And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Kadesh to pronounce sentence after Israel believed the evil report of the ten spies and refused to enter Canaan. As they had spoken in His ears in wishing to die in the wilderness, so He would do to them, causing the carcasses of all numbered from twenty years old and upward who murmured to fall in the wilderness for forty years, while their children would enter the land they had despised. God hears every murmuring word spoken against Him and calls persistent murmurers an evil congregation He has long borne, with punishment following rejection of the guidance He gives through appointed leaders. The sentence fulfilled what each man believed in his heart, for those who said they were not able to overcome walled cities and giants wore out their lives in the desert and perished, while Caleb and Joshua who counted God's promise greater than giants entered in and possessed the land. That history is re-enacted now when God's people complain and draw back from risk, reject faithful counsel as in the days of Caleb and Joshua, and murmur against those bearing the burden to prepare a people to stand in the last days.
Setting and Divine Sentence
The Lord's word to Moses and Aaron at Kadesh opens His answer after the twelve tribal rulers had surveyed Canaan and brought back an evil report, when Israel refused to enter the land. The mission itself had followed the people's own proposal to send spies, which the Lord permitted. That refusal and rebellion is what the declaration that follows answers, sentencing Israel to wander in the wilderness for forty years.
The evil report told of giants and of a land eating up its inhabitants, while Joshua and Caleb bore truthful witness that the land was exceeding good and that the Lord was with Israel. The congregation wept all night, cursed Moses and Aaron, wished they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness, and reproached God for bringing them out to fall by the sword. They chose to make a captain and return to Egypt, and rushed to stone Caleb and Joshua for urging them not to rebel and not to fear. Only the glory of the divine presence revealed at the tabernacle interposed to stop the murder. Then came the threat to smite them with pestilence and disinherit them, and to make of Moses a greater nation.
Moses pleaded that to kill the people would dishonor God among the Egyptians and the nations who had heard that the Lord was among Israel in cloud and fire. They would say He was not able to bring them into the land He had sworn to them. He appealed to the Lord's longsuffering and great mercy and forgiveness shown from Egypt until now. God pardoned according to his word, yet swore by His own life that all the earth shall be filled with His glory. At the same time He declared that the men who had seen His glory and miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness, and had tempted Him ten times and had not hearkened to His voice, should not see the land sworn to their fathers. Though spared from immediate destruction, the adult generation that had left Egypt, except Caleb and Joshua, would not enter Canaan, while their children would inherit the land.
As the people had spoken in His ears, so He would do to them. God had heard their murmurings and called them an evil congregation He had long borne, and He took them at their word in wishing they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness. Their carcasses would fall in the wilderness, and all numbered from twenty years old and upward who murmured against Him would not come into the land, except Caleb who followed fully and Joshua. Their little ones, whom they said would be a prey, He would bring in to know the land they had despised. Their children would wander forty years, reckoned from leaving Egypt, and bear their iniquity until the parents' carcasses were wasted and the parents died. That reckoning was after the number of the forty days of searching the land, each day for a year, that they might know His breach of promise. This shows His promises are upon condition of obedience, and that idolatry and rebellious murmuring obliged Him to change His purpose toward them and took away their claim to His favor and promise, while Caleb and Joshua were spared and rewarded above all Israel for faithfulness.
The ten unfaithful spies whose report had led the rebellion had already perished before the people's eyes, struck down and consumed by fire from the sanctuary. Their doom signified the destruction of all in their ranks above twenty years of age, whose unbelief and rebellion had cost them all. Israel lay under the divine frown because hearts filled with bitter murmuring were unfit to appreciate what would be done for them. A display of power against their enemies would only have filled them with pride and self-importance without sanctifying Him. Therefore He mercifully turned their course backward to enclose them in the wilderness, where they would see neither city nor town for forty years until all the continual murmurers died.
The direction to return to the wilderness tested whether apparent submission was real, and refusal to obey showed hearts unchanged. Their grief was over the sentence and its consequences rather than genuine repentance, so it could not reverse the judgment. After accepting that the sentence came from the Lord, the people recognized that Moses and Aaron had been right and confessed their sin against God. When they later tried to enter Canaan, the favorable time had passed and their enemies were prepared, so the presumptuous advance ended in defeat. Their long stay, which they later wrongly called an unnecessary delay, was caused by believing the faithless spies and rebelling. Had they been obedient, angels under the generalship of Christ stood ready to bring them into Canaan long before, as was shown when the walls of Jericho were leveled without human power and the city given to Israel.
Nature of Murmuring and Faith
The Lord hears every murmuring word spoken against Him and against the appointed agencies through whom He works. Those who persist in that murmuring He calls an evil congregation whom He has long borne. Visible leaders receive guidance from their divine Leader to pass on to the people. When the people reject that guidance and rebel, punishment follows. He therefore charged Moses and Aaron to tell the people that He would do to them as they had spoken in His ears when they wished they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness.
