Then all of you approached me and said, "Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter." Then all of you approached meThis phrase marks a significant moment in the narrative of Deuteronomy, where Moses recounts the history of Israel's journey. The Hebrew root for "approached" is "qarab," which implies drawing near with intent or purpose. This action signifies the collective decision of the Israelites to seek guidance, reflecting a communal desire for direction and assurance. Historically, this moment underscores the unity and shared concerns of the people as they stand on the brink of entering the Promised Land. and said
The act of speaking here is crucial, as it represents the people's initiative to communicate their thoughts and desires. In the Hebrew context, "amar" (to say) often conveys not just speech but the expression of one's heart and mind. This highlights the importance of dialogue between the leaders and the community, a principle that resonates throughout the biblical narrative. Let us send men ahead of us
This request demonstrates a strategic and cautious approach by the Israelites. The phrase "send men" indicates a desire for reconnaissance, a common military and exploratory tactic in ancient times. The historical context reveals a people who, despite their faith, sought practical measures to ensure their success. This reflects a balance between divine trust and human responsibility. to explore the land for us
The exploration of the land is a pivotal task, as it involves assessing the land's resources, inhabitants, and fortifications. The Hebrew word "tur" for "explore" suggests a thorough and careful examination. This action is not merely about gathering information but also about preparing mentally and spiritually for the challenges ahead. It underscores the importance of preparation and wisdom in fulfilling God's promises. and bring us back a report
The expectation of a report indicates the value placed on informed decision-making. The Hebrew term "dabar" for "report" implies a word or matter of significance. This reflects the biblical principle that knowledge and truth are foundational to faith and action. The report would serve as a guide for the community, influencing their readiness and morale. about the route we should take
The concern for the route highlights the practical aspects of the journey. The Hebrew word "derek" for "route" signifies a path or way, often used metaphorically in Scripture to denote one's life journey or moral conduct. This request shows the Israelites' desire for divine guidance in their physical and spiritual journey, emphasizing the need for God's direction in all aspects of life. and the cities we will come to
The mention of cities points to the anticipation of encountering established civilizations. The Hebrew "ir" for "cities" often denotes places of strength and refuge but also potential opposition. This reflects the reality of the challenges the Israelites would face in claiming the land. It serves as a reminder of the need for courage and faith in overcoming obstacles, trusting in God's promise of victory. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe leader of the Israelites, recounting the events that took place as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. 2. IsraelitesThe people of God, who were delivered from Egypt and are now on the brink of entering Canaan. 3. CanaanThe Promised Land that God had sworn to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 4. SpiesRepresentatives from each tribe of Israel sent to scout the land of Canaan and report back. 5. The WildernessThe place where the Israelites wandered for 40 years due to their lack of faith and disobedience. Teaching Points The Importance of FaithThe Israelites' request to send spies reflects a lack of trust in God's promise. Believers today are called to trust in God's Word and His promises without needing physical evidence. Leadership and ResponsibilityMoses' recounting of the event shows the weight of leadership and the importance of guiding people in faith. Leaders today must encourage trust in God rather than fear. Consequences of UnbeliefThe Israelites' decision led to 40 years of wandering. Our choices, especially those made in unbelief, can have long-lasting consequences. Seeking God's GuidanceWhile the Israelites sought a report from the spies, believers are encouraged to seek guidance through prayer and Scripture, trusting in God's direction. Learning from the PastThe recounting of this event serves as a reminder to learn from past mistakes and to walk in obedience and faith. Bible Study Questions 1. What does the Israelites' request to send spies reveal about their faith in God's promise? 2. How can we apply the lesson of trusting God's promises in our daily lives, especially when facing uncertainty? 3. In what ways can leaders today encourage their communities to trust in God rather than fear? 4. Reflect on a time when a decision made in unbelief led to negative consequences. How can you learn from that experience? 5. How can the account of the spies and the Israelites' response serve as a warning and encouragement for us today, in light of other scriptures like Hebrews 3:16-19? Connections to Other Scriptures Numbers 13-14Provides a detailed account of the sending of the spies and the subsequent report that led to the Israelites' fear and rebellion. Hebrews 3:16-19Reflects on the unbelief of the Israelites and their failure to enter God's rest, serving as a warning to believers. Joshua 2Describes the successful spying mission led by Joshua, contrasting with the earlier failed attempt. Psalm 106:24-25Highlights the Israelites' rejection of the Promised Land due to their lack of faith. 1 Corinthians 10:11Reminds believers that the events of the Old Testament serve as examples and warnings for us today. People Amorites, Anakites, Caleb, Canaanites, Eshcol, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Jephunneh, Joshua, Laban, Moses, Nun, Og, Seir, SihonPlaces Arabah, Ashtaroth, Bashan, Dizahab, Edrei, Egypt, Euphrates River, Hazeroth, Heshbon, Horeb, Hormah, Jordan River, Kadesh-barnea, Laban, Lebanon, Moab, Mount Seir, Negeb, Paran, Seir, Suph, Tophel, Valley of EshcolTopics Account, Approached, Bring, Care, Cities, Enter, Examine, Explore, Report, Route, Search, Spy, TownsDictionary of Bible Themes Deuteronomy 1:22 5552 spies
5608 warfare, strategies Deuteronomy 1:19-40 5923 public opinion Library Foretastes of the Heavenly Life
Early in the year 1857. NOTE: This edition of this sermon is taken from an earlier published edition of Spurgeon's 1857 message. The sermon that appears in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 45, was edited and abbreviated somewhat. For edition we have restored the fuller text of the earlier published edition, while retaining a few of the editorial refinements of the Met Tab edition. "And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 45: 1899Preventive against Backsliding.
