The Inspection of Fruit
The precursor to entering into The Promised Land is the inspection of fruit. The fruit is the abundance of blessing by Our Heavenly Father by HIS Word spoken in Genesis concerning seedtime and harvest. Prior to the initial attempt of the children of Israel to enter the Promised Land, twelve men were sent to spy out the land. The people had lived a life of scarcity for generations as slaves to the Egyptians. Their sin and unbelief had enslaved them and the time of judgment had ended. Moses had been in his extended training period and had received the mandate of THE LORD to set the captives free. The people had witnessed great and mighty miracles by Our Heavenly Father as and expression of HIS Love for the people. HE delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh and had provided for them as they crossed the wilderness over a six month period of time. They witnessed the supernatural on a daily basis. Now, twelve men were specifically chosen for the crucial job of going forth into the land of promise and giving their assessment of what was there. Surely each tribe picked one of their best men for the task for there was a lot at stake. The future of their tribe depended on that man. Caleb was one of those men.
The name “Caleb” means “whole-hearted” not "dog” as is commonly thought. This meaning of his name truly fits the character of the man. Joshua (Salvation) and Caleb (Whole-hearted) provided proof of the abundance of the Promised Land as requested by Moses. They spent forty days spying out the land leading up to what is now known as the fall feast of Tabernacles. They began their journey in the month of Ab (July-August), the time of the first ripening of grapes. They brought back grapes, pomegranates, and figs for inspection. The fruit of the Vine (Jesus) was listed first for the vine must always be the “first-fruit” of many. Pomegranates represent worship in the Temple where our focus on Our Heavenly Father is at its zenith. Thirdly, figs represent the “support” of life i.e. the bread of life.
Joshua and Caleb brought forth a good report full of faith and expectation and were ready to enter into the land and conquer the inhabitants who were placed there until the children of Israel were ready to inhabit it. This fruit inspection was a prerequisite to entering in. Was the land productive prior to the children of Israel inhabiting it? Was there proof of blessing prior to the greater blessing of promised manifestation? Do you think they brought back mediocre fruit for inspection? No, only the best were selected. The best grapes were used to make wine, the offering of Tabernacles.
The giants in the land were no different than the perceived giants today. The ten spies who were full of unbelief did not trust Our Heavenly Father to bring forth deliverance. They knew HIS acts but not HIS character. The two spies (whole-hearted salvation) were different. Their eyes were opened to the ways of Our Heavenly Father and knew that if HE said to take the land, HE would provide victory. None of them had ever seen the fruit of the land prior to this. They fully expected to see good fruit even though the land was inhabited by those who had not been set apart for HIS service.
This 40 day period was just prior to the Day of Jubilee (or Atonement). Surely the inspection took place on the eve of this day. The results of this inspection with the rejection of the plan to enter in necessitated the establishment of the Day of Atonement. Though Jewish tradition places this inspection/rejection at the Ninth of Av, I would suggest that based on Numbers 13:20-21 that the spies entered the land in the month of Av and returned just prior to the Day of Atonement which was established due to Israel’s sin of unbelief. The time cycle of “July is as September” would parallel the 9th of Av is as the 9th of Tishri.
Now is the time to bring forth the fruit for inspection. Now is the time for fruitfulness in unity. Now is the time to trust Our Heavenly Father as we proceed to take the Promised Land and inhabit it for we are well able for we have a “different Spirit” within us.