towards which the Lord, through Moses, was leading His people. Alas! while Caleb and

Joshua testified to the goodness of the land, and to the faithfulness and power of the Lord

to fulfil His promise and give them the land for their inheritance, the ten spies intimidated

the people by their report concerning the giants, the sons of Anak, so that the faithful two

were threatened with stoning for their pains.

In this booklet we too are bringing as it were "a cluster" from Eshcol even at the risk

of being as badly treated for our pains as were Caleb and Joshua. The country which we

have searched and on which we report is represented by the epistle to the Ephesians, and

in the history of the Church, Israel's defection has been, alas, only too faithfully copied to

its loss. Paul, like the faithful spies, was forsaken at the close of his life. "All in Asia"

turned away from him; the precious revelation of the truth of Mystery which it was his

glory to make known was discounted, and so completely was his testimony rejected that

no vestige of it is discernible in the writings of the "Fathers" who go back to the early

portion of Acts, and wandered in their wilderness, even as Israel did in theirs. Should the

reader not quite appreciate this analogy, we suggest that the earlier booklets of this series

be consulted, namely "The Dispensational Frontier, Acts 28: 23-31" and "Who then

is Paul?" otherwise we shall have to occupy much of our limited space in going over

ground already covered.

We have however prepared a pamphlet pointing out that leading men among the early

"Brethren" saw the distinction between the calling of the church formed during the Acts

and that of the church called afterwards, and before producing some of the high glories of

the Ephesian epistle, called by us "The Grapes of Eshcol" in reference to this halt and

withdrawal at our spiritual "Kadesh-barnea" we will reproduce that pamphlet here, in the

hope that some may be led to deprecate the attitude that not only refuses to go on into the

high calling of the Mystery, but which threatens to "stone" those who would emulate the

simple trust of Caleb and Joshua.

In 1907 and 1908, J. J. B. Coles wrote a series of articles in "Things to Come"

under the Editorship of Dr. E. W. Bullinger, entitled KADESH BARNEA, in which he

saw in the timidity of many believers, when faced with the teaching of Eph. 3: 1-13 and

Col. 1: 24-28, and the unpleasant consequences of accepting that claim of the Apostle to

have received a dispensation for the Gentiles, a repetition of the attitude of the ten spies

who said "we be not able to go up" (Numb. 13: 31). While literal "stoning with stones"

(Numb. 14: 10) has not been resorted to by Christians who condemn our insistence upon

Acts 28: as a dispensational frontier, the spiritual equivalent alas, has not been

unknown in the past, can still be sensed in the present and will possibly be intensified in

the future, if we do not misinterpret certain signs. It is not our custom to quote the

opinions of others, or to cite their teaching, whether it be for or against our own, but to

occupy our time, strength and resources in giving positive teaching, leaving the

vindication of our witness or its refutation to the Saviour Whom alone we recognize as

"Master and Lord". However, in this leaflet, we are making some quotations from the