NUMBERS 13
The searchings of God continue in this chapter and the next, and it is from that point of view that the sending of men to search out the land is presented. “And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel” (verses 2,3). It will be observed that there is no description of the land; no alluring picture of its waterbrooks, springs, and deep waters, and all the variety of its wealth, such as we get in Deuteronomy 8:7 - 10. It is simply “the land ... which I give”, intimating that God would test them as to the place which He had in their hearts. If they loved Him, what He gave would be very attractive to them, as it was to Caleb, of whom He said, “he ... hath followed me fully” (chapter 14:24). In this chapter it was left entirely to them to form their own estimate of the land, and to give their own report.
“And Moses sent them to search out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up this way by the south, and go up into the hill-country, and ye shall see the land, what it is; and the people that dwell [p. 159] in it, whether they are strong or weak, few or many; and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps or in strongholds; and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there are trees in it, or not. And take courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first grapes” (verses 18 - 21). We may be sure that Jehovah would never have proposed such a course save as a test. It would have been quite unnecessary to a people who knew and confided in Him, and who believed His word. It was part of His ways to bring to light the true state of the hearts of His people, as it was known to Him. He allows our hearts to be tested, not that He may know what is in them, but that we may know. Jesus said to Philip, “Whence shall we buy loaves that these may eat? But this he said trying him, for he knew what he was going to do” (John 6:5,6). We know from Deuteronomy 1 that the suggestion to send spies came from the people, the evidence of their unbelief, but here in Numbers it is seen to be a test ordered by God. The two things often combine; that is, something which originates in unbelief becomes part of the ways of God to search our hearts.
The test is now “the land ... which I give”. It is an important and crucial moment in the history of God’s people when they are first brought into contact with what God proposes to give them. Perhaps we do not always think when we read the epistles to the Colossians and the Ephesians that God may be testing the whole state of our hearts! This may be also the case when we hear or read any ministry with reference to those things which answer to “the land”. Or when we come in contact with persons who have an interest in those things. At such times we are tested by the estimate which we form of what comes before us. The [p. 160] twelve men exposed the state of their hearts by their estimate of what they saw in the land, and by the account which they gave of it. And it is well for us to remember that in forming and expressing an opinion on ministry, or on what may come before us in other saints, we are often simply revealing our own inward state.
“The land” speaks of what God has in His heart for His people, and therefore it becomes a greater test even than conditions in the wilderness. If God brings His people into contact with what His heart would delight to give them it finds out how far God Himself, as known in love, has His place before us. The consequences of failure under this test were much more serious than they were under any previous one, for, with two exceptions, the carcases of all that generation fell in the wilderness. “They could not enter in on account of unbelief”.
But it is very striking that just at this point “Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Jehoshua” (verse 17). Hoshea means “Deliverance”, but Jehoshua means “Jehovah is Saviour”. Moses by the prophetic Spirit looked beyond all the failure that was about to be manifested in the people, and had One in the vision of his soul who would not fail nor be discouraged, but in whom the greatness of God as Saviour would be seen. It is a blessed hint that the land would be possessed in the power of a salvation which is wholly of God. He was about to expose the unbelief of a generation that erred in heart, and had not known His ways. He was wrath with that generation, and swore in His wrath that none of them should enter into His rest. But He did not abandon what was before His heart; He had in mind to effect His own purpose by One who would carry in with Himself all that was the fruit of God’s election. Jehoshua is, typically, Christ as the One by whom, and in whom,
[p. 161] a place is secured for us in the land, in the greatness of God’s salvation.
The greatest aspect of present salvation which Scripture presents is the Ephesian aspect. “The glad tidings of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13) has in view the possession of the inheritance (see verses 11 - 14), and being saved by grace (Ephesians 2:5 - 8) comprehends being quickened with the Christ, and raised up together, and made to sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. All that is the wondrous outcome of the riches of God’s mercy, and because of His great love wherewith He loved us. There is no room there for failure; our side is simply “dead in offences”. It is too late for testing the flesh; everything is hopeless on that line; it must be altogether God as Saviour. It is a comfort to see that before the twelve men went to search out the land God had distinctly in view that He would bring His people in, not on the ground of anything there might be, or might not be, in the flesh, but by means of Christ, and by His own sovereign love, and His mercy and grace. These are things into which failure cannot intrude, for they are purely of God. And this is suggested to us as the standpoint from which God contemplated the effectuation of the purpose of His love before the testing of the flesh in relation to it took place. Jehoshua speaks of this; and this is a blessed thing to have before us before viewing the terrible breakdown of the flesh in unbelief. We are privileged, through infinite grace, to take account of all the unbelief and failure of the flesh as those who are in the light of what Christ la, and of God as Saviour. This alters the whole outlook of the soul. If God gets His place before us it shows that a new element altogether has come in. God being before us is by a new “inward man” having come into being. The man of sin and unbelief is morally [p. 162] set aside. And the Christian, as such, has put off the old man, and has put on the new.
