Twelve Scouts Explore Canaan
"The
Lord now said to Moses, “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan,
the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the
twelve ancestral tribes.” So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He
sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in
the wilderness of Paran. These were the tribes and the names of their
leaders:
Tribe Leader
Reuben Shammua son of Zaccur
Simeon Shaphat son of Hori
Judah Caleb son of Jephunneh
Issachar Igal son of Joseph
Ephraim Hoshea son of Nun
Benjamin Palti son of Raphu
Zebulun Gaddiel son of Sodi
Manasseh son of Joseph Gaddi son of Susi
Dan Ammiel son of Gemalli
Asher Sethur son of Michael
Naphtali Nahbi son of Vophsi
Gad Geuel son of Maki
These are the names of the men Moses sent out to explore the land. (Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name Joshua.)
Moses
gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the
land: “Go north through the Negev into the hill country. See what the
land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or
weak, few or many. See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or
bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps?
Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to
bring back samples of the crops you see.” (It happened to be the season
for harvesting the first ripe grapes.)
So they went up and
explored the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near
Lebo-hamath. Going north, they passed through the Negev and arrived at
Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai—all descendants of Anak—lived.
(The ancient town of Hebron was founded seven years before the Egyptian
city of Zoan.) When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a
branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them
to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of
the pomegranates and figs. That place was called the valley of Eshcol
(which means “cluster”), because of the cluster of grapes the Israelite
men cut there.
The Scouting Report
After
exploring the land for forty days, the men returned to Moses, Aaron, and
the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran.
They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them
the fruit they had taken from the land. This was their report to Moses:
“We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a
bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind
of fruit it produces. But the people living there are powerful, and
their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the
descendants of Anak! The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites,
Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live
along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.”
But
Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go
at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”
But
the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t
go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” So they spread this
bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled
through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the
people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of
Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they
thought, too!”
1. What did the Lord say to Moses?
2. How many men did Moses send?
3. Was Joshua with Caleb or the other men?
4. What were the instructions Moses gave to these men?
5. After how many days did the men return?
6. What was the report they gave to Moses?
7. Was it a negative or positive report?
8. What did Caleb say?
9. What did the other men say?
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