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The scriptures. May God
bless the reading of His holy word.
Then
Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered
there. Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, who were among those
who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite
assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If
the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing
with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the
Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow
them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of
them."
But
the whole assembly talked about stoning them.
Then
the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.
The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people treat Me with
contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, in spite of all the
miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a
plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger
than they."
Moses
said to the Lord, "Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power, You
brought these people up from among them. And they will tell the inhabitants of
this land about it. They have already heard that you, O Lord, are with these
people and that You, O Lord, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays
over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar
of fire by night. If You put these people to death all at one time, the nations
who have heard this report about You will say, 'The Lord was not able to bring
these people into the land He promised them on oath; so He slaughtered them in
the desert.'"
"Now,
may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as You have declared: 'The Lord is
slow to anger, abounding in love, and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet He does
not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children for the sin of the
fathers to the third and fourth generation.' In accordance with Your great
love, forgive the sin of these people, just as You have pardoned them from the
time they left Egypt until now."
The
Lord replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely
as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one
of the men who saw My glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in
the desert but who disobeyed Me and tested Me ten times, not one of them will
ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has
treated Me with contempt will ever see it. But because My servant Caleb has a
different spirit and follows Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land
he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Since the Amalekites and
Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the
desert along the route to the Red Sea."
The
Lord said to Moses and Aaron: "How long will this wicked community grumble
against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. So tell
them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things
I heard you say: In this desert, your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty
years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against Me.
Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your
home, except Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun. As for your
children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy
the land you have rejected. But you, your bodies will fall in this desert. Your
children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your
unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty
years, one year for each of the forty days you explored the land, you will
suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have Me against you. I, the
Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked
community, which has banded together against Me. They will meet their end in
this desert; here they will die."
So
the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole
community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it, these men
responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and
died of a plague before the Lord. Of the men who went to explore the land, only
Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, survived."
When
Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. Early the
next morning, they went up toward the high hill country. "We have
sinned," they said. "We will go up to the place the Lord promised."
But
Moses said, "Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? This will not
succeed! Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated
by your enemies, for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because
you have turned away from the Lord, He will not be with you and you will fall
by the sword."
Nevertheless,
in their presumption, they went up toward the high hill country, though neither
Moses nor the ark of the Lord's covenant moved from the camp. Then the
Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked
them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.
Numbers
14:5-45
This ends this reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Throughout our prior study
of the Israelite exodus, not just from the Book of Exodus but all the
scriptures that have detailed it, we saw a God who is patient with His people
but we also saw a God who has His limits. We’ve seen a God who is merciful and
compassionate but we’ve also seen a God who is angered when His people
disrespect or disobey Him, particularly if He had given them prior warning and
forgave them in the past for a similar offense.
As we see in our scripture
passage for today, God stays consistent with what we know about Him to this
point and this is what makes the Israelites look so foolish in light of their
actions. Likewise, it should make us as believers today feel more than a little
foolish in our own right as we compare our personal lives and subsequent
actions to those of the people of Israel.
Now in the lead in to our
verses from Numbers, chapter 14, you’ll remember that the advance scouting
party that Moses sent out by way of God’s command returned after forty days
inside Canaan, the land promised to give His people. They then made a report to
Moses and the Israelites, beginning by saying that the land had been found just
as the Lord said, "flowing with milk and honey". You’ll recall that
they also brought fruit back from the land to show the people first-hand.
It was a positive
testimony and if they had left well enough alone there, everything would have
been fine. But as we saw in yesterday’s message, ten of the twelve scouts began
to talk about the people who already inhabited the land and how much danger
they would present if the Israelites entered the country. Their words brought
the Israelite joy crashing down, replaced by distress and fear, so much so that
God’s people began to wonder if they wouldn’t just be better off by returning
to Egypt under new leadership. Their actions showed a total lack of faith in
God, the God who had done so much to get them that far.
Indeed, all through the journey
from Egypt, God had tried to get Israel to change their ways so they might
enter Canaan as a faithful, obedient people but unfortunately, even despite His
best efforts, despite giving His people protection, provision and His constant presence,
the people still didn’t get it. And as we see in our passage today, God wasn’t
happy about it.
We read where Moses,
Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb all sensed the urgency of the moment and this wasn’t
the first time Moses had to intercede for his brothers and sisters but even his
efforts were only slightly effective in convincing God to refrain from severely
punishing His people.
The scriptures tell us
that Moses and Aaron fell "facedown in front of the whole Israelite
assembly gathered there" while "Joshua…and Caleb…tore their
clothes." In regard to the latter two, these signs of extreme repentance
were followed by them saying:
"The land we passed through and explored is
exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that
land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not
rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because
we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do
not be afraid of them."
They spoke these words to
try and turn the Israelites away from their sinful attitudes but their efforts
were to no avail. We know this because the "whole assembly talked about
stoning them." It was their last chance and they blew it for we see what
happened next as the Lord showed up to confront them.
We read where "the
glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites"
and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
"How long will these people treat Me with
contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, in spite of all the
miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a
plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger
than they."
Obviously, we see where
the Lord was fed up with His people and was ready to just start over through Moses.
