The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1919-02-27
|IllT s TO
Sunday School
lesson IS:
Oy Rev. p. .. F1TzYATER, D. D..
Teacher Of English Bible In the Moody
Bible Institute OF chicago.)
Copyright. isis wss..rs N.vspap.r usisa.,
LESSON FOR MARCH 3
LIE REPORT 81 THE splEa.

IhE HEP0HI OF The SPIES.
LESSON rExr-Numbers l,:17.it:sa
GOLDEN TE&T-This 10 the victory
that overcometh the world. even our faith
Il John 6:i
DEVOTIONAL READING-Psalm Is.
PRIMARY T0Fic-The story OF won.
derful Journey. Memory Verse-Eum. it:s
JUNIOR ToPIc-Two men against ten.
Memory verse-Num. i1:2o. -
INTERMEDIATE ToP1c-Tha folly Of
SENIOR AND ADULT rop1c-c.u,..
OF failure In life.
!. The Spies Sent Out t1a:17.20).
Less than two years have passed
since the IsraelItes were delivered
from Egyptian bondage. They are
now at Kadesh.Barnea, within sight
Of the promised land. Moses urges
them to go 10 and take immediate pos.
session (Deut. / :2l) hut they fail be.
cause Of their unbelief tHeb. 3:19).
There was a threefold purpose In
sending out the spies: ~ to see
whether the land was as God had told
them ". Js); lc) to see whether the
people who dwelt there were strong
or weak. few or many ". 49,; t3) to
see whether the cities were made up
Of strongholds or tents ". 19). What
follyl II God has spoken. to question
his word ls simply unbelief.
u. The Commission Executed t13:
21-25).
They entered the land from the
south and traversed 1t to les north.
tern limits. They spent forty days in
this investigating exploration. It is a
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 a stan between them as
witness that God had spoken the
truth about the land.
10. The Spies Rendered . Report
tlS:2e.ss).
on their return this committee Of
explorers rendered a report to the
whole congregation. TWAS not unani-
nous:
!. The majority report Nv. 1920
ti) "The land fioweth with milk and
honey ". 27). As proof Of II they
exhibited the fruit. They all bore
witness that this was In accordance
with what God had said. (2) "The
people who live there are strong" (v.
2s). They seemed to stress this fact.
Unbelief dwells mainly upon Difficult.
ties. ts) The people live IN walled
Cities ". 2s). They argued that 1t
was impossible to capture them In
such sure defenses. ~ 1.-THE land
was inhabited BY giants ". 90 Ct Y.
S8). They saw themselves as grass.
hoppers. Furthermore, they saw the
people so dlstributed-the Amalekltes
in the south country. the Hlttites. Jeb.
usites and Amorites In the mountains
and the Canaanitcs along the sea-
that II was impossible to take them.
This, no doubt, seemed reasonable from
the human side. but they displayed
their folly ID that they left God out
OF the question. The same God who
said to them, go. possess the land"
would so along to fight the battles.
9. The minority report Wv. 3ls3).
II part. this report agrees witt the
Est; It does not ignore the dlNlcul-
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 we'll able to get possession of the
land, and urged immediate action.
The ten had their eyes on the diff.
culties, but Caleb and Joshua fixed
their eyes upon God. Caleb lived to
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
wrong and the two we're right. II is
not always true that che voice Of the
people Is the voice Of God"
Nv. The Rebellion Of the People
14:1.3s).
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. They
even wished that they had died In the
wilderness or in Egypt. God took
them at their word; he sent them
back to wander In the wilderness for
thirtyeight years. during which time
they all died except Caleb and Joshua.
This was followed by proposition to
organize for the r1turn to Egypt.
They proposed to select captain as
their leader. The protest Of Joshua
and Caleb against this resulted In the
proposition to stone them. at this
point God interposed 10 their behalf.
He manifested his glory before all the
children Of Israel IN vindlcation Of the
loyalty Of Joshua and Caleb.
The Canadian government has prom