12 Spies Enter Canaan
- Dates
- 1444 BC
God instructs Moses to choose 12 men from each tribe to spy out the land of Canaan. They return with a divided report. Ten men describe the land as impossible to "take" but Joshua and Caleb say, "We are able to take it." They are almost stoned.
In detail
God instructs Moses to send 12 spies to look at the land of Canaan. When they return 10 of them give an "evil report." The message given was most disheartening, though not necessarily false so far as the facts were concerned. The word translated "brought up" signifies "to invent," to "spread around." Appearances no doubt seemed to justify the evil report. From a human point of view the conquest of Canaan may have seemed impossible. But God had promised the land to them and commanded them to enter in and subdue it. Their failure to do so at this time reflected doubt as to the power of God to give it to them.
Bible passages
- Numbers 13:1-33
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. 3 And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. …
Text of the King James Version.
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