民數記13:1-33

13:1 耶和華曉諭摩西說：
13:2 「你打發人去窺探我所賜給以色列人的迦南地，他們每支派中要打發一個人，都要作首領的。」
13:3 摩西就照耶和華的吩咐從巴蘭的曠野打發他們去；他們都是以色列人的族長。
13:4 他們的名字：屬流便支派的有撒刻的兒子沙母亞。
13:5 屬西緬支派的有何利的兒子沙法。
13:6 屬猶大支派的有耶孚尼的兒子迦勒。
13:7 屬以薩迦支派的有約色的兒子以迦。
13:8 屬以法蓮支派的有嫩的兒子何希阿。
13:9 屬便雅憫支派的有拉孚的兒子帕提。
13:10 屬西布倫支派的有梭底的兒子迦疊。
13:11 約瑟的子孫，屬瑪拿西支派的有穌西的兒子迦底。
13:12 屬但支派的有基瑪利的兒子亞米利。
13:13 屬亞設支派的有米迦勒的兒子西帖。
13:14 屬拿弗他利支派的有縛西的兒子拿比。
13:15 屬迦得支派的有瑪基的兒子臼利。
13:16 這就是摩西所打發、窺探那地之人的名字。摩西就稱嫩的兒子何希阿為約書亞。
13:17 摩西打發他們去窺探迦南地，說：「你們從南地上山地去，
13:18 看那地如何，其中所住的民是強是弱，是多是少，
13:19 所住之處是好是歹，所住之處是營盤是堅城。
13:20 又看那地土是肥美是瘠薄，其中有樹木沒有。你們要放開膽量，把那地的果子帶些來。」（那時正是葡萄初熟的時候。）
13:21 他們上去窺探那地，從尋的曠野到利合，直到哈馬口。
13:22 他們從南地上去，到了希伯崙；在那裡有亞衲族人亞希幔、示篩、撻買。（原來希伯崙城被建造比埃及的鎖安城早七年。）
13:23 他們到了以實各谷，從那裡砍了葡萄樹的一枝，上頭有一掛葡萄，兩個人用槓抬著，又帶了些石榴和無花果來。
13:24 （因為以色列人從那裡砍來的那掛葡萄，所以那地方叫做以實各谷。）
13:25 過了四十天，他們窺探那地才回來，
13:26 到了巴蘭曠野的加低斯，見摩西、亞倫，並以色列的全會眾，回報摩西、亞倫，並全會眾，又把那地的果子給他們看；
13:27 又告訴摩西說：「我們到了你所打發我們去的那地，果然是流奶與蜜之地；這就是那地的果子。
13:28 然而住那地的民強壯，城邑也堅固寬大，並且我們在那裡看見了亞衲族的人。
13:29 亞瑪力人住在南地；赫人、耶布斯人、亞摩利人住在山地；迦南人住在海邊並約旦河旁。」
13:30 迦勒在摩西面前安撫百姓，說：「我們立刻上去得那地吧！我們足能得勝。」
13:31 但那些和他同去的人說：「我們不能上去攻擊那民，因為他們比我們強壯。」
13:32 探子中有人論到所窺探之地，向以色列人報惡信，說：「我們所窺探、經過之地是吞吃居民之地，我們在那裡所看見的人民都身量高大。
13:33 我們在那裡看見亞衲族人，就是偉人；他們是偉人的後裔。據我們看，自己就如蚱蜢一樣；據他們看，我們也是如此。」

 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”

³ So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. ⁴ These are their names:

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;

⁵ from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

⁶ from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;

⁷ from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;

⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;

⁹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;

¹⁰ from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;

¹¹ from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;

¹² from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;

¹³ from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;

¹⁴ from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;

¹⁵ from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.

¹⁶ These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)

¹⁷ When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. ¹⁹ What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? ²⁰ How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

²¹ So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. ²² They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,^[a] they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. ²⁵ At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.

²⁶ They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” ³² And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

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    每次思想到這個事件時，讓人覺得民主若沒有上帝的啟示是盲目且危險的！就像這十二個探子，都覺得迦南美地是很好的地方，正如上帝藉著摩西所宣告的：流奶與蜜之地！

    他們「從那裡砍了葡萄樹的一枝，上頭有一掛葡萄，兩個人用槓抬著，又帶了些石榴和無花果來」。讓人看了，好生羨慕，卻又不敢相信上帝的應許，總要找一些不信的理由，就宣告惡信：「我們所窺探、經過之地是吞吃居民之地，我們在那裡所看見的人民都身量高大。我們在那裡看見亞衲族人，就是偉人；他們是偉人的後裔。據我們看，自己就如蚱蜢一樣；據他們看，我們也是如此。」

    其實，這也是我們軟弱之處，我們總覺得上帝的救恩的確是那麼美好，卻不願意用信心去領受，總是以不信的心來拒絕，以至於遲遲無法享受到上帝的救恩！然而上帝並不因此放棄我們，仍然差遣聖靈在我們心中，一步一步啟示，使我們的信心堅固！

    這樣的經歷讓我們知道信仰不是一下子完成，是聖靈在我們心中一步一步動工，讓我們的生命日日更新、天天進步，越來越有上帝兒子耶穌基督的形象和樣式！