“You approached me, every one of you, and said, ‘Let’s send men ahead of us to explore the country for us and bring back word concerning what route we should use in going up and what the cities we will encounter are like. The idea seemed good to me, so I took twelve of your men, one from each tribe; and they set out, went up into the hills, came to the Eshkol Valley and reconnoitered it.”-Deuteronomy 1:22-24
Before we continue on with our study of Deuteronomy Chapter One, let me remind you of something important.
The bulk of the Book of Deuteronomy is a sermon from Moses…as opposed to a direct oracle proceeding from the mouth of HASHEM.
In that sense, the Book of Deuteronomy is more like the New Testament.
In other words, what Moses speaks here was divinely inspired but it was not a direct communication from God Himself.
What do I mean by divine inspiration?
I mean that the words here (as well as the New Testament) were the result of a cooperative work between God and man…
…but again NOT a direct oracle from God Himself.
Now before all of you start losing your minds, understand I’m not saying that Moses’ words here aren’t trustworthy and true.
They most certainly are.
Yet they are NOT on the same level as God’s own Words Himself.
It’s important we make a distinction between those words spoken by men (whether those men be Moses, King David or the Apostle Paul etcetera) and the words spoken by God Himself…
…which start off with the refrain “And the Lord said…“.
HASHEM’s own words are far greater than the personal words or thoughts of any apostle, teacher or King no matter how esteemed that person is in Scripture.
Let’s move on.
At this point in Scripture, we’re told that exactly 39 years and 11 months have passed since Israel left Egypt.
And then without blinking an eye Moses goes on to recount the tragic incident that caused the first generation of Israelites to have to wander in the desert wilderness for 40 years.
However, there is a distinct difference between how Moses recounts the story here in Deuteronomy and how it was first told to us in Numbers 13.
In Numbers 13, we’re given the impression that the 12 scouts were commanded by HASHEM to reconnoiter the Promised Land as a sort of pre-preparation before Israel began a full-force military onslaught of Canaan.
However, here in Deuteronomy, Moses is telling us that he first told the people to go conquer the land…
….but because the leaders hesitated…
….he reluctantly agreed to first send scouts to check out the land…
…in hopes of assuaging the peoples’ worries.
In other words, Numbers 13 has no record of Moses commanding the people to go take the Land.
Quite the contrary, when reading the Numbers account, Moses is portrayed as one who went along with the leaders’ decision to not take the Promised Land.
So when we put all of the pieces from both accounts together, we find that Israel should have moved forward to take the land without reservation…
…but because the leaders hesitated…
…God in His Grace commanded that 12 scouts first be sent to check out the land…
….so they could serve as witnesses that the Land was indeed everything God had promised it would be.
We can now see how God acted like a loving Father to His son Israel.
He didn’t just immediately lose His temper and curse the Israelites to 40 years of wandering in the desert when they first hesitated.
He was very gracious and as a show of compassion to the fretful leaders of Israel, He commanded that 12 scouts be sent to check out the conditions of the land.
Unfortunately, 10 of the leaders came back with a negative report that was fueled by nothing but fear and doubt (major spiritual lesson here folks. Don’t miss it.)
Now there are those who will say Moses was deliberately painting a positive picture of himself here when the truth is he acted in a cowardly fashion by not standing up to the less than faithful leaders.
There may be some truth to this accusation.
Moses was a very humble man and as a result probably not the most strong-willed and forceful of leaders.
Keep in mind, we all have the tendency when recounting past events to embellish those parts that paint us in a more favorable light.
I am positive that Moses urged the people to boldly march upon Canaan.
Yet, when he faced a reluctant leadership, he found himself in a sticky situation.
A Godly leader has to of course obey God but he also has to take into consideration the concerns of those whom he is leading.
I’m sure this is a dilemma anybody who has served in a leadership position can relate to.
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