Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1919-02-20

LESSON FOR MARCH 2
THE REPORT OF THE SPIES.

THE REPORT OF THE SPIES
LESSON TExT-Numbers 1s.1714-es
GOLDEN TEKT-This is the victory
that overcometh the world. even our faith.
DEVOTIONAL READINGPsalm Is
PRIMARY ToPIc-The story of a won
JUNIOR TOPIC-Two men against ten
M fNTT MsT5sA ATTs rd 1872; eo
cowardice.
SENIOR AND ADULT roPIc-causes
l. The Spies Sent Out (13 1920.
Less than two years have passed
since the Israelftes were delivered
from Egyptian bondage. They are
now at Kadesh-Barnea, within sight
of the promised land. Moses urges
them to go in and take Immediate pos
session (Deut- L :21) but they fail be-
cause OF their unbelief (Heb. :19).
There was a threefold purpose in
sending out the spies: CD to see
whether the land was as God had told
them ". 1S) /; (2) to see whether the
people who dwelt there were strong
or weak, few or many (v- 49,; (3) to
see whether the cities were made up
of strongholds or tents ". 19). What
fo1lyl If God has spoken, to question
his word is simply unbeIef-
II. The Commission Executed (13:
21-25).
They entered the land from the
south and traverSed it to its north
ern limits. They spent forty days in
this investigating exploration. It is q
sad comment upon human nature when
men must spend forty days in finding
out the truthfulness of Gods word.
On their return from the north they
gathered some specimens of the fruit
of the land. Two of them, perhaps
Caleb and Joshua, bore a cluster of
grapes upon staff between them as
witness that God had spoken the
truth about the land.
Ill The Spies Rendered a Report
as :26-33).
On their return this committee of
explorers rendered a report to the
whole congregation. 1t was not unanf-
nous:
l. The majority report (vv- 1929.
(1) 1.-THE land f1oweth with milk and
honey ". 2O. AS a proof of it they
exhibited the fruit. They all bore
witness that this was in accordance
with what God had said. CD 1.-THE
people who live there are strong" ".
2S)- They seemed to stress this fact.
UnbeIief dwells mainly upon difficult
ties. CD ssThe people live in walled
cities" ". 2S). They argued that it
was impossible to capture them in
such sure defenses.. ca 1.-THE land
was inhabited by giants" ". % cf ".
33). They saw themselves as grass
| hoppers. Furthermore, they saw the
people so distributed-the AmaIekites
| in the south country, the Hittites, Jeb-
uSiteS and AmoriteS in the mountains
| and the CanaaniteS along the sea-
| that it was impossible to take them.
This, no 1oubt, seemed reasonable from
| the human side, but they displayed
| their folly in that they left God out
/ of the question. The same God who
| said to them, go, possess the land,
would go along to fight the battles
| 2 The minority report wv. 3O-33)
In part, this report agrees with the
| first; it does not ignore the difficult
| ties, nor dispute the facts. It denies
| the conclusion of the majority They
| did not minimize the task before them
| but asserted that with Gods help they
were well able to get possession of the
| land, and urged mediate action
| The ten had their eyes the diff
| culties, but Caleb and Joshua fixed
their eyes upon God. Caleb lived te
see his suggestion made real. The de
| cisions of the majority are not always
| right. Just two men against the many
thousands, but the thousands were
not always true that the voice of the
people is the voice of Cod
~. The Rebellion of the People
A:1-3S).
This rebellion began by crying. Hav
ing left God out of the question they
now weep and howl. This weeping
| and bowling was followed by murmur
ing against Moses and Aaron The,
| even wished that they had died in tn
| wilderness or in Egypt God tool
them at their word; he sent then
| back to wander in the wilderness TO
thirty-eight years, during which tim
| they all died except Caleb and Joshua
This was followed by a proposition t,
| organize for the return to Egypt
They proposed to select a captain a
their leader The protest of Joshu;
! | and Caleb against this resulted in tn
| proposition to stone them At thi
| point God interpOsed in their behalf
!, He manifested his glory before all tn
children OF Israel in vindication of tn
!. loyalty of Joshua and Caleb.
Holding the Trenches
Even the really devoted man ma
find it difficult to hold the Lord
/