Deeper Commentary
Num 14:1 All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and
the people wept that night-
This incident looks ahead to the bitter weeping of those rejected at
the day of judgment (Mt. 8:12), at the borders of the Kingdom. But their
weeping was self inflicted and unnecessary if they had had faith.
Num 14:2 All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against
Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in
the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness!-
Israel continually "murmured" against Moses (Ex. 15:24; 16:2,7,8; 17:3;
Num. 14:2,27,29 cp. Dt. 1:27; Ps. 106:25; 1 Cor. 10:10). Nearly all these
murmurings were related to Israel's disbelief that Moses really could
bring them into the land. Likewise Israel disbelieved that eating Christ's
words (Jn. 6:63) really could lead them to salvation; and their temptation
to murmur in this way is ours too, especially in the last days (1 Cor.
10:10-12).
They wished they had died in the desert, and this was to be their judgment. We see so clearly that the condemned are self condemned. "All who love His appearing" will be accepted, and those who think and act as if they don't want the Kingdom- won't have it.
Num 14:3 Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our
wives and our little ones will be a prey: wouldn’t it be better for us to
return into Egypt?-
They recognized the Lord had brought them out of Egypt. Their lack of
faith was not the same as atheism, rather was it a lack of faith in the
possibilities of the God they believed in. There should be no question
amongst us, not in our deepest heart, about returning to the world /
Egypt, the life we knew before our baptism (cp. the Red Sea crossing, 1
Cor. 10:1,2). If we do allow this question, then it will lead to actually
doing this in practice (:4).
Num 14:4 They said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us
return into Egypt-
Human beings so want human leadership. God through Moses was their
captain, but they wanted a leader who would lead them where
they wanted. The large number of
human religions and religious leaders is proof enough of this desire for
human leadership. Israel actually made a captain and set about to return to Egypt (Neh. 9:17). But
this is omitted in the historical record; it simply says that this is what
they thought of doing (Num. 14:4). The depth of their apostasy is
graciously unrecorded. or perhaps this is another example of the thought
being counted as the action.
Num 14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly
of the congregation of the children of Israel-
Num 14:6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who
were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes-
Dt. 1 records how Moses also pleaded with Israel at this time.
Their grief was that of God, who millions of times sees people come to the
brink of His Kingdom and turn away from it. And it should be a tragedy we
too share.
Num 14:7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel,
saying, The land which we passed through to spy it out is an extremely
good land-
They reminded the people of God's simple statement that He was
bringing them to a "good land" (Ex. 3:8 s.w.). But the land was "extremely
good", better even than God had implied, over and above all they could ask
or think. God's description of the land had been true. And so His promise
that they could attain it was therefore likewise going to be true. That
"good land" was to be given them not for the sake of their righteousness
(Dt. 9:6), but simply so- by God's sovereign grace. But faith in grace has
never come easy to men.
Num 14:8 Since Yahweh delights in us, then He will bring us into this
land, and give it to us-
The issue came down to faith in grace, and His desire to give us
the Kingdom. So it is to this day. God not only forgives, but He
delights in doing so (Is. 62:14; Mic.
7:18); the way He is spoken of as ‘delighting’ in spiritually weak Israel
is part and parcel of Him lavishing grace as He does (Num. 14:8). It must
be so awful to have such a wonderful spirit of lavishing grace and love,
consciously giving out life and patient forgiveness to so many; and yet
not be appreciated for it, to have puny humans shaking their fist at God
because they die a brief moment of time sooner than they think they
should, to have tiny people arrogantly questioning His love.
The Lord spoke of us all as a little flock, fearing it is
not
the Father's pleasure / will to give us the Kingdom (Lk. 12:32). In doing
so, He was as ever drawing on the language of the OT. Joshua-Jesus
encouraged Israel that Yahweh delighted / willed that they should enter
the land (Num. 14:8); but instead, they were too caught up with doubts...
doubt about salvation, about what they could eat and drink day by day, and
the giants in the land. This is the very context in which the Lord was
speaking- fearing "the nations of the world", doubting where food and
clothes would come from, just as Israel did (Lk. 12:22-29).
Yet the
pleasure / will of Yahweh is that we should share His Kingdom, and that
pleasure / will prospered through the cross (Is. 53:10).
Israel came to describe the Egypt they had been called out from as
the land flowing with milk and honey (Num. 16:12), and denied that they
could experience this in the
Kingdom of God. And so we have the same tendency to be
deceived into thinking that the kingdoms of this world, the world around
us, is effectively the Kingdom of God, the only thing worth striving
after.
Num 14:9 Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the
land; for they are bread for us. Their defence is removed from over them,
and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them-
To fear and be faithless is to actively rebel against Yahweh. The
word for "rebel" is nearly always used about rebelling against a king.
