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Reading:
Numbers 13:1-14:10
By
Dan and Brenda Cathcart
The
first two stops that the children of Israel made as they left Mt. Sinai were at
Kibroth Hattaavah and Hazeroth. At Kibroth Hattaavah, the children of Israel
complained twice—first just general complaints and, then, about the manna. Many
people died in the resulting fire of the LORD and the plague that God sent. At
the Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron complained about Moses. As a result, God
inflicted Miriam with leprosy. Moses interceded on Miriam’s behalf and God
healed her. The children of Israel remained in Hazeroth until the seven days of
Miriam’s purification were complete. This journey, which should have been an
optimistic march to take the Promised Land instead, consisted of complaints and
murmurings. What was in store for the children of Israel at Kadesh Barnea, the
southern gateway to the Promised Land? How do two Hebrews, Joshua and Caleb,
stand out among the children of Israel?
After
the children of Israel left Hazeroth, they camped in the wilderness of Paran, west
of modern day Eilat at the northern tip of the Sea of Aqaba.
Numbers 12:16 NKJV 16 And afterward
the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.
After
the two setbacks at Kibroth Hattaavah and Hazeroth, how was the morale of the
people? They had just experienced God’s mighty power in His judgment against
them, and even against Miriam. Was God bringing them to a good place? In their
complaints at Kibroth Hattaavah, they extolled the fish, fruits, grain, and
vegetables that were available to them in Egypt.
Numbers 11:5-6 NKJV 5 "We
remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the
leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 "but now our whole being is dried up;
there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!"
Before
they went any further, they wanted to know what the land they were going to was
like.
Numbers 13:1-2 JP Green 1 And Jehovah
spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men for you, and they shall spy out the land of
Canaan which I am giving to the sons of Israel; you shall send one man for the
tribe of his fathers, one man, every one a leader among them.
God
allowed Moses to send the spies. It was not God’s idea; it came from the
people. The Hebrew reflexive form of the verb “send” implies that they are to
be sent because Moses asked God if he could send them. In this J.P Green
Literal translation the reflexive form is translated as “send for you.” In Stone
Edition Chumash translation, it is translated as “Send for yourself.” When
Moses summarizes all the events at the end of the fortieth year in the
wilderness, he clearly states that the desire to send representatives to check
out the land came from the people.
Deuteronomy 1:20-22 NKJV 20 "And
I said to you, 'You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the LORD
our God is giving us. 21 'Look, the LORD your God has set the land before you;
go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not
fear or be discouraged.' 22 "And everyone of you came near to me and said,
'Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring
back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into
which we shall come.'
When
God okayed the plan to send twelve men to examine the land, Moses carefully
chose one man from every tribe. Among those twelve men, was Caleb the son of
Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah and Joshua, the son of Nun, from the tribe
of Epraim.
The
twelve men travel north into the Promised Land, the land of the Canaanites. Ten
of the men acknowledge that the land is good, but they focused on the
difficulties and challenges they would face trying to take the land.
Numbers 13:27-29 NKJV 27 Then they
told him, and said: "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows
with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 "Nevertheless the people
who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large;
moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 "The Amalekites dwell in
the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in
the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the
Jordan."
Caleb
answered them with words of encouragement. He had confidence that, not only
could they take the land, they were “well able to overcome” and take possession
of it! Caleb advised that they immediately go and take the land.
Numbers 13:30 NKJV 30 Then Caleb
quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take
possession, for we are well able to overcome it."
The
other ten doubled down. They emphasized the strength of the Canaanite’s armies
and the size of their men. They even accused the land of being against them.
Numbers 13:31-32 NKJV 31 But the men
who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the
people, for they are stronger than we." 32 And they gave the children of
Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The
land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its
inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
They
turned all of the people against the plan to take the Promised Land. This was
the task that they had prepared for throughout the previous year. But when it
came time to actually act, they refused to believe that God could take them
into the Land. They refused to believe that God could and would do what He
said.
Joshua
and Caleb were distraught over the refusal to take the land. They were ready
and enthusiastic about carrying out God’s plan. They knew that God would go
with them. They tried one last time to change their minds.
Numbers 14:7-9 NKJV 7 and they spoke
to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: "The land we
passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 "If the LORD
delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, 'a land
which flows with milk and honey.' 9 "Only do not rebel against the LORD,
nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has
departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them."
