And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
The Lord pardoned Israel according to Moses' earnest plea and spared the nation from immediate and total destruction after its refusal to enter Canaan at Kadesh. That pardon joined forgiveness with accountability and did not remove the consequences of unbelief and disobedience, for the murmuring adults who had tested Him would fall in the wilderness and not see the promised land. Only Caleb, who followed fully with a different spirit, and Joshua among the adults would enter, with the little ones brought in and the unfaithful spies judged. The pardon was joined to an oath that as truly as He lives all the earth shall be filled with His glory, the merciful kindness and tender love Moses had pleaded. The answer shows He is compassionate and hears earnest prayer even when His people deserve punishment, and believers may plead the same promises of long-suffering, mercy, and forgiveness.
Setting and Intercession
The words belong to the crisis that followed the spies' report, when Israel stood at Kadesh on the borders of the promised land and refused to advance in obedience to God's command at the height of rebellion. For that refusal God sentenced the people not to enter Canaan then but to wander in the wilderness forty years. When the people afterward chose to press into Canaan despite that sentence, the favorable time had passed, their enemies were prepared, Moses warned that the Lord was not with them, and their presumptuous attempt ended in defeat.
Before the pardon was spoken, God declared He would smite Israel with pestilence and disinherit them at once and make of Moses a greater and mightier nation. Moses refused to let Israel be disinherited for his own exaltation, declining honor offered at Israel's expense. Instead he interceded faithfully for the rebellious people, appealing to God's name.
His plea warned that destroying the people as one man in the wilderness would make the Egyptians and the inhabitants of the land say the Lord was not able to bring them into the land He had sworn to them. He pressed this more fully by recalling the nations who had heard that the Lord was among His people face to face, with cloud by day and fire by night, who would likewise conclude He could not fulfill His oath if He slew them in the wilderness. He urged the Lord's long-suffering and great mercy and forgiveness of iniquity and transgression, His forgiveness of the people from Egypt until now, His marvelous providences and promises in behalf of the chosen nation, and above all His love for fallen man. On that ground he asked that God's power be made great according to what He had spoken, pleading God's own words about His patience, mercy, and forgiveness.
Pardon and Consequences
“I have pardoned according to thy word” meant that God graciously pardoned Israel’s iniquity and wandering and spared the life of the nation from immediate and total destruction, granting pardon according to Moses’ word in answer to his earnest, prevailing plea. The pardon was given on the borders of the promised land when the people refused to advance in obedience, and it turned aside the threatened smiting with pestilence and disinheriting at once. It was forgiveness extended in response to intercession that urged God’s long-suffering, great mercy, and forgiveness of iniquity and transgression.
Yet that forgiveness was joined to accountability and did not cancel judgment or remove the consequences of rebellion, unbelief, and disobedience. God’s promises are conditional on obedience, so pardon left the sentence upon the rebels in force. He could not then work through the transgressors as He had done to reveal His glory.
Those pardoned yet judged were the adults who had seen God’s glory and miracles in Egypt and the wilderness yet repeatedly tested Him ten times and refused to obey, trust, and hearken to His voice. All numbered from twenty years old and upward who murmured would surely not see the land sworn to their fathers. As they had spoken in His ears, their carcasses would fall in the wilderness and they would die there and not enter the promised land.
Caleb was excepted because he followed God fully with a different spirit, and he and Joshua alone of the adults would enter. Caleb’s descendants would possess the land, and he and his descendants would receive it. The little ones whom the people said would be a prey would be brought in to know the land they despised, while their children inherited the land. The ten unfaithful spies who caused Israel to murmur were killed and faced judgment.
In mercy God directed the people to turn back into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea toward the Red Sea. He would not then display His power to bring them into Canaan, because doing great things for those whose spirit was no better than the heathen around them would dishonor His name. When the people afterward tried presumptuously to enter despite the sentence, the favorable time had passed, their enemies were prepared, the Lord was not with them, and the attempt ended in defeat.
Prophecy and Assurance
The pardon was joined to a prophecy imparted to Moses, made doubly sure and confirmed by an oath, that as truly as God lives and reigns all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. The glory that shall fill the earth is God's character, His merciful kindness and tender love that Moses had pleaded in behalf of Israel, to be revealed to all mankind and declared among the heathen. That purpose concerns the final triumph of His chosen people.
It is now meeting rapid fulfillment as missionary activities bear fruit and the gospel message is soon proclaimed to all nations. Men and women from every kindred, tongue, and people are made accepted in the Beloved to show the exceeding riches of grace in kindness through Christ Jesus.
The answer shows God is compassionate and hears earnest, prevailing prayer even when the people murmured, rebelled, and deserved punishment. He has long borne with His people and forgiven their iniquity and wandering. Believers can cite in prayer those same promises Moses cited, that the Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression.