They didn't want Him as their king, and so at this very time they made
themselves another captain to return to Egypt (see on :4). To pull away
from God's program to lead us to inherit His Kingdom is to reject Him as
King, and to thereby rebel. To be in the shadow [s.w. "defence"] of
someone was to be a subsidiary nation under the protectorate of a great
empire (s.w. Ez. 31:6,12,17). The nations of Canaan had been under the
protectorate of Egypt and the Philistines, but that had now been
withdrawn. And they were terrified of the Israelites, as Rahab testified.
Num 14:10 But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones.
The glory of Yahweh appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the children of
Israel-
We now understand why the account of Num. 13,14 follows on from that
of the rebellion of Miriam and Aaron in Num. 12. For this was exactly how
He had acted at the time of that rebellion. Stoning with stones was
usually for religious heresy. So we can imagine that the idolatrous people
now turned to the gods they had carried with them out of Egypt (Ez.
20:6-8; Acts 7:43) and accused Joshua and Caleb of some kind of religious
apostacy. But the basis of their anger was that they subconsciously knew
that Joshua and Caleb were telling the truth, although it was not a truth
they wished to hear.
In the surrounding cultures, stoning was a punishment for those who bore false witness. This is how the Israelites judged those who preached the good news of the Kingdom. They considered it a false Gospel. The language used of their rejection of that Gospel is quite severe. To disbelieve God is to "rebel" against Him (:9). The ruling principle of their lives was to be that they would inherit the Kingdom. To disbelieve our salvation is to "despise" God (:11). To reject the Gospel is to consider the preachers of it "false witnesses". Paul uses the same term when he tells the Corinthians he would be a "false witness" if the Lord had in fact not risen. Their desire to kill the messenger because they didn't accept the message is psychologically credible. The real desire was for a different leadership, who would lead them back to Egypt rather than out of it.
The book of Numbers features the record of incidents whilst the people were "in the wilderness", and also the giving of extra laws. But those extra laws are to be related to the incidents recorded. Num. 15 will go on to talk about presumptuous sins. We can conclude that that legislation was given in the context of Israel's presumption in rejecting the Kingdom and calling God a liar. And the implication is that we can all in principle commit that same sin. It is unforgivable insofar as the sin itself means we refuse to believe in God's grace and salvation, and reject it as fake. Whilst that's our position, salvation is impossible- by our own choice. The issue of whether we believe we will be saved therefore assumes critical place in the psychology and worldview of all God's people, at all times.
Num 14:11 Yahweh said to Moses, How long will this people despise Me?-
"How long...?" could suggest 'Seeing they will never be otherwise,
I will destroy them'. This could be a way of God asking Moses not to pray for more time, to
as it were leave God alone to destroy Israel. He is saying that this
situation cannot continue any longer. Just as He asked Moses in Ex. 32:10.
But Moses knew God well enough to still intercede, and change the
intention of God to disinherit the people at this time. See on :23. The idea of "provoke" is to scorn, to blaspheme, and this is what we do to God if we doubt we shall inherit the Kingdom. The language used about Israel's lack of faith is extreme. They "despised" the land (:32) even though it seems they didn't doubt it was a good land, they just doubted whether they could. They gathered together against God (:35). The language all shows that the most fatal error is to not believe we will be saved- this is far and more fundamentally worse than any sin of hot blood.
See on Jn. 12:37.
And
how long will they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have
worked among them?-
It’s not that the people were atheists. They speak about the
existence of Yahweh quite freely (:3). But to not believe that He will
give us the Kingdom, the promised land, is to effectively be in denial of
Him. We too can be effective atheists when we doubt our salvation by
grace.
Or we can read "How long...?" as a desperate hope for
the time to more quickly come when the people would believe. The pain of God leads Him to hope, even
desperate
hope; and again that hope is expressed and felt in terms which are
relative to our kind of time. Hence His many questions relating to 'How
long?': "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not
believe me?" (Num. 14:11,27); "How long will it be till they are pure?"
(Hos. 8:5; Jer. 4:14; 13:27). These aren't merely rhetorical questions.
There's an element of literality about God's question- He doesn't know how
long it will be, He can only imagine and hope- for Israel has free will,
and will not turn to Him just when He says so. For He is in covenant
relationship with them, He loves them, and as we've emphasized, that must
involve each party allowing the other to function independently and to
have their own time and free choice for returning. These questions, and
other similar statements from God, are almost God's probing of possible
paths into the future- the future which He could, of course, choose to
know, but it seems He chooses not to fully know.