But then, in the ways of God, He does test and expose the flesh, and the supreme test is by bringing it into contact with that which divine love proposes to give. He causes us to learn that, according to the flesh we do not appreciate that which He has in view for us. This brings about a very deep judgment of our flesh; it is not only that it lusts after evil thing, but it is not attracted in the smallest degree by the precious things which are beyond the reach of death, and which can be known and enjoyed in “the land”. The flesh does not want those things now. Learning this lesson brings us to spiritual reality. If God allows us to see that we are practically governed by fleshly and natural thoughts and that we really have not Him before us, there is still space for repentance if we do not harden our hearts. His word is discerning our thoughts and intents, not to discourage us, but to lead us to turn to Him in a sense that He is supreme in grace. He will come in for everyone who turns to Him, and give impulse to the soul to go in for all that is spiritually available through His gift of love. He will give us another spirit so that we may become like Caleb.
The twelve men surveyed the whole of the land. It is part of God’s way with His people that what He has to give shall be viewed and reported upon. I believe He brings the whole Christian profession under responsibility in this way, for the twelve men represented all Israel. Their going through the land did not give them possession of it, but it gave them a view of it which brought them under responsibility as to their own estimate of it, and as to what they reported about it. One of the most solemn responsibilities which attach to the Christian profession is that [p. 163] men are allowed, as it were, to view what God proposes to give. We read in Hebrews 6:4,5 of some who are “enlightened, and who have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the works of power of the age to come”. All this is not possession, but, like the forty days searching out the land, it is enough to test the heart as to whether what God gives is valued, and whether there is faith to go in for it in spite of all difficulties.
If God brings before us what He is now giving, He intends that our estimate of it shall come to light; we become responsible to give a report, as the twelve men did. Now, what are we saying with our lips and by our lives? Are we saying that what God gives at the present time is the very best that love can give, and that it is in our hearts, and that we are set to go in for it, having confidence in God that He will bring us into it? Do we really want all the people of God to go in for it? In short, are we Calebs? Or are we “bringing up an evil report upon the land”?
God has set before us all that is most precious in His sight. “The land” is described in Ezekiel 20:6 as being “the ornament of all lands”. It is the choicest possible portion for men, for it is that which the love of God proposes to give; it must therefore surpass every other gain, and transcend the highest thoughts of men. The language of faith is, “Thou, O Jehovah my God, has multiplied thy marvellous works, and thy thoughts toward us: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee; would I declare and speak them, they are more than can be numbered” (Psalm 40:6). “But how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand” (Psalm 139:17,18). If God proposes in His love to give a “land” to those in whom He delights, faith would never think of enquiring “whether it is good or bad”. It must be good, it must be the best, if God gives it.
“The land” is typical of a spiritual inheritance which can be entered upon and enjoyed here and now by those who know what it is to be “risen with Christ”. The men had to say, “surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it” (verse 28). The people were tested, not only by a report, but by actual fruits being brought to them; the bunch of grapes, and the pomegranates, and the figs were there to tell their own tale. I have no doubt that God has caused some of the fruit of the land to be brought under the notice of His people generally. If only a few are in the good of it in some small measure it becomes a tangible witness to all. And nothing is more characteristic of “the land” than the wealthy supplies of spiritual nourishment which are found there. I believe that God has given, even in these last days, tangible evidence of the abundant food supply which is furnished in “the land”. It is perhaps hardly realised what a test this is to all those who become aware of it. It cannot be ignored. It will either result in the awakening of desire for that kind of food, and appreciation of the region which produces it, or it will call out, as in the case before us, a definite despising of the pleasant land.
“Milk” is clearly maternal in origin, and, as flowing in the land, it typifies a nourishment furnished from a source altogether above the level of man after the flesh. We learn from Galatians 4 that a mother suggests symbolically a system which gives character to its children; whether it be the legal system “gendering to bondage”, or the system of grace and liberty set forth in Jerusalem above “which is our mother”.
It is “above” in the sense of the elevation which belongs to the whole economy of grace. “Milk” establishes with grace, and sustains in liberty; it ever nourishes souls with what is purely of God, and established in Christ. “Milk”, as flowing in the land, is not merely food for babes, but is suitable for all ages, being mentioned more than once along with “wine”. (Song of Songs 5:1; Isaiah 15:1.) It ministers all the elevated thoughts of grace, even up to the height of Ephesians, and thus liberates from what is on the level of man here, whether as legal or carnal, and builds up the saints in a spiritual constitution.
