Breadcrumb: Forty years, indeed!

For those who say the Israelites travelled in the desert for forty years before reaching Canaan, think again. By Num. 13, it is slightly over two years since they set out from Egypt, including a one-year stopover at Mount Sinai. However, it is in this chapter that the Israelites approach Canaan and send men to scout it. This is hardly the 40-year trek most of us are familiar with! The Israelites knew where Canaan was the whole time. On the other hand, they were not allowed to enter it. The knowledge that the land was there but inaccessible must have been enough to make them wish they were lost.