One wonders whether the questions God asks at times are in fact only merely rhetorical; perhaps some of them are genuine reflections of how He has restrained His foreknowledge in order to become vulnerably in love with His people. For example: “How long will these people treat me with contempt?” (Num. 14:11). I’m aware that by saying these things, I’m pushing a view of God that is quite different to that held by many believers. My comment is that the view of God widely held in Christianity has its roots in Plato’s philosophy that God is totally without emotion and unable to be touched by our situation on earth in a passionate manner. The very first clause of the 39 Articles of the Church of England reads: “God is without body, parts, and passions”. The Westminster Confession of Faith says the same- God is “without passions”. Frankly I find it incredible that this kind of thing can be said, when the Bible is so utterly full of examples of God’s passionate response to human grief upon earth. It seems clear enough to me that those churches founded upon such suppositions are simply flatly in contradiction to clear Bible teaching, and reflect their roots in pagan philosophy rather than God’s word. Rather than in any sense bringing God ‘down’, it seems to me that by assigning to Him the characteristics and possibilities which His own word so often speaks of, we are in fact elevating His awesomeness and wonder.
Num 14:12 I will strike them with the pestilence-
The "pestilence" which was the plague upon Egypt (Ex. 9:3) was to
come upon a hard hearted Israel (s.w. Lev. 26:25; Num. 14:12; Dt. 28:21;
Jer. 21:6). The plagues upon Egypt form the basis for the vials and seals
of Revelation, which speak of judgment to come upon the land of Israel. It
is a theme with God that His apostate people are "condemned with the
world" (1 Cor. 11:32). If their hearts are really with Egypt / the world,
then they will share the judgments of this world. The time for separation
is now, just as the Egyptians had to identify with Israel if they wished
to escape the plagues.
And disinherit them-
This is the same word translated "inherit" or "possess" in
Num. 13:30 ; 14:24. The word also means 'to destroy'. We are God's inheritance- we are to be totally devoted to Him. If we don't want to be, then He will inherit / destroy us anyway. This is the logic of total devotion- we are devoted to Him, and must willingly go along with this or else He will destroy us. The idea is alluded to in
Num. 14:22- because God's glory must fill the earth, therefore the sinners would be destroyed. And again in
Num. 14:33,35 we read of the sinners being "consumed", a Hebrew word meaning to be perfected or even cleansed.
And
will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they-
The same three words used of how God would make Abraham's seed a great and mighty nation (Gen. 18:18). God was alluding to that intention, but saying that He could cease fulfilling it the way He had been working on, and do it another way- through Moses. They would then have become as He intended- a nation of Levites. God's purposes are therefore open ended to some extent.
And this wasn't the first time God had thought to do this, and Moses had persuaded Him otherwise (Ex. 32:10). The intimacy of Moses' intercession with God Almighty... is amazing. No wonder Judaism rightly respects Moses. The verbs "I will strike them... I will disinherit them" are cohortatives, and effectively can be translated "Let Me strike... let Me disinherit them". But Moses as it were doesn't give permission. Man is allowed to foil God Almighty. All that stood between Yahweh and the destruction of His people were words, the words of a fallible weak man, Moses, who comes to his climax in :19 with the simple request in one word: "Pardon". And God heard. And even this is but a dim shadow of the Lord's for us. Truly we have a great High Priest.
Num 14:13 Moses said to Yahweh, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for You
brought up this people in Your might-
To have done this would’ve resulted in God changing His stated
purpose with Israel. He is prepared to alter His intentions, according to
human behaviour. And He shows Himself here open to dialogue, to
persuasion, from His faithful children like Moses who reason according to
a desire to see God’s glory
rather than their own glory. It may be that it becomes clear that God
intends to do something- perhaps to end a life, to relocate us
geographically, to close one road and open another. Our prayers shouldn’t
be simply asking Him to do or not do something. Rather should we reason
with Him, giving our reasons as to why we wish Him to act in the way we
are asking. This is for our benefit and reveals our motives to ourselves;
and also deepens our faith that we are really asking according to God’s
will as revealed in His word.
From among them-
"From their midst". It is stressed that Israel were taken out from
the "midst of Egypt" (Dt. 4:34; 1 Kings 8:51). The plagues and wonders
were done in "the midst of Egypt" (Ex. 3:20; Dt. 11:3). The midst of Egypt
appears to be defined in Ps. 135:9; Is. 19:3; Ez. 29:3 as being Pharaoh
and his servants. The narrative therefore stresses so much his response to
the plagues. God's especial focus had been upon his conversion, and yet he
refused. Israel were taken out right from under his nose, from the very
heart of Egypt. Ez. 20:8 reveals what is not recorded in the historical
record; that because the Israelites were so devoted to Egyptian idolatry
still, His thought had been to destroy them "in the midst of the land of
Egypt" (Ez. 20:8). But God's pole of grace overcame the pole of necessary
judgment. He tolerated them and saved them, with enthusiasm, by the grace
which comes from love- love taken to its ultimate, saving term. The whole
narrative speaks as if the Hebrews were all at one place at one time and
left "the midst of Egypt" together. Although unrecorded in the historical
narrative, this would have meant that they gathered together "in the midst
of Egypt" with Moses, who was not in Goshen but in the locality and
presence of Pharaoh.