It is most instructive to note how exceedingly anxious the early Christians were, that, as soon as a man was converted, he should be "filled with the Holy Ghost." They knew no reason why weary wastes of disappointing years should stretch between Bethel and Peniel, between the Cross and Pentecost. They knew it was not God's will that forty years of wilderness wanderings should lie between Egypt and the Promised Land (Deut. i. 2). When Peter and John came to the Samaritans, and found that they were …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life Afraid of Giants
'And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain; 18. And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; 19. 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; 20. And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Philo of Alexandria, the Rabbis, and the Gospels - the Final Development of Hellenism in Its Relation to Rabbinism and the Gospel According to St. John.
It is strange how little we know of the personal history of the greatest of uninspired Jewish writers of old, though he occupied so prominent a position in his time. [173] Philo was born in Alexandria, about the year 20 before Christ. He was a descendant of Aaron, and belonged to one of the wealthiest and most influential families among the Jewish merchant-princes of Egypt. His brother was the political head of that community in Alexandria, and he himself on one occasion represented his co-religionists, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah A Plain Description of the Essence and Attributes of God, Out of the Holy Scripture, So Far as Every Christian must Competently Know, and Necessarily Believe, that Will be Saves.
Although no creature can define what God is, because he is incomprehensible (Psal. cxliii. 3) and dwelling in inaccessible light (1 Tim. vi. 16); yet it has pleased his majesty to reveal himself to us in his word, so far as our weak capacity can best conceive him. Thus: God is that one spiritual and infinitely perfect essence, whose being is of himself eternally (Deut. i. 4; iv. 35; xxxii. 39; vi. 4; Isa. xlv. 5-8; 1 Cor. viii. 4; Eph. iv. 5, 6; 1 Tim. ii. 5; John iv. 24; 2 Cor. iii. 17; 1 Kings …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Mountainous Country of Judea.
"What is the mountainous country of Judea? It is the king's mountain." However Judea, here and there, doth swell out much with mountains, yet its chief swelling appears in that broad back of mountains, that runs from the utmost southern cost as far as Hebron, and almost as Jerusalem itself. Which the Holy Scripture called "The hill-country of Judah," Joshua 21:11; Luke 1:39. Unless I am very much mistaken,--the maps of Adricomus, Tirinius, and others, ought to be corrected, which have feigned to …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Kadesh. Rekam, and that Double. Inquiry is Made, Whether the Doubling it in the Maps is Well Done.
The readers of the eastern interpreters will observe, that Kadesh is rendered by all Rekam, or in a sound very near it. In the Chaldee, it is 'Rekam': in the Syriac, 'Rekem': in the Arabic, 'Rakim'... There are two places noted by the name Rekam in the very bounds of the land,--to wit, the southern and eastern: that is, a double Kadesh. I. Of Kadesh, or Rekam, in the south part, there is no doubt. II. Of it, in the eastern part, there is this mention: "From Rekam to the east, and Rekam is as the …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Barren Fig-Tree. Temple Cleansed.
(Road from Bethany and Jerusalem. Monday, April 4, a.d. 30.) ^A Matt. XXI. 18, 19, 12, 13; ^B Mark XI. 12-18; ^C Luke XIX. 45-48. ^b 12 And ^a 18 Now ^b on the morrow [on the Monday following the triumphal entry], ^a in the morning ^b when they were come out from Bethany, ^a as he returned to the city [Jerusalem], he hungered. [Breakfast with the Jews came late in the forenoon, and these closing days of our Lord's ministry were full of activity that did not have time to tarry at Bethany for it. Our …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel In the Temple at the Feast of Tabernacles.
(October, a.d. 29.) ^D John VII. 11-52. ^d 11 The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? [It was now eighteen months since Jesus had visited Jerusalem, at which time he had healed the impotent man at Bethesda. His fame and prolonged obscurity made his enemies anxious for him to again expose himself in their midst. John here used the word "Jews" as a designation for the Jerusalemites, who, as enemies of Christ, were to be distinguished from the multitudes who were in doubt …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Moses and his Writings
[Illustration: (drop cap W) Clay letter tablet of Moses' time.] We now begin to understand a little of the very beginning of God's Book--of the times in which it was written, the materials used by its first author, and the different kinds of writing from which he had to choose; but we must go a step farther. How much did Moses know about the history of his forefathers, Abraham and Jacob, and of all the old nations and kings mentioned in Genesis, before God called him to the great work of writing …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Blessing of Jacob Upon Judah. (Gen. Xlix. 8-10. )
Ver. 8. "Judah, thou, thy brethren shall praise thee; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; before thee shall bow down the sons of thy father. Ver. 9. A lion's whelp is Judah; from the prey, my son, thou goest up; he stoopeth down, he coucheth as a lion, and as a full-grown lion, who shall rouse him up? Ver. 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto Him the people shall adhere." Thus does dying Jacob, in announcing …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Deuteronomy
Owing to the comparatively loose nature of the connection between consecutive passages in the legislative section, it is difficult to present an adequate summary of the book of Deuteronomy. In the first section, i.-iv. 40, Moses, after reviewing the recent history of the people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel, earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf. …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Deuteronomy 1:22 NIVDeuteronomy 1:22 NLTDeuteronomy 1:22 ESVDeuteronomy 1:22 NASBDeuteronomy 1:22 KJV
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