Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Numbers 14:1) And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
At the end of the last chapter and post, ten of the twelve men who had spied out the land of Canaan that the Lord had already stated He was giving them and driving out its inhabitants, came back with a bad report that the land was filled with giants and fortified cities and that there was no way they could go up against those people. At the news of this, the people cried throughout the night. So it appears that none of the congregation believed as Caleb did in the last chapter, that all they had to do was to go in and possess the land the Lord had already given them. They all believed the bad report rather than the word of their Lord God.
(2) And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!"
Once again, as seen before, a few sowed discord, and soon the entire congregation was complaining about Moses and Aaron, and actually saying to them that they wished they had died in Egypt or in this wilderness rather than to be brought to this moment in time. Spoiler alert--be careful what you wish for!
(3) "And why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should be prey? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
Incredibly, the people start complaining against the Lord, too. Why had He brought them to this land only to be killed, not just them, but their wives and children to be innocent victims of beasts of prey. After all the miraculous things they had seen the Lord do for them, they now thought it better that they return to their life in bondage in Egypt. It's just unbelievable to me when I read this, but I know in so many ways that while God is carrying us through difficult situations, we may become frightened and doubtful, and long to go back within our comfort zones, unwilling to possess the great things the Lord is trying to give us. It's easy to see that those degenerate Israelites acted so foolishly and in rebellion to their Lord; it's often that we cannot see ourselves accurately. But what a wonderful lesson to remind us that we should always remember the continual blessings of our Lord, and never doubt Him by allowing our hearts to be troubled by our present situations. The same Lord who has brought us to this present time is well able to continue to carry us through! Why do we always try to put limits on God? I know in my case, sometimes it's not that I doubt that He can do something, but that He will do it in a particular case. Sometimes I feel unworthy to expect that He will do something for me. Then I am reminded that of course, I am unworthy! We are all unworthy! (Rom. 3:10 and 23) But He loves us in spite of that! He cares about every hair on our heads (Luke 12:7); He works all things to the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8:28); He wants to prosper and not harm us (Jer. 29:11). God is all good, all loving, all faithful, and sees all things that are and will be, so we can completely trust Him. Regarding the limits we put on God, I recall a perfect analogy in the book, The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel, that I read some years ago. Just as we cannot comprehend the mind and abilities of God, and may not recognize what God is doing in our present situation is actually good, compare that to the mind and abilities of a person with a wounded bear. The bear will feel attacked when it is shot with a tranquilizer gun, not realizing that the man is actually doing that to save it. Our simple human selves cannot comprehend the mind of God and what He is doing to save us, but we know that we can always trust Him.
(4) And they said one to another, "Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt."
Astonishingly, the people actually decided among themselves to appoint a captain, rejecting Moses, and selecting a new leader who would lead them back to Egypt. What madness! Not only were they going back to bondage, but suggesting they leave the care and provision of their Lord? Who was going to feed them every day as had been the case in their journey to this point? Or did they expect that even after they had rejected their Lord, His word, and His servant Moses, that He would bless and provide for them all the way back into their captivity? I liken this one to our country and the motto that "God Bless America". We ask Him to bless us even though we kill millions of innocent babies, celebrate homosexuality and immorality in all sorts of forms, etc. What madness! It comes down to a simple choice between life everlasting with our Lord or death with the ways of the world:
"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live." - Deuteronomy 30:19
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." - Galatians 5:1
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." - Psalm 14:12
"You adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity
with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes
himself an enemy of God." - James 4:4
Once again, if we are an enemy of God, can we expect Him to bless us? Can we survive without the blessing of God? Consider these verses:
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD..." - Psalm 33:12a
"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." - Psalm 9:17
"For the nation and kingdom which will not serve You shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly wasted." - Isaiah 60:12
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." - Proverbs 14:34
What's a person to do when his country has gone mad and is wicked? There will be blessed people within a cursed nation:
"If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?...Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous LORD loves righteousness; his countenance beholds the upright." - Psalm 11:3, 6-7
"But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." - Acts 10:35
"And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that
God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow,
when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt." - Genesis 19:29
Now back to the 14th chapter of Numbers:
(5) Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
Obviously, Moses and Aaron recognized the madness of what the people suggested, and fell on their faces in prayer for this ungrateful lot.
