Jackson County journal., 1919-02-21
IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
SUNl6YSCl0OL
LESSON
tBy Rev p 3. FITZWATER. D. D..
Teacher of English Bible in the Moody
Bible Institute of Chicago)
Copyright. 1918. Western Newspaper Cnion.D
LESSON FOR MARCH 2
THE REPORT OF THE SPIES.

ne KEFORI Or HE SPIES.
LESSON TEXT-Numbers l3:17-14:33.
GOLDEN rExT-This is the victory
that overcometh the world. even our faith.
Il John 5:4.
DEVOTIONAL READING-Psalm Is.
PRIMARY TOPIC-The story of a won-
derful journey. Memory Verse-Num. A:s.
| JUNIOR TOPIC-Two men against ten.
Memory Verse-Num. 1920
INTERMEDIATE TOPIC-The folly of
/ cowardce
SENIOR AND ADULT roPIC-Causes
! Of failure In life.
!. The Spies Sent Out (13 1920.
| 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 in and take immediate pos
session Deut. :2D but they fail be-
cause Of their unbelief (Heb. 3:19).
There was threefold purpose in
sending out the spies: O to see
whether the land was as God had told
them ". 13); CD to see whether the
people who dwelt there were strong
see whether the cities were made up
Of strongholds or tents ". 19). What
folly! II God has spoken, to question
his word IS simply unbelief.
II. The Commission Executed O3:
21-25).
They entered the land from the
south and traverSed it to its north
al limits 10
this investigating exploration. 1t is
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 Il cluster OF
grapes upon i staff between them as
witness that God had spoken the
truth about the land.
III. The Spies Rendered a Report
Q3 :26-33}.
On their return This committee Of
explorers rendered report To the
whole congregation 1t was not unani-
nous
|. The majority report (vv 26-2e
G) The land rloweth with milk and
honE W. 2T. AS proof of it 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. t3) The people live in walled
cities" (v. PSI They argued that i
was impossible TO capture them il
such sure defenses. (4) The lant
: was inhabited by giants" w. % cf V
33) They saw themselves as grass
hoppers. Furthermore, they saw tn
people 50 distributed-the Amalekite
T In the south country, the HittiteS, Jeb
uSiteS and Am0rites in the mountain
and the CanaaniteS along the sea
that il was impossible TO take then
il This. no doubt. seemed reasonable frOI
II the human side, bat they diSplaye
H. their folly in that they, left God Ou
e. Of the question. The same God VIII
said TO them. Go. possess the land
would go along TO fight the battle.
2. The minority report wv. 3O-33
In part, this report agrees with tn
first; IL does not ignore the difficu
~ ties. nor dispute the facts 1t denie
;, the conclusion of the ma jOrity. The
!, did not minimize the task before then
- but asserted that with Gods help the
- were we'll able 10 get possession of tf
:, land, and urged immediate actio
:, The ten had their eyes on the diff
culties, but Caleb and Joshua fixe
their eyes upon Cod Caleb lived
see his suggestion made real. The q
:; cisiOnS Of the majority are not alwa,
49, right. Just two men against the mar
thousands but the thousands we
wrong and the two We're right. 1t
not always true that the voice OF Il
H people is the voice OF God
=. ". The Rebellion Of the Peop
:, IA 1-38).
This rebellion began by crying. Ha
ing lef. God out of the question tn
now weep and howl This weepi
and bowling was followed by murml
,,As ing against Moses and Aaron. Th
.aa even wished that they had died in t
in wilderness Or in Egypt. God to
for them at their word he sent tn,
-, back 70 wander in the wilderness
r thirty-eight years, during which til
80. they all died except Caleb and JOSH
So This was followed by a proposition
- organize FOR the return to Egy
They proposed TO select a captain
their leader. The protest of Josh
~ and Caleb against this resulted in
10 proposition to stone them AT t
point God interposed in their beh,
II1 manifested his glory before all