Numbers 13, 20-27

Review & Intro

Tim reminded me after last weeks lesson, the quarterly for this morning has us in Chapter 13. In telling him the way I’m trying to teach through the OT and the way the quarterly does it is a bit different, I realized I could give a little more detail to the method to what I’m sure seems like madness after rushing through 19 chapters of Numbers in a lesson.

The scope and sequence of the quarterly is: Leviticus in July, Numbers in August, Deuteronomy in September, and Joshua in October. Within those books, the quarterly gives us a chapter, maybe two each week. Well I hope as I mention what those chapters are, you are doing your own more in depth study. In Sunday School I’m trying to give an survey of the entire book that way you have the context to do that personal study of the specific chapters given by the quarterly.

In that survey, my goal is to slow down to give a little more attention to chapters or passages that may seem a little more timely at the moment or as I’ve said, I may just be teaching with more detail what the Lord has convicted me I need to study more deeply and just bring you all along for the ride.

Last week, in that rush through the first nineteen chapters to get us caught up and make up for missing class on Homecoming Sunday

We started with the first census at Sinai. Went through the Levites being taken for the service of the tabernacle, the vow of separation and the Nazirite offering, the instructions for the Levites to transport, consecrate, sacrifice, and worship from keeping the passover to offering for the people. Saw God in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night and how they would march and move. The consistent murmuring the people did and God giving them meat instead of manna until they were sick of it. God ordaining the setting up of government by the seventy as well as the rebellion of Aaron and Miriam and Moses’ intercession and God forgiving them.

Brings us to today.

I mentioned last week there is a ton to learn from Chapter 13 so with the calendar lining up with me being convicted, we’ll spend a little more time kind of doubling back into 13 this morning then I’ll continue the brief summary of the third section of numbers through Chapter 27.

We’ll do another doubling back to pick up Chapter 20 next week, Lord willing and then I’ll finish the survey of the book of numbers through Chapter 36.

The Twelve Spies

The Mission

Numbers 13:1–3 KJV

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.

Canaan was the promised land:

Genesis 12:7 “7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.”

Genesis 15:18 “18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:”

Genesis 17:8 “8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

Interestingly in Deuteronomy it seems as if the people wanted to send them before they went:

If we read Deuteronomy 1:22 “22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.” right before the first 3 verses of chapter 13, it appears the courage and faith of the children of Israel is great and they have every intention of possessing the land Yahweh gave them.

But watch how the context changes just by reading Deuteronomy 1:21 “21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.”

Now we see how much greater the sin of the report the 10 spies come back and give is. The murmuring about being back in Egypt and saying they would have been better off dying was the continued pattern of Israel not trusting God or even taking Him at His word.

Lord forgive me because I see that same pattern of fear, distrust, and unbelief in my own life constantly

The Men

Numbers 13:4-16 lists the heads of the tribes that go out

Numbers 13:6 “6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.” (יְפֻנֶּה yep̱unneh)

Numbers 13:8 “8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.” (הוֹשֵׁעַ hôšēaʿ)

Hoshea means “deliverance, salvation”

Numbers 13:16 “16 These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.” (יְהוֹשׁוּעַ yehôšûaʿ)

Jehoshua or we say Joshua means “the Lord delivers”. By the time we get through the Book of Joshua, you’ll see how God was prophesying through Moses at the change of a name.

The Plan

Numbers 13:17–20 KJV

17 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 ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.

The Action

Numbers 13:21–24 KJV

21 So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. 22 And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. 24 The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

The Majority Report

Numbers 13:25–29 KJV

25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. 26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

They do report the fruit but they forget that God had told them to go so they dwell on the fear

The Minority Report

Numbers 13:30 KJV

30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

Only Caleb reminded them of the promise of Yahweh and tried to convince them to go

The Overruling

Numbers 13:31–33 KJV

31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

But the doubt that God could or would and the fear of the struggle kept them from hearing Caleb remind them of the Word of God and His promises and past protections

“They brought up an evil report of the land” here they accuse the land directly and God indirectly of killing them if they try to go

the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim

Chapter 20

A. Death of Miriam

B. Second Water from the rock incident (Ex 17 is the first)

C. Moses' disobedience and consequences

D. Edom's refusal of passage

E. Death of Aaron

Chapter 21

Describes the destruction of Canaanite cities by Israel after a Canaanite king, Arad, fought against them. Israel made a vow to devote the cities to destruction, and Yahweh accomplishes that destruction through them. Then people start again: Numbers 21:5 “5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.” Yahweh sends the plague of fiery serpents and many of Israel died. Then moses prays again and Yahweh has him stand up the bronze serpent and any bitten that look on it live. Israel continues the journey and battles with kings like Sihon and Og, and the conquest of their lands. Yahweh had given them victory over their enemies, leading to the possession of their lands.

Chapter 22-24

Has the story of Balak and Balaam

A. Moab saw all God did to the Amorites through Israel and was was very afraid. Then Balak the king of Moab summons Balaam to curse Isreal and help Moab. Yahweh refuses him to go at first but then tells him to go but only tell them what He says.(1 minute)

B. We learn of Balaam's journey and the talking donkey that tries to save Balaam’s life from the Angel of the Lord. (2 minutes)

C. Then we hear what God told Balaam to say and they are only the blessing of Israel not curses. Numbers 23:18–20 “18 And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: 19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? 20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.” and the promise that Moab will be utterly destroyed along with other people and cities that oppose God. (3 minutes)

Chapter 25

Yet even with the promises of blessing God gives Israel, people are gonna people 100% of the time. The most hopeful futures for the people of God are most of the time followed immediately by the wickedest of sins. Here is no different. Numbers 25:1–3 “1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.” God tells Moses to execute all those who became apostate. The priest Phineas executes a couple having sex in the camp at the tent of meeting and the fury and wrath of God is stayed. Numbers 25:10–13 “10 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: 13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.”

Chapter 26

A second census is taken of the congregation of the sons of Isreal 20 and older. With the final taking of Canaan just on the horizon, it gives Moses an idea of the fighting size of the people but also gives the way the land will be divided in Canaan. The children of Isreal will receive their rest. But not all: From Sinai to the plains of Moab there had been a complete turnover in population; only Caleb and Joshua survived of the previous generation. Numbers 26:63–65 “63 These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. 64 But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.”

Chapter 27

We see inheritance laws in the The daughters of Zelophehad and how they demonstrate God’s concern for justice, while the appointment of Joshua as Moses’ successor shows God’s faithfulness in leadership.

Conclusion

We learn the results of the lack of faith of both the Spies and the children of Israel in Numbers 14:

Numbers 14:1–4 “1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! 3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? 4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.”

Numbers 14:5–9 “5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.”

Numbers 14:10 “10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.”

Yahweh goes on to threaten to destroy all the Nation and start over with Moses but Moses intercedes for them and Yahweh spares them

We are full of the same rebellious natures the children of Israel were and are deserving of the same penalty God threatened them with: death!

It’s Jesus as the last and perfect prophet, priest, and king doing the same for us that saves us from the destruction and damnation of Yahweh God the Father