(6) And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had searched the land, tore their clothes.
Joshua and Caleb who had been among the twelve spies who searched out the land, obviously recognized the blasphemous madness of the people, too. They tore their clothes in mourning over what they heard.
(7) And they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land we passed through to search, is an exceedingly good land. (8) If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey."
Joshua and Caleb pleaded with the people, assuring them that the land was indeed an exceedingly good land flowing with milk and honey. They pointed out that if the Lord delighted in them, He would bring them into the land and give it to them, recognizing that provoking the Lord in this manner after all He had done and promised to them, was not the way to bring the promise to fruition.
(9) “Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their defense has departed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."
Joshua and Caleb continued pleading with the people, trying to reassure them that with their Lord with them, they had nothing to fear. Having complete faith in what the Lord had told them, that He would drive out the inhabitants from before them to give them this land, they reasoned those inhabitants were merely bread to them, meaning either they could be devoured as bread, or maybe that all their substance would now be the provision (bread) for the Israelites.
(10) But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
Incredibly, the people would not listen to the wisdom of Joshua and Caleb, and started calling for them to be stoned! It was at this point that the Lord intervened, and His glory in a visible manifestation appeared in the tabernacle before all the people.
(11) And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people provoke Me? And how long will it be before they believe me, with all the signs which I have shown among them?"
The Lord spoke to Moses. The word "provoke" generally means to us to incite anger, but the original word "naats" also meant "scorn, despise, blaspheme", which would understandably provoke. With all the visible miraculous signs God had shown the people, He asked how long it would be before they would believe and trust in Him.
(12) “I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
The Lord continued speaking to Moses, declaring He would strike the people with pestilence and disinherit them, and make from Moses a greater nation with whom He would continue His covenant.
(13) And Moses said to the LORD: “Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, (14) And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land; they have heard that You, LORD, are among these people; that You, LORD, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. (15) Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, (16) 'Because the LORD was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He has killed them in the wilderness.’"
Moses answered the Lord, interceding for this ungrateful and undeserving people. Perhaps it was also (maybe more so) because he did not want such actions to diminish His Lord in the eyes of the world, as suggested by his words. He reasoned that if the Lord killed His people and disinherited them, the Egyptians, from whom the Lord had rescued His people, would hear about it. Word would spread to Canaan. These other people had heard that the Lord was seen among His people, visible in the pillar of cloud and fire, leading them through the wilderness to their promised land. Moses reasoned that if the Lord killed all His people in one fell swoop, then the other nations would believe that it was because He was unable to bring them into the land He had sworn to give them.
(17) "And now, I beseech You, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, (18) ‘The LORD is longsuffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation.’"
Moses begged the Lord to let His power be shown to the world as great. Moses prayed according to the word of His Lord (Exodus 34:6-7), in which he held as truth that the Lord was patient and merciful, forgiving iniquity and sin. Also remembering His word, Moses realized this by no means meant the guilty should be let off completely scot-free. His prayer appears to be (although he realized the Lord would visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations) that He not utterly destroy them, thus destroying their succeeding generations. He knew the people must be punished, but pleaded that they not be utterly destroyed.
(19) "Pardon, I beseech You, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your mercy, and as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
Moses pleaded with the Lord to forgive them according to the greatness of His mercy. I believe the suggestion here is that the greatness of the Lord's mercy was much greater than the great sin of the people. He acknowledged that the Lord had exercised His great capacity to forgive these people on multiple occasions from the time they left Egypt until now, and he pleaded that He do it again.
(20) And the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word."
The Lord agreed to pardon the people according to Moses's prayerful request, not completely, to be sure, but in that He would not utterly destroy them. Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, put it this way, "Here is a whole nation rescued from ruin by the effectual fervent prayer of one righteous man", a direct reference to James 5:16.
(21) “But truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD."
