I discovered something else as well. This had to do with the reason Moses was also left behind, and prevented from going into the promised land. Here, in Deuteronomy, Moses is recounting what has occurred, and the attitude and behavior of the people of Israel. What do you see in his account of the events? How does his version of the events differ from what actually happened?

 

Deu 1:6  The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:

Deu 1:7  Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all [the places] nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.

Deu 1:8  Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

 

The first thing I see, is that God spoke to them and said basically, “You’ve been in this place long enough. Now it’s time to move out of it. Its time to go in and take the land that I’ve set before you, the same land I promised to your forefathers.

 

Deu 1:9  And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:

Deu 1:10  The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye [are] this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.

 

The second thing is that Moses was feeling overwhelmed with the quantity of the people he had to deal with, and a sense of solitude in bearing the burden of these people. Additionally, God had fulfilled the promise spoken of to Abram in Genesis.

 

Gen 17:2  And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

 

Deu 1:11  (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye [are], and bless you, as he hath promised you!)

Deu 1:12  How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?

 

He was really feeling burdened and overwhelmed. This verse tells how much, because both the words “cumbrance” and “burden” means burden. He also mentions “strife.” In other words, they were quarreling and bickering amongst themselves so much, and he was tired of having to judge their differences and disputes.

 

Deu 1:13  Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.

Deu 1:14  And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken [is] good [for us] to do.

Deu 1:15  So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.

Deu 1:16  And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between [every] man and his brother, and the stranger [that is] with him.

Deu 1:17  Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; [but] ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment [is] God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring [it] unto me, and I will hear it.

 

So he finally delegated, and remained only as the judge of last recourse, if the chain of command was unable to render a ruling.

 

Deu 1:18  And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

Deu 1:19  And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.

 

He brought them out of Horeb, which is a desert; into Kadeshbarnea, which is a holy place.

 

Jer 2:6  Neither said they, Where [is] the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?

 

Deu 1:20  And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us.

Deu 1:21  Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up [and] possess [it], as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.

 

What’s interesting here, is that a mountain signifies a promotion. Amorites means a “sayer.” The thought I have is…they came to what looked like a mountain, but it was actually the doorway to their promotion. The question was for “a sayer.” In other words…what would they confess in light of this “mountain” in their path? Their first response was a good one. Let’s do some research.

 

Deu 1:22  And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.

Deu 1:23  And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:

Deu 1:24  And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.

 

However, I wonder if the issue of research was simply a stalling tactic because they really didn’t want to make the effort to take the land? In light of the report that comes back, I have to question this.

 

Deu 1:25  And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought [it] down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, [It is] a good land which the LORD our God doth give us.

 

Jer 2:7  And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

 

This fascinates me because clearly, he’s saying the “Lord wanted to give you abundance, and provided that place of abundance like He promised.”

 

Deu 1:26  Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:

Deu 1:27  And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

Deu 1:28  Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people [is] greater and taller than we; the cities [are] great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.

 

Jer 2:8  The priests said not, Where [is] the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after [things that] do not profit.

 

The rebellion was so great, that even their spiritual leaders did not recognize what God had given them, because otherwise, they would have spoken up and been in agreement with Moses. The problem was that their hearts were not truly with God.

There seemed to be a lot of attitude problems going on here with the people of Israel, and it is evident that this was the reason that that entire generation had to die out, prior to the people being led into the promised land. What gets me here, is that this particular generation had a “slave” mentality, and this prevented them from going forth and achieving.

I look at the poor and middle classes in this day and age, and I see the same thing. I’m trying to evolve in my thinking from that outdated way of thinking, so this is waking me up more. The criticism that Moses endured that so angered him, had to do with their attitude, lack of gratitude, and their limited sight. They could not see beyond their immediate needs.

They were a generation of instant gratification. When they were hungry, they whined about lack of food; when thirsty, about lack of water. Everything they thought or cared about had to do with gratifying their flesh, and they could not see beyond that. What it makes me see is that it is difficult for people who have been deprived for a long time, to (#1) have vision, and (#2) be motivated to stick with it through completion.

So they (the spies) were “drawn” to the “light bringer,” in the congregation of “God prevails,” in a place of caverns that was holy, and yet, they gave a bad report.

The amazing thing is the number of signs and symbols that was given to them to help them recognize the fact that God would prevail despite the obstacles. People are always asking for a sign, and I think many times, they are right in front of them, and they fail to see them.

Num 13:27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this [is] the fruit of it.
Num 13:28 Nevertheless the people [be] strong that dwell in the land, and the cities [are] walled, [and] very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
Num 13:29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

Amalek = “dweller in a valley”
1) son of Eliphaz by his concubine Timnah, grandson of Esau, and progenitor of a tribe of people in southern Canaan.

Hittite = “descendant of Heth”
1) the nation descended from Heth, the 2nd son of Canaan; once inhabitants of central Anatolia (modern Turkey), later in north Lebanon.

