1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)
14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
20 And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
26 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,
30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.
33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
36 And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,
37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.
39 And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
40 And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.
41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.
42 Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.
43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.
44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.
View All Numbers Chapter 14 Comments...
GIGI's Numbers Chapter 14 comment on 5/30/2023, 6:14pm...
NUMBERS CH. 14
PART 4
...to the top of a mountain, saying that they will now go in and take the land promised, because they had sinned. They realized that they had sinned against God by believing the evil report and not trusting God to deliver the land to them. But now they were ready to go into the land and possess it. So, this is what their "repentance" looked like. After they had heard from Moses all that God had said would happen to them, they then were willing to go into the promised land instead of dying in the wilderness.
Moses tells them to not go into the land because the LORD will not go with them. He had decreed that all these people would die in the wilderness and He would not go back on that decree. Moses tells them that the Amalekites and Canaanites are waiting with their swords and they will be slain right off the bat because they had turned from the LORD and He will not protect them nor go with them to conquer.
But the people PRESUMED and went up the mountain, but the Amalekites and Canaanites came down the mountain to smote them. The Israelites could not advance into the promised land due to their presence and strength. Thus ends this chapter.
The word "PRESUMED" is a big word meaning that the people thought that the LORD would surely help them because they were His people. But they were going to do what the LORD disallowed (entering to the land) and their presumption brought them defeat at the hands of the Amalekites and Canaanites.
We, too, need to be careful of presuming on the Lord that He will spare us or help us or bless us when we step ahead into a sinful way just because we believe. We need to seek His will, not our own and be always thankful and grateful for His mercy, grace, and relationship with us even as we are still sinners.
This chapter in Numbers is very instructive to us in many ways. I have gleaned a few lessons from it. I hope some of you will read it for yourselves and discover what the Holy Spirit brings forth to you.
GIGI's Numbers Chapter 14 comment on 5/30/2023, 5:59pm...
NUMBERS CHAPTER 14
PT. 3
The LORD says to Moses, "I have pardoned according to thy word; But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not harkened to my voice, surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of them that have provoked me see it.:
Moses is a friend of God. They can reason together because God condescends to hear Moses and consider what he says, not to gain any advice or be softened by Moses' intercession but to reward His friend, Moses, for seeking Him with all of His heart, soul, mind, and strength; for Moses continuing to lead the people as God called him to do; for Moses having a deep love and genuine concern for this nation of people that God has chosen. God knew Moses' heart, all of the thoughts he would ever think or speak, yet the LORD desires to hear Moses and answer his prayers for this rebellious people. How favored Moses was, yet with this favor came great responsibility.
The LORD goes on to say that only Caleb and Joshua, and all of the chidren younger than 20 years old will enter the promised land. The rest of the people will die in the wilderness as they will wander 1 year for every day the leaders were spying out the land. In forty years, all of the people of Israel over 20 years old will die in the wilderness, except Joshua and Caleb. Moses must have realized that he and Aaron will also die in the wilderness. God was giving the people what they had murmured in God's ear about, dying in the wilderness rather than entering the promised land. (vs. 28). To the men who brought the evil report, God put upon them a plague that killed them swiftly.
The people mourned when they heard from Moses all that the LORD had said. But this was mourning without repentance. The next morning ...,cont.
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