1.6. Chapter 06 - THIRTY-EIGHT MORE YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS
Chapter 06 THIRTY-EIGHT MORE YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS In Deuteronomy 2:14-15 we read: “And the time we took to come from Kadesh-Barnea...was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp.” A choice had been made at Kadesh by these men; they did not have the faith to go up and conquer the land of Canaan, as Caleb and Joshua had urged them to do. Frightened by the enemy, they had renounced God’s desire for them to possess it.
Regarding salvation or the daily walk, there are decisive days in life when we too are confronted by a crossroads. Will we really decide for the Lord, adhering to Him and giving Him the first place? Or do we still want to enjoy the things of this world a little longer? The broad road will lead us far away from fellowship with the Lord. For the lsraelites there was no return, no recovery. Under the government of God, the face of the wilderness was strewn with their graves.
We will not take time to consider the various incidents recorded in the Word which occurred during these long years. However, three of them may retain our attention as marking more particularly the character of Moses. These are: the criticism by Miriam, the rebellion of Korah, and the tension at Meribah.
1. MEEKNESS AND HUMILITY (A) In The Face Of Miriam’s Criticism (Numbers 12:1-16)*
Miriam, the older sister of Moses, had come out with him from Egypt. She had led the choirs of the women in the song of triumph after the Crossing of the Red Sea, and had no doubt acquired an important position within the family and among the people because of her age (Micah 6:4).
Now however, Zipporah** (who had left Moses for a time) reappears (Exodus 18:2). Now that Moses has a wife again, Miriam can no longer have the same place as before. As easily happens under such circumstances, Miriam starts to criticize her brother, speaking against him and belittling him. She wins Aaron over, and together they ask insinuatingly: “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” (Numbers 12:2).
How many times, even among us, do envy and jealousy cause criticism and slander? 1 Peter 2:1 teaches us that we must lay aside all envyings and jealousy if we want to be fed by the pure milk of the Word; if we want to come near the Lord and worship Him. The account in Numbers 12:1-16 emphasizes the seriousness of these faults.
Furthermore, Miriam and Aaron, blinded by their self-importance, refuse to acknowledge the place given by God to Moses. “And the Lord heard it” (Numbers 12:2). Someone may think that he has whispered a critical word only in the ear of a brother or sister, advising him or her not to tell it to anybody else. Let us remember that the Lord has heard it and will hold us accountable.
Moses probably knew the criticisms that Miriam was spreading against him. However, as the Word of God says, he was very meek, “more than all men who were on the face of earth.” Humbly he kept silent, just as his Master would do in a future day. When we become the objects of criticism or even slander, should we not also leave it to God? He will bring everything to light at the right moment, and will not allow any bad effect beyond what He deems advisable for his servants.
“Suddenly” the Lord intervenes, calling Moses, Aaron and Miriam to the tent of meeting. Perhaps Aaron and Miriam imagine that what had just happened with the seventy elders will now take place with them. That is, the Lord will take of the Spirit which is on their younger brother and place it on them. If this is what they think, their eyes will soon be opened. The Lord summons Miriam and Aaron to appear alone before Him. Undertaking Moses’ defence, He says: “Why...were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
We may well underline this verse in our Bibles so that we might take care not to do the same. Criticisms against the servants of God, against their ministry, and against their behavior are so easily expressed!
“So the anger of the LORD was aroused against them, and He departed. And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow.” She must suffer the consequences of her failure. Moses intercedes for her, a fresh proof of his love and humility; but the entire people will know the chastisement that has struck the prophetess who had not been afraid to criticize her brother. During seven days she is to be excluded from the camp; and Israel cannot journey until Miriam is healed and received back into the camp. Regretting a fault is not enough. We must feel deeply within ourselves its gravity in the eyes of God, if not in those of men.
Let us emphasize the attitude of Moses who prays and intercedes for his sister, just as Job did for his friends, and as John invites us to do if we see a brother sinning. Matthew 18:1-35 teaches us to go and see such a brother and try to win him. If this move although made in the humble spirit of footwashing as described in John 13:1-38 — remains fruitless, two or three brothers must be taken along in order to try to recover the guilty one. It is only after the second visit has failed that one must tell it to the assembly, and then only if the case is sufficiently serious. Evil must in no way be spread abroad. Let us not forget how much Miriam suffered for it.
