AM Bible Study Group; June 16, 2010

Numbers 14:1-45

Theme: This passage describes the rebelliousness of the people in refusing to enter the land that God was giving them—and the tragic loss of opportunity that resulted from their refusal.

This passage describes one of the most tragic acts of disobedience in all of Israel’s history. It describes for us the sad consequences of the ‘bad report’ that ten of the twelve spies gave of the land (see chapter 13). Once they came to the very entrance to the land that God had graciously brought them to, the people of Israel refused to go in and take it. And as a result, the people were made to wander in the desert until that entire generation had died. The next generation eventually entered the land—but at a sad loss of an entire generation along the way!

The best commentary we can find of this passage is the one found in Hebrews 3:7-18. There, we’re told—concerning this very event—”Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (vv. 12-13). It was not ultimately because of fear of the people of the land that they didn’t enter—but rather because of unbelief in God. What a warning this passage is to us, that we take care not lose what God is seeking to give us in Christ through an evil heart of “unbelief”!

I. ISRAEL’S REFUSAL (vv. 1-5).

A. After hearing the discouraging testimony of ten of the twelve spies (see 13:28, 31-33), we’re told that the people cried and wept all night. Then, they uttered the horrible words of verse 2-3. These words are similar to those that they spoke just shortly before in 11:4-5—wishing and longing to go back to their horrible bondage in Egypt. But in this case, they actually made plans to return. It was a dreadful blasphemy—to have accused God of bringing them into the promised land in order to slay them by the sword!

B. In verse 4, we’re told that they actually began to make plans to select another leader to bring them back to the land. Moses and Aaron responded to this by falling on their faces before the assembly—no doubt appealing to them not to doubt God in this blasphemous manner. In 12:3, we’re told that Moses was very humble—”more than all men who were on the face of the earth”. And given the authority God had given him as their leader, we certainly see it displayed in his humble appeal to these rebellious Israelites.

II. JOSHUA’S AND CALEB’S PLEA (vv. 6-10a).

A. The character of the two spies who did not join in with the others in giving a discouraging report—Joshua and Caleb—is also shown at this time. They spoke to the congregation and said that the land is exceedingly good. But they then urged them— contrary to the bad report that the other spies had given—that if the Lord delighted in them, He would give them the land. It’s obvious that God did delight in them— delivering them out of Egypt and bringing them to the land He promised them. “Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people,” they said, “for they are our bread” (an Old Testament way of saying, “God will enable us to eat them for lunch!”); “their protection has departed from them and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them” (vv. 8- 9). Note in this how they sought to bring the people’s attention off the human impossibility of taking the land, and placing it instead on the God who made the promise. This is what true spiritual leadership looks like in action!

B. But it was to no avail. The people were too rebellious. They even went so far as to agree to take up stones and stone Joshua and Caleb, and most likely Moses and Aaron as well (see Exodus 17:4). What a dangerous situation! What a hard-hearted refusal to allow the mighty God who had delivered them from bondage to the Egyptians, parted the Red Sea for them, and fed them along the way through the desert, to fight for them! But should we be too quick to blame them? Don’t we know much more today about God’s mighty power than even they did—and yet still disbelieve Him ourselves?

III. GOD’S RESPONSE (vv. 10b-38).

A. It was then, in verse 10b, that God stepped in. His appearance saved Moses’ life and the lives of the others—and perhaps, considering what might have happened if they had, indeed, stoned their leaders, saved many more lives as well! It’s fascinating how God comes to the scene at just the right time!

