I. THE ORIGIN OF THE MISSION. We know from Deuteronomy 1:22 that this commandment of God followed on a resolution of the people. It was their wish that spies should go forth and tell them something of the way beforehand. And even Moses fell in with them. It would seem an easier thing to be meek than to take no thought for the morrow. Even Moses the servant of God must be taking up to-morrow's burdens before the time. How much better it would have been patiently and trustfully to wait upon the cloud and the trumpets! (Numbers 9:15-23; Numbers 10:1-10). But since the people's hearts are so, God sends the spies. The unfitness of Israel for immediate entrance into the promised land was showing itself more and more, and God sent these searchers, that in their searching both they and the people they represented might also be searched. May we not as it were detect a tone of rebuke and remonstrance in the words, "which I will give unto the children of Israel"? The Israelites by demanding this mission were trying to guard themselves on a side that really needed no defense, while leaving' themselves more and more exposed to all the perils of an unbelieving mind.

II. THE MEN WHO WERE SENT. Whether by choice of Moses or the people we are not told, but probably there was much careful consultation on the matter, according to human wisdom. Doubtless they seemed the best men for the purpose; chosen for physical endurance, quickness of eye, tact in emergencies, and good judgment of the land and people. Yet some very important requisites were evidently not considered. Out of the twelve, only two were men of faith in God and deep convictions as to the destiny of Israel. A great deal depends on the sort of men we send in any enterprise for God. Believing and devout spirits can see prospects others cannot see, because they have resources which others have not. Perhaps in the whole nation there were not twelve men to be found of the right stamp in every particular, and even if they had been found, they might have failed in commanding popular confidence. We can easily imagine that Caleb and Joshua had not a very comfortable time with their colleagues, and that it was not a very easy matter to agree upon a report. But such as they were, they went forth. The people had come to depend on twelve limited minds like their own, each with its own way of looking at things, instead of on him who had already done such great things - the unchangeable One, the ample Providence, the sure Defense.

III. THE INFORMATION REQUIRED. Moses gives them their instructions (verses 17-20), and they come from a man who is acting rather in accordance with the wishes of the people than in strict harmony with previous revelations from God. Had not God said to Moses, or ever the chains of Egypt were loosed, that he would bring his people into the land of the Canaanites, a land flowing with milk and honey, a land promised in solemn covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when as yet they were strangers in it? (Exodus 3:17; Exodus 6:3, 4). It was the people who, in their unbelief and carnal anxiety, wanted something in the way of human testimony. Let them, therefore, indicate such details of inquiry as in their opinion were necessary. They were like a suspicious buyer, who, not content with the word of the person from whom he makes his purchase, though he be a man of tried integrity, hunts round for all sorts of independent testimony, even from those who may have very doubtful capacity as witnesses. "A land flowing with milk and honey, is it? See then if it be such a good land. See if the people appreciate its fertility by their cultivation of it. Observe the climate and the people themselves, if they be a strong, stalwart race, and numerous. Do they live peacefully among themselves, or in strongholds?" There was not a sentence in these instructions but threw some doubt on the wisdom, power, and faithfulness of Jehovah. When God sends out people to do such work as delights his heart, it is in a very different spirit; as he sent out the single stripling, unaccustomed to war, against the giant; as Jesus sent out the twelve on their gospel mission, encumbered with as few material resources as possible. The land to be searched was the ]and in which their honoured progenitors had lived; but there is no word to say, "Tell us of Bethel, and of the plain of Mature, and the cave of Machpelah in Hebron." And to crown all, the result shows that they took all this trouble and waited these forty days for useless information. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. - Y.

II. THERE ARE ANAKIM TO BE ENCOUNTERED IN THE CONQUEST OF EVERY PROMISED LAND. Christ has said, "If any man will come after Me," &c., and has urged us to count the cost before we commence to raise our tower. So He would prepare us for self-denial, hardship, and long-continued struggle; but we must not suppose that in all this the gospel is an exception to the general law. No Canaan of success, in any pursuit, can be gained save by the conquest of the Anakim. He who would rise to a position of eminence in the department of literature, for example, must learn to "scorn delights, and live laborious days." He must deny himself many pleasures in which others allow themselves to indulge, and must keep himself, in a sense, secluded from the world, living in his library and at his desk. The man of business who would climb the steep that leads to wealth, must pursue a similar course. He cannot leave his place; he keeps himself chained to the oar; he knows that nothing will avail but work — hard and continuous work; for so only can he conquer those influences that stand in the way of his attainment of his object. It is the same with the artist; and, on a lower platform, with the athlete. All of them have to go into training; and, in every pursuit, a campaign, with its perils and fatigues, comes before a victory. We cannot complain, there-tore, if the same law holds in the spiritual life. The giants with whom we have to contend are mainly in ourselves, in the shape of evil principles and sins that most easily beset us; and it is only through self-conquest that we can pass to any external victory. We cannot vault by one spasmodic leap up to the height of holiness, any more than the Israelites could all at once obtain possession of the Land of Promise. "By little and little" it has to be done. It needs prayer, and watchfulness, and .constancy; and if we decline to enter upon the conflict, we shall fall short of the inheritance.

III. THE TRUE BELIEVER IS ALWAYS ABLE TO CONQUER HIS SPIRITUAL ADVERSARIES WITH THE HELP OF GOD. It is not a question of feebleness, but of faith. Whether the work we set before us be our own sanctification, or the evangelisation of the city, or the conversion of the world, the principle is still the same. We can do all things through Christ strengthening us; and if we attempt great things, trusting in Him, we may expect to do great things, not otherwise.

IV. THERE IS A POINT BEYOND WHICH IT IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE TO REPAIR THE FOLLIES OF THE PAST. They who will not when they may, shall not when they will. You see this in every department and pursuit of life. Up to a certain limit it seems to be in a man's power, if he choose, to make up for the past; but beyond that limit it is no longer possible, whether he choose or not.

(W. M. Taylor, D. D.)