The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1907-08-27
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM
MENTS FOR SEPT. 1 By THE
REV. /. w. HENDERSON.
Subject: The Two Reports of the
Spies, Numbers 13:t7-2O, 2S-33
Golden Text, Numbers, 1850
Memory Verses, 30, 81.


Spies, Numbers 13:t7-2O, 2S-s3
Golden Text, Numbers, 14:O
Memory Verses, 80, 81.
Israel's attempt to enter the prom
Used land directly from the south was,
as we shall learn from perusal of
the lesson, failure. They grew
fainthearted and doubted the power
of God to enable them to enter into
the land as long as it was Inhabited
with the population that possessed
it. This lack of trust was fatal lit
condemned them to wanderings for
! forty long and weary years. 1t meant
that many should die without expert
encing the JOY of entering the prom
ised land. 1t meant Pisgah, and no
more, for Moses.
Gods willingness to allow Israel
to prove the possibility of q fulfill
ment of His promise is the first no.
ticeable truth that the lesson affords
for study. Israel, in spite Of all the.
evidences of Gods providence, esre
and capacity to provide for them, con-,
stantly doubted God. They contin-
ually were impatient When God
promised to bring them into a land
flowing with milk and with honey
they were glad, but they were soon
distrustful. And so God permitted
them to send their spies in advance
that they might, weak and foolish as
they were, learn from experience
that there was good land ahead and
one that was all that He had prom
ised it to be. If Israel had been as
loyal to Jehovah as He was to Israel
they would never have desired any
0fnAr aic<
satisfaction of their souls. But they
were not thoroughly loyal. If they
had had the sort of love for God that
God had for them they would never
have sent spies into the land that
lay towards the south country. But
they lacked that sort of love for their
Lord. When they got the chance to
send spies they sent them forthwith.
The spies went up, looked over the
land, gathered grapes and pomgran-
ates and figs, studied the Inhabitants.
and the military resources of the
country, and returned to camp. Oral
ly they reported according to the kind
OF men they were. Caleb, man Of
God and of purpose and of courage,
reported that the project could Be,
brought to glorious conclusion.
Joshua. who also believed in God, a.
man of faith and of valor, substan-.
t1ated Calebs story. The other ten
were like ten out of every twelve.
men. They looked the difficulties in
the face, blanched and fed. They
were towards.
Let us consider the land that they,
found first. 1t was just what God!
had declared it to be. 1t was indeed
q land of promise, land flowing with
milk and honey, a land of prosperity.
There had been no deceit The prac-
tlcability of taking it depended en-
tirely upon their confidence in their
cause and their God. With the host
and the help that they had the risk
was negligible, though the task was
large. And possessing it they would
possess all that the heart of any man
or nation could desire But it was
full of big men and warriors Caleb
and Joshua saw the pleasant prospect
and the power of God. The other ten
men saw the Amelikites and the
Jebusites and the Hittites and the
Amorites and the giants. 1t was q
ten to two report against the relia-
bility of God
The ten men saw the difficulties.
And men without vision, men without
faith, men devoid of the sense of the
omnipotence of the spiritual always
| see the difficulties and exaggerate
them. The giants undoubtedly were
| men of some size. But they in
creased their stature by taking
thought hundredfold A man with
out nerve is a man who is easily
frightened. A man without courage
/ is easily scared. A man without
faith in God takes no delight in
| achieving the impossible The ten,
were men after that pattern. They
mistrusted God and had small conf
dence in their own powers. There
fore the giants became more insuper-
able barriers than the hills filled with
the Amorites, and the Amorites more
insuperable than the giants. Scared
! TO death, they saw defeat and disas-
| ter and possible extinction which
ever way they looked. They are sam
| pies of men without vision, without
faith in God.
Caleb and Joshua, however, were
men of insight and of fidelity to Je-
hovah. To them the grapes were
evidence of power that was greater
I than all the hosts thai were against
them. The God who made the grapes
was able to lead Israel to Eschol. A
glance at the land simply reinforced
their faith in the exactness of the di-
vine description.
The lessons are obvious as they
apply to-day. We are, in Christ, on
the road from a land of bondage to a.
land of Jehoyah's promise: the king
dom of God as revealed in and
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus
! Christ. Figuratively speaking we
may say that the "oad to the king
| dom is beset with hosts and giants
and enemies of the most rapacious
class. The foTetastes that we have
had of the gloTies of the kingdom
| justify the hope of land that is
fairer than any eye hath yet seen.
But ten out of twelve of us magnify
the difficulties while we forget the
| beauties. Two out of twelve of us,
| on the average, are men of faith,
| men of vision, men of courage. Ten
| out of twelve of us are afraid of the
enemy. All of us should be like Ca
leb. All of us should be like Joshua.
All of us should say: IF Jehovah de-
lights in us then He will bring us
into this land" We should all move
cn toward the promised land.