Numbers 14:43, commentary and pictures

After Israel believed the faithless spies, rejected Joshua and Caleb, and was sentenced to wander forty years and die in the wilderness, Moses warned that because they had turned away the Lord would not be with them and they would fall by the sword before the Amalekites and Canaanites waiting for them. The favorable time had passed, for had they gone when commanded He would have gone with them and given Canaan at once, but by rebellion and unbelief they shut themselves out of immediate victory. They presumed to go anyway without God as their General, without the ark, without Moses, and without the cloudy pillar, and were routed and driven back to Hormah with great slaughter. Their defeat came from disobedience and the loss of His presence rather than the strength of their enemies, and their mourning and belated attempt to obey was sorrow for punishment rather than for sin and came too late to reverse the judgment. Turning from the Lord leaves His people without support in battle, while submission and unqualified obedience let Him work despite formidable obstacles, warning against rushing ahead by human haste to recover a lost opportunity, a history re-enacted now as the second advent nears when few dare stand firmly for God as Caleb did.

Setting and Warning

The warning was given after Israel accepted the lying report of the faithless spies and rejected the faithful witness of Joshua and Caleb, who trusted that the Lord was with Israel. For that rebellion they were sentenced to wander forty years in the wilderness, to die there without possessing the land, and to know the breach of promise. Early the next morning, when told they would not enter, the people mourned yet gathered equipped for war declaring they would go up.

Moses forbade them to go up and distinctly warned them that because they had turned away from the Lord the Lord would not be with or among them. With the Amalekites and Canaanites before them they would fall by the sword and be smitten before their enemies. Their unbelief had shut them out of immediate victory, and to advance then meant certain defeat.

The favorable time had passed, for if they had gone when the Lord said Go, He would have gone with the armies of His host and given them Canaan at once. By rebellion, delay, and unbelief after the testimony of the unfaithful spies they lost the opportunity, and the Lord refused to give victory. While Israel delayed and murmured the inhabitants heard of the spies and prepared for war, though the Lord had been holding back the armies of Canaan. The Amalekites and Canaanites were already in the land before Israel in the valley and waiting at the top of the hill, with the Amalekites prepared in ambush and ready to resist them.

The people presumed to go anyway in transgression of the Lord's command and the solemn prohibition of their leaders, as forward to go when He forbade as they had been backward when He commanded. Without God as their General, without the ark of the covenant, without Moses their appointed leader, without the cloudy pillar, and without prayer for victory, they marched as a tumultuous disorganized company acting by their own strength and human impulse. They were met by the Amalekites and Canaanites, routed, smitten and driven back even unto Hormah with many deaths and great slaughter, the survivors returning humbled but not converted.

Their defeat resulted from disobedience and the loss of God's presence, not merely the strength of their enemies, and armor and weapons could not make them ready for battle without Him. Their mourning, confession, and belated attempt to do what Caleb and Joshua had urged was stubborn self-will and sorrow for punishment and its consequences rather than for sin. It came too late to reverse the judgment, and acting on their own wishes could not undo the earlier rebellion or secure His presence.

Teaching and Application

Turning away leaves a people without support in battle, while trusting and following the path of duty in submission and unqualified obedience lets God work for them despite formidable obstacles. The land was never to be gained by warfare and human might, but by going with God going with the armies, and the later victory with Moses, the cloudy pillar, and the ark accompanying them as the symbol of His presence proves it. That is seen in the taking of Jericho under His direction with Moses and Aaron leading, in contrast to the presumptuous attack in transgression of His commandment and the solemn prohibition of the leaders, undertaken without the ark of God and without Moses, as a tumultuous disorganized company with no prayer for victory, so that defeat was certain and they were routed with many killed.

The humiliation that followed was not the divine plan but was caused by rebellion itself withdrawing His presence and making a breach of promise. After the lying report of the faithless spies and the sentence to wander forty years and never enter, the refusal to go when He pledged to go to battle swung to the other extreme of insisting on going when He said go not up for He would not go with them as their General. Their confession did not change the sentence, for the attempt to do what Caleb and Joshua had urged was stubborn self-will, and their sorrow was for the punishment and its consequences rather than for sin and could not reverse the judgment. The command to return into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea tested whether apparent submission was real, and it was pity and mercy to keep them from destruction by enemies they could not meet without Him. While Israel delayed and murmured the inhabitants heard of the spies and prepared for war, though the Lord had been holding back the armies of Canaan, so that the Amalekites prepared in ambush and with the Canaanites waiting in the valley and at the top of the hill before them became His instrument for punishing guilty rebellion, meeting them with great slaughter and driving back the survivors humbled but not converted.

Because they had turned away He was not with them in their self-chosen advance, and their determination to avert judgment by human impulse and recover a lost opportunity could not succeed, for unbelief after the testimony of the unfaithful spies had missed the right moves at the right time. One movement must not be rushed upon the heels of another, nothing must be done to confuse the work He has outlined, and His plan must be waited for and given every advantage rather than cut across by human haste.

The history of the twelve spies to which this warning belongs applies to God's people today as the second advent nears. The cowardly complaining and drawing back from action when risks are to be encountered is re-enacted now, with the same unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel as in the days of Caleb and Joshua, and with self-denying servants who bear the burden of the cause in privation seldom better appreciated than then. Ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting and few received the faithful warnings, and darkness and unbelief do not decrease as the end nears, with truth becoming less palatable to the carnally minded whose hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent. 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. Few even among the enlightened dare come boldly forward as Caleb did and stand firmly for God and the right, while those chosen to conduct His work will not be turned from integrity to gratify the selfish and unconsecrated though they become the target for hatred and malicious falsehood. The servants of God would become discouraged except for the continual evidences their Master gives of His wisdom and assistance, and with Satan wide awake and working warily in these last days God calls for men of spiritual nerve and stamina to resist his artifices.