(B) In The Face of Korah’s Rebellion
Numbers 16:1-50 relates the most serious difficulty faced by Moses during the forty years in the wilderness. Korah, a Levite of the family of the Kohathites, becomes puffed up. Rallying two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly to himself, he intends to seize religious power. He boldly asks, “Why is the priesthood reserved for the family of Aaron? Why do the Levites not have access to it? Since the entire assembly of Israel — all of them are holy and the Lord is in the midst of them, why do Moses and Aaron lift themselves up above the congregation of the Lord?”
It is not only in our days that an alleged zeal for the holiness of God’s assembly is used as a pretext to put oneself forward and to gain influence!
Dathan, Abiram and On of the tribe of Reuben also attack, so to say, the civil authority of Moses, saying, “Is it a small thing that you...should keep acting like a prince over us?” (v. 13). The double rebellion grows to the point of involving the whole assembly (v. 19). What will Moses do? As at so many other times, he falls on his face (whereas Korah exalts himself) and leaves the decision to God, saying, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will show ...whom He chooses” (v.5). On the one hand Moses relies on the decision of God to confirm the position which He has given to each one; on the other hand he waits until “to-morrow.” He does not want to act hastily in spite of the gravity of the situation. He would rather allow Korah and those with him enough time to repent. The ingratitude and rebellion experienced by Moses might have caused him to go away and leave the people to their fate. He stays however, aware of the responsibility involved in his God-given position. He keeps his position of authority without losing his spirit of grace and humility. Is this not the first lesson that we must learn from this chapter, that is, to acknowledge the position imparted by God to each one of his people? In the body of Christ the members do not all have the same function. God has placed each one in the body as it has pleased Him. None can say to the others: “We do not need you.” Members who seem less important cannot think that they therefore do not belong to the body. The Levites, as Moses emphasized, occupied a privileged position. They could come near to God in performing the service of the tabernacle (v. 9). Why then should they also want to assume the priesthood for themselves? If God has entrusted it to the family of Aaron, should they not acknowledge this special position? And if God has invested Moses with authority, must not His decisions be obeyed with all submission?
Today it is not quite the same since all believers are priests. However, The Word of God does mark out some as elders and some as leaders to be obeyed. Those who labor in the Word must be highly esteemed in love. It is important for us to first discern the place of personal service which the Lord has entrusted to each of us. Then in dependence on Him, seek through His grace to faithfully fulfill that place without trying to encroach on the ground entrusted by the Lord to others.
Faced with the insolent attitude of Dathan and Abiram, Moses once more places himself in the hands of the Lord (v. 15). The day after, Korah gathers his two hundred fifty men. As they all offer incense together at the entrance of the tent of meeting, thus acting as priests, the Lord again threatens to destroy the entire people (v. 21). Moses, however, intercedes for them, and the Lord spares them on condition that they depart from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Because the case is so serious, God cannot show mercy. A simple exclusion from the assembly is no longer possible for these men. One must depart from them and leave them to their fate.
These men learn nothing from the situation. On the contrary, they stand in the entrance of their tents with their wives, their sons and their little ones, defying the entire assembly. Suddenly, the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up! Fire from the Lord also consumes the two hundred and fifty men who offered the incense. Thus the entire people must learn that only the intercession of Moses — a type of Christ — was able to keep them from perdition; They also must know that God’s judgment does not spare the guilty ones who do not repent. As with the incident of the golden calf, order is not yet restored by the following day. The whole assembly again murmurs against Moses and Aaron, saying that they have killed the people of the Lord. A plague breaks out and would have destroyed them all, had not Aaron taken a censer upon Moses’ instruction, and stood between the dead and the living. Thus, the plague is stayed. The incense speaks of an offering, the sweet odor of which would ascend before God. It is a perfect figure of the Victim who alone can save from eternal death those who trust in Him. This time 14,700 people die. This shows how serious it is to continue to rebel after God’s judgment has been clearly declared.
God, however, wanted to confirm openly the priesthood of Aaron. Hence, He gives a sign to clearly designate the one whom He has chosen. It is not a sign of death like the fire which consumed the two hundred fifty men, but a sign of life. The rod of Aaron, placed in the sanctuary together with the rods of the princes of the twelve tribes, alone buds forth, bearing flowers and fruit. Thus, Aaron is a type of that other Priest, “...Who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life” (Hebrews 7:16).
