The Law · Chapter 13 of 36

Numbers 13

At God's word Moses sends twelve leaders, one per tribe, to scout the land of Canaan for forty days. They return with its fruit, a single cluster of grapes carried on a pole, and confirm it flows with milk and honey. But ten spread fear, describing fortified cities and giants before whom they felt like grasshoppers. Only Caleb urges the people to go up at once, confident they are well able to take it.

What happens in Numbers 13

The LORD tells Moses to send men to search out Canaan, one ruler from each tribe, and Moses sends them from Paran, renaming Oshea as Joshua. He charges them to assess the land, its people, cities, and soil, and to bring back fruit. They go up through the Negev to Hebron, where they see the descendants of Anak, and reach the brook Eshcol, cutting down a cluster of grapes so large it is carried between two men on a staff, along with pomegranates and figs.

After forty days they return and report that the land indeed flows with milk and honey, showing its fruit. But they add that the people are strong, the cities walled and great, and the sons of Anak are there. Caleb quiets the people and urges an immediate advance, but the other ten insist Israel cannot prevail, spreading an evil report and calling themselves grasshoppers before giants.

Numbers 13 in context

Chapter thirteen brings Israel to the threshold of the promised land at Kadesh and sets up the decisive crisis of the book. The spy mission itself is legitimate, but it becomes the occasion for testing whether Israel will trust God's promise.

The good fruit proves the land is all God said, so the issue is never the land's goodness but Israel's faith. The contrast between Caleb's confidence and the ten's fear frames the tragic response that follows in chapter fourteen.

Main themes of Numbers 13

Numbers 13 (KJV)

1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. 3And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. 4And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. 5Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. 6Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 7Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. 8Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun. 9Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. 10Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. 11Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. 12Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. 13Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. 14Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. 15Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. 17And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: 18And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; 19And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; 20And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes. 21So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. 22And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23And 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. 24The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. 25And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. 26And 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. 27And 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. 28Nevertheless 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. 29The 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. 30And 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. 31But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32And 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. 33And 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.

Verses to carry from Numbers 13

“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.”Numbers 13:27

“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.”Numbers 13:30

“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.”Numbers 13:33

Reflection

Twelve men saw the same land, the same fruit, the same giants, yet returned with opposite reports. The difference was not information but faith. When you face a genuine obstacle, notice whether you are measuring yourself or measuring God.

Fear shrinks you before the challenge; faith remembers the promise. Choose, like Caleb, to reckon with the God who goes before you.

A prayer from Numbers 13