Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible in a year.
Yesterday we heard about how the children of Israel actually start moving after all the preparations and all the rules and the regulations concerning the putting up and the taking down of the Tabernacle of Meeting and how they are to camp.
They actually start moving and today we're going to hear about how spies are sent to the land of Canaan and what they see and how they report things back to the children of Israel.
Alright, let's begin. Today's reading is from Numbers chapters 13 and 14.
Chapter 13.
And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.
So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord.
All of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. Now these were their names.
From the tribe of Reuben, Shamua the son of Zakur. From the tribe of Simeon, Shafat the son of Hori.
From the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunah. From the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
From the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun.
From the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphel.
From the tribe of Zebulun, Gadiel the son of Sodhi.
From the tribe of Joseph, that is from the tribe of Manasseh, Gadhi the son of Susi.
From the tribe of Dan, Amiel the son of Gemali.
From the tribe of Asher, Shetud the son of Michael.
From the tribe of Naphtali, Nabih the son of Vufsi.
From the tribe of Gad, Gaeol the son of Maci.
These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land.
And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.
Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them,
Go up this way into the south and go up to the mountains and see what the land is like.
Whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many.
Whether the land they dwell in is good or bad.
Whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds.
Whether the land is rich or poor.
And whether there are forests there or not.
Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.
Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath.
And they went up through the south and came to Hebron.
Ahiman, Shishai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak were there.
Now Hebron was built 7 years before Zohan in Egypt.
Then they came to the valley of Eshkol and they cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes.
They carried it between two of them on a pole.
They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs.
The place was called the valley of Eshkol because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there.
And they returned from spying out the land after 40 days.
Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh.
They brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.
Then they told them and said, We went to the land where you sent us.
It truly flows with milk and honey.
And this is its fruit.
Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong.
The cities are fortified and very large.
Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south.
The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains.
And the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.
Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and take possession for we are well able to overcome it.
But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we.
And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out saying,
The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants.
And all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
There we saw the giants.
The descendants of Anak came from the giants.
And we were like grasshoppers in our own sight.
And so we were in their sight.
Chapter 14.
So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried.
And the people wept that night.
And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron.
And the whole congregation said to them, If only we had died in the land of Egypt.
Or if only we had died in this wilderness.
Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword.
That our wives and children should become victims.
Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?
So they said to one another, Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.
Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes.
And they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel saying,
The land we pass through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us.
A land which flows with milk and honey.
Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land.
For they are our bread.
Their protection has departed from them.
And the Lord is with us.
Do not fear them.
And all the congregation said to stone them with stones.
Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.
Then the Lord said to Moses, How long will these people reject me?
And how long will they not believe me?
With all the signs which I have performed among them.
I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them.
And I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.
And Moses said to the Lord, Then the Egyptians will hear it.
For by your might you brought these people up from among them.
And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land.
They have heard that you, Lord, are among these people.
That you, Lord, are seen face to face and your cloud stands above them.
And you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
Now if you kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of your fame will speak saying,
Because the Lord was not able to bring these people to the land which he swore to give them.
Therefore he killed them in the wilderness.
And now I pray, let the power of my Lord be great.
Just as you have spoken saying, The Lord is long-suffering and abundant in mercy,
Forgiving iniquity and transgression.
But he by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers,
On the children to the third and fourth generation.
Pardon the iniquity of these people, I pray, according to the greatness of your mercy.
Just as you have forgiven these people from Egypt even until now.
Then the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word.
But truly as I live all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
Because all these men who have seen my glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness
And have put me to the test now these ten times and have not heeded my voice.
They certainly shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers.
Nor shall any of those who rejected me see it.
But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed me fully,
I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.
Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley.
Tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying,
How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against me?
I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against me.
Say to them as I live, says the Lord, just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will do to you.
The carcasses of you who have complained against me shall fall in this wilderness.
All of you who were numbered according to your entire number from twenty years old and above.
Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun,
you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.
But your little ones whom you said would be victims I will bring in.
And they shall know the land which you have despised.
But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.
And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years.
And bear the brunt of your infidelity until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness.
According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days.
For each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years.
And you shall know my rejection.
I the Lord have spoken this, I will surely do so to all this evil generation who are gathered together against me.
In this wilderness they shall be consumed and there they shall die.
Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land,
who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land,
those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the Lord.
But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.
Of the men who went to spy out the land.
Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel.
And the people mourned greatly.
And they arose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain saying,
Here we are and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.
And Moses said, Now why do you transgress the command of the Lord? For this will not succeed.
Do not go up lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you.
For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you and you shall fall by the sword.
Because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.
But they presumed to go up to the mountain top.
Nevertheless, neither the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp.
Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them
and drove them back as far as Hormah.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did.
And I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.