All numbered from twenty years old and upward who murmured would fall and die in the wilderness for rebellion and murmuring, and only Caleb and Joshua would enter Canaan. Their little ones, whom they said would be a prey, would be brought in to know the land they had despised. Their children would wander forty years, reckoned from leaving Egypt, until the parents died, bearing the iniquity of their parents a year for each day the land was searched. To know His breach of promise is to fully realize that idolatry and rebellious murmuring obliged Him to change His purpose toward them and took away their claim to His favor, promise and protection, while Caleb and Joshua were spared and rewarded above all Israel for faithfulness. The men who brought the evil report were consumed by fire from the sanctuary. Murmuring now against those being used to proclaim the truth that is to prepare a people to stand in the last days, weakening the confidence of the people in them and detracting from their influence, is the same work the children of Israel did.
The sentence fulfilled what each man believed in his heart. Leaving God out of the question, the unbelieving spies and the multitude that echoed them said they were not able to go up against walled cities, giant warriors and chariots of iron because the people were stronger than they, and their words proved true, so they were not able to go up and wore out their lives in the desert and perished in the wilderness. Caleb and Joshua reasoned otherwise, counting God's promise superior to giants, walled cities and chariots of iron and saying they were well able to overcome, and for them their word was true. Though they shared the forty years' wandering with their brethren they entered the land of promise. Caleb, as courageous as when he set out from Egypt with the Lord of hosts, asked for and received as his portion the stronghold of the giants, and in God's strength drove out the inhabitants, so that the vineyards and olive groves where his feet had trodden became his possession, while cowards and rebels perished and men of faith ate of the grapes of Eschol.
Warning for God's People Today
The history that follows the Lord's speaking to Moses and Aaron after the report of the twelve spies has an application to God's people today. Cowardly complaining and drawing back from action when risks must be met are re-enacted now, as is unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel as in the days of Caleb and Joshua. Ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting, and few received the faithful warnings God gave them.
Murmuring today against those He is using to proclaim the truth that is to prepare a people to stand in the last days is the same work the children of Israel did. To weaken the confidence of the people in them and to detract from their influence is to murmur against Him and against His appointed agencies, for God hears every murmuring word spoken against Him.
The servants of God who bear the burden of His cause, practicing strict self-denial and suffering privation to help His people, are seldom better appreciated now than then. Few professedly of Israel whose minds have been enlightened dare to come boldly forward as Caleb did and stand firmly for God and the right. Those whom the Lord has chosen to conduct His work will not be turned from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated, and therefore become the target for hatred and malicious falsehood. 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. Darkness and unbelief do not decrease as the time of the second advent of Christ nears, truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, and hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent, while 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.
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Kadesh to pronounce sentence after Israel believed the evil report of the ten spies and refused to enter Canaan. As they had spoken in His ears in wishing to die in the wilderness, so He would do to them, causing the carcasses of all numbered from twenty years old and upward who murmured to fall in the wilderness for forty years, while their children would enter the land they had despised. God hears every murmuring word spoken against Him and calls persistent murmurers an evil congregation He has long borne, with punishment following rejection of the guidance He gives through appointed leaders. The sentence fulfilled what each man believed in his heart, for those who said they were not able to overcome walled cities and giants wore out their lives in the desert and perished, while Caleb and Joshua who counted God's promise greater than giants entered in and possessed the land. That history is re-enacted now when God's people complain and draw back from risk, reject faithful counsel as in the days of Caleb and Joshua, and murmur against those bearing the burden to prepare a people to stand in the last days.
Setting and Divine Sentence
The Lord's word to Moses and Aaron at Kadesh opens His answer after the twelve tribal rulers had surveyed Canaan and brought back an evil report, when Israel refused to enter the land. The mission itself had followed the people's own proposal to send spies, which the Lord permitted. That refusal and rebellion is what the declaration that follows answers, sentencing Israel to wander in the wilderness for forty years.
The evil report told of giants and of a land eating up its inhabitants, while Joshua and Caleb bore truthful witness that the land was exceeding good and that the Lord was with Israel. The congregation wept all night, cursed Moses and Aaron, wished they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness, and reproached God for bringing them out to fall by the sword. They chose to make a captain and return to Egypt, and rushed to stone Caleb and Joshua for urging them not to rebel and not to fear. Only the glory of the divine presence revealed at the tabernacle interposed to stop the murder. Then came the threat to smite them with pestilence and disinherit them, and to make of Moses a greater nation.
Moses pleaded that to kill the people would dishonor God among the Egyptians and the nations who had heard that the Lord was among Israel in cloud and fire. They would say He was not able to bring them into the land He had sworn to them. He appealed to the Lord's longsuffering and great mercy and forgiveness shown from Egypt until now. God pardoned according to his word, yet swore by His own life that all the earth shall be filled with His glory. At the same time He declared that the men who had seen His glory and miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness, and had tempted Him ten times and had not hearkened to His voice, should not see the land sworn to their fathers. Though spared from immediate destruction, the adult generation that had left Egypt, except Caleb and Joshua, would not enter Canaan, while their children would inherit the land.
