Long ago our father Abraham trod this soil, and God
Almighty promised to give it to him and his seed for an everlasting
inheritance. When I first heard of Canaan, down in Egypt, my faith was
strong that it was a good land, flowing with milk and honey, as God said,
and I longed to set foot upon it.
"When we twelve first left Kadesh-barnea for Canaan [Numbers 13:1-3,
17-33], I noticed that ten of the spies kept close together; but Joshua
and I were eager to see all that we could of the land, and we ranged as
far and wide as we could. Not far from where your feet rest now we got
our first sight of the Anakims, giants of Canaan. They were giants indeed.
Their legs looked like tree-trunks, and covering their faces was a dense
growth of beard out of which their eyes gleamed like crystals in a
haystack. The sight of them set my heart all aflutter, because I knew
at once that they were very dangerous foes, not easily reckoned with.
We were very cautious that they should not see us, and I must say that
part of our company trembled violently with fear and, as soon as we got
away a little distance, they ran with all their might.
"But something in my heart said that if God gave this land to Israel,
then God would give us power over the Anakims, no matter how many or how
strong they were.
Pages:
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47