God's liberating hand brought the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and led them through the wilderness. They are now poised to enter the promised land.

God directed Moses to choose twelve men, one from each tribe, to explore the land of Canaan. It's interesting that while God only asked for exploration, as if the land were already theirs, Moses' direction to the men felt very different, more like spying on an enemy.

They went into the land and returned after 40 days (of course). They reported to Moses a land that "does flow with milk and honey" (two highly prized foods notably lacking in the wilderness). They carried back clusters of grapes that required two men to lift. But they also saw the powerful people who lived there, even giants. They reported on the well-fortified cities and the various strong tribes that lived in them. Obviously, as good as the food looked, this land was no match for this rag-tag group of desert wanderers.

But one of the men rallied the troops. Caleb told them all to be quiet and boldly said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it" (Numbers 13:30). That only made the others more scared, and they began to exaggerate the problems. "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw were of great size. . . . We seemed like grasshoppers. . . ."

Well, that kind of talk began to spread like wildfire among the people, and it soon burst into a full-scale rebellion. "Let's head back to Egypt rather than die here by the sword," they said, and they planned to choose another leader besides Moses. Moses, along with Aaron (having learned his lesson at Sinai, perhaps) fell facedown in front of the people as Caleb and Joshua tore their robes and begged the people to stand fast in faith because the Lord was with them and "we will devour them." But instead the people considered stoning them.

Again, as he did at Sinai, with the golden calf in the background, God told Moses he would destroy the people and start over with Moses alone. Moses would have none of it. He pleaded with the Lord, appealing to the exodus itself, and arguing that the Egyptians would hear of Israel's destruction in the wilderness and think that God was unable to do what he said.

God relented, but punished the people by declaring that "not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times---not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors." None of the generation who had been delivered from Egypt would set foot in the promised land except two faithful men, Caleb and Joshua.

When God says "I am the Lord your God, have no other gods before me," it means that "I should trust, love, fear, and honor the one true God" (Q&A 55, Q&A: A Summary of Biblical Teachings). Trusting God means that we believe he will fulfill his covenant promises no matter what---even when our lives are threatened, our reputation is on the line, our future is in danger, or we can't see the way ahead and our trust in God is tested. Believing in God, worshiping God alone, means that we place our whole life and future trustingly in his hands.