NUMBERS LESSON 19
We will begin this lesson in Numbers 14:22 "Because all those men
which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in
the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not
hearkened to my voice;"
In the last lesson, the twelve spies had come back from 40 days
of investigation of the promised land. Ten of them brought a bad
report, and two brought a good report. The people murmured to the
point of even wanting to appoint a captain to lead them back to Egypt.
God was so angry with them, he asked Moses if he would like to begin a
new race with him. Moses asked God, even pleaded with God, to forgive
them one more time. Joshua and Caleb wanted to go in and take the
land, but the people would not. We now resume our lesson here. These
very men had seen the miracles of the 10 plagues that had come on
Egypt, before Pharaoh would let them go. They saw the Red Sea part.
They, also, had eaten the miracle food which fell from heaven, and
yet, they had no faith in God. Ten different times on this journey,
they have rebelled with their murmuring and their other sins. They are
just too worldly.
Numbers 14:23 "Surely they shall not see the land which I sware
unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see
it:"
Everyone who rebelled against God, and would not go in and take
the land, will not see the promised land. Some had not sinned in this
manner, and they will see it.
Numbers 14:24 "But my servant Caleb, because he had another
spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the
land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it."
We have discussed in many of the lessons, that there seem to be
two forces in man. One of the forces is the desire to follow the
flesh. The other force {the spirit} desires to do the will of God.
Caleb was controlled by his spirit which wanted to please God. Caleb
and his descendents will go into the promised land, and possess it.
Caleb will receive Hebron. Joshua 14:14 "Hebron therefore became the
inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day,
because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel."
Numbers 14:25 "(Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in
the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by
the way of the Red sea."
Canaanites are the same as the Amorites. The Israelites, for the
time being, must leave the border of the promised land. God will not
help them at this time in battle, because of their unbelief.
Numbers 14:26 "And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,
saying,"
These are new instructions from the LORD.
Numbers 14:27 "How long [shall I bear with] this evil
congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of
the children of Israel, which they murmur against me."
God heard every time they complained to Moses. He even knew the
things they said in secret in their own tents. The congregation, as a
whole, were doubters. They were rebellious against God. Every idle
word has to be accounted for someday.
Numbers 14:28 "Say unto them, [As truly as] I live, saith the
LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:"
The very things they had said in their doubt and disbelief, now
will truly be done unto them.
Numbers 14:29 "Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and
all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from
twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,"
They had said, they wished they had died in the wilderness. That
is exactly what God lets happen to everyone who was 20 years old and
older, who had murmured. Be careful what you ask for. You might get
what you asked.
Numbers 14:30 "Doubtless ye shall not come into the land,
[concerning] which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the
son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun."
Joshua and Caleb were the only two with the good report. God will
allow them to live long enough to go into the promised land. They will
be older, but they will go in. All ten of those who doubted, will die
in the wilderness, with all the people that murmured.
Numbers 14:31 "But your little ones, which ye said should be a
prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have
despised."
Their little ones, that they had used for an excuse to not go in,
will inherit the promised land. They will not be a prey, as their
parents said. They will possess the land.
Numbers 14:32 "But [as for] you, your carcases, they shall fall
in this wilderness."
All of the doubters and murmurers will die in the wilderness, and
be buried there.
Numbers 14:33 "And your children shall wander in the wilderness
forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in
the wilderness."
Remember, they wandered 40 days searching out the land. This 40
years of wandering in the wilderness is to compensate for 40 days of
doubt. The generation of the faithless will die off, and the young
generation will inherit the land. God counted their parents' lack of
faith as being spiritual adultery.
Numbers 14:34 "After the number of the days in which ye searched
the land, [even] forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your
iniquities, [even] forty years, and ye shall know my breach of
promise."
This explanation is to show that God was perfectly justified in
His punishment of the 40 years wandering. They had brought this
punishment upon themselves, with their lack of faith. God had removed
His blessings from them temporarily. It was not altogether removed,
because He still fed them, and their shoes did not wear out. He just
did not help them go into the promised land, as previously planned.
Numbers 14:35 "I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all
this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this
wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die."
Whatever God says He will do, He does. They do wander, and die in
the wilderness.
Numbers 14:36 "And the men, which Moses sent to search the land,
who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by
bringing up a slander upon the land," Numbers 14:37 "Even those men
that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague
before the LORD."
The plague swept through the camp, even before they began the 40
years of wandering. The ten spies that caused the people to doubt, die
from the plague immediately. "Plague", in this particular instance,
means stroke. They died suddenly, as a stroke from the hand of God.
Numbers 14:38 "But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of
Jephunneh, [which were] of the men that went to search the land, lived
[still]."
Joshua would live to lead the children of Israel into the
promised land, at the death of Moses.
Numbers 14:39 "And Moses told these sayings unto all the children
of Israel: and the people mourned greatly."
We do not see that they repented, only that they were grieved
over their situation.
Numbers 14:40 "And they rose up early in the morning, and gat
them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we [be here], and
will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have
sinned."
After the punishment is pronounced, they repent and want to go
into the land of promise. Perhaps, the sudden death of the ten
doubting spies caused them to question their own unfaithfulness.
Numbers 14:41 "And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the
commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper."
Before they left the camp, Moses warned them they are, again,
disobeying God's wishes. He will not be with them now.
Numbers 14:42 "Go not up, for the LORD [is] not among you; that
ye be not smitten before your enemies."
If they try to go up to the promised land without God leading the
way, they will perish. They are still unaware that it is not their
power that defeats the enemy, but God's.
Numbers 14:43 "For the Amalekites and the Canaanites [are] there
before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away
from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you."
Fighting in their own strength, without the LORD empowering them,
would be disastrous. Their flesh is no match for the flesh of these
worldly armies.
Numbers 14:44 "But they presumed to go up unto the hill top:
nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed
not out of the camp."
The ark of the covenant of the LORD represented the power of God
that was with them. Moses stayed with the ark. They had not only
distrusted the power of God earlier, but now they place trust in their
own power. This is a terrible mistake. They are still disobeying God's
commands.
Numbers 14:45 "Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites
which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, [even]
unto Hormah."
The plainest way to say this is, these rebellious of Israel lost
the battle. Deuteronomy 1:44 "And the Amorites, which dwelt in that
mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and
destroyed you in Seir, [even] unto Hormah."
Numbers 19 Questions
1. How many times had the men tempted God?
2. How many spies were sent to check out the promised land?
3. How many of them brought back a bad report?
4. How badly had they sunk in their murmuring?
5. Why did God allow these murmurers to live for the time being?
6. Why was it so ridiculous for them to not have faith in God?
7. What punishment does God speak upon them?
8. Caleb had another __________ within him.
9. What are the two forces in man?
10. Quote Joshua chapter 14 verse 14.
11. The ___________ and the ________ dwelt in the valley.
12. The Canaanites are the same as the ___________.
13. What had they spoken, that God will surely do?
14. Who of the twelve will come into the promised land later?
15. Who will inherit the land of promise?
16. How long will the children wander in the wilderness?
17. What is significant about this number?
18. What did God count the parents' lack of faith as being?
19. What happened immediately to the ten spies who doubted?
20. What did the people decide to do, after it was too late?
21. What did Moses warn them of?
22. Where was the ark while they were fighting?
23. What did the ark represent?
24. What happened to the Israelites who went to battle?
25. Quote Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 44.
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