Numbers 14:16, commentary and pictures

The verse gives the false charge that outsiders would bring against God if He destroyed Israel at once in the wilderness, that He lacked power to bring them into the promised land and therefore killed them. It was spoken after Israel believed the discouraging report of most of the spies, rejected the faithful testimony of Joshua and Caleb, and turned in unbelief and despair against their leaders despite all evidence of His care and power. That charge was a mistaken conclusion, not a true lack of power, for those nations had heard how He was among His people and went before them by cloud and fire, and Israel's rebellion made their punishment look like failure to keep His oath. Moses pleaded against that dishonor to His name, appealing to His long-suffering, great mercy and forgiveness after God threatened to smite them with pestilence and make a greater nation from him. God pardoned them at Moses' word, yet the unbelieving men who had seen His glory and tempted Him were still barred from entering, and the same spirit of cowardly complaining and distrust of faithful counsel is re-enacted among His people as the end nears.

Setting and Meaning

The setting is Israel's response to the report of the spies, when most of them stressed the strength of the peoples of Canaan and the difficulty of conquering their cities, and the hopes of the people gave way to unbelief and despair. They believed the discouraging report, rejected the faithful testimony of Joshua and Caleb, and turned against their leaders despite the evidence of God's care and power.

After they refused to trust Him, God declared they would wander forty years, and when they then tried to enter Canaan after the opportunity had passed they were warned He was not with them and would be defeated, yet went up presumptuously and were beaten by their enemies. Later they complained that the wandering was an unnecessary delay, claimed they could have taken the land sooner, and blamed God and Moses for not letting them advance, reflecting bitter, self-confident distrust.

The verse states the false conclusion that would be spoken if God killed all Israel as one man in the wilderness: that the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to give them and therefore slew them. It is what the Egyptians, the inhabitants of the land, and the nations who had heard His fame would say.

Those outsiders had heard that the Lord brought this people up in might from among them, was among this people and seen face to face, dwelt among them, and went before them with His cloud over them in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. To say He lacked power would therefore deny His power and faithfulness to His oath and dishonor His name before unbelievers.

The charge was what outsiders would mistakenly conclude, not that God actually lacked power. Israel's rebellion distorted the meaning of their fate, so that instead of recognizing their own unbelief, disobedience, and cowardice, they implied God had failed to fulfill His promise. The wilderness deaths were the consequence of rebellion and unbelief, while He spared the faithful Caleb and the rebels did not enter their promised inheritance.

Mercy and Application

When the rebellion reached its height God threatened to strike Israel with pestilence, disinherit them, and make a greater nation from Moses, and Moses met that threat by pleading the danger to God's honor before the Egyptians, the inhabitants of the land, and the nations who had heard His fame. Those outsiders had heard that the Lord had brought this people up in might from among them, was among them and seen face to face, dwelt among them, and went before them with His cloud over them in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, so if He killed them all as one man in the wilderness they would say He was not able to bring them into the land He swore to give them and therefore slew them. That wholesale destruction would deny His power and faithfulness to His oath and dishonor Him before unbelievers, and Moses used that danger to plead that the power of the Lord be great. He repeated God's own words that He is long-suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and asked pardon for the people according to the greatness of His mercy from Egypt until now.

God pardoned the people according to Moses' word in response to that appeal for His name's sake. Yet the unbelieving adult men who had seen His glory and miracles and tempted Him ten times were still barred from seeing and entering the land. He could not work through the transgressors as He had done, for it would dishonor His name to do great things for those who in spirit were no better than the heathen around them. Because unbelief and cowardice prevented Him from showing His power to subdue their enemies, in mercy He spared them from immediate destruction and directed them to turn back toward the Red Sea. The wilderness deaths were therefore the consequence of rebellion and unbelief and not any failure of His ability, while He spared the faithful Caleb and the rebels did not enter their promised inheritance.

The same reproach falls when God's people suffer loss, for unbelievers judge His power and glory by what happens to His work and say the Lord was not able to prevent it. This applies with special force to the institutions where truth has been magnified, where He has revealed His presence, where instruction has been given by His messengers, and where publications accomplishing great good have been sent forth. If those institutions should pass into the hands of worldlings to be used as common, men will say it was because the Lord was not able to prevent it. Therefore those who love and serve Him must feel the deepest interest in all that concerns the glory of His name.

The history of the twelve spies applies to God's people today as the second advent nears. The cowardly complaining and drawing back from action when risks must be encountered, and the unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel seen in the days of Caleb and Joshua, are re-enacted now, and servants of God who bear the burden of His cause with strict self-denial and privation are seldom better appreciated now than then. Ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting and few received the faithful warnings given them, and darkness and unbelief do not decrease as that time nears. Truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, whose hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent, and long has the Lord borne with His people, forgiven their wanderings, and waited for them to give Him room in their hearts, but false ideas, jealousy, and distrust have crowded Him out. Few professedly of Israel whose minds have been enlightened by revelations of divine wisdom dare come boldly forward as Caleb did and stand firmly for God and the right, and because those chosen to conduct His work will not turn from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated they become the target for hatred and malicious falsehood. Satan is wide awake and working warily in these last days, and God calls for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist his artifices.