The
people refused to hear Joshua and Caleb, and even attempted to stone them.
God’s wrath came against the people, and He declared that only Joshua and Caleb
from among the men who were counted in the armies of Israel would go into the
Promised Land. The rest would die in the wilderness.
Numbers 14:28-30 NKJV 28 "Say to
them, 'As I live,' says the LORD, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I
will do to you: 29 'The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall
fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire
number, from twenty years old and above. 30 'Except for Caleb the son of
Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which
I swore I would make you dwell in.
Joshua
and Caleb were the only two who would not die in the wilderness. What do we
know about Joshua and Caleb? How did they live their lives? What reward did
they receive when they entered the Promised Land?
Joshua’s
given name was Hoshea. Moses gave him the new name of Joshua.
Numbers 13:16 NKJV 16 These are the
names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea
the son of Nun, Joshua.
The
name Hoshea, number 1954 in Strong’s Concordance, means deliverer or savior. It
comes from the root word “yaw-shah,” number 3467 literally meaning to be open,
wide, or free. By implication, it means to be safe, to be free. As a noun, it
means salvation or victory. Moses added the prefix “Yah” to his name making it
Joshua or “Yeh-ho-shoo-ah,” number 3091 meaning Yehovah saved or Yehovah
delivered. His father’s name, Nun, number 5125, means perpetuity or
everlasting, to resprout or propagate by shoots. He is of the tribe of Ephraim
whose name means “fruitful.” His name tells us that God will save through the
son of the everlasting one bringing fruitfulness.
Interestingly
enough, in Joshua’s first appearance in the scriptures, he demonstrates God’s
deliverance as he leads the armies of Israel against the Amalekites and defeats
them with God’s help.
Exodus 17:10-13 NKJV 10 So Joshua did
as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up
to the top of the hill. 11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that
Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But
Moses' hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he
sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the
other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the
sun. 13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Through
Joshua, the LORD did indeed provide deliverance! Joshua experienced God’s
salvation when He enabled Joshua to defeat the Amalekites. If Joshua
experienced God’s salvation in this event, why is his name change not mentioned
until he is chosen to go into the Promised Land? The sage Rashi says that it is
recorded then because it was Moses’ prayer for Joshua.
The Hebrew name Yehoshua means God
save or God will save, which signifies that Moses prayed “May God save you
[Joshua] from the conspiracy of the spies.”[i]
The
next time we see Joshua is in the role of Moses’ aid. He was with Moses during
the covenant ceremony when the seventy elders of Israel went up onto the slopes
of Mt. Sinai to participate in the covenant meal with God. When Moses proceeded
to the top of the mountain, Joshua went part way up with him.
Exodus 24:12-13 NKJV 12 Then the LORD
said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will
give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written,
that you may teach them." 13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and
Moses went up to the mountain of God.
So,
while the rest of the camp of Israel are making and worshiping the golden calf,
Joshua is not in the camp although he could hear their activities. Joshua
remained at Moses’ side when Moses moved his tent outside the camp. Moses’ tent
served as the Tent of Meeting where Moses met with God.
Exodus 33:11 NKJV 11 So the LORD spoke
to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to
the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart
from the tabernacle.
Because
of Joshua’s close association with Moses, he probably experienced God’s
presence more than any other person in the camp other than Moses and, perhaps,
Aaron. His experience with God strengthened his faith that God could and would
bring them into the Promised Land. God chose him to succeed Moses in
shepherding the people.
Numbers 27:15-18 NKJV 15 Then Moses
spoke to the LORD, saying: 16 "Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all
flesh, set a man over the congregation, 17 "who may go out before them and
go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the
congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep which have no shepherd." 18
And the LORD said to Moses: "Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in
whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him;
As
we turn to Caleb, he was the son of Jephunneh of the tribe of Judah. His
lineage within Judah is uncertain, with many possibilities including that he
was a descendent of Judah’s grandson Hezron, and that he was one of the mixed
multitude, perhaps related to Esau, who was adopted into the tribe of Judah. His
designation as a Kenizzite appears in the book of Joshua. This designation
could be from Esau’s descendant Kenaz in Genesis 36:11. It could also be
because of Caleb’s brother Kenaz. The judge who ruled Israel after the death of
Joshua was Othniel, Caleb’s nephew through his brother Kenaz. The book of
Joshua may have been written after Othniel rose to prominence among the
Israelites setting up his appointment as judge over Israel and may have used
the designation Kenizzite to emphasize Caleb’s connection to Othniel.
