Numbers 13 and 14 record the reconnaissance of the twelve spies. At God's instructions, twelve men were selected, one from each of the tribes, to explore the Promised Land. In their report, they were very favorable about the produce of the land: "it does flow with milk and honey!" (13:27). Yet they were equally impressed with the size of the people. "The people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. . . . All the people we saw there are of great size. . . . We seemed like grasshoppers" (13:28, 32-33). Based upon this report, ten of the spies advocated that they not attack (13:31), while only Joshua and Caleb encouraged them to trust God to provide success (13:30; 14:6-9).