Then “honey” is the sweet product of the co-operation of many; it speaks of what results from the happy mutual relations in which the saints are set together in the Christian circle, each one contributing something to the common wealth. A completely isolated saint might get a little “milk”, but he could hardly have “honey”. Spiritual prosperity or increase does not come on the line of isolation, so that the idea of the monk or the hermit is all wrong in principle as well as in practice. The truth of the body has a vital bearing on this. “The whole body, fitted together, and connected by every joint of supply, according to the working in its measure of each one part, works for itself the increase of the body to its self-building up in love” (Ephesians 4:16).
The grapes and the pomegranates and the figs typify “the fruit of the light” (Ephesians 5:9). They represent what comes out in the saints as the fruit of the effective divine light in which we are set. It is not a barren light, but a light which fructifies and brings out something positive “in all goodness and righteousness and truth”. Ephesians 4, Ephesians 5, Ephesians 6 give us a comprehensive idea of this, and show how the light brings forth wonderful fruit.
[p. 166] God sees to it that all in the Christian profession get some impression of what kind of place “the land” is. It is spoken of in the Scriptures, at any rate, and it is the subject of spiritual ministry, and there is some witness to it also in saints who walk in the truth. And this becomes a test to all in the profession as to whether it is supremely attractive, so that we are prepared to go in wholeheartedly for it, as being of the generation of faith who can count on God to bring us in.
“And they went up by the south, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt” (verse 23). Hebron means “company”, and it is striking that it should be the first place in the land that the men came to. It suggests the spiritual companionship which God would have His people to enjoy in that “out of the world” condition which is set forth typically in the land over Jordan. And the Spirit of God calls our attention to the fact that “Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt”. It speaks of “God’s wisdom in a mystery, that hidden wisdom which God had pre-determined before the ages for our glory: which none of the princes of this age knew, (for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;) but according as it is written, Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man’s heart, which God has prepared for them that love him, but God has revealed to us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God”. (1 Corinthians 2:7 - 10).
Zoan was the place where the wisdom of Egypt was concentrated, but God causes its princes to become foolish (Isaiah 19:11,13); He has done wonders in the field of Zoan (Psalm 78:12,13). He has brought in death on all the wisdom of man; 1 Corinthians 1 shows [p. 167] the wonders He has wrought in the field of Zoan. All that Zoan stands for was brought under judgment in the death of Christ. Zoan means “the place of departure”; how suggestive that is! Whatever man may have in the world — whether wisdom, riches, or honour — he has to leave it all! But those who are called leave it because Christ has become to them “God’s power and God’s wisdom”. They come to things which were pre-determined before the ages for their glory long before there were any thoughts of this world’s wisdom at all. God would have His people to come to Hebron — to enjoy in companionship precious things which were hidden in the depths of God before the ages, but which are now revealed by His Spirit. Those things are beyond the reach of death; they belong to “the land”.
But Hebron cannot be possessed without conflict, for “the children of Anak were there”, and they were “of the giants”. They represent what is great in the estimation of men. “Persuasive speech”, “philosophy and vain deceit”, “the teaching of men”, “the elements of the world” (see Colossians 2), are all “sons of Anak” who would keep us out of Hebron. The danger is that what is great in the estimation of men may become great in our estimation. The searchers said, “There have we seen giants ... and we were in our sight as grasshoppers, and so we were also in their sight” (verse 34). If we see men as giants God is not before us, and we have lost sight of the fact that He is with His people. Then we become daunted in face of the great show which man makes in the religious and intellectual world.
The names of the three sons of Anak are very suggestive. Ahiman means, “Brother of man”, setting forth that Satan opposes the truth of the Christian company by a counterfeit of the divine thought. He [p. 168] would bring the people of God down to a level where they would be on common ground with man after the flesh, so that they might be influenced by human philosophy and teaching, “according to the elements of the world”. Then Sheshai means “Free”, but he represents a form of liberty which is antagonistic to the freedom with which Christ sets free. The principle of liberty for the mind of man, if once admitted, leads eventually to the complete exclusion of the Spirit of God. Along with this, submission to the lordship of Christ, and to the authority of the Holy Scriptures, is bound to disappear. It is fatal to all that properly belongs to Hebron. Talmai is “Bold”, and no one can fail to be struck by the assurance of the human mind, and its confidence in itself. Men put out their conclusions on divine things without the least misgiving, and the very boldness of the mind of man often greatly affects even true believers. All the infidelity that now corrupts the Christian profession is the result of giving way before the sons of Anak. These giants have to be completely dispossessed if the companionship of the Christian circle is to be enjoyed. Hebron, as held for God, would answer to such a company as we read of in Colossians, where Christ is everything and in all. The workings of the human mind have no place there.
