Numbers 14:18
The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
The Lord declares Himself to be patient and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means treating the guilty as innocent or excusing guilt. When Israel refused to advance into the promised land, God threatened to smite them with pestilence and disinherit them, and Moses pleaded for their life by citing back to God His own words about His character as the strongest plea for pardon. God answered that He had pardoned according to that word, yet the men who had seen His glory and miracles and tempted Him would fall in the wilderness and not see the land, save Caleb and Joshua who followed Him fully, while their little ones would be brought in. His longsuffering means He bears long with perversity, forgives wanderings, waits for room in the heart, and pleads and warns and even sends judgments to lead to repentance, but rebellion after great light reaches the boundary of forbearance and does not remove accountability. He keeps a record while giving calls to repentance and offers of pardon, but when the account is full judgment comes and He will not let the guilty go unpunished, and in the Lord Jesus that same longsuffering mercy is shown without parallel by giving His sinless life to bear guilt and punishment so the repenting believer stands innocent before the Father.
Wilderness Rebellion and Intercession
Israel's rejection of the spies' report brought God's decree of forty years of wandering in the wilderness. After that judgment was declared the people tried to enter the land when the favorable time had passed, going up despite warning that the Lord was not with them, and they were defeated. The long delay meant that generation could not enter Canaan, while their children later continued the journey toward the promised land.
When Israel stood on the borders of the Promised Land and refused to advance in obedience, God declared He would smite them with pestilence and disinherit them and make of Moses and his descendants a greater and mightier nation. Moses based his plea for Israel's life on the verse as God's own spoken words about His character, citing them back to Him as a promise and as the strongest of all pleas. He urged that the Lord is longsuffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression while by no means clearing the guilty, and he prayed with confidence because God had often spared erring Israel before. This character of God grounded the appeal that Israel be spared rather than destroyed, so that His name would not be dishonored among the surrounding nations.
Moses argued that the Egyptians and the inhabitants of the land had heard that the Lord was among Israel face to face with His cloud over them and leading them by pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. If He killed them as one man they would say He was not able to bring them into the land He swore to them and therefore slew them in the wilderness. So he asked that the Lord's power be great according to that word and that He pardon the iniquity of the people according to the greatness of His mercy as He had forgiven them from Egypt even until now. He pleaded God's marvelous providences and promises in behalf of the chosen nation, and then urged God's love for fallen man.
God graciously answered that He had pardoned according to Moses' word. Yet He declared as truly as He lives that the men who had seen His glory and miracles in Egypt and the wilderness and tempted Him ten times and not hearkened to His voice should not see the land sworn to their fathers. They must turn into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, and their carcasses would fall there from twenty years old and upward, save Caleb and Joshua, while their little ones would be brought in to know the land they despised. Caleb would enter because he followed God fully. Pardon did not mean God could work through the transgressors as before, for doing great things for a disobedient people no better in spirit than the surrounding heathen would dishonor His name. Yet the merciful kindness and tender love Moses had pleaded was to be revealed to all mankind until all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
Merciful Yet Just Character
The Lord is patient, compassionate, longsuffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet He does not treat the guilty as innocent or excuse guilt. This character grounded the plea for rebellious Israel to be spared rather than destroyed, so that His name would not be dishonored among the surrounding nations. The appeal rested on what He had already revealed by repeatedly forgiving them from Egypt onward. In Jesus this same longsuffering and great mercy is without parallel in love and compassion.
He has long borne with His people, forgiven their wanderings, and waited for them to make room for Him in their hearts. He bears long with perversity while patiently and lovingly pointing out errors and pleading with wrongdoers to return to Him. If His invitations are refused, He speaks more plainly and often sends judgments to lead to repentance and the forsaking of sins.
Israel's rebellion after receiving great light and deliverance brought them to the boundary of His forbearance, showing that patience does not remove accountability. He heard intercession and pardoned the people, yet the guilty adults still faced the consequence of dying in the wilderness and not entering the promised land. Only Caleb, who followed Him fully, with Joshua, would enter, while mercy was shown in hearing prayer even as the rebellious generation was held accountable.
Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation includes the transmission of harmful habits formed through perverted appetite and intemperance. Their effects of disease and mental and physical decline in later generations arise from disregarding the laws of health, not from providence. In heaven He keeps a record of the impieties of nations, families, and individuals while bearing long and giving calls to repentance and offers of pardon. But a time comes when the account is full and each soul by choice has fixed destiny, and then the signal is given for judgment to be executed.
Forbearance emboldens transgression, yet long delay does not make punishment less certain or terrible. To a merciful God punishment is a strange and reluctant act, but He will not let the guilty go unpunished and will by terrible things in righteousness vindicate His downtrodden law. The very reluctance testifies to the enormity of the sins calling forth judgment and to the severity of the retribution awaiting the transgressor. This is urgent as earth's history closes, when the third angel's message as the last offer of mercy increases in importance.
He has need of every soul He created and died so that none need perish but all may come, believe, and have everlasting life. His abundant mercy begets sinners again to a lively hope. His forgiveness means He gave His guiltless, pure, holy, sinless life for the transgressor, takes the sinner into covenant relation with Himself, bears the guilt and punishment of the transgressor, and imputes His merits and sinless purity to the repenting, believing sinner so the sinner stands innocent before the Father. Now is probation to show appreciation for that sacrifice by faith and obedience, giving life-service owed by creation and by redemption, which alone gives happiness in this world and in the future life.