And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of them that searched out the land, rent their garments.
Israel had just decided to appoint a new leader and march back to Egypt. The whole camp wept and complained. Then two of the twelve men who had walked the land tore their clothes in front of everyone. Their torn clothes raise a question. What do you do when the crowd has turned against God, and what does it cost?
Commentators weigh how serious this moment was, and how faith answered it.
Since the days of the calf no crisis had been this serious. It brought four men of faith into clear view. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the congregation, putting themselves out of the matter and leaving God to take up the challenge. Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes — the sign of distress and rejection — and boldly testified to the faithfulness and power of God. God was before their hearts and not the children of Anak. All the same, it came to nothing. The people were completely bankrupt when it came to faith.
The verse calls these two men part of the group who "had spied out the land." They saw everything the other ten saw. The difference was not information.
Caleb says, "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." He is like an evangelist who commends the gospel by the joy that fills his own heart. But the next thing is that ten men assert, "We are not able to go up." For one man who will commend Christ, I find ten men who will give you a reason for doubting. These men bring a bad report. If a man comes and tells you that you cannot take Christ for yourself, he is like one of the ten bad spies.
Their torn clothes put clear distance between them and the ten men they had travelled with. The break was moral, not just physical.
Joshua and Caleb were God's chosen instruments to stem this flood of unbelief and to testify against it. They were horrified at the sin of the people, so they tore their clothes. Raising their voices above the noise and confusion in the congregation, they courageously repeated their declaration that the land they had searched out was "an exceedingly good land." They boldly contradicted the bad report of their fellow spies. In doing so they separated themselves morally from their company and took their stand on the Lord's side.
It matters that there were two of them, and not one.
TWO stands for distinctness, and so for adequate testimony, and for fellowship when the two agree. Two witnesses are needed. Deuteronomy 19:15; 2 Corinthians 13:1. Caleb and Joshua witnessed for the land. Numbers 14:6-9.
The people's answer was a call to stone them.
And for what were they to be stoned? Was it for telling lies? Was it for blasphemy or evil-doing? No; it was for their bold and earnest testimony to the truth. They had been sent to spy out the land and to bring back a true report about it. This they did; and for this "all the congregation said to stone them with stones." The people did not like the truth then any more than now. Truth is never popular. There is no place for it in this world, or in the human heart. People will accept lies, and error in every shape; but never truth. Joshua and Caleb met in their day what all true witnesses in every age have met, and what all must expect: the opposition and hatred of most of their fellows. Six hundred thousand voices rose against two men who simply told the truth and trusted God.
Commentators turn the scene on the reader: a debt we owe, and a rebuke to our fear.
The people say, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt." The heart that refuses to go on with God goes back to Egypt in its desires. Let us not forget what Joshua and Caleb said. We owe it to our God to give a good report of the land which lies before us.
May we not learn a lesson in these days from the loyalty of these devoted men of God? Does not their simple yet mighty appeal rebuke the fears and faint-heartedness of many at the present time? "The land is an exceedingly good land" was faith's simple reply then to all Satan's hindrances — and is it any different today? The spirit of Numbers 14 is sadly at work at this moment.
- Same land. All twelve men saw the same land. Only two brought back a report shaped by faith in God. The difference was never the evidence.
- Torn clothes. The tearing was a public sign of distress and refusal. It set these two apart from the men they had travelled with, on the Lord's side.
- Two witnesses. God did not leave His land without testimony. Two men who agreed were enough to stand against six hundred thousand voices.
- Truth's price. Their honest report almost got them stoned. Truth has never been popular, and every true witness should expect the same.
- Our debt. We owe God a good report of what lies before us. The fears that silenced Israel still silence people today.
And they spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it out, is a very, very good land.
Twelve men explored Canaan, and ten came back afraid. Now two of them say the opposite, and the question is whose report Israel will believe — and what it costs to be one of the two.
Ten men walked the same ground and came back afraid. Joshua and Caleb call the land good, and one writer turns that into a duty for us:
Let us not forget this. We owe it to our God to give a good report of the land which lies before us.
A bad report is not just pessimism. One writer points to the Hebrew behind the phrase used of the ten spies:
They could not deny that the Lord's promise was true. They carried the evidences of it upon their shoulders while they carried unbelief in their hearts... The Hebrew for "bringing up an evil report" is translated in Proverbs 10:18 as "uttering a slander." Unbelief slanders God; it is an insult to the Lord.
Tearing your clothes showed grief and horror. Here it was also a public break with the crowd:
Joshua and Caleb were God's chosen instruments to hold back this flood of unbelief and to testify against it. They tore their clothes to show their horror at the sin of the people. Raising their voices above the noise and confusion in the congregation, they bravely repeated their declaration that the land they had searched out was "an exceedingly good land." So they boldly contradicted the "evil report" of their fellows. In doing so, they separated themselves morally from their company and took their stand on the Lord's side.
