Numbers 13:16-17
Moses was told by God to send out men to explore the land of Canaan. This is the land God was giving Abraham all those years ago. These 12 men were to be leaders from each tribe. Joshua was the leader of the Ephraim tribe. I am not sure why, but Jacob “adopted” Joseph's 2 sons. Ephraim & Manasseh. Levi and his descendants were set aside to be worship leaders & priests. Moses used their tribe for that only. Joseph was replaced with both sons. That is where the 12 tribes come from. (See Numbers 13:4-15)
Joshua being from Ephraim'a tribe is quite fitting. He was a leader and resilient like his relative, Joseph. Moses picked the leaders from the 12 tribes and instructed them on what to look for:
What is the land like?
Are the people strong, weak, few or many?
Is the land good?
Do their towns have walls or unprotected?
Is the soil fertile or poor?
Are there many trees?
These 12 mean were there for 40 days. That’s a long time to explore and take samples like they were instructed. We will talk more about Joshua the next few days.
