Numbers 14:40, commentary and pictures

After the refusal to enter Canaan at God's command brought sentence to wander forty years and die in the wilderness, the people mourned and rose early the next morning fully armed for war to declare they had sinned and would go up to take the promised land.
They pressed forward against distinct warning not to go, without the ark and the presence of God among them, and were met by the waiting Amalekites and Canaanites who smote them with great slaughter and drove them back.
They were as forward to go as they had been backward before, refusing to advance when God promised to go with them and then rushing to advance after He forbade it.
Their admission of sin did not make the attempt obedient or restore God's protection, because the favorable time had passed and the late effort could not avert the pronounced judgment.
Their sorrow was for the consequences of disobedience with unchanged hearts, and their resolve was stubborn presumption and self-will seeking by human strength to reverse God's sentence without their General.
Success depends not on merely admitting sin and deciding to go forward, but on obeying God in His order and timing, without cowardly drawing back when risks must be met or rushing from one movement to another out of His order.

Setting and Presumptuous Attack

The verse belongs to Israel's rebellion after the spies' report, when the congregation rejected the faithful testimony of Joshua and Caleb and turned against God in unbelief. They had refused to enter Canaan when commanded, and after that refusal the sentence was pronounced that they would wander forty years in the wilderness, die in the wilderness, know God's breach of promise, and retreat back toward the wilderness. Their resolve to go up came after the opportunity to obey had passed and did not undo their earlier refusal and rebellion.

Mourning greatly over the sentence, early the next morning they rose up and gathered before Moses fully equipped for war. They went up to the top of the mountain and declared they were here, admitted they had sinned, and offered to go up to the place the Lord had promised. God had now ordered them to retreat, yet they declared they would go up after all.

They advanced against God's command and against Moses' distinct warning not to go up. Moses warned that they would not prosper but would be smitten before their enemies and fall by the sword before the Amalekites and Canaanites because they had turned away from the Lord and the Lord was not among them. Moses as their appointed leader and the ark of the covenant remained in the camp, and with them the cloud of God's presence and pillar stayed behind, so their advance was without Moses, without the cloudy pillar, and without the ark.

The Amalekites and Canaanites knew of them and waited for them, met them, smote them, and drove them back with great slaughter and great loss. God made the Amalekites His instrument to punish that guilty rebellion. Those who escaped returned humbled but not converted, while in mercy God turned Israel's course to keep the victors from following up their advantage. The Lord had pledged Himself to go with their armies and had not planned this humiliation; their own rebellion caused the breach of promise.

The verse shows a complete reversal, as forward to go as they had been backward before. They refused to go when God commanded and promised to go with them, then were ready to go after He forbade it. This presumptuous attempt to take the land on their own strength in continued rebellion stands in contrast to the victory they could have had under God's direction and to later victories when, following Heaven's command to go forward, Moses was with them, the Son of God led in the cloudy pillar, and the ark accompanied them.

False Repentance and Present Lesson

Their saying that they had sinned did not make the going up right, obedient, or accompanied by God's presence, did not undo the earlier refusal and rebellion, and did not bring back God's protection. They acknowledged their sin and set out to take the promised land after they had been ordered to wander in the wilderness, yet they went against the Lord's command and against warning not to go up because He would not go with them. Moses and the ark remained in the camp, the Lord was not among them, and the Amalekites and Canaanites met and defeated them, so belated action without God ended in failure.

Their repentance came too late after the favorable time had passed, when the opportunity to obey had been lost and judgment had been pronounced that they would wander forty years and die in the wilderness. God had been holding back the armies inhabiting Canaan, but through unbelief Israel did not make the right move at the right time, and the late effort to avert that judgment could not undo the refusal. Mourning greatly, early the next morning they gathered fully equipped for war and were as forward to go as they had been backward before, yet God had said they should not go up and would not prosper but would be smitten and fall by the sword. They ventured out without their appointed leader and without the ark of the covenant, their enemies were ready and waiting for them, and they were met, smitten with great slaughter, and driven back.

Their sorrow was driven by the consequences of disobedience rather than by a changed heart or deep grief over ingratitude and rebellion. They regretted the results of sin while their hearts remained unchanged. Those who escaped returned humbled but not converted.

Their words were stubborn presumption and self-will rather than true repentance, a second and continued rebellion that relied on their own strength and human impulse. It was a self-willed attempt to reverse God's sentence and take the land anyway by doing what had been urged before, expecting God to give it despite the sentence to die in the wilderness and to know His breach of promise. They would not heed the distinct warning not to go up because God would not be with them and that the Amalekites and Canaanites knew of them and waited for them, but determined to follow their stubborn will they went out to battle contrary to direction, without their General, without Moses, without the cloudy pillar of His presence, and without the ark. God made the Amalekites His instrument to punish that guilty rebellion, and in mercy He afterward turned Israel's course to keep the victors from following up their advantage, for He had pledged Himself to go with their armies and had not planned this humiliation, but their own rebellion caused the breach. This stands in contrast with the later battles, when following Heaven's command to go forward Moses was with them, the Son of God led in the cloudy pillar, and the ark accompanied them, and they won victory.

The history applies to God's people today and teaches that success depends on obeying God and trusting His leading, not merely on admitting sin or deciding to go forward. Cowardly complaining and drawing back from action when risks must be encountered, with unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel as with Caleb and Joshua then, is reenacted now, and then rushing forward in human impulse out of God's order and timing brings defeat. One movement must not be rushed upon another, but God's plan must be waited for and carried out in His order. Darkness and unbelief increase as the time of the second advent nears, truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent, few dare come boldly forward and stand firmly for God and the right, and those who conduct His work in integrity become targets because Satan is awake and working warily in these last days which call for spiritual nerve and stamina.