Twelve Spies – Number 13-14

The Story in a Nutshell

Moses, through God’s guidance, begins to lead the Israelites toward the land that God promised to give his descendents.  One day the Lord tells Moses to send some men to explore the land he has promised them (Canaan). So Moses selects 12 men, one from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, and sends them into the wilderness.  They are to find out what the land and the people are like.  The men explored the land for forty days then returned to give Moses, Aaron, and the people of Israel a full report.  All the men reported that the land was magnificent in every way, but 10 of the men also reported that the people were very powerful; stronger than the Israelites.  The 10 were afraid of the people and didn’t want to take over the land that God promised them.  Two of the men, however (Caleb and Joshua), said, “We can conqueror it.  Let’s go!”  But the Israelites didn’t listen and they didn’t trust God.  They began weeping and crying, complaining, and plotting against Moses, Caleb, and Joshua.  They refused to go into the Promised Land. This angered God and he was ready to destroy them, but Moses interceded for the people and God relented.  However, there would be a punishment for not trusting God and going into the Promised Land.  The people of Israel would wander in the wilderness for 40 years, and no one over the age of 20, except Caleb and Joshua, would be allowed to eventually enter the Promised Land.

Review Questions

After two months of travel, where did the Israelites arrive?

What did Moses do after arriving at Mount Sinai?

What did God do on the mountain and what did Moses then do?

After God told Moses that he was going to come to the people, what did Moses do?

What happened three days later?

What did God do when he called Moses and Aaron back to the top of the mountain?

What do you know about the first four commandments?  About the last six?

Have questions about God, Jesus, and the Bible? An excellent source for answers to your questions is gotquestions.org. Check it out. gotquestions.org.

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