Chapter 35: Exploring the Promised Land
Q1 - Where else are giants (or Nephilim or descendants of Anakim) mentioned in the Bible? Did the Israelites have to go against them later when they finally were able to enter the Promised Land?
A1 - The Nephilim are referred to in the Bible in Genesis 6:4 and here in Numbers 13:33. According to the scriptures, they were people of great stature who were the descendants of Anak. The Anakites or the Anakim people are referred to several more times in the Old Testament. Moses described them in Deuteronomy 9:2 as being strong and tall. They evidently lived in the “city of Arba" or Hebron (Joshua 15:13).
The Israelites did have to battle the Anakites during the conquest of Canaan. Joshua conquered all of them who had been living in the Israelite territory. Some of them survived in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod (Joshua 11:21–23). As an aside, the giant Goliath, whom David slew with his slingshot, was from Gath (1 Samuel 17:23).
For more information, see the Encyclopedia of the Bible. Search on Anak and Nephilim.
Q2 - In the Deuteronomy account of this incident, the report given by the ten spies was so discouraging that it caused the people to lose heart or melted their hearts in fear (see Deuteronomy 1:28). When have you lost heart only to later realize the conditions were not actually as dire as they had originally appeared? What did you learn from your experience?
A2 - Answers will vary, depending on personal experiences. Often the dread of anticipation turns out to be worse than the reality itself.
Q3 - After the Israelites heard this negative report of the ten spies, they retreated to their tents and allowed their discontent and discouragement to fester even further. “‘Because the LORD hates us,’” they said, “‘He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us’” (Deuteronomy 1:27, NKJV).
While God actually sought to bring them safely into the Promised Land, the people allowed their thinking to twist His intent around to the polar opposite. What caused them to get this so wrong? Do you think their upbringing in Egypt impacted their thinking? Read Psalm 1 and think about whom you should accept counsel from.
A3 - This generation of Israelites was never able to genuinely trust in the Lord even though they had witnessed so many miracles performed on their behalf. Can you imagine the experience of walking between great walls of water on dry ground, when just a little while earlier you saw yourself as being trapped between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea? Whatever happened in the past never seemed to translate forward into what they could expect of God in the future.
They had been born in slavery in Egypt, a society which worshipped a multitude of false gods. Their knowledge of Yahweh, the true God, had been passed down to them from their ancestors. They had witnessed God’s great power and might, and they had pledged to follow all of God’s commands when He delivered His Law to them at Mount Sinai. But, unfortunately, the faith they inherited never developed into a true faith, even after God reveled Himself to them repeatedly. As the psalmist noted: “In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe” (Psalm 78:32, NIV).
When the twelve men returned from spying out the land of Canaan, they reported accurately what they saw—it was a land flowing with milk and honey, the cities were large and fortified, and some of the people were of great stature. However, ten of the men then offered their personal assessment—the people were stronger than the Israelites, and the land devoured those living in it. They failed to factor in the power of God.
Only two of the men encouraged the people to go ahead and take possession of the land. They believed that, with God’s help, they could do it. The people let themselves be swayed by the ten negative reports and chose not to listen to those two men who had faith in God. The writer of Psalm 1 admonishes us to be careful to whom we listen. He concludes in verse 6 by assuring us: “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction” (Psalm 1:6, NIV). The two men who trusted in God, Joshua and Caleb, later crossed over into the Promised Land; the ten men responsible for spreading the bad report were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord (Numbers 14:36–38).