Confidence like this is not natural optimism. The two men could speak so plainly because of where they had done their looking:
Caleb and Joshua had not only been in the land, but they had been with God about the land. They had looked at it all from faith's point of view. They knew the land was theirs, in the purpose of God. They knew it was worth having, as the gift of God. And they knew they would yet have it by the power of God. They were men full of faith, full of courage, full of power.
Their case does not rest on Israel's strength. It rests on God's delight in His people:
They also stated plainly the conditions of possessing the land. First, "If the Lord delights in us," they said, "He will bring us into this land." In this they showed that they agreed with the Lord's mind. He did delight in His people, and they knew it. So everything depended on what He was, and on His power — not on what the people were, or could do.
Does the good land stand for heaven? One writer says no, and explains what it does picture:
One reason why Canaan cannot mean heaven is that Israel could be driven out of the land. This is not possible with heaven. Canaan is the type of the heavenly position and possession which the believer has in Christ Jesus. It matches what Ephesians calls "in heavenly places," or better translated, "in the heavenly." It is the heavenly sphere, the heavenly, spiritual blessings given to us in Christ Jesus.
Read that way, the two reports become two ways of speaking about Christ:
Caleb is like an evangelist who commends the gospel by the joy that fills his own heart... For one man who will commend Christ, I find ten men who will give you a reason for doubting. These men bring an evil report. Ah, if a man comes and tells you that you cannot claim Christ for yourself, he is like one of the ten evil spies. They slander the land, while Joshua and Caleb say, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land."
The congregation answered by reaching for stones. One writer asks what the two men had done to deserve it:
And for what were they to be stoned? Was it for telling lies? Was it for blasphemy or doing evil? No; it was for their bold and earnest testimony to the truth... The people did not like the truth then any more than now. Truth is never popular... There were six hundred thousand voices raised against two men who simply told the truth, and trusted in God.
- Report. Two men saw what ten men saw and called the land exceedingly good. We owe God a good report of what lies before us.
- Slander. A bad report is not caution but slander. The spies carried the proof of God's promise on their shoulders and still insulted Him.
- Source. Joshua and Caleb had been in the land, and they had been with God about the land. They spoke from faith's point of view.
- Security. Their confidence rested on "if the Lord delights in us" — on what He is and can do, not on what the people were or could do.
- Stones. Truth is never popular. Six hundred thousand voices rose against two men who told the truth and trusted God.
If Jehovah delight in us, he will bring us into this land, and give it us, a land that flows with milk and honey;
Ten of the twelve scouts had just told Israel they could not take the land. The people were already talking of going back to Egypt. Into that panic Joshua and Caleb speak one condition. It is not whether Israel is strong enough. It is whether the Lord delights in them.
It is easy to be taken up with what we get from God. The verse points to God's own pleasure in His people.
One of Satan's most plausible traps is to keep us occupied with the good we receive from the work of Christ. It keeps our eyes off Christ Himself, and off His delight and interest in us. We enter too little into the divine side of redemption. That is why joy and strength are so often missing. Of Israel, His earthly people, it was said, "If the LORD delights in us, He will bring us into this land." Faith could see that all their blessing rested, not on what they were, but on the Lord delighting in them... We have the same thought in Proverbs 8:31: "delighting in the children of man." He rests in His love and so should we.
Joshua and Caleb laid out conditions. Their confidence rested on what they knew about God, not on what they knew about Israel.
They stated plainly the conditions of possessing the land. First, "If the LORD delights in us," they said, "He will bring us into this land." In this they showed that they were in communion with the Lord's mind. He did delight in His people, and they knew it. So they knew that everything depended on what He was and on His power. It did not depend on what the people were, or could do. Secondly, they said, "Only do not rebel against the LORD ... and do not fear the people of the land." And, lastly, they declared that the Lord was with them, so fear of the enemy was needless.
The ten scouts had measured the giants against themselves. Joshua and Caleb changed the terms of the comparison.
This is full of instruction. By their unbelief they had shut God out. So it obviously became a question between Israel and the Canaanites. Faith would have made it a question between God and the Canaanites. This was exactly how Joshua and Caleb saw the matter.
Both men had walked the same ground as the other scouts. Their good report was not optimism. It was a debt they owed.
Joshua and Caleb were "the two who had brought the good report." They said that the land they had passed through to search it was "an exceedingly good land." Let us not forget this. We owe it to our God to give a good report of the land that lies before us.
The description is not decoration. The two words carry the character of what God was offering.
Salvation is not complete until the land of promise is their own... The land is a good land and a large one, flowing with milk and honey. It is not a land of narrowness, as Egypt is — and heaven is not limited by the needs and struggles of earth... There is all "fatness," which the word for milk literally means, and all sweetness, as the honey implies. Salvation for us must result in satisfaction, or it is not salvation.
The verse sounds like Israel hoping that God is pleased with them. The deeper delight runs the other way.
