Israel refuses to enter Canaan
January 17, 2022
Commentary
After the the twelve men returned from Canaan and said there were giants in the land, the people cried all night and complained to Moses and Aaron, “ We wish we had died in Egypt or somewhere out here in the desert (vv. 1-2)! Why does the Lord bring us to this land to fall by the sword (v. 3)? It would be better for us to return to Egypt? We’d be better off in Egypt.” Then they said,” Let’s choose our own leader and go back to Egypt” (v. 4). If the people had spent as much energy moving forward as they did moving back they could have enjoyed their land. Instead they never even entered it. When a cry of despair goes up around you, consider the larger perspective before you join in.
Moses and Aaron bowed down before the Israelites (v. 5). They said, We have no reason to be afraid of the people who live there. The LORD is on our side, and they won’t stand a chance against us! Caleb and Joshua were greatly distressed by the people’s refusal to enter the land, and said it is a good land (vv. If we obey the LORD, he will surely give us that land rich with milk and honey (vv. 6-8). So don’t rebel (v. 9). However, the people rejected their advice and even talked of killing them.
But just then, the LORD appeared in a cloud at the sacred tent (v. 10). The path to open rebellion against God begins with dissatisfaction, then moves to grumbling about both God and present circumstances. Next, comes bitterness and resentment, followed finally by rebellion and hostility.
Application
I need to be careful about being dissatified and complaining as these kind of attitudes will lead to rebellion and separation from God’s plan for my life.
Numbers 14:1– 10 (NET)
1 Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness! 3 Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground before the whole assembled community of the Israelites. 6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of those who had investigated the land, tore their garments. 7 They said to the whole community of the Israelites, “The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land that is flowing with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”
10 However, the whole community threatened to stone them. But the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.
Illustration: A mother who refuses to give up on her daughter
The rebellion of a teenage daughter was breaking her mother’s heart. Their struggle reached its zenith when the young girl was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. After posting bail for her daughter, the two did not speak until the next afternoon. When they came together, the woman handed her daughter a small wrapped gift. The girl flippantly opened it and was exasperated by what she saw. The box contained a small rock. She rolled her eyes and asked, “What’s this for?” Her mother simply replied, “Read the card.” She did and was overcome by the words inside. Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she reached out to embrace her mom. The card said, “This rock is more than 6000 years old. That’s how long it will take before I give up on you.” God broke through to us with his unrelenting and enduring love. We would do well to use that same strategy to break through to one another. (Bits & Pieces, July 16, 1998,
p.16).