Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
This verse belongs to the history of the spies' evil report about Canaan and its consequences: God declared that Israel would wander in the wilderness, and when the people afterward tried to enter the land after being warned that the Lord was not with them, they were defeated. Israel's refusal to trust God after the spies' report led to its long sojourn in the wilderness, which the people later bitterly regretted and blamed on God and Moses.
The men who died were the ten unfaithful spies who brought up the evil, false, discouraging report upon the land. By that report they made the whole congregation murmur against Moses and against the Lord, stirring Israel to rebellion. They died in divine judgment by a plague before the Lord, before the eyes of the people and before all Israel; the Lord sent fire from His presence, from the sanctuary, that consumed and struck them. They perished before Israel at the time when Moses made known God's decision to turn the people back into the wilderness.
Caleb and Joshua alone remained alive before the Lord and the people, spared in preference to all Israel because Israel had lost its claim to God's favor and promise, and their living proved that their report was correct. Their death was merited punishment for unbelief and rebellion that cost Israel everything, and their doom signified the coming destruction of all in Israel above twenty years of age; seeing them perish made the people see their own coming doom and turned their recent madness and rage into bitter regret and lamentation. The judgment did not humble the people but made them still more rebellious, and they murmured against Moses.
This history of the twelve spies has an application to God's people today, when the same cowardly complaining, drawing back from action when risks are to be encountered, and unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel are re-enacted as in the days of Caleb and Joshua. Servants of God who bear the burden of His cause with strict self-denial and privation are seldom better appreciated now than then, few enlightened professed Israelites dare stand firmly for God and the right as Caleb did while those chosen to conduct His work become targets for hatred and malicious falsehood. Though the Lord has long borne with repeated testing, forgiven wanderings, and waited for room in hearts now crowded out by false ideas, jealousy, and distrust, darkness and unbelief do not decrease as Christ's second advent nears and truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded whose hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent, so that when Satan works warily in these last days God calls for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist him. Their unfaithful spirit serves as a warning that the same kind of conduct can retard God's work for years.
This verse belongs to the history of the spies' evil report about Canaan and its consequences: God declared that Israel would wander in the wilderness, and when the people afterward tried to enter the land after being warned that the Lord was not with them, they were defeated. Israel's refusal to trust God after the spies' report led to its long sojourn in the wilderness, which the people later bitterly regretted and blamed on God and Moses.
The men who died were the ten unfaithful spies who brought up the evil, false, discouraging report upon the land. By that report they made the whole congregation murmur against Moses and against the Lord, stirring Israel to rebellion. They died in divine judgment by a plague before the Lord, before the eyes of the people and before all Israel; the Lord sent fire from His presence, from the sanctuary, that consumed and struck them. They perished before Israel at the time when Moses made known God's decision to turn the people back into the wilderness.
Caleb and Joshua alone remained alive before the Lord and the people, spared in preference to all Israel because Israel had lost its claim to God's favor and promise, and their living proved that their report was correct. Their death was merited punishment for unbelief and rebellion that cost Israel everything, and their doom signified the coming destruction of all in Israel above twenty years of age; seeing them perish made the people see their own coming doom and turned their recent madness and rage into bitter regret and lamentation. The judgment did not humble the people but made them still more rebellious, and they murmured against Moses.
This history of the twelve spies has an application to God's people today, when the same cowardly complaining, drawing back from action when risks are to be encountered, and unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel are re-enacted as in the days of Caleb and Joshua. Servants of God who bear the burden of His cause with strict self-denial and privation are seldom better appreciated now than then, few enlightened professed Israelites dare stand firmly for God and the right as Caleb did while those chosen to conduct His work become targets for hatred and malicious falsehood. Though the Lord has long borne with repeated testing, forgiven wanderings, and waited for room in hearts now crowded out by false ideas, jealousy, and distrust, darkness and unbelief do not decrease as Christ's second advent nears and truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded whose hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent, so that when Satan works warily in these last days God calls for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist him. Their unfaithful spirit serves as a warning that the same kind of conduct can retard God's work for years.