B. God’s encounter with the people can be placed into three specific expressions of ‘contention’ with them:

1. First, He contended with Moses concerning the people (vv. 11-25). God began by asking, “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?” They did, after all, see God’s mighty works in delivering them from bondage and providing for them along the way. He then tells Moses that He would strike them with the pestilence, disinherit them, and make a new nation—starting with Moses. This was the very thing that God had threatened to do once before—after the incident of the golden calf (see Exodus 32:9-10). But just as he did then (see Exodus 32:11-13), Moses once again made his appeal to the character of God. In verses 13-19, Moses asked what the Egyptians would say—knowing that God had delivered the people of Israel and was now identified with them. God’s reputation was on the line. He appealed to God’s character of mercy for the people—even quoting back to God the very thing that God said of Himself in Exodus 34:6-7 (see also Psalm 107:78). Truly, Moses was the humblest man who ever lived! It was in his hand to do something that no other human being could have done—to merely step aside, allow an entire rebellious nation to be destroyed, and allow God to make a new nation from himself. But Moses was more concerned about God’s reputation than his own advancement! God, in response, promised to pardon the people as a whole (vv. 20-24). But He still held them guilty. He said that they had tested Him ten times (v. 22); which may have been a reference to the fact that ten out of the twelve spies doubted Him, but is more likely a reference to ten actual instances of testing (see Exodus 14:10-12; 15:22-24; 16:1-3, 19-20, 27-30; 17:1-4; 32:1-35; Numbers 11:1-3, 4-34; and 14:3). God warned that that entire generation would not be allowed to enter the land. Only Joshua and Caleb would do so. He then—basically giving them what they wanted— ordered them to go back in the direction of Egypt; though they didn’t arrive there but wandered in the wilderness for thirty-eight years.

2. His second contention was with the people directly, expressed through Moses (vv. 26-35). He told Moses to tell them what He had told him—particularly stressing the “carcasses” of all the people who complained against Him would fall in the wilderness. This included all the men who were numbered in the census of chapter 1 (see verse 29b). He also let them know that the very children—which they pretended to be so concerned for—would enter the land in their places; while they themselves would die in the wilderness. God made a point that the number of days that the spies traveled through the land (that is, forty days; see 13:25), would be matched by the number of years that they would suffer in the wilderness; during which those who had rejected God’s good plan for them would know His “rejection” (v. 34). A journey that would have only taken a few days turned into a punishment for an entire generation! Our sins of rebellion against God’s will for us don’t just affect us. They affect everyone else close to us!

3. Finally, God contended with the ten rebellious spies (vv. 36-38). Those very men died by a plague before the Lord. Only Joshua and Caleb remained. What a vivid demonstration of God’s just anger toward His rebellious people! Once again, we need to remember that unbelief—whether it comes in the form of active refusal to do God’s will, or in the form of discouraging people from obeying—always bears consequences! May God keep us from it!

IV. ISRAEL’S PRESUMPTION (vv. 39-45).

A. The great sin of the people was, at first, their refusal to do as God had told them. But now their disobedience came in the form of rising up to do what God was telling them that they may not do. They presumptuously presented themselves to Moses the next day—proposing to go up and take the land in a self-asserting show of repentance. But God had already told them to go in the opposite direction—”out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea” (v. 25). Moses warned them that their proposed action would result in disaster, “for the LORD is not among you” (v. 42). The opportunity to enter the land was never a matter of their own efforts. Only God could bring them in. But they had refused to believe Him or trust Him, and the opportunity had been lost to them. And now that the Lord was not with them in this venture, it would surely end in defeat.

B. Sadly, they didn’t listen. They presumed to go up to battle in the power of the flesh.. Note that neither Moses nor the Ark went with them—symbolically representing to them the fact that God was not with them in this effort. As a result, the enemies of the Lord chased them back as far as the most southern edge of the promised land. Their effort in the flesh became a tragic disaster; and the forty years of wandering were begun!

* * * * * * * * * *

We ourselves, who are in Christ today, are to learn from this passage about entering into a full “rest” in the promises of God through Christ. “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). The lesson to be drawn from it is told to us in powerful detail Hebrews 4:1-13; where we read:

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest (Hebrews 4:1-3a) . . . Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience (v. 11).

God has promised us full acceptance through the work of His Son Jesus Christ on our behalf. What a tragedy it would be to disbelieve His promises in Christ, and to return to the old way of trying to earn His favor through the works of the flesh! May we never lose out on God’s best for us through the sin of disobedience, and out of an evil heart of unbelief!