Num 14:14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have
heard that You, Yahweh, are in the middle of this people; for You, Yahweh,
are seen face to face, and Your cloud stands over them and You go before
them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night-
It was only Moses who saw Yahweh face to face. But his personal
relationship with God had been shared not only with Israel, but somehow
the Gentile world of Canaan had got to hear about it. If we have a close
relationship with God, we will not need to boast of this to others, it
will become apparent, and the knowledge of it will somehow spread widely.
We see here God's sensitivity to how the Gentiles perceive Him, and this
has big implications for how we act before them. For we are God's
representatives, and how we represent Him before the world is so
significant to Him. For effectively we are Him in this world, and it is
our living example far more than our doctrinal explanations which will
convert others to Him.
Num 14:15 Now if You killed this people as one man, then the nations which
have heard the fame of You will speak, saying-
God could have given legitimate answers to each of Moses' objections;
for there were indeed times when He did not turn from the fierceness of
His wrath (Ex. 32:12)- such as Jer. 4:8; 2 Kings 23:26. He intended to
fulfill
the promises to Abraham, but through Moses. But such is His sensitivity
and pure pity that He accepted Moses' pleas.
Num 14:16 ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land
which He swore to them, therefore He has slain them in the wilderness’-
Caleb and Joshua perceived that Israel were “well able” to overcome
the tribes and inherit the land, seeing that the Angel-hornet had gone
ahead and prepared the way; and yet due to Israel’s disabling of this
possibility at the time, it was in some ways so that God Himself was “not
able” to give them the inheritance, because they judged that
they were “not able” to take it (Num. 13:30,31; 14:16).
Num 14:17 Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as You
have spoken, saying-
The power of God was understood by Moses as coming to its ultimate
term in His grace and pity to hardened sinners. The awesome physical power
we see in the natural creation is encouragement that His saving grace is
of an even greater order. The same power which had done the miracles in
Egypt was to be manifest in His forgiveness and salvation of His people
from their sins (s.w. :13). This is why the book of Job concludes with
manifestations of God's literal power- in order to persuade Job and the
friends of His power to save sinners.
Num 14:18 ‘Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness,
forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and that will by no means justify the
guilty-
Moses asked to know God deeper in Ex. 33 and 34, and was subsequently
given an inspiring theophany in which the Name of Yahweh was declared.
This wasn't just a piece of exquisite intellectual stimulation for Moses.
He quoted that very theophany, the things he had there learned of the
essentially merciful character of God, in his matchless prayer of Num.
14:17-19, where he pleads with God not to destroy Israel and not to
glorify him as God had offered. All we learn of the Father, the richness
of the vision we see in Christ, all this cannot remain within us, as
jottings in our Bible margins, as notes of addresses, as dimly recollected
ideas in brain cells. If we have really seen, there must, inevitably and
naturally, be a giving out of the vision.
Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third
and on the fourth generation’-
This is cited by Moses as a reflection of "the greatness of Your
grace" (:19). Sadly, the words are often wrested by those who don't want
to see God's grace. The grace in it is that the sins of a man are not
necessarily visited upon him and his family- until the third generation.
They have three generations to repent of what he did. And if the second
and third generations don't repent, then the fourth generation reap the
judgment for the sin of the ancestor, if they too don't repent. This is
exactly relevant here. For Yahweh does agree to Moses' request and
forgives on these terms (:20), but with the understanding that indeed He
will visit the iniquity that had been done later on, if there was no real
repentance.
Num 14:19 Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the
greatness of Your grace, and according as You have forgiven this people,
from Egypt even until now-
"According to the greatness of Your grace" is matched in :20 by
"according to your word". The implication could be that it was Moses'
vision of the extent of God's grace which enabled, prescribed and defined
the realization of His grace in practice. David perceived this when he
asked in Ps. 33:22 "Let Your grace be on us, Yahweh, according as we have
hope in You". Likewise if Abraham had continued bargaining with God about
Sodom and asked for it to be saved if only one righteous were to be found
there, then we can assume God would have heard him. But he failed to hope
for grace as far as he might have done, and so it didn't happen.
Num 14:20 Yahweh said, I have pardoned according to your word-
See on :18,19. Others can be forgiven because of our intercession (see too Mk.
2:5,6). This has huge implications; for in this case we should be praying
constantly for others, if the prayers of a third party can have such power
in another’s life.
Num 14:21 but in very deed, as I live-
To doubt God’s word in practice is to belie His very Name and being.
This is why God assures us of the certainty of both His salvation and also
His judgment of sin by saying that "As I live, says Yahweh…" (Ez.
20:31,33; Is. 49:18; Num. 14:21). As surely as He who is, really is, so
surely His words of promise and judgment will be fulfilled. His Name
therefore confirms the reality of His words. LXX "But as I live and my
name is living". The Name of Yahweh is not therefore simply a title or
lexical item, a mere word. God's personality and characteristics are
expressed in His Name, and all His constant action in the world and in
human hearts is in order to articulate that Name. Thus it becomes a living
Name.
