to carry it on a pole between them! They brought back pomegranates and figs too.

When they came back, everyone gathered to hear what they had found.

“It’s a wonderful land,” the spies said. “It really does flow with milk and honey. Look at this fruit! But the people who live there are strong, and their cities have huge walls. And we saw giants there! We felt like grasshoppers next to them.”

The people began to murmur and worry. But one of the spies, a man named Caleb, stood up and quieted them.

“We must go up and take the land,” Caleb said, “for we can certainly do it!”

But the other spies said, “No, we can’t! The people there are stronger than we are.” And they spread a frightening report all through the camp.

That night, all the people cried. They grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt!” they said. “Or even in this desert! Why is the Lord bringing us here to die? Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”

Two of the spies were so upset that they tore their clothes. They were Caleb and Joshua.

“The land we explored is very, very good,” they said. “If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not be afraid of the people of the land. The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them!”

But the people wouldn’t listen. They even picked up stones to throw at Joshua and Caleb!

Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tabernacle. And God was very sad and angry. After everything He had done for them, the plagues and the sea and the manna and the water from the rock, they still didn’t trust Him.

So God said that the grown-ups who had refused to trust Him would never go into the land. For forty years, one year for each day the spies had explored the land, the Israelites would wander in the desert. Only Caleb and Joshua would go in. And the children, the very children the people said would die, would be the ones God would bring into the land.

Ten spies looked at the giants and thought, “They’re too big for us.” Two spies looked at the giants and thought, “They’re not too big for God.” What made the difference? Caleb and Joshua remembered how big God is.

Read it in your Bible: Numbers 13–14

Dear God, when I face something that seems as big as a giant, help me to remember that you are bigger. Help me to trust you like Caleb and Joshua did. Amen.