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His redeemed people. Moreover, when Moses rehearsed this matter before all Israel after
the days of wandering had come to an end, the sending of the spies is put in a somewhat
different light.
"And I said unto you, ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord
our God doth give unto us. Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: GO
UP AND POSSESS IT, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not,
neither be discouraged" (Deut. 1: 20, 21).
Notice that the land had been GIVEN to Israel. Moses said to his father-in-law, "We
are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will GIVE it you" (Numb. 10: 29).
This was the basis of the argument of Caleb and Joshua,
"The land which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the
Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and GIVE it us; a land which
floweth with milk and honey" (14: 7, 8).
The word `set' used by Moses in Deut. 1: 20, 21 is actually a repetition of the word
`give' as the margin indicates. God's Gift, God's Word, God's Covenant promise, all
were put to the question by the sending of the spies.
"Ye came near unto Me every one of you" (Deut. 1: 22).
The same words are used in Deut. 5: 23 where once again the people were moved by
fear. This kind of `coming near' has something unhealthy about it. It seems on a par
with the attitude of those who would catch the Lord in His speech, and approach Him
with honeyed words "Master, we know that Thou art true" etc.
"We will send." These words must be remembered when we read Numb. 13: 2
"Send thou men". Ezekiel makes it clear that when the Exodus took place, the Lord had
Himself ESPIED the land for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, which is the
glory of all lands (Ezek. 20: 5, 6). The spies were to bring word again `by what way we
must go up' but God had already told them. Even when the report had been made, Israel
`rebelled against the commandment of the Lord' (Deut. 1: 26) and they charged God with
`hating' them, and in spite of all the faithful testimony of Caleb and Joshua and the added
reminder of Moses, they `did not believe the Lord their God' (Deut. 1: 32).
Quite a number of those who believe the teaching of the epistles of the Mystery have
expressed themselves as unsatisfied by the scantiness of the revelation there contained as
to (1) just what constitutes the glory of our inheritance, and (2) just exactly by what
way the Church shall enter into its hope. There is a looking back to the hope of an
earlier dispensation, a sort of envy at the lavish description of the millennial kingdom, or
of the wonders of the Heavenly City, and one senses something petulant in the request,
"Where is our hope described in the epistles of the Mystery? Why are there no details
given to us as to others?" There is also a querulous complaint* that whereas I Thess. 4:
or I Cor. 15: are most explicit, one cannot be sure from the prison epistles whether the
Church of the One Body will be caught up by rapture, will die off and pass through death