First Mennonite Church
March 15, 2026
The Twelve Spies and the Back to Egypt Committee
Text: Numbers 14:1-25
According to biblical scholars, the account we read in Numbers 14 happened around the eleventh month after Israel had left Egypt. The children of Israel finally got to arrive at the doorstep of the Promised Land. It was within their reach, if they could only trust the Lord for the final step.
Therefore, in order to make the proper preparations for the take-over of the “land flowing with milk and honey,” as the Lord had promised, Moses sent out spies to survey the land. He chose a man from each of the twelve tribes to do the scouting. The instructions Moses gave them were pretty thorough as to what they should look for: how large or small the town and cities were and whether they were protected or not. They should also look at the size of population and whether it was strong or weak. They were to survey the topography and the production capability of the land, and to bring samples of what the land produces.
After three weeks of having explored the land, the twelve spies returned and gave their report, the good and the bad, as we say. They also showed to Moses and the people samples of the fruit of the land. It seems that those who gave the report were among the ten, who were doubting the Israelites would ever enter the land. This they reported: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there (These are supposedly giants.)
It seems that at the mention of the “descendants of Anak—the giants, the whole assembly erupted into chaos. In the following verse, says that Caleb, one of the spies who also went, had to silence the crowd in order to give his own assessment of the exploration. Caleb and (Hoshea (13:8/Joshua 14:30, 38) gave a not only a different perspective, but a perspective of trust that the Lord will deliver on his promise.
As we read in chapter 14, the whole night the Israelites were quarreling, crying, and complaining against Moses and Aaron. This time, the Israelites wanted to select a leader to take them back to Egypt. The preferred slavery to trusting in God’s deliverance. According to God’s words to Moses, this was the tenth time the Israelites had gravely complaint against Moses. It was the tenth time Israel had tested God.
In verses five to nine, Moses, Aaron, Caleb, and Joshua fell on their face before the grumbling people and pleaded with them to trust in the Lord and not be afraid. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
But, instead of getting inspired by Moses’ supplication and words of encouragement, the people turned against Moses and the others and wanted to stone them to death. It seems that the threat was deadly serious that in verse 10, it tells us that God’s glory appeared. Then the Lord declared that because of the lack of faith in his deliverance and fulfillment of his promise to give them the land, all that generation from 20 years up, will never enter nor possess the land. They will perish and their bodies will be scattered in the desert as they said it would have been better for them. The Lord swore only the younger generation will enjoy the blessings the land will offer.
Upon hearing God’s final judgement against the grumbling people, the ten men who gave the bad report and who discouraged the people from possessing the land, wanted to reverse course. They told Moses they will go and take over the land but Moses warned them, God had made his position clear. The ten men led other in their attempt to take the land. But upon being out-numbered and severely beaten, they returned defeated to the camp.
God gave instructions to Moses saying, “Turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.” This led Israel to wander for almost forty years in the wilderness, thus preventing the older generation from entering the land God had promised them. They arrived at its doorstep but failed to step in. They came close geographically, but were far off in their trust.
There is the great danger of coming close to something but not getting it. Early this week, in the evening news there was a report of two marathon runners: Kenyan Michael Kimani Kamau and American Nathan Martin. Michael was ahead for much of the run but he lost by 0.01 second to Nathan, when he came speeding from behind. Michael was so close to be crowned the champion of the race, but as close as he came to it, Nathan got the victory.
The danger with irreversible consequences was in the mind of the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews. The writer was pressing hard on the danger of coming close to entering God’s final and glorious rest in Christ Jesus, and yet missing it. Negligence and discouragement seemed to be one of the major reasons the author was addressing. And he found that there nothing as forceful for an example than the experience of Israel coming close to the Promised Land and yet not entering it because of their rebellion.
The account in Numbers 14 was powerfully clear in the mind of the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews. There in chapter three, he brings up precisely account. He reminds his readers that God remained angry for forty years against that generation for failing to trust in him. For forty years their bodies were scattered throughout the desert as God had said they will. For forty years God prevented that generation from entering the land giving time for them to die in the wilderness as they said they would have preferred. Thus, the Writer warns: Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 3:13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Farther ahead, he also warns: It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (10:31).
It is clear that one of the problems the writer to the Hebrews was addressing was that Christians were struggling with discouragement and neglecting to come together for worship. This problem is clear when the author warns against giving up, thus he warns twice: “do not lose heart” in chapter 12. He warns against “fall(ing) short of the grace of God, when he says, “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God” The Writer warns against those who for whatever reason, disregarded the importance of gathering for worship and developed, what he called, “the habit of not gathering.” He also warns, of “failing to enter the eternal and true rest of God (4:1).
Therefore, Hebrews urges that “as long as it is called ‘today’ we should heed God’s urgent call not to lose heart, not to fall short of the grace of God, not to fail to gather together for worship, and so not to miss God’s offer of his true rest.
We know there is so much that can divert our attention from the Lord. There is so much vying, competing, and at time compelling us away from doing what we are supposed to do on Sunday, the day we have set aside for worshiping the Lord and having fellowship God’s people. The warming days are just perfect to go out somewhere, the beach, to hike on the mountains, to go on a drive out of town, to stay home to BBQ, to visit with friends and relatives. Sometimes our bodies clamor for a day to sleep in and do nothing. This can be true especially after a long work week and a late Saturday activity, party or what not. I do not mean to say that you will miss out on God salvation for not coming to worship on a Sunday. However, when we begin to give in to these other appealing activities it can lead us to develop the habit disregarding the commitment we made with the Lord to give him the priority in our lives. Habits develop gradually and sometimes without notice. That is why the author of the letter to the Hebrews closes his letter with various urgent appeals:
- Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
- And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
- Endure hardship as discipline;
- Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
- Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
And then he uses Esau as the example not to be:
- Do not be like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
Today if you hear God’s voice, do not harden your hearts, says Hebrews. Today is the day of salvation. There is still a resting place awaiting us. Let us not miss on the opportunity today God is offering us. Amen!
Pastor Romero