But as we have seen before, Moses stood up for the Israelites and tried to
reason with God, saying:
“The Egyptians will hear
about it! By Your power, You brought these people up from among them. And they
will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that You,
O Lord, are with these people and that You, O Lord, have been seen face to
face, that Your cloud stays over them, and that You go before them in a pillar
of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. If You put these people to death
all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about You will say,
'The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land He promised them on
oath; so He slaughtered them in the desert.'"
In other words, the people
living in Canaan were well aware that Israel was not entering into their land
alone. They had heard all about the God of Israel and knew that this powerful
God had promised to give the land to His people. We see where Moses reasoned
that destroying Israel before they entered the Promised Land would send the wrong
message to the inhabitants of Canaan who would spin it as God being unable to
bring the people into the land He promised.
This wasn’t all Moses had
to say, for we read where he continued with the following appeal to the Lord:
"Now may the Lord's strength
be displayed, just as You have declared: 'The Lord is slow to anger, abounding
in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet He does not leave the guilty
unpunished; He punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third
and fourth generation.' In accordance with Your great love, forgive the sin of
these people, just as You have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt
until now."
Once again, here we find Moses
interceding with God on behalf of the Israelites but he well knew that the
final decision was up to the Lord who responded with this:
"I have forgiven them, as you asked.
Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills
the whole earth, not one of the men who saw My glory and the miraculous signs I
performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed Me and tested Me ten
times, not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers.
No one who has treated Me with contempt will ever see it.”
“Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the
valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to
the Red Sea"
"How long will this wicked community grumble
against Me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. So tell
them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things
I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty
years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against Me.
Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your
home, except Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun. As for your
children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy
the land you have rejected. But you, your bodies will fall in this desert. Your
children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your
unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty
years, one year for each of the forty days you explored the land, you will
suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have Me against you. I, the
Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked
community, which has banded together against Me. They will meet their end in
this desert; here they will die."
As we read God announcing
His judgment, we see where he did listen to Moses and accepted his plea but
still felt the need to impose a harsh penalty on Israel. So we read where the
Lord didn’t wipe out everyone as He first wanted to do but devised a plan so
that no one who had grumbled and complained against Him would ever enter
Canaan.
In order to accomplish
this, He commanded the Israelites to go back into the desert wilderness where they
would remain for forty years, one year for each day that the men had scouted
Canaan. During this forty year period, everyone in the current generation would
die in the desert and their children would suffer hardship as shepherds before finally
being allowed to enter the Promised Land after the forty years were up. And to
show how serious He was about His unhappiness with what had happened, He began
by punishing the ten men who started it all, the ones who provided a
pessimistic report and outlook to the Israelites, stirring up fear and worry through
their testimony. We read where these men were struck down with a plague that
killed them.
We see where Moses ended
up having to tell the people about what had happened to the men as well as
their fate which led them to mourn bitterly. Collectively, they decided to go
"toward the high hill country" and “the place the Lord promised"
but there was a big problem with that for it wasn’t what God had told them to
do. You’ll remember He ordered them to turn from Canaan and head back into the desert
and so through their behavior, we see where the people of Israel still didn’t
get it.
Can you imagine how much
this must have frustrated God as well as Moses, their leader, who had gone to
bat for them? In fact, we see where Moses says the following:
"Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? This
will not succeed! Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be
defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you
there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, He will not be with you and
you will fall by the sword."
Despite this warning, we
read where the Israelites were determined to do what they wanted to do, going
into Canaan anyways and the scriptures tell us that “the Amalekites and
Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat
them down all the way to Hormah." The stubborn, sinful, disobedient people
of God got just what they deserved, a solid beat down.
You know, the sad part of
this story is that the Israelites were so close to the finish line, right on
the edge of completing their journey and entering the land flowing with milk
and honey. They were so close but as the old saying goes, so far because they
couldn’t just trust in God to watch over them, protect them, and ultimately
bless them through fulfilling His promise.
As I thought about this passage,
I couldn’t help but think about my own life and how it too struggles sometimes
against the sinful nature. Sometimes I can feel so close to where God wants me
to be and yet so far away, relating to this lament of the Apostle Paul as he
wrote to the Roman believers:
"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am
unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I
want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to
do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it,
but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in
my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry
it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want
to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no
longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
“So I find this law at work: When I want to do good,
evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but
I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law
of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my
members.”
"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from
this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans
7:14-25
Perhaps you can share in
these feelings yourself.
Thankfully, Paul leaves us
with some good news for we’re all in the same boat. Yes, we’re all sinners and
yes we are under constant attack by Satan whose chief goal is to destroy every
good and perfect thing that God creates…including us.
If it all were to end
there, we would be utterly hopeless.
But it doesn’t stop there,
does it?
For we have a blessed assurance
that comes from the same God of the Israelites in Old Testament times, an
assurance given through His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, an assurance that comforts
us with the truth that the Lord will rescue us from our bodies of death.
What’s the blessed assurance?
We find it in John’s
Gospel:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and
only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal
life." John 3:16
Brothers and sisters, we
are saved because of Jesus and like Paul, we get to proclaim:
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death,
is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ." 1Corinthians 15:55-57
Not just today but every
day, let us give thanks be to God for although we might be so close and yet so
far sometimes from being who He wants us to be, we know that a day is coming
when we will be forever close and never ever again afar when the Lord calls us
home, all because Jesus through whom we are victorious.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS:
Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might
be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to
TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
