14. Wandering in the Wilderness

What the Story Says

1. Why did God tell the people to get rid of the Canaanites completely?

   The Canaanites worshiped idols and did many evil things. God knew that if the Israelites lived with the Canaanites, they would marry them and start to worship idols also (#14-02), (#14-03).

2. What did ten of the spies say about the land and people of Canaan?

   They said the land was good, but that the people were giants. They said the Israelites could not defeat them (#14-05).

3. What did Joshua and Caleb say about the people of Canaan?

   They said the people were indeed strong, but that God would fight for the Israelites so they could defeat the Canaanites (#14-06).

4. How did the people respond to the bad report of the ten spies?

   They were angry that they had left Egypt. They wanted to choose a new leader to replace Moses and Aaron and to lead them back to Egypt (#14-07).

5. How did God answer the people when they wanted to go back to Egypt?

   God was very angry with the people, and promised that they would wander in the wilderness until all the adults died. Only their children would enter into the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb would also enter the land, because they wanted to obey God (#14-08).

6. What did the people do when they heard that they would die in the wilderness?

   They attacked the Canaanites, but the Canaanites defeated them (#14-09), (#14-10).

7. How did God take care of the people in the wilderness?

   He gave them manna and quail to eat, and provided water for them. He also kept their clothes and sandals from wearing out for forty years (#14-11), (#14-12).

8. Why could Moses not enter the Promised Land?

   God told Moses to speak to a rock so that it would give water to the people. But Moses disobeyed God and struck a rock with a stick instead. In this way, he dishonored God before the people. Therefore, God did not allow him to enter into the land. He went up to a high mountain and saw the land, and then he died (#14-13), (#14-15).

What the Story Means to Us

1. What had they the people of Canaan become like since Joseph and his family left?

   Joseph and his family had been in Egypt for four hundred years. During that time there was no one who worshiped God in Canaan, and the people there had become very evil and worshiped many idols.

2. What often happens to people who live among people that worship other gods?

   God said the Israelites would begin to worship the idols of the Canaanites if they lived with them. People normally begin to worship the gods of the people around them. This is especially true if they marry people who believe in other gods.

3. Why did Joshua give the people different advice than the other ten spies?

   All twelve of the spies saw the same land and people. However, ten of the spies only thought about how hard it would be to defeat the people. But Joshua and Caleb thought about the good land and about how God would help them. They believed he would enable them to defeat the Canaanites even though they were tall and strong.

4. Why did the people want to go back and be slaves in Egypt?

   The people were very afraid that the Canaanites would kill them. They thought it would be better to be slaved in Egypt than to be killed. They did not trust God to protect them.

5. God made the Israelites wander in the wilderness for forty years until all the adults died. Why did he take such good care of them during that time?

   God was angry with the people who would not go into the Promised Land. But he kept his promise to Abraham to make his descendants into a great nation. Therefore, he continued to care for the Israelites in the wilderness, and for their children who would enter into the Promised Land after their parents would die.

6. Why did God punish Moses so harshly for striking the rock?

   Moses was the leader of Israel. He spoke to them for God. Because everyone watched what Moses did, God punished him harshly so the people would be afraid to disobey God. For this reason, Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Summary

God brought the people to the Promised Land, just as he said. But they were afraid of the Canaanites and refused to enter. Therefore, God made them wander for forty years until all of the adults died. However, he cared for the people so that their children could enter the land. He kept his promise to Abraham. Moses saw the land, but could not enter because he had disobeyed God. Joshua became the leader of Israel after Moses died.