And as all the earth shall be
filled with the glory of Yahweh-
The glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle when it was erected (Ex.
40:34), as it would later fill the temple (2 Chron. 7:1). But it was God's
intention that His glory should fill all the earth; the same words are
used in Num. 14:21. The apparently intense manifestation of Himself in a
specific place was only a foretaste of what He wished to bring about in
"all the earth". And yet Judaism misread this as meaning that His glory
was there alone in a specific holy place. They failed to perceive that it
was merely a localized foretaste of His intention to make this a universal
experience, and the tearing down of the veil at the Lord's death was
evidence enough of the progression of this plan. When exiled from the
sanctuary, David in his Psalms often perceives that God's glory fills and
shall fill all the earth (Ps. 72:19; Hab. 2:14).
The surrounding verses are all using eretz ("earth") specifically about the land promised to Abraham, not the whole planet (:2,3,6,7,9,14,16,23,24,30,31). God’s foremost intention was to fill His land with His glory, and through this, secondarily, the whole planet.
If God had let that generation enter the land, then the earth / land would not have been full of His glory. For they had seen His glory (:22) but not reflected it back as intended. But their pardon meant they would in the Kingdom. But they refused even that.
Num 14:22 because all those men who have seen My glory and My signs which
I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted Me these ten
times, and have not listened to My voice-
"Ten times" may not be a literal number, as in Gen. 31:7; Lev. 26:26;
Job 19:3. Or we could calculate the ten times as twice at the Red sea,
twice concerning the manna, twice concerning the quail, twice concerning
lack of water, once with the golden calf and once in this refusal to enter
the land.
Num 14:23 surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their
fathers, neither shall any of those who despised Me see it-
Time and again in the Biblical record, Abraham is held up as a very
real example, in whose steps all God's people are to tread. For example,
as Abraham was bidden leave Ur and go and "see" the "land" of promise
which God would "give" him (Gen. 13:15), so the spies were told to go and
"see" the "land" which God had "given" them (Num. 13:18; 32:8,9- the same
three words as in the promises to Abraham)- yet they lacked the faith of
Abraham to believe that really, they could possess that land. They did
"see" the land, yet they were punished by being told that they would not
now "see the land" (Num. 14:23; Dt. 1:35). They saw it, but they didn't
"see" it with the eyes of Abraham. And so it can be with our vision of
God's Kingdom. Remember that Moses was the author of both Genesis and
Numbers- such connections aren't incidental. Moses wished the people to
see themselves as going forward in the spirit of Abraham- and hence he
wrote up the Genesis record for Israel's benefit an inspiration.
"Despised" as in Num. 14:11 is s.w. provoke or blaspheme. It is specifically associated with turning to other gods (Dt. 31:20; 32:19; Is. 1:4). And that appears to be the context. The Israelites decided not to enter the land and instead to follow the gods of Egypt back to Egypt (Num. 14:11,23).
Num 14:24 But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him,
and has followed Me faithfully, him will I bring into the land into which
he went; and his seed shall possess it-
Caleb was head of a household within the tribe of Judah. It could be
argued that he was directly related to Judah through Hezron and Pharez (1
Chron. 2:5,18,25). But "Kenizzite" (also Num. 32:12) could refer to the
Gentile tribe of Gen. 15:19; or to a man called Kenaz, memorialized by
Caleb naming his son with that same name (1 Chron. 4:15). And Jud. 1:13
could mean that Caleb's father was called Kenaz. ‘Caleb’ means ‘dog’ in
Hebrew, and God alludes to this in describing Caleb as His faithful
follower. The intimacy between a man and his dog can be seen between God
and His man. The
genealogies are constructed in such a way that they don't preclude Caleb
having been a Gentile who was fully accepted into the tribe of Judah.
We must consider at this point Caleb's words of Josh. 14:12 "Now
therefore give me this hill country, of which Yahweh spoke in that day;
for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and great and
fortified cities". Although not recorded in Num. 14:24, it
appears Caleb was specifically promised Hebron at that time. Caleb had
explored that area as a spy (Num. 13:22) and taken a special liking to it.
We see therefore his spiritual ambition; 'this shall one day be mine'. And
we can do the same, as we in this life spy out our future inheritance.
Joshua allowed the leaders of Israel to lead him into wrong decisions about the initial attack on Ai, and also into being deceived by the Gibeonites. And yet as a younger man, he had boldly stood up to the peer pressure of the princes of Israel in faithfully declaring that Israel could and should go up into Canaan; when the other princes must have put huge pressure upon him to agree with them. He is described as maintaining “another spirit” to theirs (Num. 14:24). The resolution of youth seems to have been somewhat lost as he grew older.
