Reflections on Numbers 14

Numbers 14 (Contemporary English Version)

1. After the Israelites heard the report from the twelve men who had explored Canaan, the people cried all night
   
2. and complained to Moses and Aaron, "We wish we had died in Egypt or somewhere out here in the desert!
   
3. Is the LORD leading us into Canaan, just to have us killed and our women and children captured? We'd be better off in Egypt."
   
4. Then they said to one another, "Let's choose our own leader and go back."
   
5. Moses and Aaron bowed down to pray in front of the crowd.
   
6. Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes in sorrow
   
7. and said: We saw the land ourselves, and it's very good.
   
8. If we obey the LORD, he will surely give us that land rich with milk and honey.
   
9. So don't rebel. We have no reason to be afraid of the people who live there. The LORD is on our side, and they won't stand a chance against us!
   
10. The crowd threatened to stone Moses and Aaron to death. But just then, the LORD appeared in a cloud at the sacred tent.
    
11. The LORD said to Moses, "I have done great things for these people, and they still reject me by refusing to believe in my power.
    
12. So they will no longer be my people. I will destroy them, but I will make you the ancestor of a nation even stronger than theirs."
    
13. Moses replied: With your mighty power you rescued your people from Egypt, so please don't destroy us here in the desert. If you do, the Egyptians will hear about it and tell the people of Canaan. Those Canaanites already know that we are your people, and that we see you face to face. And they have heard how you lead us with a thick cloud during the day and flaming fire at night. But if you kill us, they will claim it was because you weren't powerful enough to lead us into Canaan as you promised.
    
14. (SEE 14:13)
    
15. (SEE 14:13)
    
16. (SEE 14:13)
    
17. Show us your great power, LORD. You promised
    
18. that you love to show mercy and kindness. And you said that you are very patient, but that you will punish everyone guilty of doing wrong--not only them but their children and grandchildren as well.
    
19. You are merciful, and you treat people better than they deserve. So please forgive these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.
    
20. Then the LORD said to Moses: In answer to your prayer, I do forgive them.
    
21. But as surely as I live and my power has no limit,
    
22. I swear that not one of these Israelites will enter the land I promised to give their ancestors. These people have seen my power in Egypt and in the desert, but they will never see Canaan. They have disobeyed and tested me too many times.
    
23. (SEE 14:22)
    
24. But my servant Caleb isn't like the others. So because he has faith in me, I will allow him to cross into Canaan, and his descendants will settle there.
    
25. Now listen, Moses! The Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys of Canaan. And tomorrow morning, you'll need to turn around and head back into the desert toward the Red Sea.
    
26. The LORD told Moses and Aaron
    
27. to give this message to the people of Israel: You sinful people have complained against me too many times! Now I swear by my own life that I will give you exactly what you wanted.
    
28. (SEE 14:27)
    
29. You will die right here in the desert, and your dead bodies will cover the ground. You have insulted me, and none of you men who are over twenty years old
    
30. will enter the land that I solemnly promised to give you as your own--only Caleb and Joshua will go in.
    
31. You were worried that your own children would be captured. But I, the LORD, will let them enter the land you have rejected.
    
32. You will die here in the desert!
    
33. Your children will wander around in this desert forty years, suffering because of your sins, until all of you are dead.
    
34. I will cruelly punish you every day for the next forty years--one year for each day that the land was explored.
    
35. You sinful people who ganged up against me will die here in the desert.
    
36. Ten of the men sent to explore the land had brought back bad news and had made the people complain against the LORD.
    
37. So he sent a deadly disease that killed those men,
    
38. but he let Joshua and Caleb live.
    
39. The people of Israel were very sad after Moses gave them the LORD's message.
    
40. So they got up early the next morning and got ready to head toward the hill country of Canaan. They said, "We were wrong to complain about the LORD. Let's go into the land that he promised us."
    
41. But Moses replied, "You're disobeying the LORD! Your plan won't work,
    
42. so don't even try it. The LORD refuses to help you, because you turned your backs on him. The Amalekites and the Canaanites are your enemies, and they will attack and defeat you."
    
43. (SEE 14:42)
    
44. But the Israelites ignored Moses and marched toward the hill country, even though the sacred chest and Moses did not go with them.
    
45. The Amalekites and the Canaanites came down from the hill country, defeated the Israelites, and chased them as far as the town of Hormah.
    
    

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    As one reads this chapter they can hardly keep from shaking their head at the ignorant willfulness of these people. And yet, if one is honest, are any of us so very different? Maybe not.
    
    Following the negative report of those who scouted Canaan, the people mourned all night, railing against Moses and Aaron who led them out of Egypt, wishing they had died in the wilderness before coming to this point only to "die by the sword." (14:3) Be careful for what you wish! They were even ready to appoint a new leader and head back to Egypt.
    
    Though the Israelites had witnessed God's glory and miraculous signs numerous times in their exodus from Egypt, they were still unwilling to trust that He would keep His promise to bring them safely into this new land. What would it have taken for them to believe? Evidently nothing God did would have convinced them of His trustworthiness if what He had already done did not. This must have been God's conclusion as well for He was ready to do away with them and start over with a people who would trust Him - a people who descended from Moses. This, at least, is what He told Moses.
    
    How tempting this must have been for Moses! An opportunity to replace the descendants of Abraham with his own descendants as the people of the promise! I think my response might have been to agree with God and start envisioning myself as God's new point person. But this was not Moses' response.  He pleaded with God to "pardon the wrongdoing of this people," not because they deserved it, but because God deserved it. (14:19) First of all, it would be in keeping with God's character which is to possess a faithful love, or mercy. But it would also uphold God's reputation among the nations. If God destroyed the Israelites the nations would think Him incapable of delivering them to the land He promised. And, out of His impotency, that He "slaughtered" them due to His inability to bring them into the land.
    
    We should never discount the power of prayer on behalf of others - even those who are undeserving. As James tells us, "The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful." (James 5:16) Do we suppose that God had not already thought of the points Moses made in his prayer to Him? Not, at least, on second thought. Might it be that God was also testing Moses? Moses had been totally faithful in his commitment to and trust of God up to this point. But given the opportunity, might he be more committed to his own cause in light of God's offer to raise up a new people from him? Moses proved himself to be righteous and God honored this by granting his request.
    
    Due to Moses' appeal on their behalf and God's faithful love, the Israelites were spared destruction by plague. But this didn't mean they would be spared the consequences of their actions. This account is not the only place in scripture in which we can see irony in God's actions with His people. The Israelites wished they had already died in the wilderness. As mentioned already, be careful for what you wish. God dealt with their sin by granting them their wish. Over the next 40 years they would wonder around in the desert, unable to enter the new land, and their bones would be left in the desert wherever they had been as they died one by one. None of the adults who had seen God's wonders in leading them from Egypt and across the desert and failed to trust Him in entering the new land would enter that land. Only their children and the two faithful scouts, Joshua and Caleb, would enter the new land. Notice that Moses is not even mentioned among those who would enter the land.
    
    As a sad ending to this particular account, the people further prove their inability to obey God by insisting they would go ahead and march into the land even though God had told them they would not and could not. The outcome was predictable. The people living in the hill country where they entered attacked them and defeated them, running them back out of the land.