Judges 3:9 NKJV 9 When the children of
Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the children
of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger
brother.
Caleb’s
name, number 3612, means forcible. It is probably a form of number 3611 meaning
to yelp or attack, a dog. His father’s name, Jephunneh, number 3312, means “he
will be prepared,” from a Hebrew word meaning to turn or face. Caleb was
prepared to attack and take the Promised Land! He took the lead in encouraging
the people to go up immediately and take possession of the land. Moses honored
his faith by singling him out for inheritance in the Promised Land. The phrase
that best describes Caleb is in this testimony of his faith.
Deuteronomy 1:35-36 NKJV 35 'Surely
not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which
I swore to give to your fathers, 36 'except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he
shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he
walked, because he wholly followed the LORD.'
Moses
declared that Caleb “wholly followed” the LORD. The ancient pictographic form
of the letters of Caleb’s name emphasize this characteristic. The first letter
of Caleb’s name is the quph which is drawn as the back of the head indicating
following. The next letter is the lamed, a shepherd’s staff indicating
authority or leader. The last letter is the beit which is a house indication
family or home. Caleb follows his leader, God, into the home which is, in this
case, the Promised Land. Caleb wholly followed the LORD!
As
a reward for his faith, Caleb who was forty years old when he was sent out as a
spy, is rewarded with long life. He testifies to this gift of God when he is
claiming his inheritance.
Joshua 14:10-11 NKJV 10 "And now,
behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever
since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the
wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. 11 "As yet
I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength
was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.
Caleb’s
inheritance is the city of Hebron and its surrounding fields. The city that the
other ten spies were so frightened of because of the strong fortifications and
the presence of giant men called the Anakim.
Joshua 14:12-15 NKJV 12 "Now
therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you
heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and
fortified. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to
drive them out as the LORD said." 13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave
Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. 14 Hebron therefore
became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day,
because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel. 15 And the name of Hebron
formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim). Then
the land had rest from war.
Caleb
took Kirjath Arba and renamed it Hebron. The name, Kirjath Arba, number 7153,
means “city of the four” referring to the four giants of the land, Arba and his
three sons. The name Hebron, number 275, means seat of association. This
name-change reveals Caleb’s faith. He was not frightened of the four giants
associated with the city. Instead, he chose to associate the city with the
three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were buried outside the city
in the cave of Mach Pelah.
Joshua,
on whom was the spirit of the LORD, and Caleb, who wholly followed the LORD,
were the only ones of those who came out of Egypt and were numbered among the
armies in the census at Mt. Sinai to enter the Promised Land. Joshua, as God’s
anointed leader, led the next generation of the children of Israel into the
Promised Land. Caleb faithfully followed his leader Joshua into the Promised
Land. Yeshua, whose name is a form of the name Joshua, is our anointed leader.
We, like Caleb, need to wholly follow the LORD through His son Yeshua into the
eternal kingdom of God.
Study
Questions:
1.
How do the meanings of Joshua and Caleb’s
names reveal their characters?
2.
As a result of Caleb keeping his eyes on
God’s promise to give them the land and on the patriarchs, he received the land
in and around Hebron as his reward. What is the significance of receiving
Hebron?
3.
Caleb and Joshua wholly followed the LORD
unlike the other ten spies. Read Numbers 13:26-33, James 1:6-8, and James 4:8.
What does James say about the doubleminded man? How does this apply to the ten
spies and the children of Israel in regard to going into the land?
General
Portion Questions
4.
Even though the generation of the
children of Israel who came out of Egypt rejected the land, did God reject
them? How does Num. 15:1 address this question?
5.
The writer of Hebrews refers to the
rejection of the land while quoting Psalm 95 in Hebrews 3:11- 4:11. What does
he compare with entering into the Promised Land? How does Psalm 95 apply to the
children of Israel while camped in the wilderness of Paran?
6.
What other insights did you gain from this teaching? What indicators are there in
this Torah Portion that point to Messiah Yeshua?
©
2023 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.
[i][i]
The Stone Edition Chumash General Editors.Rabbi Nosson Scherman and
Rabbi Meir Zolotowitz. Mesorah Publications, ltd. ©1998, 2000. Page 799.