Joshua and Caleb were characterized by the comment that they “wholly followed the Lord” when they went to spy out Canaan (Num. 14:24; 32:11,12; Dt. 1:36; Josh. 14:8,9,14), and urged Israel to go up and inherit it. This refers to the way that the Angel had gone ahead of them, and they faithfully followed where the Angel had gone, and believed that Israel could follow that Angel wherever it led. When Israel finally did go into the land, they were told that Joshua would ‘go before’ them, and they were to follow him and thereby inherit the land (Dt. 31:3). From this we see that circumstances repeat in our lives. As Joshua had been told to be strong good courage in order to take the land, so he had to tell others (Josh. 10:25). As God charged him to be courageous and obedient to the book of the Law, so Joshua on his deathbed charged his people (Josh. 1:7,8 cp. 23:6).
Caleb had a spirit "with him". This helps us understand the sense in
which the word or logos of Jesus was "with God" without implying
personal pre-existence. We must not read the New Testament through Greek / Western eyes, but
rather try to understand it against its original Jewish / Hebrew
background of thought. It's a failure to do this which has given rise to
trinitarianism and its associated misconceptions. Thus when we read of
Jesus being "with" God, the Greek / Western mind can assume this means
sitting literally together with Him. But time and again in the Hebrew
Bible, the idea of being "with" someone means [according to the Brown,
Driver and Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, p. 768] to "be in one's
consciousness, whether of knowledge, memory or purpose". Thus Job speaks
of how what God plans to do to him is "with God", i.e. in His purpose (Job
23:14); David is spoken of as having the idea about building a temple
"with" him (1 Kings 8:17; 2 Chron. 6:7)- and there are multiple other
examples (Num. 14:24; 1 Kings 11:11; 1 Chron. 28:12; Job 10:13; 15:9;
23:10; 27:11; Ps. 50:11; 73:23). It is this refusal to read the Bible
within its own Hebraic context which has led to so much misunderstanding,
and adopting of doctrines and positions which simply don't stand up to
closer Biblical scrutiny.
Num 14:25 Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley.
Tomorrow, turn and go into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea-
They were getting what they wanted. They wanted to turn away
from their enemies, and so God turned them away. This is the significance
of the statement that the Canaanite lived in the valley, and they were
told to turn away from them. We get what we really want. This looks ahead to the terrible sending away of the rejected from
the judgment seat at the last day. "Turn" is s.w. "turn away". They had
turned away from God in their time of opportunity, and often wished to
return to Egypt. And so it was appropriate for them to be told to return /
turn away from the Kingdom. Condemnation is really self chosen, and will
be a living out of the decisions already taken by the condemned. Truly "we
make the answer now"; the essence of judgment is now.
Num 14:26 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying-
It was as if God needed someone to talk with, to share His feelings of
frustration...
Num 14:27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, that murmur
against Me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which
they murmur against Me-
For "how long...?", see on :11. The Hebrew for "murmur" is the word for "stop", and is usually
translated in that way. The idea is that they didn't want to go further on
the journey; they wanted to return to Egypt. Despite the wonder of the Red
Sea deliverance. Their hearts truly were in Egypt. This sense of not
wanting to go onwards towards the Kingdom, to put a brake on God's saving
process, is the same temptation which in essence afflicts all God's people
who have started the journey with Him.
An example of the Lord’s perhaps unconscious usage of His Father’s words
is to be found in His exasperated comment: “O faithless and perverse
generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?”
(Mt. 17:17). Of course the Lord would have spoken those words and
expressed those ideas in Aramaic- but the similarity is striking with His
Father’s Hebrew words of Num. 14:27: “How long shall I bear with this evil
congregation…?”. As a son comes out with phrases and word usages which
‘Could be his father speaking!’, so the Lord Jesus did the same thing.
What I am saying is that the Lord was not merely quoting or alluding to
the Father’s Old Testament words, in the way that, say, Paul or Peter did.
As the Father’s Son, He was speaking in the same way as His Father, no
doubt saturated with the written record of the Father’s words, but all the
same, there were those similarities of wording and underlying thinking
which are only seen between fathers and sons. And His words of Mt. 17:17 =
Num. 14:27 seem to me to be an example of this.
Num 14:28 Tell them, ‘As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in
My ears, so will I do to you-
But the people thought they were only quietly murmuring (:27). God hears our inaudible grumblings and faithless doubts, just as He did Sarah's.
We have here an example of where those who are condemned have in fact
desired that and chosen that outcome. God is more concerned with saving
people than condemning them, and any condemnation is essentially self
inflicted rather than inflicted by God.
Num 14:29 Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were
numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and
upward, who have murmured against Me-
The idea of carcasses falling suggests they were already
carcasses. They were the living dead. Robert Roberts rightly described the generation that was under twenty
years old on leaving Egypt as the most faithful of all Israel's
generations. The faithful element with whom God so 'fell in love' was not
just comprised of the 'under 20s'. Joshua and Caleb also featured amongst
them, as did the Levites (who the curse of destruction in the wilderness
did not apply to: Num. 14:29 cp. 1:49). Numerically, the largest of these
three groups who constituted the 'faithful element' was the under 20s. It
is fitting, therefore, that this faithful remnant are personified as a
young person. Thus God reflected to Hosea: "When Israel was a child (s.w.
