Scripture Reference: Numbers 1-2, 13-14
Story Overview: The Lord commanded that Moses take a census (counting the number of people) of the twelve tribes of Israel. Moses appointed one man from each tribe to spy out the land of Canaan. When the spies returned, ten of them convinced the Israelites that the people of Canaan were too big and strong to overcome. Only two spies, Joshua and Caleb knew that they could overtake the Canaanites with God’s help. Because of the people’s unbelief, the Lord said that none of the Israelites over twenty years old would live in the promised land. Only Joshua and Caleb were the exceptions. Because of their lack of faith, the people would now wander in the wilderness for forty years.
Suggested Emphasis: God helped the Israelites conquer Canaan. He can give us strength to overcome obstacles.
| Background Study | Way to Introduce the Story | The Story |
| Review Questions | Craft and Activity Ideas | Online Resources |
Background Study: 
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Way to Introduce the Story:
Take a census. Count how many people in your class today. Now count people in other bible classes. You might want to count people “secretly” like the spies did. You could just quietly count the adults in the adult class making sure that you are all so quiet that they do not notice you. Come back to the classroom and write your results on the board. “When you count people you are taking a census. We took a census of our class [and others]. God told Moses to take a census of all the people who were travelling together.”
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The Story:
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Review Questions:
- What did it mean when God told Moses to take a census? To count the people
- How many tribes were the Israelites divided into? Twelve
- How many spies took a look at the new land? Twelve
- What did ten of the spies report? The enemy is too strong and big for us.
- Who were the two spies that believed God would help Israel win the new land of Canaan? Joshua and Caleb
- Because the people did not trust in the Lord, how many years would they have to wander in the desert? 40
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Craft and Activity ideas for the class (choose age appropriate ones):
- Send out your spies! Let the children try to count the number of adults in the adult class or children in another class without those people knowing it (you might want to mention this before class to the teachers of those classes)
- Play “I Spy” (For a variation you might spy things on the timeline if you have done one. Example: “I spy with my little eye . . . something hard with writing on it. Answer- the Ten Commandments).
- Use the maps in the back section of a bible to show Egypt, Canaan, and the Jordan River. Many of them show how the Israelites wondered after the incident with the spies.
- Review the Ten Commandments and the other memory verses this term.
- Act out difficult situations where God gives us strength.
- The help children understand the concept of the nation of Israel being divided into twelve tribes bring a pizza to class and divide it into twelve slices (Thanks, Cristy Neves, for this great idea).
- Craft: Use plastic cups and purple paint to paint a cluster of 12 grapes and then write the names of each tribe inside the grapes. Adapt this plastic cup printing method (2 minute 27 second video) at http://youtu.be/-zD1lL7awK8
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Online Resources:
- Colouring page and puzzle worksheets (12 Spies) at http://www.calvarycurriculum.com/pdf/childrenscurriculum/OLD/CURR049.PDF
- Video: Kids acting out the story with adult narrator. It is 3 minutes and 16 seconds and really well done. Find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rX0ysJsro8&feature=share&list=UL3rX0ysJsro8
- Map showing Egypt, the wilderness and the Promised Land at http://www.bible-printables.com/Coloring-Pages/Old-Testament/10-OT-022-moses.htm
- Online slideshow at http://biblelessonsite.org/slideshow20.html
- Craft: Video (2 minutes and 30 seconds) How to draw grapes at http://www.simplekidscrafts.com/video/summer-drawings-how-to-draw-a-grapes
- Craft: Grapes made of old egg cartons at http://www.crafty-crafted.com/recycle-craft-materials/egg-carton-grapes-2/#
- Game: ‘Journey to the Promised Land’ game at http://www.christiancrafters.com/game_journey.html
- Short answer quiz at http://gardenofpraise.com/pdf/bibl10.pdf
- Multiple choice quiz at http://gardenofpraise.com/tests/test_spies.pdf
- Alphabetical order word puzzle at http://gardenofpraise.com/pdf/abcspies.pdf
- Wordsearch at http://gardenofpraise.com/pdf/puzzle10.pdf
- Crossword puzzle at http://gardenofpraise.com/pdf/bibpuz10.pdf
- Word scramble puzzle at http://gardenofpraise.com/pdf/scram10.pdf
- Fill-in-the-blank puzzle (Numbers 14:7-9) at http://gardenofpraise.com/pdf/fillin10.pdf
- Online activities and games at http://gardenofpraise.com/bibl10s.htm
- Lesson plan at http://www.missionarlington.org/d/OT-1YR-21-ExploringCanaan.pdf
- Lesson plan and activities (age adaptable) at http://www.missionarlington.org/d/OT-09-20-ExploringCanaan.pdf
