And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,
The verse belongs to the lessons given through Moses during the forty years of wandering, recorded in Deuteronomy just before Israel came into possession of Jericho, as part of the record of failures and victories to be repeated over and over, rehearsed more often and kept before the people to strengthen faith so that every new move will carry out the principles given them.
It means the Lord heard Israel's distrustful, impatient, unbelieving and rebellious words and answered with kindled wrath and a sworn judgment. The sworn judgment was that the men of that evil generation, the fathers, the adult army that left Egypt, would not see or enter the good land and Canaan promised to their ancestors. Caleb was excepted from the exclusion because he wholly followed the Lord. The anger with Moses mentioned nearby concerned a later event at the water, not this oath against the rebellious generation. In this connection it was also declared that Moses would not enter the land because of the people.
The judgment came because they would not heed His voice but cherished their own wisdom and refused to be molded after His will, breaking their solemn pledge, transgressing His holy requirements, and forfeiting His favor by disobedience, pride, distrust and unbelief. Dissatisfied, impatient and rebellious, they were unprepared to enter because they lacked His character of purity, goodness and benevolence and could not represent a people whose God is the Lord, and their perversity made it impossible for Him to manifest His protecting power. The wrath was not arbitrary and the long wandering and delay in possessing Canaan were not chargeable to God, for He had been faithful to His promises and was more grieved than the people that He could not bring them into immediate possession and display His mighty power in their deliverance before all nations. Had they yielded in faith to His direction, been governed by His judgments and walked in His ordinances, they would long before have been settled in Canaan as a prosperous, holy, happy people, and their delay dishonored Him and detracted from His glory in the sight of surrounding nations.
The verse shows that God's promises are upon condition of obedience, so that disobedience forfeits their fulfillment and His declared purpose is altered when His people disobey. Even in this judgment God remains not a stern, relentless judge but a loving, compassionate father who pardoned their transgressions, retained them as His people, and pardons all who truly repent. Together with Deuteronomy 7 and Deuteronomy 8, the chapter stands as the word of the Lord written for admonition upon those on whom the ends of the world are come, warning against following the Lord only up to the point that agrees with human judgment. As such admonition it warns against mocking His counsel and exalting human standards and self-pleasing above perfection of character, and calls for a submissive teachable spirit that listens to Christ, copies His self-denial and self-sacrifice, and obeys God's voice in institutions and in personal duty. As such admonition it requires giving up one's own ideas and opinions, viewing everything in the light of Christ's example of self-denial and self-sacrifice, living not to please self, and seeking perfection of character by His merits.
The verse belongs to the lessons given through Moses during the forty years of wandering, recorded in Deuteronomy just before Israel came into possession of Jericho, as part of the record of failures and victories to be repeated over and over, rehearsed more often and kept before the people to strengthen faith so that every new move will carry out the principles given them.
It means the Lord heard Israel's distrustful, impatient, unbelieving and rebellious words and answered with kindled wrath and a sworn judgment. The sworn judgment was that the men of that evil generation, the fathers, the adult army that left Egypt, would not see or enter the good land and Canaan promised to their ancestors. Caleb was excepted from the exclusion because he wholly followed the Lord. The anger with Moses mentioned nearby concerned a later event at the water, not this oath against the rebellious generation. In this connection it was also declared that Moses would not enter the land because of the people.
The judgment came because they would not heed His voice but cherished their own wisdom and refused to be molded after His will, breaking their solemn pledge, transgressing His holy requirements, and forfeiting His favor by disobedience, pride, distrust and unbelief. Dissatisfied, impatient and rebellious, they were unprepared to enter because they lacked His character of purity, goodness and benevolence and could not represent a people whose God is the Lord, and their perversity made it impossible for Him to manifest His protecting power. The wrath was not arbitrary and the long wandering and delay in possessing Canaan were not chargeable to God, for He had been faithful to His promises and was more grieved than the people that He could not bring them into immediate possession and display His mighty power in their deliverance before all nations. Had they yielded in faith to His direction, been governed by His judgments and walked in His ordinances, they would long before have been settled in Canaan as a prosperous, holy, happy people, and their delay dishonored Him and detracted from His glory in the sight of surrounding nations.
The verse shows that God's promises are upon condition of obedience, so that disobedience forfeits their fulfillment and His declared purpose is altered when His people disobey. Even in this judgment God remains not a stern, relentless judge but a loving, compassionate father who pardoned their transgressions, retained them as His people, and pardons all who truly repent. Together with Deuteronomy 7 and Deuteronomy 8, the chapter stands as the word of the Lord written for admonition upon those on whom the ends of the world are come, warning against following the Lord only up to the point that agrees with human judgment. As such admonition it warns against mocking His counsel and exalting human standards and self-pleasing above perfection of character, and calls for a submissive teachable spirit that listens to Christ, copies His self-denial and self-sacrifice, and obeys God's voice in institutions and in personal duty. As such admonition it requires giving up one's own ideas and opinions, viewing everything in the light of Christ's example of self-denial and self-sacrifice, living not to please self, and seeking perfection of character by His merits.