Twelve Tribes and Twelve Spies

God’s special people were stuck as slaves in a faraway place called Egypt. They were there for more than 400 years! But one day, God said, “I promise I’ll take you to a wonderful land that’s just for you.”

The people didn’t need a map or a GPS!

God was their guide. In the daytime, He made a big, fluffy cloud appear in the sky to guide them and shield them from the sun. They looked up and followed that fluffy cloud.

And when the sun went to bed, God lit up the sky with a giant pillar of fire. That’s when they followed the bright fire in the night.

If you like numbers and counting, then you’re in for a treat with the book of Numbers! You see, God spoke to a wise leader named Moses and said, “Count all the people, Moses!”

Now, counting all those people was a big job, so Moses got a helping hand from his brother, Aaron. There were sooo many people, like a sea of them!

God’s people was a big family, and God wanted them to be organized. So, He asked Moses to split them into groups called “tribes.” Each tribe was like its own special club.

And when it was time to set up camp, each tribe gathered together in their own spot. Thet even had their very own flag to show which tribe they belonged to.

Imagine looking at a big map of the camp, like a treasure map! Right in the middle, you’d spot something super special – God’s tent, called the Tabernacle. It was like the heart of the camp.

Close to the Tabernacle were the Levites. They were like the guardians of the Tabernacle, making sure everything was just right, and they led the worship, like singing and thanking God.

Now, on the edges of the camp, kind of like the north, south, east, and west sides, you’d see the tents of the twelve tribes. Each tribe was like a big family with their own space.

One day, when all the tribes were organized, God said to Moses, “It’s time to get ready to go to the land I promised you.”

But this new land might have some surprises, so Moses thought, “Let’s send some people to sneak a peek and see what’s there before we make a plan.” 🌟🗺️

He picked one person from each tribe to be a spy. What’s a spy, you ask? Well, they’re like secret explorers!

So, these twelve spies went to the promised land. They tiptoed around, trying to learn all they could without anyone noticing.

But guess what they saw?

Big, strong fighters living there! And that made some of them a bit jumpy.

They wondered, “Will we have to fight these tough folks before we can call this new land our home?”

In that special land, there were big cities with tall, strong walls all around them. The spies started thinking, “This is going to be really tough! Can God really help us beat these folks?”

But here’s the cool part! Those twelve sneaky spies also found something amazing in the land God promised.

They saw yummy grapes, pomegranates, and figs – like super-duper delicious fruits! They picked a branch of grapes and put it on a big pole to show Moses and everyone.

The grapes were sooooo huge and heavy that it took two strong people to carry that pole! 🍇🌟

After sneaking around for 40 whole days in the land, these brave folks knew it was time to head back to camp and tell Moses and everyone what they found.

Now, here’s the tricky part. Even though they found lots of good stuff in the land, some of them only wanted to talk about the not-so-good stuff.

Ten of these spies said to Moses and the people, “It’s way too tough to go to the promised land. There are giant, strong fighters there, and those cities have walls like a fortress!”

They even said, “We’re as tiny as grasshoppers compared to them!” 🦗

This made everyone feel really sad and worried. 😔

Most of the people were starting to think maybe they shouldn’t go to that special land.

But two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, had a different idea. They said to the other ten spies, “Hey, stop saying it’s too tough and scary! We can totally do this!”

Caleb even said, “Let’s go and take that land as our own! We’ve got this!”

But guess what? The people decided to listen more to the ten spies who were worried.

This led to lots of arguing and folks getting really upset. Some even said, “Maybe God’s promises aren’t so great after all. He said we could have our own land, but now we can’t beat these giants!

Maybe we should’ve stayed back in Egypt.”

It was a big, confusing time for everyone.

Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb were really surprised.

They were like, “Go back to Egypt? We were slaves there! Why don’t the people trust in God’s promise? God is super-duper strong, even stronger than those big giants and their tough walls!”

So, they begged and pleaded with the people, saying, “Please, don’t be scared! God will take care of us. Just believe in God.”

But you know what? The people didn’t listen. In fact, they got even more and more angry. They were so mad that they were about to throw stones at these four men!

Moses had a talk with God, and things were pretty tough. The people were mad, but guess what? God was mad too, and He had every reason to be.

You see, God had done so many amazing things for the people. He saved them from being slaves in Egypt, made a path through the Red Sea so they could cross safely, gave them important rules (the ten commandments), food in the desert, and a beautiful place to worship.

He even picked out a great land for them to live in! All they had to do was step into that land, and God promised to keep them safe from any enemies. So, why didn’t they believe in Him?

God got so, so mad that He thought about doing something really serious. He thought about getting rid of all the people.

But even though the people didn’t really deserve it, Moses begged God to show them love and kindness anyway. 😢💔🙏

God decided to be really kind and not destroy all of His people.

But here’s the thing, not trusting God was a pretty big deal, so there had to be a lesson learned.

Everyone was going to have a punishment. If they had just trusted God, they could have gone into that special land right away.

But because they didn’t, they had to wander in the desert for forty more years.

Yep, that’s one year for each of those forty days the spies spent checking things out.

Now, for the folks who complained and wanted to go back to Egypt, there was another punishment. They wouldn’t get to see the promised land. They wouldn’t make it through those next forty years.

And as for those ten spies who convinced everyone to turn away from God, they got really sick and, well, they didn’t make it either.

God didn’t forget about Joshua and Caleb!

They were the super faithful ones among the twelve spies, and guess what?

They didn’t die like the others. Even though they had to wait for those long forty years, they knew that someday they’d get to go into the special land God promised.

Now, here’s the surprising part.

Even after all that time and all the lessons learned, there were still some people who didn’t want to listen to God.

They were so impatient that they thought, “Why wait forty years? Let’s try to sneak into the land right now!”

You know, those folks who tried to go into the land without God’s help, no matter how strong or brave they were, couldn’t win. They had to go back to camp, feeling sad and defeated.

Back into the desert they went. God was still their leader, but they had to wait for those long forty years before they’d get another chance to go to the promised land.

Now, here’s a big question for you: If you were there, would you have listened to the ten spies or the two spies? 🤔

Would you trust in God’s promise, or would you feel scared like the others?