Twelve Spies
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of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as
grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
These men, having entered upon a wrong course, stubbornly set
themselves against Caleb and Joshua, against Moses, and against God.
Every advance step rendered them the more determined. They were
resolved to discourage all effort to gain possession of Canaan. They
distorted the truth in order to sustain their baleful influence. It “is a
land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof,” they said. This was not
only an evil report, but it was also a lying one. It was inconsistent with
itself. The spies had declared the country to be fruitful and prosperous,
and the people of giant stature, all of which would be impossible if
the climate were so unhealthful that the land could be said to “eat
up the inhabitants.” But when men yield their hearts to unbelief they
place themselves under the control of Satan, and none can tell to what
lengths he will lead them.
“And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the
people wept that night.” Revolt and open mutiny quickly followed; for
Satan had full sway, and the people seemed bereft of reason. They
cursed Moses and Aaron, forgetting that God hearkened to their wicked
speeches, and that, enshrouded in the cloudy pillar, the Angel of His
presence was witnessing their terrible outburst of wrath. In bitterness
they cried out, “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or
would God we had died in this wilderness!” Then their feelings rose
against God: “Wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to
fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey?
were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to
another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.” Thus they
accused not only Moses, but God Himself, of deception, in promising
them a land which they were not able to possess. And they went so far
as to appoint a captain to lead them back to the land of their suffering
and bondage, from which they had been delivered by the strong arm
of Omnipotence.
In humiliation and distress “Moses and Aaron fell on their faces
before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel,”
not knowing what to do to turn them from their rash and passionate
purpose. Caleb and Joshua attempted to quiet the tumult. With their
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garments rent in token of grief and indignation, they rushed in among
the people, and their ringing voices were heard above the tempest of