Jebusite = “descendants of Jebus”
1) descendants of the 3rd son of Canaan who lived in or around the site of Jebus, the early name for Jerusalem.

Amorite = “a sayer”
1) one of the peoples of east Canaan and beyond the Jordan, dispossessed by the Israelite incursion from Egypt.

Canaanite = see Cana “zealous”
1) descendant of inhabitant of Canaan

The crucial word here is “nevertheless.” They reported all the prosperity in the land, never recognizing the fact that they were already lined up to prevail and take it. Here they were in a holy place (Kadesh-barnea) and they denied the power of God.

Num 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

Caleb, who’s name means “dog,” strikes me as being like a hound dog in the midst of a bunch of pampered pooches that were just going for a walk. Once set on the trail, once given the scent, he’s going to really sniff it out. Joshua, if I were to compare him the same way, was probably similar to a bull dog, so he’d be right there with the hound, ready to go after the prize.

One thing I recognize here. Joshua and Caleb filed the minority report, but they were right. Following the crowd, or having the power of numbers does not make you right.

Sometimes, people know what’s right, but are afraid to say so. Usually, it takes someone (a leader) with some boldness to step up and assert what is right, and then others timidly follow. However, in this case…it didn’t matter that someone asserted their faith. The remaining ten banded together in their “powerlessness pitch” and denied the power of God.

Num 13:31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they [are] stronger than we.
Num 13:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, [is] a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it [are] men of a great stature.
Num 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, [which come] of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

First of all, this was called an evil report, because they were sent out as emissaries of God. These were called upon to do some research, before embarking on a plan, because you have to have a clear understanding of what it is you are going after, prior to developing a plan on how to take it.

These guys could see nothing but themselves; their flesh. When they gave their first report back in verses 27-29, they told of the strength and fertility of the land. In other words, this is a gold mine! Possessing this place would make us very strong; would fortify us; would increase us, would make us rich! That was the essence of their description on the place itself.

Then they turned around and said the big word of rebellion: “but.” Here’s where the whining came in. “…But it’s got giants of great stature! We look like grasshoppers next to them! It’s impossible!” Instead of being willing to take a risk and try to see or find a way to accomplish this despite the “odds,” they just gave up and said, “We can’t.” Their attitude falls back again to a slave mentality of defeat.

Num 13:23  And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and [they brought] of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

Num 13:24  The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

Num 13:25  And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

 

Eshcol = “cluster”

 

The number forty in scripture, particularly the old testament, usually signifies a move of God, or that something is led by the Holy Spirit. Both the number “4″ and “40″ in scripture signify a move of the Spirit.

 

Num 13:26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.

 

Moses = “drawn”

1) the prophet and lawgiver, leader of the exodus

 

Aaron = “light bringer”

1) brother of Moses, a Levite and the first high priest

 

Israel = “God prevails”

 

Paran = “place of caverns”

1) wilderness area bounded on the north by Palestine, on the west by the wilderness of Etham, on the south by the desert of Sinai, and on the east by the valley of Arabah; the exodus was through this area and probably all 18 stops were in this area.

 

Kadesh = “holy”

1) a city in the extreme south of Judah

            a) same as ‘Kedesh’ and ‘Kadesh-barnea’

 

It is this same Kadesh-barnea location, that the children of Israel were at, at the time that Moses struck the rock in anger.(Num 20:11) This is why he was not allowed to enter the promised land. He was in a holy place, and as the leader, he allowed criticism to make him lose control.

 

I have several different bibles now. One of them is a John Maxwell leadership bible. In it, he talks about this issue that Moses had and how to deal with criticism.

 

First, he says that in leadership, criticism and confrontation come with the territory. “Leaders can bank on two truths. First, they will be criticized. Second, criticism always changes the leader. Unhappy people tend to attack the point person. Moses’ own family criticized him.”

 

This is what he says God wants us to know about how to handle criticizm:

1.      Maintain your humility (Num 12:3)

2.      Face the criticism squarely (Num 12:4)

3.      Be specific about the issue (Num 12:5-8)

4.      Lay out consequences (Num 12:9-10)

5.      Pray for the criticizers (Num 12:12-13)

6.      Restore them when appropriate (Num 12:14)

 

He also says to consider ten ways that leaders should handle criticism:

1.      Understand the difference between constructive and destructive criticism (who benefits?).

2.      Don’t take yourself too seriously (but take your God very seriously).

3.      Look beyond the criticism to see the critic (do you respect him? what’s her need?)

4.      Guard your own attitude toward the critic (don’t get defensive; stay objective).

5.      Recognize that good people get criticized (don’t beat yourself up).

6.      Keep yourself physically and spiritually in shape (weariness distorts our perspective).

7.      Don’t see only the critic; see the crowd (is the criticism widespread?).

8.      Wait for time to prove the critic wrong (be mature enough to be patient).

9.      Associate with people of faith (spend your optional time with optimists).

10.  Concentrate on your mission; change your mistakes (focus on the big picture).