Remember the spies - G-d Bless Caleb and Joshua

Submitted by Kenneth Mathews (United States), May 7, 2020 at 15:42

Compare this sad article to the arguments of the 10 spies who spread an evil report of the land - May G-d bless the memory of JOSHUA the son of Nun and CALEB the son of Jephunneh!

Numbers 13:25 And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.

26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

27 And they told him, and said: 'We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

28 Howbeit the people that dwell in the land are fierce, and the cities are fortified, and very great; and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

29 Amalek dwelleth in the land of the South; and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanite dwelleth by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan.'

30 And CALEB stilled the people toward Moses, and said: 'We should go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.'

31 But the men that went up with him said: 'We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.'

32 And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying: 'The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

33 And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.'

Numbers 14:1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole congregation said unto them: 'Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would we had died in this wilderness!

3 And wherefore doth HaShem bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey; were it not better for us to return into Egypt?'

4 And they said one to another: 'Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.'

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

6 And JOSHUA the son of Nun and CALEB the son of Jephunneh, who were of them that spied out the land, rent their clothes.

7 And they spoke unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: 'The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.

8 If HaShem delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it unto us--a land which floweth with milk and honey.

9 Only rebel not against HaShem, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us; their defence is removed from over them, and HaShem is with us; fear them not.'

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".