Today’s passage can be broken down into two sections:

The first concerns opposition to Moses from his brother and sister: Miriam and Aaron (12:1-16). It appears that the reason for the opposition was the fact that Moses had married a Cushite wife. We are not told what it was about her that caused the opposition but she was not an Israelite and so Miriam and Aaron were possibly worried about the religion and culture being diluted by this marriage. God was angry at their complaint because of the very special relationship he had with Moses. Moses was in fact not just a Prophet but he and God spoke face to face. How important it is that we build up all those who have been placed in positions of leadership over us. Their work is difficult enough without us criticizing them.

The second part of this passage concerns the exploration of Canaan by the selected leaders of the tribes of Israel. This was surely a good plan, so that Moses and the people would know what they were up against when they entered the land. The report, however, was confusing and different leaders had different ideas, in particular, about the inhabitants. Some said that they were powerful and the cities fortified and large. Caleb thought they could easily take the land and that they should do it immediately. Others told of giants, against whom the explorers seemed like grasshoppers. This group had obviously been particularly frightened by the prospect of the task ahead. It reminds me of witness statements about crimes. Everyone has a different account to tell. There is truth in there somewhere but much personal opinion based on different ways of seeing things.

What they all noticed, however, was that it was a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’. They brought back a huge branch full of grapes to prove the fact. This was what God had promised the Israelites before they left Egypt. In Exodus 3:16-17 in the encounter at the burning bush, God told Moses to assemble the elders of Israel and tell them: “I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perrizites, Hivites and Jebusites – a land flowing with milk and honey”. When Moses heard the report and saw the luscious grapes, I wonder if he recalled that day when he met the great “I am” and his and the peoples’ lives changed.

Amongst disapproval from family and confusion about the task ahead, he must have known in that moment that God was in control.

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Lord, please give us a sign today that You are in control.