Are you serious??? This is what I kept saying while reading this chapter. God had a lot to say in this chapter. To put everything in context, it’s important to review chapter 13. In that chapter, the Israelites had made it to a land called Paran, just outside of Canaan. God had instructed Moses to send men to explore Canaan, the land God had promised them. After scouting the land, the men returned and reported that it was a magnificent country, flowing with milk and honey, but what about the people? All of the people they saw were huge, some of them giants, and the Israelites looked like grasshoppers to them. The chapter ends with many of the explorers spreading discouraging information about the land, among the Irsaelites.
Ok, now chapter 14 begins…”Then all the people began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of complaint against Moses and Aaron. “We wish we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they wailed. “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in the battle? Our wives and little ones will be carried off as slaves! Let’s get out of here and return to Egypt!” Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:1-4) Are you serious? How can you even question the power of God? This is the same God that parted the Red Sea, that travels with you by cloud during the day, fire at night, speaks to you in the Tabernacle, and performs miraculous signs regularly! I don’t get it!
At this time, Moses and Aaron fell to the ground before the people, and Joshua and Caleb spoke up and said to the people of Israel, “The land we explored is a wonderful land! And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey, and he will give it to us! Do not rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!” (Numbers 14:7-9) THANK YOU, JESUS! YES!!!
But in verse 10, the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Oh my goodness, NO!
Verse 10 continues with the Lord speaking out, “Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites from above the Tabernacle. And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people reject me? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation far greater and mightier than they are!” (Numbers 14:10-12) I cannot believe these people!
At this point, Moses pleads with God to spare the people of Israel, and he asked the Lord to pardon their sins and forgive them like He’s forgiven them since they’ve left Egypt. “Then the Lord said, “ I will pardon them as you have requested. But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they tested me by refusing to listen. They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will enter it. But my servant Caleb is different from the others. He has remained loyal to me, and I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will receive their full share of that land. Now turn around and don’t go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.” (Numbers 14:20-25) Wow!
God continues speaking with Moses and Aaron, “How long will this wicked nation complain about me?” “....Because you complained against me, none of you who are twenty years old or older and were counted in the census will enter the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. You said your children would be taken captive. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness. Because the men who explored the land were there for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years--a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. You will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy. I, the Lord, have spoken! I will do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will all die here in the wilderness.” (Numbers 14:27-35) Oh my goodness!
At this time the ten scouts who had encouraged the rebellion against the Lord by reporting discouraging information about the land of Canaan “...were struck dead with a plague before the Lord. Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.” (Numbers 14:37-38)
After the Israelites heard the words of the Lord from Moses, they realized the sin they had committed, and woke up early the next morning to travel to Canaan to the land that the Lord had promised. Too Late!!!
That reminds me of those times when as a child you didn’t do what your parents had requested and when they returned home finding it wasn’t completed, and then they informed you of the consequences, tears start rolling down your face as you proceed to do what they wanted you to do before they returned home--but at this time--it was too late! That spankin’ was coming and you couldn’t do anything about it!
Moses said, “....It won’t work. Do not go into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the Lord is not with you....you will be slaughtered. The Lord will abandon you because you have abandoned the Lord.” (Numbers 14:41-43)
Are we doing things in our life right now that are pushing God away from us, pressing Him to abandon us, causing Him to ignore us as we wander in the wilderness without His covering?
Lord, thank you for your Word today! Help us to maintain our faith in you, no matter what the circumstances, and to always be filled with a spirit of gratefulness. We love you!
“May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
….AND MAY WE ALL PRACTICE THIS WITH ONE ANOTHER
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