2. TENSION AT MERIBAH (Numbers 20:1-13)
It is now the fortieth year in the wilderness. Since the incident of the spies in the second year, the people have been roaming about and have finally gathered again at Kadesh. At this time, Miriam dies and is buried.
Once more there is no water. How will the new generation, raised in the wilderness, react? They know the law and the statutes, they have celebrated the Passover, and the tabernacle is dwelling in their midst. One may understand the murmurings of those brought up in Egypt, but the younger generation had heard the teaching of Moses. They were the object of his care. They saw the glory of the Lord so many times in the wilderness. Will they not behave better than their fathers? Not at all. The human heart remains the same and again murmurings,reproaches, and questions are raised, this time from the new generation. Moses and Aaron fall upon their faces, not before the congregation as on other occasions, but “at the entrance of the tent of meeting” (Numbers 20:6 JND). The glory of the Lord appears to them, this time not to consume the people but to use grace. Such grace would be shown on the basis of the priesthood, confirmed through the life manifested in the rod of Aaron. The Lord gives Moses precise instructions: he must take “...the rod from before the LORD” (Numbers 20:9) — the rod that had budded forth. He must gather the assembly together and speak before them to the rock. Moses takes the rod as the Lord had commanded him. The two brothers gather the congregation before the rock.
It is a moment of tension, irritation, and indignation for Moses whose career will be broken down through his ill-considered action on this occasion. He says to them: “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock? Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod.” Had Moses’ faith decreased? Had he become somewhat tired of the prolonged ingratitude of the people? Whatever the case might be, he lacks the faith that would enable him to simply speak to the rock. He wants to use authority in striking it with his rod. He thus disobeys the Lord’s precise order to only speak to the rock while holding in his hand the rod of grace connected with the priesthood.
Grace alone was able to introduce the people into the land. Neither authority nor the rod of judgment could do so. The whole incident is a picture of Christ who would be offered only once. Even if Moses was unable to understand the entire import of his gesture, it still was a serious matter to strike the rock a second time.
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, `Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land” (v. 12). In our eyes, the divine sentence seems to be out of proportion to their fault. However, the Lord holds more responsible those who have received much, especially his servants (Luke 12:48).
Several times Moses beseeches God to revoke his sentence, but the divine decision remains inexorable (Deuteronomy 3:25-26). The old servant of God recovers communion and intimacy with the Lord, but under the divine government, the consequences remain: “You shall not go over this Jordan.” A similar thing occurred with regard to David and Bathsheba’s child.
3. ALONE AT PISGAH (Deuteronomy 34:1-12) A short time after the contention at Meribah, Aaron, along with Moses and Eleazar, must go up on mount Hor. There Moses strips his brother of his priestly garments and puts them upon Eleazar, his nephew. “Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain” (Numbers 20:28). At the time of the golden calf, Aaron had been spared. When the fire of the Lord destroyed Nadab and Abihu for offering strange fire, Aaron had kept silent, aware that the fault of his sons was not as grave as his own had been. Once more he is spared. Now at the end of his life he must die, stripped of the garments that marked the high position to which he had been called. His faith, like that of his brother, had been defective at the critical moment. For a few more months Moses will remain alone at the head of the people. His last year is quite occupied. The entire book of Deuteronomy is filled with his memories. As legislator, he briefly restates the ordinances, gives new instructions for the land, and makes his last recommendations to the people. In the presence of all the people he invests Joshua with the authority needed to assume the succession. He gives expression to the song which will remind Israel of the warnings of the Lord. Before dying he blesses the tribes one after the other, thus showing that he is aware of the future ruin of the people as well as God’s resources for them.