As the people had spoken in His ears, so He would do to them. God had heard their murmurings and called them an evil congregation He had long borne, and He took them at their word in wishing they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness. Their carcasses would fall in the wilderness, and all numbered from twenty years old and upward who murmured against Him would not come into the land, except Caleb who followed fully and Joshua. Their little ones, whom they said would be a prey, He would bring in to know the land they had despised. Their children would wander forty years, reckoned from leaving Egypt, and bear their iniquity until the parents' carcasses were wasted and the parents died. That reckoning was after the number of the forty days of searching the land, each day for a year, that they might know His breach of promise. This shows His promises are upon condition of obedience, and that idolatry and rebellious murmuring obliged Him to change His purpose toward them and took away their claim to His favor and promise, while Caleb and Joshua were spared and rewarded above all Israel for faithfulness.
The ten unfaithful spies whose report had led the rebellion had already perished before the people's eyes, struck down and consumed by fire from the sanctuary. Their doom signified the destruction of all in their ranks above twenty years of age, whose unbelief and rebellion had cost them all. Israel lay under the divine frown because hearts filled with bitter murmuring were unfit to appreciate what would be done for them. A display of power against their enemies would only have filled them with pride and self-importance without sanctifying Him. Therefore He mercifully turned their course backward to enclose them in the wilderness, where they would see neither city nor town for forty years until all the continual murmurers died.
The direction to return to the wilderness tested whether apparent submission was real, and refusal to obey showed hearts unchanged. Their grief was over the sentence and its consequences rather than genuine repentance, so it could not reverse the judgment. After accepting that the sentence came from the Lord, the people recognized that Moses and Aaron had been right and confessed their sin against God. When they later tried to enter Canaan, the favorable time had passed and their enemies were prepared, so the presumptuous advance ended in defeat. Their long stay, which they later wrongly called an unnecessary delay, was caused by believing the faithless spies and rebelling. Had they been obedient, angels under the generalship of Christ stood ready to bring them into Canaan long before, as was shown when the walls of Jericho were leveled without human power and the city given to Israel.
Nature of Murmuring and Faith
The Lord hears every murmuring word spoken against Him and against the appointed agencies through whom He works. Those who persist in that murmuring He calls an evil congregation whom He has long borne. Visible leaders receive guidance from their divine Leader to pass on to the people. When the people reject that guidance and rebel, punishment follows. He therefore charged Moses and Aaron to tell the people that He would do to them as they had spoken in His ears when they wished they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness.
All numbered from twenty years old and upward who murmured would fall and die in the wilderness for rebellion and murmuring, and only Caleb and Joshua would enter Canaan. Their little ones, whom they said would be a prey, would be brought in to know the land they had despised. Their children would wander forty years, reckoned from leaving Egypt, until the parents died, bearing the iniquity of their parents a year for each day the land was searched. To know His breach of promise is to fully realize that idolatry and rebellious murmuring obliged Him to change His purpose toward them and took away their claim to His favor, promise and protection, while Caleb and Joshua were spared and rewarded above all Israel for faithfulness. The men who brought the evil report were consumed by fire from the sanctuary. Murmuring now against those being used to proclaim the truth that is to prepare a people to stand in the last days, weakening the confidence of the people in them and detracting from their influence, is the same work the children of Israel did.
The sentence fulfilled what each man believed in his heart. Leaving God out of the question, the unbelieving spies and the multitude that echoed them said they were not able to go up against walled cities, giant warriors and chariots of iron because the people were stronger than they, and their words proved true, so they were not able to go up and wore out their lives in the desert and perished in the wilderness. Caleb and Joshua reasoned otherwise, counting God's promise superior to giants, walled cities and chariots of iron and saying they were well able to overcome, and for them their word was true. Though they shared the forty years' wandering with their brethren they entered the land of promise. Caleb, as courageous as when he set out from Egypt with the Lord of hosts, asked for and received as his portion the stronghold of the giants, and in God's strength drove out the inhabitants, so that the vineyards and olive groves where his feet had trodden became his possession, while cowards and rebels perished and men of faith ate of the grapes of Eschol.
Warning for God's People Today
The history that follows the Lord's speaking to Moses and Aaron after the report of the twelve spies has an application to God's people today. Cowardly complaining and drawing back from action when risks must be met are re-enacted now, as is unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel as in the days of Caleb and Joshua. Ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting, and few received the faithful warnings God gave them.
Murmuring today against those He is using to proclaim the truth that is to prepare a people to stand in the last days is the same work the children of Israel did. To weaken the confidence of the people in them and to detract from their influence is to murmur against Him and against His appointed agencies, for God hears every murmuring word spoken against Him.
The servants of God who bear the burden of His cause, practicing strict self-denial and suffering privation to help His people, are seldom better appreciated now than then. Few professedly of Israel whose minds have been enlightened dare to come boldly forward as Caleb did and stand firmly for God and the right. Those whom the Lord has chosen to conduct His work will not be turned from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated, and therefore become the target for hatred and malicious falsehood. 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. Darkness and unbelief do not decrease as the time of the second advent of Christ nears, truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, and hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent, while 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.