- 115-
had exalted a Prince and a Savior, and cry out: "Away with Him! away with
Him!"And as the carcasses of those who had rebelled fell in the wilderness, so has
similar spiritualjudgment followed upon the terrible cry: "His blood be upon us and
upon our children!" But, blessedbe God, as mercy was ultimately in store for the
descendants of that rebellious generation, so also, inGod's own time, will Israel turn
again unto the Lord and enjoy the promises made unto the fathers.
The scene of this ever-memorable event was "the wilderness of Paran," or, to define
the localitymore exactly, Kadesh-barnea. (Numbers 13:26; Deuteronomy 1:19) The
spot has first beenidentified by Dr. Rowlands and Canon Williams, and since so fully
described by Professor Palmer,that we can follow the progress of events, step by step.
Kadesh is the modern 'Ain Gadis, or springof Kadesh, and lies in that north-eastern
plateau of the wilderness of Paran, which formed thestronghold of the Amorites. A
little north of it begins the Negeb or "south country" ofPalestine, which, as already
explained, reaches to about Beersheba, and where the PromisedLand really begins.
The district is suited for pasturage, and contains abundant traces of former habitation,
and, in thenorth, also evidence of the former cultivation of vines. Here, and not, as is
usually supposed, in theneighborhood of Hebron, we must look for that valley of
Eshcol, whence the spies afterwards ontheir return brought the clusters of grapes, as
specimens of the productiveness of the country,Kadesh itself is the plain at the foot of
the cliff whence the 'Ain Gadis springs.
To the east is a ridge of mountains, to the west stretches a wide plain, where the
Canaanites hadgathered to await the advance of Israel. Hence, if the spies were to "get
up this Negeb" ("southcountry "), they had "to go up by the mountain," (Numbers
13:17, 22) in order to avoid the host ofCanaan. In so doing they made a detour,
passing south of 'Ain Gadis, through what is called inScripture the wilderness of Zin
(13:21), from which they ascended into the mountains. Thus muchseems necessary to
understand the localization of the narrative.
But to return. From Deuteronomy 1:22, we gather that the proposal of sending spies
"to search outthe land" had originally come from the people. By permission of the
Lord, Moses had agreed to it,(Numbers 13:1) adding, however, a warning to "be of
good courage" (Numbers 13:20), lest thisshould be associated with fear of the people
of the land. Twelve persons, seemingly the most suitablefor the work, - spiritually and
otherwise - were chosen from "the rulers "of the tribes.
Of these we only know Caleb and Joshua, the "minister of Moses," whose name
Moses hadformerly changed from Hoshea, which means "help," to Joshua, or
"Jehovah is help." Detailed andaccurate directions having been given them, the spies
left the camp of Israel "at the time of thefirst-ripe grapes," that is, about the end of
(^)