“And they came as far as the valley of Eshcol, and cut down thence a branch with one bunch of grapes, and they bore it between two upon a pole” (verse 24). This was an incident of outstanding importance. “The land” is characterised by yielding in extraordinary profusion what is typical of joy; its grapes have their spiritual anti-type in the New Testament references to fulness of joy (see John 15:11; John 16:24; 1 John 1:4). “One bunch” sets forth a complete unity, made up of a number of different parts. I have no doubt it [p. 169] was a figure of what was in the mind of God in regard to His people. His thought was that, as in “the land”, they should be an expression in unity of the joy into which He had brought them. John speaks of a fellowship characterised by fulness of joy (1 John 1: 3,4); this fellowship has not its place in the wilderness, but in the land. We may be convinced that there is such a thing, as the children of Israel were when they saw the bunch of grapes being carried on a pole. There was a witness before their eyes of what characterised the land, but we are not told that anybody ate of it; much less did they go to where it grew! The divine thought is that what is characteristic of the land shall come out in a living way in the saints. It is obvious that fulness of joy is not abstract truth; it is something that, if true at all, is realised in persons. What was set forth symbolically in the “one bunch of grapes” was a complete contrast to everything that was coming out in the people. Instead of unity in the joy of what was given of God there was unbelief, discord, and rebellion.
One grieves to think how true this is as a prophetic picture. The witness has been brought to the people of God — in the Scriptures, if nowhere else — of the opening up of a spiritual region marked by fulness of joy. The divine thought is that the children of God should come into the unity of fellowship with the apostles, and have their joy full. This has been brought before us as definitely as the bunch of grapes was shown to the whole assembly of Israel. But the history of the church, and its present condition, is the sorrowful proof that it has not prevailed over the unbelief of the human heart.
The men returned with a true report of the land (verse 28), but they had more to say about the difficulties that would be encountered than of the goodness [p. 170] of the land. This is always the way with unbelief. It may admit that what God proposes is good, but it considers that the difficulties make it impracticable. The fact is that there is no appreciation in the flesh of what God has to give; His word has not been hearkened to; the supposed difficulties are only excuses for unbelief. Read carefully Hebrews 3, Hebrews 4 as to this.
It is obvious that a faith position of “risen with Christ” is spoken of in Scripture, and that it involves seeking the things above, where the Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, and having the mind on those things, and not on things on the earth. But the flesh has not the least bit of inclination to go in for such things. The whole system of religious things on earth is much more attractive. The flesh prefers some kind of religious place and system here, some provision for what is natural and social, something that the young people can enjoy! “Dead with Christ”, “risen with Christ”, “life hid with the Christ in God”, the new man where Christ is everything and in all! The flesh has no liking at all for such things, and therefore sees tremendous difficulties in the way of reaching them. We have to learn that our flesh is as indisposed toward such things as anybody else’s flesh. It is true that there are difficulties and enemies in the way, but faith believes God and counts upon Him.
So at this juncture the voice of faith was lifted up courageously. “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up boldly and possess it, for we are well able to do it” (verse 31). Caleb represents the product of divine working in man, “But the people that know their God shall be strong, and shall act” (Daniel 11:32). Caleb did not think of himself, or of the people of God, as grasshoppers, for he thought of God as with His people, and delighting in them. He was whole-heartedly set for what God [p. 171] had given because God was before him. “But my servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit in him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereunto he came; and his seed shall possess it” (Numbers 14:24). Caleb sets forth what is secured in man by the work of God, something altogether different from what characterises the flesh. He had the land in his heart because GOD had given it, and his heart was full of confidence in God that by His power they were well able to go up and possess it.
But the flesh is marked by unbelief. And though the ten men at first brought a good report of the land, as soon as they saw the indisposition of the people to receive it, they changed their evidence. Their own unbelief infected the people, and then the unbelief of the people re-acted on them, so that, after saying that the land surely flowed with milk and honey, they turned round and said, “The land ... is a land that eateth up its inhabitants”, which was very strange if all the people that they had seen in it were men of great stature! But such is the inconsistency and self-contradiction of unbelief. Unbelief is a vigorous weed that grows apace in the human heart, and rapidly spreads from one to another. It develops, too, as we may see in Hebrews 3, from one stage to another, until finally the word goes forth that none of those who refuse to hearken to God’s voice shall see the land. So far as we are concerned, that word has not yet gone forth definitively. We know that Psalm 95: 7,8 is the present voice of the Holy Spirit. In the mercy of God there is a prolonged “Today” which has not yet expired. It was present when David wrote the Psalm, “after so long a time” had already elapsed, and it continued still when the epistle to the Hebrews was written. And nearly two thousand years later, in this our time, the Holy Spirit is still saying — note it [p. 172] is in the present tense in Hebrews 3:7 — “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts”. The door is held open by infinite mercy to give us still an opportunity to judge our natural unbelief, and to hearken to the word of God which is speaking still of all that His love has to give.