The Lord continued speaking with Moses, in the form of an oath, that all the earth indeed would be filled with His glory. Perhaps this was also in answer to prayer. Moses had shown great concern for the glory of His Lord. In this response, the Lord assured him that in whatever manner He chose to deal with this people, the earth would indeed know that it was by His power and glory.
(22) "Because all those men who have seen My glory and My miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice, (23) Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who provoked Me see it."
The Lord went on to proclaim that all those men of His people who had witnessed His miracles, but had rejected and rebelled against Him ten times, would not see the land that He had sworn to their fathers. Some of the commentaries I study suggested that ten was the number indicating completeness, the sense being that the measure of their provocation was now full. Others enumerate exactly ten times when the people rebelled against the Lord: twice at the sea, twice concerning water, twice about manna, twice about quails, once by the calf, and once in the wilderness of Paran.
(24) “But My servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit in him and has
followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his
descendants shall possess it."
None of the people would see the land except for Caleb, who had a different spirit in him than the other men and had followed the Lord fully. The Lord would bring Caleb into the land and his descendants would possess it. Joshua is not mentioned here, but we will see later he is included. Perhaps as Moses's servant, his faithfulness was taken for granted, but the Lord took this opportunity to recognize Caleb.
(25) “Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow
turn and move out into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”
Whereas before the Lord had promised to drive out the inhabitants from before them to give them this land, now He proclaimed them an enemy to be feared, and told them to turn back the next day, and move into the wilderness back toward the Red Sea.
(26) And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, (27) “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who murmur against Me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they make against Me."
The Lord still speaking to just Moses and Aaron, seemed to wearily ask how long He would have to put up with this unfaithful and ungrateful lot who complained against Him, as He had heard all their grumblings.
(28) “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you.'"
It was at this point that the Lord told Moses and Aaron to tell the people what He had decided to do with them. They were to tell the people that just as they had murmured and wished for, He would do to them.
(29) "'Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered
of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and
upward, who have murmured against me, (30) Undoubtedly, you shall not come into the land which I swore I would make you dwell in, except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.'"
The Lord said to tell the people that they would indeed die in the wilderness just as they had called for in verse 2. All those mighty men who had been before counted, from twenty years old and upward, who had murmured against the Lord, would not come into the land the Lord had promised to give them. He made an exception for Caleb and Joshua, who had trusted their Lord.
(31) "‘But your little ones, whom you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.'"
However, their children, whom the people had said in verse 3 should be prey for the Canaanites, the Lord would bring into the promised land and they would get to know and enjoy the land which their fathers had rejected.
(32) "‘But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.'"
Once again the Lord reiterated that this present generation would die in the wilderness.
(33) "'And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcasses are wasted in the wilderness.'"
The children would have to wander in the wilderness forty years because of their fathers' several acts of infidelity and faithlessness, until the time when the fathers had all died in the wilderness.
(34) "‘According to the number of the days in which you searched the land, forty days, each day for a year, you shall bear your iniquities forty years, and you shall know My breach of promise.'"
The Israelites would be made to wander in the wilderness forty years, a year for each day that they searched out the land, content to wait forty days for the testimony of men because they would not take God's word; and therefore they are justly kept forty years waiting for the fruition of God's promise. God would never actually breach His promise; the meaning of the original word "tenuah", translated as "breach of promise" here, means more of an alienation for a time, or a turning away for a time. The only other place in scripture it was used was in Job 33:10 where it was translated as "occasions"; in neither case was it a permanent breach of promise. All the biblical commentaries I study agree that this would be an additional 38 1/2 years in the wilderness added to the year and a half it had been since they left Egypt, totaling forty years in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. In this time a new generation would be raised up, and the children, being brought up bearing their fathers' whoredoms, the punishment of their sins, might take warning not to tread in the steps of their fathers' disobedience. Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, made it a point that God made them to wander in the wilderness; they couldn't do anything else! They would be unable to make for themselves a captain and go back to Egypt (v. 4), but would die in the wilderness as they had wished (v. 2).
(35) "'I the LORD have said, I will surely do it to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me; in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.'"
As the Lord had spoken, He vowed to surely do to all that evil congregation who had gathered against Him, faithless and ungrateful for all He had done, turning from Him, wishing to go back to the bondage in Egypt. They would all be consumed and die in the wilderness.