"young man" ), then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt" (Hos.
11:1).
Num 14:30 surely you shall not come into the land, concerning which I
swore that I would make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of
Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun-
This promise was solemnly made, with uplifted hand as it were, to
that generation who left Egypt (Ex. 6:8). But they did not enter the land,
as Num. 14:30 makes clear. This was because Israel broke their side of the
covenant, and did not in fact want to enter the land; and continued
serving the idols of Egypt, which they took with them through the Red Sea
(Ez. 20:8; Acts 7:43). But that promise was guaranteed by the fact that "I
will bring you into the land... I am Yahweh" (Ex. 6:8). The very essence
of Yahweh, that 'I will' save, as surely as 'I will be who I will be', a
saviour God, was fought against by Israel's idolatry and unfaithfulness to
the covenant. And because 'Yahweh' involves His character, which includes
His judgment of sin and not turning a blind eye to it (Ex. 34:4-6), human
intransigence and faithlessness was allowed to as it were even counteract
His most essential 'being' a saviour God for His beloved people.
Num 14:31 But your little ones, that you said should be for a prey, them
will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected-
In the end, God gives us our dominant desire. Israel in the
wilderness “despised the land of desire, they believed not his word” of
promise, that they would enter it (Ps. 106:24 AVmg.). They didn’t really
desire the land, so they didn’t receive it. Israel both despised the land,
and they despised their God (Num. 14:11,23,31 RV). They rejected the land
and so were rejected from it; just as all the condemned are actually
receiving that which they themselves really want. Our attitude as to
whether or not we want to be in the Kingdom is essentially our attitude to
God. This has far reaching implications. Ps. 107:30 likewise speaks of how
the faithful are brought to the haven of their desire (RVmg.). All those
who truly love the Lord’s appearing- with all that implies in practical
life and belief- will be accepted (2 Tim. 4:8). And yet Israel didn’t have
the dominant desire to be in the Kingdom, as Joshua and Caleb had. Why
didn’t they? It is vital that we understand the reasons for their failure
– such an understanding will be a safeguard to help prevent us from making
the same mistake (Rom. 15:4).
Num 14:32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness-
We must consider the tone of voice in which God said this, and His
feelings as He did. For God grieved over the carcasses of those wretched
men whom He slew in the wilderness for their thankless rebellions against
Him their saviour (Heb. 3:17). The apostle makes the point: "With
whom
was He grieved?". Answer: with the wicked whom He slew! A human God or a
proud God would never grieve over His victory over His enemies.
Num 14:33 Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years,
and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies be consumed in
the wilderness-
Their desire was to make them a captain and return to Egypt,
and Neh. 9 says they did make a captain, to replace Moses. So their
judgment was to wander, shepherdless, in the desert. Their concern about their children being killed by the Canaanites was
only an excuse- their children ended up bearing their sins, i.e. bearing
the consequence of them. The figure of 'carrying iniquity' means 'carrying
the consequence of sin'; which is what the Lord did on the cross. Others
suffer the consequence of our sin; and the consequence of sin can be
carried by Jesus.
To disbelieve we will enter the promised land of
God’s Kingdom is effectively prostitution against God. The Bible often
describes unfaithfulness in terms which are startling to us, but this is
to show how serious is unbelief.
Num 14:34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the
land, even forty days, for every day a year, you will bear your
iniquities, even forty years-
The Lord Jesus on the cross was a sin bearer (Is. 53:11); and the
idea of sin bearing was almost an idiom for being personally guilty and
sinful (Num. 14:34; Ex. 28:43). The Lord was our sin bearer and yet
personally guiltless.
And you will know the altering of My
purpose’-
That God can change His mind is an indication of
the extreme sensitivity He has to human behaviour. The
only thing in which
He is unchanging is His patience with sinners (Mal. 3:6).
Num 14:35 I Yahweh have spoken, surely this will I do to all this evil
congregation, who are gathered together against Me: in this wilderness
they shall be consumed, and there they shall die-
Heb. 3:11 says that "I swore in My anger: They shall not enter into My rest".
God has emotion. The generation that were promised the rest, permanence and
stability of the promised land were not given it, because in their hearts they
wandered. And this, as noted on Heb. 3:10, was reflected in their wandering in the
wilderness. This implies that God changed His mind about letting Israel enter
the land; for He had promised that generation "rest" in that He promised them
the land (Josh. 1:15). Or as Num. 14:34 (A.V. mg. ) says: "Ye shall bear your
iniquity, even forty years, and ye shall know the altering of My purpose". These
were the words of the Angel to Moses. The apparent change of plans could be seen
as more appropriate if it concerned the Angel which led them; and yet the Angel
all the same was manifesting God. This oath they would not "enter into My rest"
was solely because they did not believe (Heb. 3:18) in their hearts (Heb. 3:12. The immorality, idolatry etc.
were relatively incidental to the essential issue- that they did not believe He
would give them rest in the promised land. And therefore He did not give it to
them. The context of all this is Paul's appeal for confident hope in our future
salvation (Heb. 3:6). It is unbelief and a constant demand for 'proof' which was their
problem which cost them salvation.
