And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.
Afterward the people removed from Hazeroth and pitched in the wilderness of Paran, following the events of chapter 12. Paran was a broad region extending toward the Promised Land rather than a single campsite. Eighteen encampments lay between Hazeroth and Kadesh-barnea, where the spies were sent out at Canaan's border, so the verse leaves the route and elapsed time unspecified while the itinerary in Numbers 33 supplies the individual stopping places.
The verse belongs to the account in Numbers 9-24 of Israel's ceremonies, service, wanderings, and murmurings. That account shows the very strict order God kept among His children, given not because He needed it but because they needed to learn it. Carrying it out shows the blessing of system, since it forms a systematic character. It stands at the close of the account in which Aaron, a man easily influenced and here possibly influenced by Miriam, joined Miriam in speaking against Moses their brother, asking whether the Lord had spoken only by Moses and not by them also. The Lord heard it, and from the door of the tabernacle called Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to come out to the tabernacle of the congregation.
The chapter is a story of jealousy and the Lord's vindication of Moses. Aaron and Miriam acted from envy, unable to bear anyone above them however worthy or well fitted for the place. Pain, uneasiness, mortification, and discontent at his superiority and success filled their selfish hearts, accompanied by hatred toward him and a desire to depreciate him, with their only hope of being exalted lying in bringing Moses down. Such faultfinding warns that speaking against others can be used to undermine confidence in God's work, seek honor, and conceal one's own faults.
Speaking against Moses, the leader ordained to lead Israel from Egyptian bondage to Canaan, challenged God's choice of a leader and dishonored God. It was speaking against God Himself, not merely against the human instrument, and the Lord heard it, vindicated Moses, manifested His displeasure with judgment, and showed that He takes such speech seriously. The event proves the need and importance of having a head or leader and the danger of rejecting leadership. God always leads His people by human instrumentalities, speaking through His chosen servants, men or women raised up to lead out in every phase of His work, and the voice of God through His servant is to be followed. A spirit of rebellion or murmuring cannot be tolerated among God's people, and those who sympathize with a rebel and take his side and his word against the faithful are cast out with him, just as those who sympathized with Satan in his rebellion were cast out with him, and are unworthy of the fellowship of a Christian people.
The verse belongs to the wilderness history in Numbers 11-14 in which some of Israel disobeyed the Lord, complaining because they could not live like the world and lusting after the food they had eaten in Egypt. They kept murmuring until the Lord withdrew His protecting care, and they wandered in the wilderness until all but Caleb and Joshua and the children perished, never entering the promised land although they had started from Egypt with the Lord with them and with many miracles wrought for them. The record of Israel's wilderness journey, including this verse, happened for an example and was written for admonition upon those on whom the ends of the world are come. It warns later believers not to repeat Israel's unbelief and hardness of heart. The chapter holds a strong practical lesson for a lifetime, showing the mind of the Lord toward a deed often done without thinking that the Lord hears.
Afterward the people removed from Hazeroth and pitched in the wilderness of Paran, following the events of chapter 12. Paran was a broad region extending toward the Promised Land rather than a single campsite. Eighteen encampments lay between Hazeroth and Kadesh-barnea, where the spies were sent out at Canaan's border, so the verse leaves the route and elapsed time unspecified while the itinerary in Numbers 33 supplies the individual stopping places.
The verse belongs to the account in Numbers 9-24 of Israel's ceremonies, service, wanderings, and murmurings. That account shows the very strict order God kept among His children, given not because He needed it but because they needed to learn it. Carrying it out shows the blessing of system, since it forms a systematic character. It stands at the close of the account in which Aaron, a man easily influenced and here possibly influenced by Miriam, joined Miriam in speaking against Moses their brother, asking whether the Lord had spoken only by Moses and not by them also. The Lord heard it, and from the door of the tabernacle called Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to come out to the tabernacle of the congregation.
The chapter is a story of jealousy and the Lord's vindication of Moses. Aaron and Miriam acted from envy, unable to bear anyone above them however worthy or well fitted for the place. Pain, uneasiness, mortification, and discontent at his superiority and success filled their selfish hearts, accompanied by hatred toward him and a desire to depreciate him, with their only hope of being exalted lying in bringing Moses down. Such faultfinding warns that speaking against others can be used to undermine confidence in God's work, seek honor, and conceal one's own faults.
Speaking against Moses, the leader ordained to lead Israel from Egyptian bondage to Canaan, challenged God's choice of a leader and dishonored God. It was speaking against God Himself, not merely against the human instrument, and the Lord heard it, vindicated Moses, manifested His displeasure with judgment, and showed that He takes such speech seriously. The event proves the need and importance of having a head or leader and the danger of rejecting leadership. God always leads His people by human instrumentalities, speaking through His chosen servants, men or women raised up to lead out in every phase of His work, and the voice of God through His servant is to be followed. A spirit of rebellion or murmuring cannot be tolerated among God's people, and those who sympathize with a rebel and take his side and his word against the faithful are cast out with him, just as those who sympathized with Satan in his rebellion were cast out with him, and are unworthy of the fellowship of a Christian people.
The verse belongs to the wilderness history in Numbers 11-14 in which some of Israel disobeyed the Lord, complaining because they could not live like the world and lusting after the food they had eaten in Egypt. They kept murmuring until the Lord withdrew His protecting care, and they wandered in the wilderness until all but Caleb and Joshua and the children perished, never entering the promised land although they had started from Egypt with the Lord with them and with many miracles wrought for them. The record of Israel's wilderness journey, including this verse, happened for an example and was written for admonition upon those on whom the ends of the world are come. It warns later believers not to repeat Israel's unbelief and hardness of heart. The chapter holds a strong practical lesson for a lifetime, showing the mind of the Lord toward a deed often done without thinking that the Lord hears.