Numbers 12:1-14:25, Mark 14:53-72

Thought from Today’s Old Testament Passage: Whose idea was it to send in the spies? Was it the idea of God? Was it His thought to spy out the land? No.… Although we get the impression here that this is God’s idea, we find that He was responding to their request. Listen to the account in Deuteronomy: “And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us. 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. 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” (Deut. 1:20–22). It was not God’s idea to send spies into the land. The sending in of the spies denoted a weakness and a fear on the part of the people. There was a fear that maybe they wouldn’t be able to take the land. It was so easy for them to rationalize and decide on spies as a matter of wisdom. However, God is leading Israel to the land He has promised them. Their request for spies reveals a lack of faith on their part. They are not trusting Him. God had already been in and spied out the land. He knew all about it. He would not have sent them into the land unless He knew they could take it. When they finally did enter the land, the giants were still there; all the difficulties and problems were still there, yet they took the land. (J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson), 1997 © 1981 by J. Vernon McGee)