Num 14:36 The men, whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and
made all the congregation to murmur against Him, by bringing up an evil
report against the land-
Had they believed in the power of God, then
whatever
‘adversary’ was in the land, in whatever form, was ultimately of no real
power (Num. 13:32; 14:36; Dt. 1:25). And yet it was not God’s way to
specifically tell the people that there was no such dragon lurking in the
land of Canaan – instead He worked with them according to their fears, by
making the earth literally open and swallow up the apostate amongst them
(Num. 16:30) – emphasizing that by doing this,
He was
doing “a new thing”, something that had never been done before – for there
was no dragon lurking in any land able to swallow up people. And
throughout the prophets it is emphasized that
God and
not any dragon swallowed up people – “The Lord [and not any dragon] was as
an enemy; He
has swallowed up Israel” (Lam. 2:5 and frequently in the prophets). The
people of Israel who left Egypt actually failed to inherit Canaan because
they believed that it was a land who swallowed up the inhabitants of the
land (Num. 13:32), relating this to the presence of giants in the land
(Num. 13:33). As Joshua and Caleb pleaded with them, they needed to
believe that whatever myths there were going around, God was greater than
whatever mythical beast was there. And because they would not believe
that, they failed to enter the land, which in type symbolized those who
fail to attain that great salvation which God has prepared.
Num 14:37 even those men who brought up an evil report about the land,
died by the plague before Yahweh-
Their "evil report about the land" is twice stressed (:36). They had
agreed that the land was indeed a good land. The evil report was in their
false claims about the apparently invincible inhabitants, and the
implication that the people therefore should return to Egypt. To 'bring up
an evil report' is to slander, and the word is always elsewhere used about
the slander of persons. It is a strange term to use about a land. But
effectively "the land" is being put for God's promise about entering the
land. It was God whom they were slandering. And so do we if we refuse to
believe we shall enter His Kingdom.
Num 14:38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh
remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land-
The implication is that the twelve men were standing "before Yahweh"
(:37) and ten of them were struck down dead, and only Joshua and Caleb
were left standing.
Num 14:39 Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the
people mourned greatly-
This incident looks ahead to the bitter weeping of those rejected at
the day of judgment (Mt. 8:12), at the borders of the Kingdom. But their
weeping was self inflicted and unnecessary if they had had faith.
Num 14:40 They rose up early in the morning, and went up to the top of the
mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which
Yahweh has promised; for we have sinned-
These Israelites who had crossed the Red Sea (cp. our baptism) and
were now rejected from God’s Kingdom, because they themselves had said
they didn’t want to inherit it, now wanted more than anything else to be
there. This is a major Biblical theme- that the rejected will desperately
ask to be allowed in to God’s kingdom; the foolish virgins will knock on
the closed door begging for it to be opened (Mt. 25:11; Lk. 13:25). Our
ultimate destiny is to stand before the Lord wanting to enter His Kingdom
with every fiber in our being. But this must be our attitude now, for then
it will be too late to change anything.
Num 14:41 Moses said, Why now do you disobey the commandment of Yahweh,
since disobedience shall not prosper?-
Those rejected by God at His judgment still desperately want to enter
His Kingdom (Mt. 25:11). In that day of final judgment, all present will
desperately want only one thing- to enter the Kingdom. Nothing else will
matter. We should have that spirit with us now.
Num 14:42 Don’t go up, for Yahweh isn’t among you; that you not be struck
down before your enemies-
"Go not up, for the Lord is not among you... but they
presumed to go up... nevertheless, the ark of the covenant of the Lord
(which the Angel had made with them) departed not" (:42-44)- as if to imply that
the Lord (the Angel) was in the ark, and therefore did not go up with them
because the ark did not. See on Ps. 78:60.
Num 14:43 There the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and
you shall fall by the sword, because you are turned back from following
Yahweh; therefore Yahweh will not be with you-
Num 14:44 But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain;
nevertheless the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and Moses didn’t depart out
of the camp-
Num 14:45 Then the Amalekite came down, and the Canaanite who lived in
that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Hormah-
Dt. 1:44 "The Amorites who lived in that hill country came out
against you and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to
Hormah". It was as if the Israelites had knocked the bee hive, and provoked
the bees to attack them; hence the Amorites chased Israel "as bees do"
(Dt. 1:44). The hornet had been sent ahead of Israel to as it were chase
out the Amorites; but now it was as if this was reversed, and they chased
the Israelites. For in their hearts they were no better than the Amorites.
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