Numbers 13
Moses gathers 12 men from the 12 tribes and assigns them the covert task of spying out the promised land. Moses gives these men specific tasks concerning the law of non-contradiction -- is it good or bad, filled with trees or not filled with trees, filled with strong people or filled with weak people, are their cities fortified or are they vulnerable, etc... This men's retreat was meant to tackle these questions and concerns.
With this commission, they set out for 40 days. As we've seen, 40 is a number of testing and here the land is tested and their resolve is tested. The land proves itself faithful -- it flows with milk and honey and grape clusters that require two men to carry them. The spies report the facts faithfully, but 10 out of 12 do not approach those facts with faith. They report the good, but the only see the difficult. The same standard of either/or that was meant to be applied to the land is also applied to them: facing the facts by faith or fleeing from them by fear? 2 of 12 see the difficult facts by faith. 10 of 12 out of fear see the difficulties and then promptly forget that the land was promised to them by God.
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