1.5. Chapter 05 - FROM SINAI TO KADESH
Chapter 05 FROM SINAI TO KADESH (The Second year) On the first day of the first month of the second year after the children of Israel had left Egypt, the tabernacle was set up (Exodus 40:2). Different events occurred one after the other: the consecration of the priests, the offering of the princes, the celebration of the Passover. On the first day of the second month Moses proceeds to number the men “that go forth to military service” (Numbers 1:3).
Finally, on the twentieth day of the second month of this second year, the cloud over the tabernacle begins to move. The children of lsrael leave the wilderness of Sinai, for the first time following the commandment of the Lord about journeying. Six tribes preceded the ark and the sanctuary, and six tribes formed the rear-guard.
1. EYES IN THE WILDERNESS (Numbers 10:29-36)
Fundamentally the cloud directed the movements of the people (Numbers 9:15-23). When the children of Israel were to strike camp, the priests blew the trumpets (Numbers 10:1-8). The Lord had provided everything, and His presence accompanied Israel.
Why does Moses wish for some human help in the person of his brother-in-law, Hobab? Being a Midianite, he would, of course, be well acquainted with the wilderness and the places where to encamp. It can further be said that Moses seemed to have his welfare in mind, insisting on letting him share in “whatever good the Lord will do to us.”
Actually, Hobab will not precede the people and find the place to encamp. The ark itself, proceeding out of its normal place in the midst of the tribes, will go before them “in the three days’ journey” to search out a resting place for them! The movement of the cloud ratifies that they are to move, thus manifesting the divine presence. This is God’s gracious answer to the persevering intercession of Moses, despite the lack of confidence in God which he displayed in asking for Hobab’s assistance. Is it not the same with us? In John 10:1-42 the Good Shepherd puts forth His own sheep and .”he goes before them.” The sheep follow Him, because they know His voice. This precious experience of knowing that “He goes before” can be made at any age.
If you are facing an unknown stage in your life: a new period of studies, a sojourn abroad, another course of professional training, remember that “He goes before.” Trust Him and rely on Him. The ark leaves three days in advance so there is no need to hurry. It is enough to quietly follow the way He opens. “Whoever believes will not act hastily” (Isaiah 28:16). May we avail ourselves of the promise made to the psalmist: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye” (Psalms 32:8). We get this instruction from the word of God, applied in practical fellowship with the Lord.
2. THE BURDEN OF ALL THIS PEOPLE Numbers 11:10-17; Numbers 24:1-25; Numbers 25:1-18; Numbers 26:1-65; Numbers 27:1-23; Numbers 28:1-31; Numbers 29:1-40)
Numbers is the wilderness book; it is also the book of complaints. How many times the Israelites complain, weep and wail! In our chapter “the people complained...the people cried out to Moses ...the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again...Moses heard the people weeping...every one at the door of his tent.”
One can understand how these constant complaints (which brought on Israel the chastisement of the Lord) could overtax the patience of their leader. So Moses pours out his complaint before God: “Why?...Why?...they weep all over me...I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.”
Exodus 18:1-27 tells how Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, advised him to obtain some help in administering justice by providing able men: chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. His counsel was that these men judge the people at all times and bring only the great matters to their chief. On the one hand, Moses would “stand before God for the people, so that (he might) bring the difficulties to God.” And on the other hand he would teach them the statutes and the laws. Moses followed this advice, taking it as from God (Exodus 18:23). In Deuteronomy 1:9-18 he recalls the incident without adding any negative comment. A counterpart to this might be found in 1 Corinthians 6:4.
However, in Numbers 11:1-35 it was not a matter of dispensing justice or hearing problems. It was rather Moses’ feeling of being overwhelmed with the burden of his responsibilities. Certainly God was able to give Moses the means necessary to carry out his charge, and He had instructed him to lead lsrael.
Today, in the light of the New Testament, one must acknowledge that it is not God’s intention for His people that only one man assume responsibility for the entire service of the local assembly. The decision of Acts 15:1-41 was not reached by one apostle, however prominent, but by the apostles and the elders, with the concurrence of the whole assembly (v. 22). According to passages such as Php 4:3 and Colossians 4:11, Paul had several “fellow laborers” whom he sent here and there, or who accompanied him on his journeys.
Passages such as 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, Romans 12:1-21 and Ephesians 4:1-32 show that each member, every joint, has his/her particular service in the body of Christ; and that all work together for the advantage of the entire body. The Lord alone imparts through the Spirit various gifts, not only the fundamental ones of shepherd, evangelist or prophet, but also every kind of work and function to be performed in the body. All do not have the same qualification, but all the members must equally care for one another: “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).
Hence, even if it was not proper for Moses to complain to God in this way, we can think that God answered him in grace by giving the seventy elders to assist him in carrying the burden of the people. And Moses did not take it in the wrong way. When Joshua wanted to prevent Eldad and Medad from prophesying in the camp, Moses replies: “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:29). Moses did not at all wish to be the sole channel of the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 12:21 reminds us that “the eye cannot say to the hand, `I have no need of you’; nor again the head to the feet, `I have no need of you.’ Each of us has received from the Lord a service to perform, and we cannot abandon it to somebody else. Neither should we despise or try to imitate the function which God might have entrusted to others. All are called in dependence on the Lord, to be “joined in the work and laboring” (1 Corinthians 16:16 JND) in a spirit of submission and mutual esteem (Php 2:4; Romans 12:3). This is not collaboration as understood in a human organization. Rather, it is cooperation in a living organism, each member operating at the place assigned by the Master (Ephesians 4:16); and particularly today in the scope of 2 Timothy 2:19-26.
3. BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT AT KADESH (Deuteronomy 1:19-46; Numbers 13:1-33 and Numbers 14:1-45)
“It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea” (Deuteronomy 1:2). A few days would suffice to reach the frontier of Canaan. Yet, more than thirty eight years after the departure from Sinai we meet the people at Kadesh-barnea again (Numbers 20:1). So today, the spiritual progress of a soul can be rapid, but often many years are wasted through lack of faith, vigilance, and love for the Lord. This is just what happened with the people of Israel. As the starting point for the conquest, Kadesh-Barnea was situated at the frontier of Canaan. Moses mentions it in Deuteronomy one. After the “great and terrible wilderness” which they had crossed, the lsraelites had only to move forward fearlessly and take possession of Palestine. As Moses said, “You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. Look, the LORD your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 1:20-21). In these words one can sense all the relief felt by Moses. He had brought the people through the different stages of the wilderness up to the frontier of Canaan. Just a few more efforts, and through God’s kindness he would soon be able to lay down his heavy burden and enjoy rest.
Why then was the course of events different?
(A) The people conceived the blameable wish to send spies to examine the land. Was it not enough that God had declared to them that it was a country flowing with milk and honey, and that He would accompany them in their conquest of it? No, they want men to examine the land on their behalf and bring them news about it. Numbers 13:1-33 describes how the Lord accedes to their request and tells Moses to send out spies. In this way, He tries the people to see whether they will trust Him or not.
(B) The people wrongly accepted the majority report of the spies. True, these men reported that Canaan was as God had promised: “The land...truly flows with milk and honey” (Numbers 13:27). However, they quickly add that the people dwelling in the land are strong; the cities are walled and very great. They discredit the land and completely discourage the children of Israel from conquering it.
Caleb protests boldly: “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” The following day. Joshua joins him, insisting that Israel must not “fear the people of the land, for...the LORD is with us” (Numbers 14:9). Will Israel listen to the disheartening declarations of the ten, or to the two men of faith who, trusting the Lord, assure them of the victory?
How is it with us? Are we among those who recommend “the land” or those who hold back souls from following the Lord? Are not criticisms, detractions, depreciation of the ministry of the Word, negligence in attending the meetings, and so many other insinuation elements which discourage our brethren from possessing the spiritual blessings given by God? Let us, like Joshua and Caleb, rely on God to take possession of what He has given us, and incite others to do the same.
(C) The people listen to the ten spies. During the entire night they lift up their voice, crying and weeping. In the morning they reject Moses and prepare to appoint a captain who will lead them back to Egypt. They further declare that Joshua and Caleb should be stoned.
What a terrible hour for Moses! It may have been the darkest hour in his life. How many times had he not interceded for this people? He had even offered himself for them as a propitiation for their sin, if this had been possible. With faithfulness and constancy he had led them up to the frontier of the promised land. Now they reject him and want to return to Egypt. He falls on his face before the entire assembly, painfully aware that the promised rest is about to be forfeited. The Lord puts his servant to the test by again proposing that He destroy the people and make of Moses a nation greater and mightier than they. Moses, however, would not accept to enter the land alone, sacrificing his brethren and the glory of God (v. 16). He beseeches the Lord to forgive once more “according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now” (v. 19). “Then the LORD said: I have pardoned, according to your word.”
Moses, however, will have to submit to the discipline that will strike Israel on account of their unbelief. The entire generation that came out of Egypt will perish in the wilderness. What a faithful servant is Moses! He accepts rather to be thirty-eight years in affliction along with the people of God than to witness their destruction and himself be honored. He bows down, submitting to the suffering which he has not deserved. He will see the bodies of his companions fall one after another and die in the arid solitude. As he sees it at this time, only four will survive the thirty-eight more years in the wilderness and enter the promised land: himself, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb.
Several of the people seem to reconsider: “And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, `Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised, for we have sinned!’” (Numbers 14:40). However, they are persisting in their own strength. Moses rather submits to the divine discipline and remains in the camp. Then, as he expresses with deep melancholy in Deuteronomy 2:1, “...we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me.”
Making all due allowance, do we not at times face the same experience? Must we not also humble ourselves and bow under the hand of God who disciplines His people, even if personally we have had no direct part in the fault that brings divine chastisement upon us?
THINKING THINGS THROUGH
1. Describe the camp of Israel as they left the wilderness of Sinai. In what ways do you see God’s concern for them, His desire to be among them and lead them?
2. How is the functioning of various members in the body of Christ illustrated by the distribution of Moses’ responsibility among seventy of the elders of Israel? What is your place and function in the body of Christ?
3. What factors prevented the Israelites from going in to possess the promised land when they first arrived at the frontier town of Kadesh- Barnea? What was the result of their failure to possess the land at that time?
4. What are some of the ways in which we hinder one another from possessing our land of spiritual blessings in Christ?
5. How does Moses’ great heart for God and for the people of God shine forth once again at Kadesh-barnea?