In this message we come to another failure among the children of Israel—not believing in God (13:1—14:38).
God commanded Moses to send twelve men to spy out the land of Canaan (13:1-20). At that time the atmosphere and morale among the children of Israel had been severely damaged by their rebellious situation. Thus, it was not a good time for the spies to be sent. But under God's sovereign arrangement, they were sent.
From a human standpoint, it was necessary to spy out the land. But spiritually speaking, in anything we do, it is better not to spy out the situation. To spy out the situation is to test God, and the result is usually negative.
"From each tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a leader among them" (13:2b). These twelve "heads of the sons of Israel" (v. 3) included Caleb and Joshua, whose name means "Jehovah is Savior."
The spies went out to see what the land was, whether the people who dwelt in it were strong or weak, whether they were few or many, whether the land in which they dwelt was good or bad, whether the cities in which they dwelt were camps or strongholds, whether the land was fat or lean, and whether there was some wood in it or not. Also, the spies were to bring some fruit of the land, for the time was the season of the first fruits of the grapes (vv. 18-20).
To spy out a situation in this way weakens our faith. We should simply believe in God without knowing anything.