BACKGROUND FOR THE LESSON.
After spending about a year and a half at Mount Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments (see Numbers 10:11), the Israelites being led to Canaan by the LORD camped at Hazeroth (see Numbers 11:35. While there, Miriam and Aaron, Moses’ sister and brother complained against him hoping to be able to replace him as Israel’s leader (see Numbers 12:1-2). As a result, God rebuked Aaron and Miriam and struck Miriam with leprosy (see Numbers 12:1-10). Seeing his sister as a leper, Aaron confessed their sin to Moses who then interceded for his sister to the LORD who then had mercy on Miriam and reduced His judgment upon her (see Numbers 12:11-15). Following this incident, the Israelites continued their journey and made their camp in the wilderness of Paran (see Numbers 12:16) at Kadesh-barnea (see Numbers 12:16; 13:26; Deuteronomy 1:19) on the southern border of Canaan. At this point God commanded Moses to send men to spy out the land of Canaan which he did and gave them instructions on what to look for (see Number 13:1-20). These twelve men from the twelve tribes of Israel, went on their mission to Canaan and returned after 40 days (see Numbers 13:21-25). However, although all the spies agreed that the land was very good, ten of them gave a negative exaggerated report declaring that Israel couldn’t possess the land because of the mighty people who lived there (Numbers 13:26-29). But Caleb argued that the people were well able to possess the land, while the other spies (minus Joshua) continued to exaggerate about giants being in Canaan and how the spies saw themselves as grasshoppers in the eyes of those so-called giants (see Numbers 12:30-33). Our lesson comes from chapter 14.