God's people who lived long ago were called Israelites. For a while they lived in a land called Egypt. Here they were very unhappy. Their enemies treated them unkindly. God saw this and he planned to help them. He told his brave servant Moses to lead them away from the land of Egypt to another country.

Moses and all the people traveled for many days. Then they came near the country which God planned to give them for their new home. But they did not enter that country at once. They sent some men to visit the country to learn what kind of people lived in it.

For forty days those men walked about in the new country, learning of its people. They ate some of the fruit which grew on the trees of the land. And they tasted the juicy grapes which grew in the vineyards. They had never seen such large grapes before. On their way back they carried a bunch of the grapes to show their friends. They carried other fruits also. And they told their friends that many more grapes as large and sweet were waiting for them in the vineyards. They told them about the people whom they saw in the land. And they also told them about the cities in which those people lived. -Numbers 13:1-33.