The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-08-28
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM.
MENTS FOR SEPT. 1 BY THE
REV. I. W. HENDERSON.

REV. 7. w. HENDERSON.
Subject: The Two Reports Of the
Spies, Numbers 13:17-20, 1888
Golden Text, Numbers, 14:0
Memory Verses, 80, 81.
Israel's attempt to enter the prom
ised land directly from the south was,
as we shall learn from a p~erusal OF
the lesson, a failure. They grew
f%ainthearted and doubted the power
of God to enable them to enter into
the land as long al 1t was inhabited
with the population that possessed
it. This lack of trust was fatal. tt
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. it meant Pisgah, and no.
more, for Moses.
Gods willingness to allow Israeli
to prove the possibility of a fulfill
ment of His promise Is the first no.
ticeable truth that the lesson Affords
for study. Israel, in spite Of allthe
evidences Of Gods providence, carer,
and capacity to provide for them, con-
stantly doubted God. They contin-
ually were impatient. When God
promised to bring them into atland
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 a good land ahead anf+
n that was all that He had prom
ised 1t to be. If Israel had been as
loyal to Jehovah as He was to Israel
they would never have desired any
other than Gods promise for the
satisfaction Of their souls. But they
were not thoroughly loyal. 1f4they
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. Butt
they lacked that sort Of love for, their
Lord. When they got the chance4to
send spies they sent them forthwith.
The spies wentAup.: looked over the
land, gathered grapes and pomgran-
ates and figs, studied the Inhabitants
~ S"O J - VI "
country, and returned, to camp. Oral
ly they reported according toithe kind
Of men they were. Caleb, q mangof
God and Of purpose and OF courage,
reported that the project could ber
brought to a glorious g~conclusfon.
Joshua. who also believed in God, a
man Of faith and'of valor, substan-
tiated Caleb,s story. The other ten
were like ten out: of, every twelve
men. They looked the difficulties In
the face, blanched and fed. They
we're towards. -
Let US consider the land that they
found first. 1t was Just what God
had declare 1t to be. 1t was indeed:
a land of promise, a land flowing with
milk and honey, a land of prosperity
There had been no deceit. The prac-
ticability 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
o. nation could desire. But 1t was
full of biz men and warriors. Caleb
and Joshua saw the pleasant prospect
and the rover of God. The other ten
men saw the Amelikites and the
Jebusites and the Utilities and the
Amorites and the giants. 1t was g.
ten to two report against the srelia-.
bility of God.
The ten men saw the difficulties.
And men without vision, tmen without
faith, men devoid Of the sense OF the
%omnipotence of the spiritual always
see the difficulties and exaggerate
them. The giants undoubtedly we're
men Of some size. But they in-i
creased their stature by taking
thought a ~hundredfold. A man with
out nerve Is a man who is easily
frightened. A man without courage
is easily scared. 4 nan without
faith in God takes po;t 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
eve way they looked. They r 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 q power that was greater
than all the hosts that were against
them. The God who made the grapes
"a able to lead Israel to EschoI. a.
glance at the land simply reinforced
their faith in the exactness of the d.
vine description. .l
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. F~iguratively speaking we
may say that the road to the king
dom is beset with hosts and giants
and enemies of the most rapacioua
class. The foretastes that we have
had of the glo7ies of the kingdom
justify the hope of a land that is
fairer than any eye hath yet e
buI lSu OuL VI IWClfS VI 10 HdSh1ly
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 u
into this land" We should all move
IN toward the promised land.
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