Numbers 14:44, commentary and pictures

After they refused to enter Canaan when commanded and were sentenced to turn back and wander forty years, they mourned and then rose early the next morning armed for war to take the promised land, and presumed to go up to the hilltop in stubborn self-will while the ark of the covenant and Moses remained in the camp.
Moses warned them distinctly that they were transgressing the commandment of the Lord and going contrary to His prohibition, that the Lord was not among them and would not prosper them, but that they would be smitten and fall by the sword before the Amalekites and Canaanites waiting for them.
To go without the ark was to go without the symbol of God Himself and of His presence, authority, promise of victory, guidance and protection, and to go without Moses was to go without God's appointed leader, so their attempt was rebellion and not faithful obedience and could not undo their disobedience.
If they had gone at once when the Lord said go and had heeded Caleb and Joshua, God would have given them Canaan with His host and the Son of God in the cloudy pillar going with them, but their grief was over consequences rather than genuine repentance, and their defeat contrasts with their later complete victory over Sihon and Og when Moses was with them and the ark was carried among them.
The favorable time had passed through unbelief, so rushing forward afterward on human impulse to avert God's judgment without His presence only brings failure and defeat, and this history is re-enacted as the second advent nears when God's people draw back from risk, reject faithful counsel, and repent too late.

The Presumptuous Attack

This verse belongs to Israel's response to the report of the spies, when discouraging words turned hope into unbelief and despair. It stands in the account of rebellion where the people rejected the faithful testimony of Joshua and Caleb and followed the discouraging report instead.

They had refused to enter Canaan when commanded to do so, and then mourned greatly when God purposed that they should not possess the land but should turn back by the way of the Red Sea and die in the wilderness. The sentence was forty years of wandering in the wilderness for their unbelief. Early the next morning they came armed for war, declaring they had sinned and would now go to the place the Lord had promised and take it. Having refused to go up when told to take the land, they then determined to go up and take it when told they would die in the wilderness.

Moses warned them distinctly not to go up, for they were transgressing the commandment of the Lord and acting contrary to God's direction and the solemn prohibition of their leaders. He told them the Lord was not among them and would not go with them, and that because they were turned away from the Lord the Lord would not be with them. He told them it would not prosper, but they would be smitten before their enemies and fall by the sword. The Amalekites and Canaanites were before them and waiting for them in the valley.

They presumed to go up to the hilltop anyway in stubborn self-will and in defiance of God's command. Their determination to equip for war and possess the land was not obedience, but an attempt to seize Canaan by their own might. Contrary to command they marched as a tumultuous disorganized company without their appointed leader and without the ark of the covenant of the Lord, which departed not out of the camp. Their determined attempt did not undo their disobedience or bring God's presence with them.

Their enemies knew of the visit of the spies and were prepared in ambush at the top of the hill and in the valley. The Amalekites prepared in ambush became the instrument for punishing guilty rebellion, meeting Israel and defeating them with heavy loss and death and driving them back. There was great slaughter, and those who escaped returned to camp humbled but not converted. In mercy God turned their course so the triumphant Amalekites and Canaanites could not follow up their advantage. They had been as backward to go when God commanded as they were now forward to go when God forbade it.

Without God's Presence

To go up while the ark of the covenant and Moses remained in the camp was to go up without God Himself. The ark, which contained God's law, was the symbol of His presence, His authority, His promise of victory, and His guidance and protection, and to leave it behind was to enter battle with none of these. To leave Moses behind was to go without God's appointed leader and General.

Christ Himself was leading the children of Israel through the wilderness, yet their history was rebellion and murmuring. By that delay and refusal they forfeited divine protection, for the Lord had been holding back the armies inhabiting Canaan. He had never told them at that time to go up and fight.

Their determined attempt to seize the land by their own might was therefore rebellion rather than faithful obedience. God did not design that they should gain the promised land by warfare and human might, but through submission and unqualified obedience to His commands. Such self-will did not undo their disobedience nor bring God's presence back with them.

Had they received the report of Caleb and Joshua and gone up at once when the Lord said go, God would have given them Canaan. The armies of the Lord's host would have gone with them, and the Son of God in the cloudy pillar would have led them, for the Lord had pledged to go with their armies. Instead their own rebellion caused His breach of promise, and because of rebellion and delay the Lord refused to give them victory.

That defeat stands in contrast with their later battles against Sihon and Og. Then, because they were following God's command to advance, Moses was with them, the Son of God led in the cloudy pillar, and the ark was carried among them. With those tokens of God's presence accompanying obedience, they won complete victory.

Their grief and claimed repentance came too late, and was over the consequences of sin rather than genuine repentance. They were as forward to go when God forbade it as they had been backward to go before. Thinking that saying they had sinned and would now do what Caleb and Joshua had told them would change the case did not bring God's presence with them nor reverse His sentence.

Warning Against Rushing Ahead

The favorable time had passed and the opportunity to enter Canaan was lost through unbelief, after God had declared that Israel would wander in the wilderness for forty years. The Lord had been holding back the armies inhabiting Canaan, but Israel failed to make the right move at the right time because of the testimony of the unfaithful spies. After judgment was pronounced the people determined to avert and reverse it by following human impulse and acting out of God's order on their own plan, presuming to go up to the hilltop without God's presence and leadership, without Moses and without the ark, though their enemies were prepared and Moses warned them that the Lord was not with them. To rush forward in that way, cutting across God's designs instead of waiting for His plan to be fully carried out, brings failure and ends in defeat.

Presumption does not secure success, for after refusing to enter as God had commanded the people decided to go up despite being distinctly warned not to attempt it because God would not go with them. Their self-willed advance without God's presence suffered the consequences and could not undo the sentence.

This part of the history of the twelve spies has an application to God's people today as the time of the second advent of Christ nears. The same cowardly complaining and drawing back from action when risks are to be encountered, and the same unwillingness to heed faithful reports and true counsel as in the days of Caleb and Joshua, are re-enacted now. The servants of God who bear the burden of His cause with strict self-denial and suffering of privation to help His people are seldom better appreciated now than then, ancient Israel was repeatedly tested and found wanting and few received the faithful warnings God gave them, and darkness and unbelief do not decrease as the end nears. Truth becomes less palatable to the carnally minded, whose hearts are slow to believe and tardy to repent, and few whose minds have been enlightened by divine wisdom dare to come boldly forward as Caleb did and stand firmly for God and the right.