Suppose a poor sinner now thinks what happiness it would be to have the heavenly Canaan. There is a deeper joy than his — the Lord's delight to have him there. (See Luke 15.) But we may say that the Lord was then robbed of His delight, except in the two men of faith. So the people are turned back into the desert to bear their sins.
That generation never entered. Yet the refusal did not cancel what God had settled to do.
God delights in His saints and He delights to bless them in Christ. But Israel despised the land. They were set aside, unable to get in. He tells them He would treat them as they had said He would. They would wander forty years in the desert, a year for each day they had spent searching the land, until they all died. But in spite of all this, the very next chapter begins, "When you come into the land." Despite all their sin, Scripture speaks of them as though they were already there.
- Delight is the cause. Israel's entry hung on God's pleasure in them, not on their strength. All their blessing rested on what He was, not on what they were.
- Delight is known. Joshua and Caleb were in communion with the Lord's mind. They knew He delighted in His people, so they could say it.
- Delight reframes the enemy. Unbelief shut God out and left Israel facing the Canaanites alone. Faith made it God against the Canaanites.
- Delight has a destination. Milk means fatness and honey means sweetness. Salvation ends in satisfaction, not in narrowness.
- Delight outlasts refusal. That generation fell in the desert. Yet the next chapter still says, "When you come into the land." His purpose stood.
only rebel not against Jehovah; and fear not the people of the land; for they shall be our food. Their defence is departed from them, and Jehovah is with us fear them not.
Israel stood at the border of the promised land. Ten of the twelve men sent to explore it came back saying the enemy was too strong. Two men answered them. Every phrase of their reply turns on the one thing the other ten had left out: God.
The ten spies were not lying about the giants. They measured themselves against the giants, and the answer came out the only way it could.
What unbelief does is to compare ourselves and our own strength with circumstances. What faith does is to compare God with circumstances. Take the case of the spies; Numbers 13, 14. They said, "All the people of the land are men of great height; and we saw the giants there, the sons of Anak... and in our own eyes we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them." If the Israelites were going to measure their own height against the sons of Anak, they had no business being there. What did Caleb and Joshua say? They quieted the people, saying, "They are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them." That is, they compared these sons of Anak with God; what does it matter then whether they were giants or grasshoppers?
The ten had already settled who the fight was between.
They, by their unbelief, had shut out God; and therefore it was obviously a question between Israel and the Canaanites. Faith would have made it a question between God and the Canaanites.
Joshua and Caleb said the enemy's protection was already gone. Nothing they could see backed that up, then or later.
"They are stronger than we are," say the spies, but in truth their strength had gone from them. The cities were walled, and they saw the giants too. When they at last reached Canaan, the walls were just as high, and the children of Anak were still there. Not one of unbelief's difficulties had gone. Only, when they go forward with God, difficulty is no difficulty.
Calling the enemy food is a strange way to speak. Joshua and Caleb said it to men who had just magnified the enemy's strength.
When the men of Israel magnified the strength of the nations of Canaan, Joshua and Caleb, true men of faith, said, "They are bread for us... the LORD is with us; do not fear them" (Num. 14:9). Bread indeed! For every difficulty that faith in God overcomes gives strength and nourishment to the soul.
Another writer applies the same words to the difficulties Christians meet now:
Difficulties only help us realise more of what He is for us. Israel had to fight giants to take the promised land, and Joshua and Caleb said of them, "They are bread for us" (Num. 14:9). Faith grows stronger through the very demands that expose the weakness of unbelief.
The speech has a structure: what God is like, what Israel must not do, and why fear is pointless.
First, "If the LORD delights in us," they said, "He will bring us into this land." In this they showed that they shared the LORD's mind. He did delight in His people, and they knew it. So everything depended on what He was and on His power, not on what the people were or could do. Second, they said, "Only do not rebel against the LORD... and do not fear the people of the land." The people of Israel had only to follow their divine Leader. Last, they declared — and this was the source of all their strength — that the LORD was with them, so fear of the enemy was needless.
The congregation's answer to this speech was to call for stones. The offence was the report itself.
And why were they to be stoned? For telling lies? For blasphemy or wrongdoing? No; it was for their bold and earnest testimony to the truth... The people did not like the truth then any more than now. Truth is never popular... There were six hundred thousand voices raised against two men who simply told the truth, and trusted in God.
- Compare — unbelief measures itself against the difficulty; faith measures the difficulty against God. That single change of measurement is the whole difference between the ten and the two.
- Shift — leave God out and it is Israel against Canaan; bring Him in and it is God against Canaan.
- Stripped — the enemy's covering is gone before a single blow falls. Nothing outward changed. Going forward with God is what makes a difficulty stop being one.
- Fed — what terrifies unbelief nourishes faith. Every obstacle carried through by trusting God returns as strength.
- Costly — two men stood against six hundred thousand. The reward for telling the truth was a call to stone them.