Numbers 14

CHAPTER 14THEME: Israel’s refusal to enter the land; Moses pleads for Israel; God’s judgment; Israel defeated by Amalekites and CanaanitesIsrael has not come to the place of decision. They must decide whether they are going to enter the land or not. We find Israel refusing to enter. The reason is their unbelief. The Bible is its own best commentary, and it is the writer to the Hebrews who puts it just that way. “But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Heb_3:17-19). It was unbelief that kept them from going into the land!

Numbers 14:1

ISRAEL’S REFUSAL TO ENTER THE LANDI am of the opinion that poor Moses and Aaron at this time were wishing they had died in the wilderness so they would be rid of their continual complaining.

Numbers 14:3

They are in such a bad frame of mind that they say, “Our wives and children will be a prey!” They are using their children as an excuse, pretending they are thinking of the safety of their children, but actually it is a reflection on God. They are saying that God did not care what happened to their children. Do you know who it was that entered the land? It was these childrenthat next generation. The old folks sat there and cried and said they were thinking of the safety of the children. The fact of the matter is that God was thinking of the safety of the children, and He brought them into the land.

Numbers 14:4

These two men, Caleb and Joshua, brought the same facts as the others. What is the difference in their report? The difference is in their interpretation of the facts because they included God. When you see yourself as a grasshopper in the presence of giants, that is when you need God. These people certainly needed God. Caleb and Joshua insisted that if God would delight in them, He would bring them into the land. But how can God delight in them unless they believe God? They must trust Him. “They are bread for us” in our idiom would be like saying, “Those people in the land will be ‘duck soup’ for us!” How can they be so confident? They have faith in God!

Numbers 14:10

Have you noticed that every time there is a rebellion, or murmuring, or complaining, the glory of the Lord appears? God is highly displeased with this rebellion against Him.

Numbers 14:11

God is saying, “I’ll destroy them and make a nation from you to fulfill My promises.”

Numbers 14:13

MOSES PLEADS FOR ISRAELMoses reminds God that the rumor will go around that although He was able to bring them out of Egypt, He was not able to put them into the land, to complete that which He had begun. God agrees to go ahead with them and put Israel into the land.

Numbers 14:20

And then the Lord gives this prophecy:

Numbers 14:21

As God brought these children of Israel out of the land of Egypt and did put them in the Promised Land, so God will complete the plan He had for you when He saved you. And He will complete the plan He is working on now for the entire earth, because the time is coming when the whole earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.

Numbers 14:22

GOD’S JUDGMENTJudgment falls on the children of Israel. The generation that murmured will not enter the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb are the only ones whom God singles out from the people. God promises that they shall enter the land, and God made good that promise.

Numbers 14:29

Their children, that they implied God did not care about, would be brought safely into the land they had despised.

Numbers 14:33

God tells them that they will wander in the wilderness for forty yearsone year for each day the spies were in the land.

Numbers 14:36

The ten spies who brought the evil report and led in the rebellion died of a plague.

Numbers 14:39

ISRAEL DEFEATED BY AMALEKITES AND CANAANITESThey had turned from the land, but as they face the wilderness, they are actually more afraid of the wilderness than they had been afraid of entering the land.

Numbers 14:40

They had lost their opportunity. They would not go up into the land when God wanted them to go. Now they presume to go up. This is presumption. Faith is not presumption! They again want to go their way rather than God’s way. There can be no victory when there is no submission to the will of God.