We use cookies to collect general visitor statistics but not personal information. Privacy policy

The 12 spies report back

The spies return and give conflicting reports.
Contributed by CommonToAll.com
Story also available on our translated websites: German, Hindi
1
Ten of the twelve spies  Moses had sent to explore the land of Canaan gave a fearful report, ‘The people who live there are powerful, and their cities are very large and well fortified. Even worse, we saw the descendants of the giants there.’  <br/>They also spread a false report, ‘The land doesn't even produce enough to feed the people who live there.’ <br/>The people were afraid and cried out in distress. They complained bitterly to Moses and wanted to go back to Egypt. – Slide 1
2
Only two spies brought a good report and they were Joshua and Caleb. They had faith in God and said, ‘The land we explored is an excellent land. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will take us there and give us that rich and fertile land. Do not rebel against the Lord and don't be afraid of the people who live there. We will conquer them easily. The Lord is with us. Don’t be scared.’ – Slide 2
3
But the people would not listen to them or trust that God would help them.  The whole community was threatening to stone them to death, but suddenly the people saw the dazzling light of the Lord’s presence appear over the Tent. – Slide 3
4
God said to Moses, ‘They have seen the dazzling light of my presence and the miracles that I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, but they have tried my patience over and over again and have refused to obey me. They will never enter the land which I promised to their ancestors. None of those who have rejected me will ever enter it. Only their children will enter the Promised Land along with Joshua and Caleb.’ – Slide 4
5
The Lord struck the ten fearful spies with a disease, and they died. Of the twelve spies, only Joshua and Caleb survived to enter the Promised Land. – Slide 5
6
When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said, they mourned bitterly. Early the next morning they started out to invade the hill country, saying, ‘Now we are ready to go to the place which the Lord told us about. We admit that we have sinned.’ <br/>But Moses said, ‘You will not succeed! Don't go. The Lord is not with you, and your enemies will defeat you. When you fight the Amalekites and the Canaanites, you will die in battle.’ – Slide 6
7
Yet they still dared to go up into the hill country, even though neither the Lord’s Covenant Box nor Moses left the camp. – Slide 7
8
Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived there attacked and defeated them. They pursued them as far as Hormah. Once again the people of Israel faced punishment for their lack of faith and disobeying God. – Slide 8
9
Slide 9