(36) And the men whom Moses sent to search the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a slander on the land, (37) Even those men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
The ten men of the twelve who had been sent out to spy on the land, the ones who came back with a slanderous report about the land and stirred up the congregation to complain against Moses, even those chosen spies died by the plague before the Lord. The original word translated as "plague", that is "maggephah", meant "plague, pestilence", and even "slaughter". Dr. John Gill wrote in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, that the Jews' traditional relating of the story was that the men were eaten by worms that came out of their bodies. Whatever form it took, I'm sure it was immediate and understood by all to be by the hand of God.
(38) But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of the men who went to search the land, remained alive.
Joshua and Caleb, two of the twelve spies, were spared and did not die in the plague, because they believed God and did not participate in the delivery of the bad report. Some of the commentaries I study pointed out that it was very probable that the twelve spies stood together, making it very remarkable that just the ten with the bad reports fell dead before the congregation, and these two remained alive.
(39) And Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.
Moses told the people what the Lord had told him to tell them about how they would never see the promised land, but would wander in the wilderness forty years and die there. The people greatly mourned, but whether it was for true repentance, or just on account of the evil that was coming to them, we don't really know.
(40) And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the
mountain, saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the
LORD has promised, for we have sinned!”
The next morning the people went up to the top of the mountain which was the way the spies had gone into the land of Canaan, saying they were now ready to go into the land the Lord had promised them. They seemed to acknowledge they had sinned in believing the bad report, but in this action, they were ignoring the word of God that they would not go into the promised land, but would die in the wilderness.
(41) And Moses said, “Why now do you transgress the command of the LORD? For this will not succeed. (42) Do not go up, for the LORD is not among you, that you be not smitten before your enemies. (43) For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.”
Moses pointed out to the people they were again transgressing the word of the Lord. He had said they would not enter the promised land, so their attempt to go into it would not succeed. He told them not to go up the mountain and into the land because the Lord was not with them to protect them from being killed by their enemies, the Amalekites and the Canaanites, the current inhabitants of the land.
(44) But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed from the camp.
Incredibly, in an audacious and presumptuous manner, the people continued up the mountaintop, ignoring Moses's warning. A flood of thoughts come to me when I consider how often we continue with our godless ways, ignoring what God has said about certain topics like life and marriage and sexual purity and idolatry. Again I think of how we dare to say, "God Bless America" when we are a country killing innocent babies and celebrating homosexual marriage, a thing God called an abomination. God cannot bless this country, yet we think we can continue in our ways without His blessing? Indeed the actions of the Israelites at this point are perfect illustrations of our current ways.
Neither the ark of the covenant nor Moses departed from the camp. I believe the point here is that the cloud of the Lord which rested over the ark was not taken up indicating they should move forward. Neither the Lord nor Moses were with them, yet they moved forward anyway.
(45) Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came
down and smote them, and beat them back as far as Hormah.
Sure enough, the Amalekites and Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and killed the Israelites, and drove those they did not kill back to Hormah. Bible scholars are not sure where this was exactly, but you can be sure it was far enough back into the wilderness to prevent the people from thinking they should try that again. It was probably "into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea", as the Lord had told them to go in verse 25. I like the words of Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, regarding this episode:
How vain is the counsel of man against the wisdom of God! Nature, poor, fallen human nature, is ever running into extremes. This miserable people, a short time ago, thought that though they had Omnipotence with them they could not conquer and possess the land! Now they imagine that though God himself go not with them, yet they shall be sufficient to drive out the inhabitants, and take possession of their country! Man is ever supposing he can either do all things or do nothing; he is therefore sometimes presumptuous, and at other times in despair. Who but an apostle, or one under the influence of the same Spirit, can say, I can do All Things Through Christ who strengtheneth me?
This chapter told how it came to be that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years, when they could have reached their promised land in a much shorter time. Matthew Henry summed up this chapter this way: "This chapter gives us an account of that fatal quarrel between God and Israel upon which, for their murmuring and unbelief, he swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest."
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