The Clovis news. [volume] (Clovis, N.M.) 1907-1929, 1913-12-18

~ ANAHAH NAANH
Kadesh Barnea. OoH"'Fv-
their objective point, IS a delightful
place, well watered-a sharp contrast
to the Desert Of Paran Here they
rested and refreshed themselves
Moses, full Of faith, proposed that they
proceed forthwith to enter Canaan, the
Land of Promise. +,
But the ~lsraelites were timid. They
had no knowledge Of war. excepting a
little experience with the A%malekltes
near Mt. Sinai. Their caution over
balanced their faith. They urged upon
Moses the sending Of the twelve spies.
These apparently we're divided under
two leaders, Caleb and Joshua. One
party went the length OF the land, and
returned In forty days; the others took
a shorter journey and returned sooner.
The spies were cautious men and
gave a truthful report Of the land, de-
claring that its cities had high walls
and would be difficult to overcome
They reported also that they had seen
giants. The report Of the ten IS de
scribed as an evil report because they
presented the matter from the view
point of it's difficulties. as in contrast
with the report made by Caleb and
Joshua, winch was styled a good re
port, because encouraging.
The spies really should have consid-
cred themselves as a committee of
ways md means for entering Canaan.
rather than for deciding whether it was
possible to enter. The possibilities
were already determined by Gods
promise; hence Joshua and Caleb left
these out Of account If God could de-
liver them from the Egyptians and the
Amalekites He surely could fulfil Ills
promise to bring them into Canaan.
Did God Encourage War;
In studying this lesson, many are
perplexed They say, It seems unreal
sonable to believe that God gave such
a message TO Moses and the ~Israelites
Contrast this with the S%crlptural dec.
laration that God will make wars to
cease unto the ends Of the earth"
Agnostics inquire, Where is the justice
Of commissioning the Israelites to steal
the lands Of the C%anaanites, and to ex
terminate utterly all the people?
To understand tho Bible. we must
Eiew 1t from its W standpoint, and
mot from that Of u creeds formulated
IN the darker days. nor from that Of
our own imperfect reasoning The BIZ
Bile is beautiful, consistent, Godlike,
only when viewed in its own light
We must remember that the Bible
antagonizes the theories Of u creeds.
which tell MS that those slaughtered
Canaanites went straight to an eter-
nifty of torture because they did not
know the true God and Jesus Christ,
the Savior. The Bible tells us that all
mankind are children Of Adam. and
all p%erlshing because Of his death SEN
tence When they die, they are not
alive anywhere. They are dead They
are suffering the penalty that God pro-
nounced. Dying. thou shalt die
10 matters not, therefore, In what
way we die. or very much whether Our
experiences be longer or shorter. In
the case Of the Canaanites. God de
elared that their lniquity had come to
the full. That is, God determined that
they were merely numbering the earth,
God was using the Israelites as a
typical people. through whom He was
making types and shadows Of coming
blessings. He would give Canaan to
WE caalsTipys ucRr- Israel. to illustrate
VIII SELF the destruction Of
n the works OF the
mLf-M flesh and the Devil.
INSA which His people
NNk "a would accomplish
M.5SW in themselves by
EHSM lighting the good
INV dght Of faith and
w /A overcoming the evil
W [(M lnndnnclna ~ thnir