Numbers 13:26 - Meaning and Application

It is surprising that the Israelites waited forty days for their spies to return. They were just about to enter Canaan, and they had every reason to trust God’s power and promise. God had already led them with one miracle after another, yet they still trusted their own plans more than God’s covenant, his binding promise. How often we ruin our own peace through unbelief.

At last the messengers came back, but their report did not agree. Most of them discouraged the people from going into Canaan, and Israel was rightly left to this test because they had put so much trust in human opinion instead of God’s word. It is a just thing for God to give people over to strong lies when they refuse to receive the truth with love.

Their report had some truth in it. They could not deny that Canaan was a very rich land, and the cluster of grapes they brought back proved it plainly (Numbers 13:27). God had promised a land flowing with milk and honey, and even the wicked spies had to admit that this was true. In this way, God was still honored, and his promise was confirmed, even through his enemies.

Yet they later contradicted themselves when they said the land “devours its inhabitants” (Numbers 13:32). That makes no sense if the land was full of milk, honey, and grapes. Some think there was a plague in the land when they inspected it, and they should have seen that as God’s wise care, because it reduced the number of their enemies and made conquest easier. Instead, they blamed the country itself, and for this foolish fear of plague in Canaan they were later struck by a plague in the wilderness (Numbers 14:37).

Their main goal, though, was to make the conquest seem impossible. They said the people were strong (Numbers 13:28), of great size (Numbers 13:32), and stronger than Israel (Numbers 13:31). They described the cities as walled and very large, like unbreakable fortresses (Numbers 13:28). Above all, they focused on the giants, the sons of Anak, who were known for their enormous size (Numbers 13:28, 33). They spoke as if the sight of them had filled them with terror.

“We were like grasshoppers in our own eyes,” they said, meaning they felt tiny and helpless. They also said the giants must have looked on them with the same contempt and fear. So they concluded, “We are not able to go up against them” (Numbers 13:31), and decided they must look for some other way.

Even if they had judged only by human strength, they still had no good reason for cowardice. Israel had about 600,000 able men, organized and united, and that was a very strong army. Moses, their commander, was wise and brave, and if the people had taken courage, who could have stood against them? It is true that the Canaanites were strong, but they were spread out, some in the south and some in the hills (Numbers 13:29). Because they were so divided, they could not quickly gather together to resist Israel.

The land itself was rich enough to support an army, and if Israel won battles in the open field, the walled cities would likely fall too. As for the giants, their large size would only make them easier to see and strike. Big men are not always the bravest men.

But their greatest sin was not cowardice. Scripture marks them as unbelievers. They were not supposed to depend only on human chances. They had clear signs that God was with them and that his power was for them. If the Canaanites were stronger than Israel, were they stronger than the God of Israel? Israel was not strong enough in itself, but God Almighty was with them, and nothing is too hard for him.

They had also seen God’s power many times before. The Egyptians were far stronger than Israel, yet God destroyed them without Israel even drawing a sword. The Amalekites attacked Israel from a position of advantage, and God still defeated them. At that time, miracles were their daily food. Even the fact that God fed them so steadily and freely should have strengthened their faith.

More than that, God had already promised them victory. He had given Abraham every assurance that his descendants would possess the land (Genesis 15:18, 17:8). Through Moses, he had said plainly that he would drive the Canaanites out before them (Exodus 33:2), and that he would do it little by little (Exodus 23:30). After all that, for Israel to say, “We are not able to go up against them,” was really to say that God himself could not keep his word.

In effect, they were calling God a liar and saying he had promised more than he could do. Scripture sums up their sin like this, “They despised the pleasant land, and they did not believe his word” (Psalm 106:24). They had found the land to be just as good as God said, a land flowing with milk and honey, yet they would not trust that God would surely give it to them. They doubted eternal truth itself. This is the report of the evil spies.

Caleb encouraged the people to move forward, even though Joshua backed him up only after that (Numbers 13:30). Caleb quieted the crowd, which he already saw starting to stir up trouble before Moses himself. Even Moses, whose face shone after meeting with God, did not scare them into calm when they were already becoming unruly.

Caleb’s name means “all heart,” and he lived up to it. He was bold and wholehearted, and he wanted the people to be the same if they would listen to him. Joshua may have held back at first because, as Moses’ servant, he might have been accused of favoring Moses. So it was wise for Joshua to let Caleb take the lead at first. Caleb was from the tribe of Judah, the leading tribe, so he was also the right one to speak first.

Caleb had seen the strength of the land’s people as clearly as the other spies, yet he still spoke with great confidence: “We are well able to overcome them.” He then urged the people onward, speaking like a man ready to lead the charge. “Let us go up at once,” he said, as if one brave step would settle the matter. “Let us go up and possess it.” He did not say, “Let us go up and conquer it,” because in his mind the victory was already certain. All that remained was to enter and take the land God, their great Lord, was ready to give them.

The righteous are bold as a lion. Hard things in the path of salvation seem small and fade away before a living faith in God’s power and promise. Everything is possible to the one who believes, if God has promised it.