The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1907-08-29
The Two Reports
of the Spies
Sunday School Lessonios Sept. I. 1907
Specially Prepared for This Papsr
Specially Prepared for This Pspsr

VI Au6ubt, int iituo VI
the first ripe grspes" (Num. 1920 3. c.
1890 by the common chronology. This
was two or three months after they left
Sinai on the 10th day OF the second
month. sometime In May
PLACB.-Kedesh-barn An udays
journey (Deut 1:D Of continued travel.
as modern traveieD have found robin
son was exactly II days.; l. O.. 100 or 40
miles route from Sinai. 1t 10 80 miles
south OF Beersheba on the southern
border of Palestine.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
For two or three months the peo.
pie Of Israel, men. women. and chill
dren. slowly marched through the
great and terrible wilderness" from
Sinai. a Journey which ordinary trav-
eIers could make in eleven days The
slow march and long rests were nee.
essary both on account OF the children
and the fiocks. and on account of the
need Of longer training. Moreover,
desert would make them more anx.
ious to enter the land flowing with
milk and honey"
Kadesh-barnea At length, some
time In July or August, they reached
Kadesh-barnea, Ain Qadees, 80 miles
south Of Beersheba. just at the foot Of
the range Of hills which are the south
ern boundary Of Palestine.
From Kadesh the people can see,
rising before them toward the north
west, the steep ascent which leads
Into the hill country. the destined in.
heritance OF the tribe OF Judah"
The gates to their new home were
before them. wide open. The fertile
oasis to which they had come was a
foretaste of their inheritance. Only q
steep climb and they can set their feet
on the land OF promise.
Then Moses said unto them; BE
hold, Jehovah thy God hath set the
land before thee: go up, take posses
sion, as Jehovah. the God OF thy ia.
thers. hath spoken unto thee; fear
not, neither be dismayed.-(Deut.
1:21)
They had only to trust God and go
forward. and In less than two years
from leaving Egypt the land would
have been theirs. The God who had
delivered them with a mighty hand
who had made path through the sea
who had rained mama. and brought
water from a rock. and spoken from
Sinai. and entered into covenant with
them. and was leading them by his
visible presence,-he bade them &c
up and take possession OF the prom
ised land .r,rmes --'~
The people were afraid to 90 for
ward. They were not warlike peo
Pile Abraham's attack on Chedorlao
mer and his army in rescue OF Lot, ir
the far distant past, and their battle
with the Amalekites, year before
this time, are the only battles record
ed In the whole history Of their race
The whole people (Deut, 1929 asked
Moses to first send out spies to In
vestigate This was wise under the
circumstances. that Is. the next wises
thing to going forward trusting ir
God. and therefore Moses agreed tC
the plan (Deut. 1920. and 1t was sG
directed by God Mum. 1871. %.
The Committee Of lnvestIg akion.-
Accordingly. Moses selected twelve
leading men best fitted for the ser
vice, whose names are given In vs.
Ais.
"Spy Out the land."-The objec
of this expedition was (D TO learr
what were the attractions of the coun
try; (2) the difficulties In the way o.
taking possession; (3) the best way
| Of thn (Al the
arations 1t was necessary to make
Get you up this way southwark" Bet
ter as in r. ". by the south. not re
ferring at all to the direction form the
Israelite's camp. but to well-defineC
tract of territory forming the south
ernmost and least fertile portion o
the land of Canaan II was called
1.-THE Negeb" or the South Country
literally, "the dryness." In the SANE
way we speak of the South NJ
matter In what direction we approach
1t.
The Two Reports.-The timid spie
were like Elishas servant "a King
6:16. ~. who saw the enemy. bu
did not see the heavenly chariots an,
horsemen ranged on the hills roun'
about. They saw the giants. but wer,
blind TO God.
The report was evil because
omitted the essential factor In tn
case
The minority report of Caleb an,
Joshua was good report because
while It accepted all the materia
facts OF the other. II embodied th'
one essential of'faith In God with u
outcome Of obedience and courage
The difference between the two ID.
in this: that the ten looked ct Go,
through the difficulties. ~ when yo,
look 1t the snu through q reverse'
telescope. and II seems indsnnitel,
distant and shorn of IL glory; Will
the two looked at difficulties throagl
God.--F. B. Meyer.