Before leaving those whom he has served and led so faithfully, he pronounces these last words: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). In his prayer preserved in Psalms 90:1-17, he can say: “LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.” Had not this communion, this intimacy with God, marked his career on earth from the burning bush to the plains of Moab? Alluding to such vital fellowship, the Lord Jesus will later say: “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:1-27). The God whom the fathers had known, the God who had revealed Himself to Moses, was always the same. His eternal arms had carried him as He carried his people through all these years. The last day arrives. Moses leaves the plains of Moab where the tents of the people were pitched, and slowly goes up to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah. His work is completed. He has led this nation through so many difficulties and obstacles up to the frontier of the land. He has also communicated to them the thoughts of God. Now his task is finished, although not in the way he would really have liked, since he cannot introduce Israel into the land. Unlike Aaron, he does not have a brother and a son near him to assist him in his last moments. Even his faithful Joshua who had accompanied him at Sinai has remained in the plain. A greater One, however, comes near to him and lets him experience His presence and intimacy: “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, `I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes.’” Abraham of old had walked “in the land through its length and its width,”. knowing that God would give it to his descendants (Genesis 13:17). The men of faith of Hebrews 11:1-40 saw from afar the promised things, the heavenly land, and they embraced them. John at Patmos, aware of the ruin of the assembly (Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22), saw the heavenly city, the Lamb’s wife (Revelation 21:1-27). At the thorn-bush, Moses had been alone with God on holy ground. There the I AM THAT I AM revealed Himself and constrained His servant to accept the mission being entrusted to him. At Sinai as lawgiver, he had been alone with the Lord on two occasions of forty days each. Then in the cleft of the rock, he had learned to know God’s thoughts of grace.
How many times this leader, tired of the ingratitude of the people, had entered the most holy place to listen in the silence of the sanctuary to the voice speaking to him from off the mercy-seat? (Numbers 7:89). “And he spoke to Him.” Now on barren Pisgah at this supreme moment of Moses’ life, His faithful and well known Friend is there near His servant.
After contemplating the good land which God will give to His people, Moses, alone, falls asleep. The Lord Himself buries him in the valley and no man knows his sepulchre to this day. God takes care of the body of His servant, just as later He will make sure that the body of His Son is given the right burial. The Epistle of Jude records a dispute between Michael and Satan about the body of Moses. God watches, lest the enemy might make of it an object of veneration and idolatry as he did with the brass serpent.
One day Moses did enter the promised land. On the mount of transfiguration, he saw in glorious humanity, the Face that had remained hidden at Sinai (Luke 9:28-31). The purpose of this meeting was not to speak of the past and of all that had been involved in the journey through the wilderness. Neither was it to consider the remote future when the glory of the Son of God would shine in His kingdom. Rather, it was to speak of His death which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. In the Passover lamb and in the Levitical sacrifices, Moses had presented the type. Now the reality was there: Jesus was to be presented as the propitiation “that He [God] might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” The marvelous vision disappears; the cloud takes away Moses and Elijah until the day of resurrection; the disciples no longer see anyone but “Jesus alone with them.”
Moses — man of God, man of faith, deliverer, leader, shepherd, lawgiver, mediator, intercessor, prophet, and so frequently a type of Christ. This great figure of Moses remains before us unique and lonely so that considering the outcome of his conduct, we might imitate his faith (Hebrews 13:7).
THINKING THINGS THROUGH
1. Describe the unhappy situation in which Miriam and Aaron begin complaining against Moses because of his wife. How does this illustrate the strife and murmurings which can arise in an assembly?
2. What personal lessons do you learn from Moses’ response (or lack of response) to the complaints against him?
3. Consider the rebellion of Korah and his allies against Moses and Aaron: their complaints, their presumption and God’s judgment upon them. Why do you suppose the congregation generally sided with these rebels after all Moses had done for them? What can you learn from Moses about the right attitude towards those who show cruel and unjust ingratitude towards us?
4. Explain the difference between priesthood then and now. Considering this vast difference, what are the lessons we can yet learn from this rebellion against God’s established priesthood?
5. Describe the incident at Meribah where Moses hit the rock. Considering the forty long years in which Moses had borne with this disobedient and rebellious people, we might excuse him for acting in anger and self-will, but how did God view it? Yet, what do the further references to Moses in the Bible reveal as to what God wants us to remember about His beloved servant? (Luke 9:28-31; Acts 7:1-60; Hebrews 3:1-5; Hebrews 11:23-29; etc.).
6. Walk with Moses up to Pisgah and meditate there upon his last moments, alone with God. Such times with God had been the secret of his blessed and fruitful career, and his refuge in frequent troubles. How much do you know of time spent alone with God? Consider your daily schedule in the light of this vital necessity.