Numbers 14:27, commentary and pictures

At Kadesh near the borders of the promised land the people sent one ruler from each tribe to survey Canaan, then rebelled by receiving the false, discouraging report of the spies despite the promise to give them the land. Their murmurings against Moses and Aaron the visible leaders were against God Himself, Christ their divine Leader, who long bore with them and waited for room in their hearts until after signs in Egypt and the wilderness their unbelief provoked Him at the tenth temptation to threaten them with pestilence and disinheritance. He took them at their word when they wished they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness, declaring that all numbered from twenty years old and upward who murmured would fall and die in the wilderness save Caleb and Joshua, while their children would wander forty years, a day for a year of searching, and the little ones would be brought in to know the land their parents despised. The ten unfaithful spies whose evil report led the people to murmur were struck down and consumed before them, and the people's later grief over the sentence was sorrow for its consequences and not repentance for ingratitude and disobedience, so it could not reverse it. The history is a warning for God's people today who re-enact the same cowardly complaining and drawing back from risk, for God still hears murmuring against His appointed agencies, and as a man thinks in his heart so he is, the fearful proving their own word true by wearing out their lives in the desert while those who count His promise greater than giants and walled cities prove their word true by entering in.

Context and Complaint

Israel stood at Kadesh, near the borders of the promised land, when the people proposed sending spies to survey Canaan. Permission was granted, and direction was given that one ruler from each tribe be chosen to inspect the land and its inhabitants.

The complaint arose after the spies brought a false, discouraging report about Canaan. Receiving that evil report was rebellion against the Lord despite His promise to give Israel the land.

The murmurings were spoken against Moses and Aaron, the visible leaders, yet they were directed against God Himself. Christ was the divine Leader who gave Moses the instructions for the people, and the Angel of His presence witnessed in the pillar of cloud, so words aimed at His appointed agencies were heard by Him as spoken against Himself. He heard them and judged the people an evil, rebellious congregation under His frown. The utterance introduces His response and His declared judgment upon the Israelites and upon the men who had caused them to murmur. What began in disappointment over the report grew into open revolt and mutiny, cursing the leaders, wishing for death in Egypt or in the wilderness, reproaching God for bringing them to fall by the sword and leave wives and children a prey, choosing a captain to return to Egypt, and refusing the call of Caleb and Joshua not to rebel and not to fear because the Lord was with them, even attempting to stone them until the glory of God interposed.

The question how long He shall bear it shows the Lord long bearing with this murmuring congregation. He forgave their wanderings and waited for them to give Him room in their hearts, but false ideas, jealousy, and distrust crowded Him out. After signs in Egypt and in the wilderness, this unbelief provoked Him at the tenth temptation. He therefore asked how long He should bear it and threatened to smite with pestilence and disinherit them.

Punishment in the Wilderness

God declared He would do to the people as they had spoken in His ears, taking them at their word when they wished they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness. All numbered from twenty years old and upward who murmured would not see the promised land but would fall and die in the wilderness, save Caleb and Joshua, while the little ones said to be a prey would be brought in to know the land their parents despised. The children would wander in the wilderness forty years, reckoned from leaving Egypt until the rebellious parents died, bearing the consequence of iniquity forty years according to the days spent searching the land, a day for a year. This made them fully realize His breach of promise as punishment for idolatry and rebellious murmuring that obliged Him to change His purpose toward them, since they forfeited all claim to favor and protection.

The forty years of travel was punishment for disobedience and need not have happened, for had Israel obeyed heaven's army under Christ's generalship stood ready to take them into Canaan long before, as shown when the walls of Jericho were leveled without human power. Had they followed His guidance those who left Egypt would not have died in the wilderness. He mercifully turned their course backward and enclosed them where they would see neither city nor town, and He would not continue to work miraculously for them because their hearts were in no fit state to appreciate it and a display of power would only fill them with pride. Their arrogance, unbelief and rebellion meant He could not work for them, since they were unwilling to sanctify Him in their hearts and give Him glory.

The ten unfaithful spies whose evil report led the people to murmur were struck down before them and consumed by fire, signifying the destruction of all above twenty years of age whose unbelief and rebellion cost them everything. The perishing of those men before their eyes was the sign of what would come upon the whole murmuring rank above twenty years. Their unbelief cost them all.

The people's later grief over the sentence was sorrow for its consequences, not repentance for ingratitude and disobedience, and could not reverse it. Their later dissatisfaction with the wilderness delay grew from the earlier cowardly rebellion, blaming God and Moses for not entering sooner. They imagined they could have taken the land without them. Yet once they accepted the sentence as from the Lord they admitted they had sinned against Him and that Moses and Aaron had been right.

Warning for Today

The history of the twelve spies applies to God's people today, for the same cowardly complaining is re-enacted, the same drawing back from action when risks must be met, and the same unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel. The Lord long bore with the evil congregation that murmured against Him, hearing their murmurings, forgiving their wanderings, and waiting for them to give Him room in their hearts, while false ideas, jealousy and distrust crowded Him out. Ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting, and few received the faithful warnings given them of God.

Darkness and unbelief do not decrease as the time of the second advent nears, truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, and hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent. Few dare to come boldly forward and stand firmly for God and the right as Caleb did. God hears murmuring still, and the verse reaches those who murmur against His appointed agencies and undermine confidence in people proclaiming truth, for He hears such words too.

Murmuring unbelief on the borders of Canaan fixed its own outcome, for as a man thinks in his heart so he is. Seeing walled cities, giant warriors and iron chariots and leaving God out, the unbelieving spies decided Israel could not take the land, the multitude echoed their fear, and their word proved true, for they were not able to go up and wore out their lives in the desert, the cowards and rebels perishing in the wilderness. Caleb and Joshua reasoned otherwise, counting God's promise superior to giants, walled cities and iron chariots, and their word proved true for them, for though sharing the forty years' wandering they entered the promised land. Caleb in undiminished courage asked for and received the giants' stronghold, drove out the Canaanites in God's strength, and possessed the vineyards and olive groves where his feet had trodden and ate the grapes of Eschol. Even one departure from right endangers both the wrongdoer and all reached by his influence, since example cast on the side of evil tendencies becomes well-nigh irresistible.