The Lord pardoned Israel according to Moses' earnest plea and spared the nation from immediate and total destruction after its refusal to enter Canaan at Kadesh.
That pardon joined forgiveness with accountability and did not remove the consequences of unbelief and disobedience, for the murmuring adults who had tested Him would fall in the wilderness and not see the promised land.
Only Caleb, who followed fully with a different spirit, and Joshua among the adults would enter, with the little ones brought in and the unfaithful spies judged.
The pardon was joined to an oath that as truly as He lives all the earth shall be filled with His glory, the merciful kindness and tender love Moses had pleaded.
The answer shows He is compassionate and hears earnest prayer even when His people deserve punishment, and believers may plead the same promises of long-suffering, mercy, and forgiveness.
Setting and Intercession
The words belong to the crisis that followed the spies' report, when Israel stood at Kadesh on the borders of the promised land and refused to advance in obedience to God's command at the height of rebellion. For that refusal God sentenced the people not to enter Canaan then but to wander in the wilderness forty years. When the people afterward chose to press into Canaan despite that sentence, the favorable time had passed, their enemies were prepared, Moses warned that the Lord was not with them, and their presumptuous attempt ended in defeat.
Before the pardon was spoken, God declared He would smite Israel with pestilence and disinherit them at once and make of Moses a greater and mightier nation. Moses refused to let Israel be disinherited for his own exaltation, declining honor offered at Israel's expense. Instead he interceded faithfully for the rebellious people, appealing to God's name.
His plea warned that destroying the people as one man in the wilderness would make the Egyptians and the inhabitants of the land say the Lord was not able to bring them into the land He had sworn to them. He pressed this more fully by recalling the nations who had heard that the Lord was among His people face to face, with cloud by day and fire by night, who would likewise conclude He could not fulfill His oath if He slew them in the wilderness. He urged the Lord's long-suffering and great mercy and forgiveness of iniquity and transgression, His forgiveness of the people from Egypt until now, His marvelous providences and promises in behalf of the chosen nation, and above all His love for fallen man. On that ground he asked that God's power be made great according to what He had spoken, pleading God's own words about His patience, mercy, and forgiveness.
Pardon and Consequences
“I have pardoned according to thy word” meant that God graciously pardoned Israel’s iniquity and wandering and spared the life of the nation from immediate and total destruction, granting pardon according to Moses’ word in answer to his earnest, prevailing plea. The pardon was given on the borders of the promised land when the people refused to advance in obedience, and it turned aside the threatened smiting with pestilence and disinheriting at once. It was forgiveness extended in response to intercession that urged God’s long-suffering, great mercy, and forgiveness of iniquity and transgression.
Yet that forgiveness was joined to accountability and did not cancel judgment or remove the consequences of rebellion, unbelief, and disobedience. God’s promises are conditional on obedience, so pardon left the sentence upon the rebels in force. He could not then work through the transgressors as He had done to reveal His glory.
Those pardoned yet judged were the adults who had seen God’s glory and miracles in Egypt and the wilderness yet repeatedly tested Him ten times and refused to obey, trust, and hearken to His voice. All numbered from twenty years old and upward who murmured would surely not see the land sworn to their fathers. As they had spoken in His ears, their carcasses would fall in the wilderness and they would die there and not enter the promised land.
Caleb was excepted because he followed God fully with a different spirit, and he and Joshua alone of the adults would enter. Caleb’s descendants would possess the land, and he and his descendants would receive it. The little ones whom the people said would be a prey would be brought in to know the land they despised, while their children inherited the land. The ten unfaithful spies who caused Israel to murmur were killed and faced judgment.
In mercy God directed the people to turn back into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea toward the Red Sea. He would not then display His power to bring them into Canaan, because doing great things for those whose spirit was no better than the heathen around them would dishonor His name. When the people afterward tried presumptuously to enter despite the sentence, the favorable time had passed, their enemies were prepared, the Lord was not with them, and the attempt ended in defeat.
Prophecy and Assurance
The pardon was joined to a prophecy imparted to Moses, made doubly sure and confirmed by an oath, that as truly as God lives and reigns all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. The glory that shall fill the earth is God's character, His merciful kindness and tender love that Moses had pleaded in behalf of Israel, to be revealed to all mankind and declared among the heathen. That purpose concerns the final triumph of His chosen people.
It is now meeting rapid fulfillment as missionary activities bear fruit and the gospel message is soon proclaimed to all nations. Men and women from every kindred, tongue, and people are made accepted in the Beloved to show the exceeding riches of grace in kindness through Christ Jesus.
The answer shows God is compassionate and hears earnest, prevailing prayer even when the people murmured, rebelled, and deserved punishment. He has long borne with His people and forgiven their iniquity and wandering. Believers can cite in prayer those same promises Moses cited, that the Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression.