In Numbers, chapter thirteen, verse thirty-two, the unbelief of the ten spies had two dimensions: first, God’s past faithfulness to His people did not bring these ten men into a loyal relationship with Him. Second, they did not trust God and His promises concerning their future. Their lack of faith stood in marked contrast to that of Caleb and Joshua. At the beginning of this chapter, the Lord speaks to Moses to send twelve men to Canaan to search the land and instructs him to send a man from every tribe.
There are twelve tribes, and one representative from each would go to spy out the land. The spies from these tribes are Shammua, Shaphat, Caleb, Igal, Oshea, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi, and Geuel. These are the names that Moses sent to spy out the land. However, in verse sixteen of the same chapter, Moses called Oshea Jehoshua, which later is pronounced Joshua in verse six in the next chapter. The objective of these men is to see the land and bring a report.
The result of the report from the majority, ten of the spies, had conflicting views apart from the other two. Their perspective is the land of Canaan was not a very fruitful one. The land was so barren and unfruitful that it did not produce food sufficient for its inhabitants. The ten spies further claim the people were giants and made them look like grasshoppers, as stated in verse thirty-three of the same chapter.
Today, there are members in churches that will not help the congregation but will attempt to hurt it. These people do exist because they are like weeds on the lawn. They look good in the crowd at church but not having the desire to continue to grow or develop outside the church. The problem is God knows who they are and, eventually, by His Spirit, will make them known to those who serve God in and outside the church.