Read Numbers 14
The People Rebel
14 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 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. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. 11 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 signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”
13 Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. 14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, Lord, are with these people and that you, 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. 15 If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say,16 ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’
17 “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared:18 ‘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 parents to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 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.”
20 The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth,22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 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. 25 Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.”
26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: 29 In this wilderness 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. 30 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. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 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.’ 35 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 wilderness; here they will die.”
36 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— 37 these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. 38 Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.
39 When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly.40 Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord promised. Surely we have sinned!”
41 But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? This will not succeed! 42 Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, 43 for the Amalekites and the 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.”
44 Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord’s covenant moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.
Go Deeper
Numbers 14 serves as a powerful lesson and warning to our unbelief. It is kind of God to preserve it so that we can learn and walk forward differently. All throughout Numbers, God has been preparing them for this moment. However, in their fear, they forget everything that they have seen and learned. We are no different.
Psalm 95 and Hebrews 3 warns us that this generation allowed their hearts to be hardened. It didn’t happen suddenly in response to the report from the 12 spies. We get glimpses into the state of their hearts in the chapters leading up to it. Numbers 11:1 opens with, “the people complained about their hardships” and in 11:4 the people “start wailing” because they aren’t content about what the Lord had been providing them for food. There was evidence that they were beginning to forget. They were becoming blinded by their circumstances. God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt, parted the Red Sea and then stopped their enemies in pursuit. Their fear and worry has overcome their ability to trust with discernment and wisdom. The Israelites had returned to their slave mentality instead of holding on in faith. They are a sinful people and so are we.
We see a glimpse of Christ, in Moses interceding on their behalf. As a result, God forgives them (v. 20). However, their sin prevented them from entering the fullness of what the Lord had ahead for them. They were warned but they didn’t listen (Numbers 11:28). They were shown a different path but they didn’t chose it (Numbers 13:30).
So what do we do in our fear and unbelief? Both of these emotions are a part of life. We are offered an alternative example in the text. Joshua and Caleb. Numbers 14:24, “Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly.” These two spies saw the same things as the other 10 but believed in God. Bible teacher Priscilla Shirer wrote a study on the journey to the Promised Land, called One In a Million. There were over two million Jews in the wilderness, but only two men believed and therefore God allowed for them to enter the land He had promised. That makes them one in a million.
We too can have a different spirit, knowing that we are no longer slaves to our sinful fears (Romans 6). We surround ourselves with believers who will encourage us and not allow our hearts to harden (Hebrews 3:13). Finally, we will pray for the Spirit to help us in our weakness (Romans 8:26). Let’s be like Caleb and Joshua.
Questions
- What did you learn about God from this text?
- What are things in your life that you aren’t believing God for? What fears do you have?
- Pray right now to God to not let your fear blind you. Go and confess those fears to your community, asking them to help you see what is true.
Watch This
Watch this sermon from Harris Creek on these chapters in Numbers.
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5 thoughts on “Numbers 14”
When we refuse to believe God it stirs discontent and disobedience in our hearts which equals treating him with contempt. (v10) It’s letting our flesh rule our thoughts, words and actions while casting aside the faithfulness of our all-knowing, sovereign God. As we read of the sad ending of the unbelieving Israelites, let it be a warning to carefully check our hearts and desires. The Israelites got what they asked for and in the process their children suffered for the parent’s unfaithfulness. (v33) Their hard hearts toward God’s supreme authority reverberated throughout their story preserved in scripture. What a shame! We, too, may be guilty of the same, may we determine to take God at his word. Because of Christ, history does not have to repeat itself, as our narrative can look entirely different as JP taught yesterday on how we are transformed:
•God found me dead in sin, with sin in me.
•God removes my sin and puts Jesus inside me.
•God takes me and puts me in Christ Jesus.
•We are now hidden and sealed with Christ in God.
Speculation, jumping to conclusions, a loss of perspective. All of these can make us lost to what God has done and is doing in our lives. The enemy tries at all cost to steal, kill and destroy all that God is doing, in us, through us, and with us. All those doubts, worries, fears, anxiety is one way but also through looking for love through the worlds lens. When we look at others, like the Israelites, how upset God was. All the battles He helped them overcome and they whined, they forgot what all God had done for them. The same is for us, where are we not trusting, abiding, waiting on God’s timing. BUT GOD so loved that He gave His son to make the way for us to still be with Him. “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” (New England Primer). That is why you are here.
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God thank You for so desiring a relationship with me. “Worthy are you, my Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”(Rev 4:11) Thank You that I can learn and grow in how to abide with You. Thank You for hearing my praise. God thank You for loving so much that You gave and I am a recipient of that LOVE giving. Thank You for me obeying, listening, and doing the things in this day in these minutes to glorify and honor You in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!
V.2 All the Israelites grumbled…This reminded me of a quote from a book, “So I’m going to tell you a surefire way to know, for the rest of your life, what you feel entitled to: ask yourself, What do I complain about?” “Why Do I Do What I Don’t Want to Do?” by Jonathan “JP” Pokluda with Jon Green.
Do you think the Israelites felt “entitled”? We’re they in the least little bit thankful? Then in v.40-45 they say, “Oh, we sinned. But now we are going to go obey.” Moses says don’t go. God will not be with you because you are again disobeying. But the people do what they have decided is the right thing for “self”.(My paraphrase.)
Over and over in my life, I’ve done this. Ask for forgiveness then do what “I” determine God wants me to do without ever asking Him what I should do. This sermon series “Abide” is illuminating a lot of Word in my brain cells. Check up from the neck up, maybe.
Murmuring, grumbling, fearing, complaining . . . boy, I would have fit right in with the children of Israel at that time!
Lord, help me to be a “one in a million”!
“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded.” Luke 12:48
How much greater is our responsibility to obey and serve God when and we have the whole bible with the Living Word (instruction) and relationship with Jesus Christ.
Father, I pray for the for a spirit like Caleb, that I would follow You, wholeheartedly. Amen