Israel refuses to enter Canaan
July 8, 2021
Commentary
After the the twelve men returned from Canaan and said there were giants in the land, the people cried all night and complained to Moses and Aaron, “ We wish we had died in Egypt or somewhere out here in the desert (vv. 1-2)! Why does the Lord bring us to this land to fall by the sword (v. 3)? It would be better for us to return to Egypt? We’d be better off in Egypt.” Then they said,” Let’s choose our own leader and go back to Egypt” (v. 4). If the people had spent as much energy moving forward as they did moving back they could have enjoyed their land. Instead they never even entered it. When a cry of despair goes up around you, consider the larger perspective before you join in.
Moses and Aaron bowed down before the Israelites (v. 5). They said, 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! Caleb and Joshua were greatly distressed by the people’s refusal to enter the land, and said it is a good land (vv. If we obey the LORD, he will surely give us that land rich with milk and honey (vv. 6-8). So don’t rebel (v. 9). However, the people rejected their advice and even talked of killing them.
But just then, the LORD appeared in a cloud at the sacred tent (v. 10). The path to open rebellion against God begins with dissatisfaction, then moves to grumbling about both God and present circumstances. Next, comes bitterness and resentment, followed finally by rebellion and hostility.
Application
I need to be careful about being dissatified and complaining as these kind of attitudes will lead to rebellion and separation from God’s plan for my life.
Numbers 14:1– 10 (NET)
1 Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness! 3 Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground before the whole assembled community of the Israelites. 6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of those who had investigated the land, tore their garments. 7 They said to the whole community of the Israelites, “The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land that is flowing with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”
10 However, the whole community threatened to stone them. But the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.