(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Numbers 13:26–33, “And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
The men had done the job that they were asked to do. All that was required, at that stage, was that they give a report of everything that they had seen and done. The Land flowed with milk an honey. Milk, indicated something very special and reserved for people who were above average on the social scale (See Gen 18:8, “And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.”) and honey was for people who deserved the very best (See Gen 43:11, “And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:”). Even though the Israelis had been slaves and were thought of a less than a normal person, the Lord loved them and gave them the very best that could be offered. However, those people were afraid. They forgot that the Lord had already taken them from slavery in the land of Egypt and He had destroyed the armies of the greatest super power on earth at that time. The just saw the large cities and the fact that there were giants living in the Land. Not only were they afraid but the encouraged the rest of the people to be afraid as well.
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