Text -- Numbers 14:11-45 (NET)

The Punishment from God

14:11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me, and how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them? 14:12 I will strike them with the pestilence, and I will disinherit them; I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!” 14:13 Moses said to the Lord, “When the Egyptians hear it– for you brought up this people by your power from among them– 14:14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 14:15 If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 14:16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 14:17 So now, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said, 14:18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’ 14:19 Please forgive the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.” 14:20 Then the Lord said, “I have forgiven them as you asked. 14:21 But truly, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. 14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted me now these ten times, and have not obeyed me, 14:23 they will by no means see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it. 14:24 Only my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit and has followed me fully– I will bring him into the land where he had gone, and his descendants will possess it. 14:25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites were living in the valleys.) Tomorrow, turn and journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.” 14:26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 14:27 “How long must I bear with this evil congregation that murmurs against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites that they murmured against me. 14:28 Say to them, ‘As I live, says the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing. 14:29 Your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness– all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me. 14:30 You will by no means enter into the land where I swore to settle you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 14:31 But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, and they will enjoy the land that you have despised. 14:32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, 14:33 and your children will wander in the wilderness forty years and suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your dead bodies lie finished in the wilderness. 14:34 According to the number of the days you have investigated this land, forty days– one day for a year– you will suffer for your iniquities, forty years, and you will know what it means to thwart me. 14:35 I, the Lord, have said, “I will surely do so to all this evil congregation that has gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will be finished, and there they will die!”’” 14:36 The men whom Moses sent to investigate the land, who returned and made the whole community murmur against him by producing an evil report about the land, 14:37 those men who produced the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the Lord. 14:38 But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among the men who went to investigate the land, lived. 14:39 When Moses told these things to all the Israelites, the people mourned greatly. 14:40 And early in the morning they went up to the crest of the hill country, saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place that the Lord commanded, for we have sinned.” 14:41 But Moses said, “Why are you now transgressing the commandment of the Lord? It will not succeed! 14:42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, and you will be defeated before your enemies. 14:43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” 14:44 But they dared to go up to the crest of the hill, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp. 14:45 So the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country swooped down and attacked them as far as Hormah.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Num 14:12

This was not an absolute determination, but a commination, like that of Nineveh's destruction, with a condition implied, except there be speedy repentance, or powerful intercession.

Wesley: Num 14:16

His power was quite spent in bringing them out of Egypt, and could not finish the work he had begun and had sworn to do.

Wesley: Num 14:17

That is appear to be great, discover its greatness: namely, the power of his grace and mercy, or the greatness of his mercy, in pardoning this and their other sins: for to this the following words manifestly restrain it, where the pardon of their sins is the only instance of this power both described in God's titles, Num 14:18, and prayed for by Moses Num 14:19, and granted by God in answer to him, Num 14:20. Nor is it strange that the pardon of sin, especially such great sins, is spoken of as an act of power in God, because undoubtedly it is an act of omnipotent and infinite goodness.

Wesley: Num 14:18

These words may seem to be improperly mentioned, as being a powerful argument to move God to destroy this wicked people, and not to pardon them. It may be answered, that Moses useth these words together with the rest, because he would not sever what God had put together. But the truer answer seems to be, that these words are to be translated otherwise, And in destroying he will not utterly destroy, though he visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation.

Wesley: Num 14:20

So far as not utterly to destroy them.

Wesley: Num 14:21

With the report of the glorious and righteous acts of God in punishing this rebellious people.

Wesley: Num 14:22

That is, my glorious appearances in the cloud, and in the tabernacle.

Wesley: Num 14:22

That is, many times. A certain number for an uncertain.

Wesley: Num 14:24

Joshua is not named, because he was not now among the people, but a constant attendant upon Moses, nor was he to be reckoned as one of them, any more than Moses and Aaron were, because he was to be their chief commander.

Wesley: Num 14:24

Was a man of another temper, faithful and courageous, not acted by that evil spirit of cowardice, unbelief, disobedience, which ruled in his brethren but by the spirit of God.

Wesley: Num 14:24

Universally and constantly, through difficulties and dangers, which made his partners halt.

Wesley: Num 14:24

In general, Canaan, and particularly Hebron, and the adjacent parts, Jos 14:9.

Wesley: Num 14:25

Beyond the mountain, at the foot whereof they now were, Num 14:40. And this clause is added, either As an aggravation of Israel's misery and punishment, that being now ready to enter and take possession of the land, they are forced to go back into the wilderness or As an argument to oblige them more willingly to obey the following command of returning into the wilderness, because their enemies were very near them, and severed from them only by that Idumean mountain, and, if they did not speedily depart, their enemies would fall upon them, and so the evil which before they causelessly feared would come upon them; they, their wives and their children, would become a prey to the Amalekites and Canaanites, because God would not assist nor defend them.

Wesley: Num 14:25

sea - That leadeth to the Red - sea, and to Egypt, the place whither you desire to return.

Wesley: Num 14:28

When you wickedly wished you might die in the wilderness.

Wesley: Num 14:30

Your nation; for God did not swear to do so to these particular persons.

Wesley: Num 14:32

See with what contempt they are spoken of, now they had by their sin made themselves vile! The mighty men of valour were but carcases, now the Spirit of the Lord was departed from them! It was very probably upon this occasion, that Moses wrote the ninetieth psalm.

Wesley: Num 14:33

So long as to make up the time of your dwelling in the wilderness forty years; one whole year and part of another were past before this sin or judgment.

Wesley: Num 14:33

The punishment of your whoredoms, of your apostacy from, and perfidiousness against your Lord, who was your husband, and had married you to himself.

Wesley: Num 14:34

So there should have been forty years to come, but God was pleased mercifully to accept of the time past as a part of that time.

Wesley: Num 14:34

That as you have first broken the covenant between you and me, by breaking the conditions of it, so I will make it void on my part, by denying you the blessings promised in that covenant. So you shall see, that the breach of promise wherewith you charged me, lies at your door, and was forced from me by your perfidiousness.

Wesley: Num 14:37

Either by the pestilence, or by some other sudden and extraordinary judgment, sent from the cloud in which God dwelt, and from whence he spake to Moses, and wherein his glory at this time appeared before all the people, Num 14:10, who therefore were all, and these spies among the rest, before the Lord.

Wesley: Num 14:38

Death never misses his mark, nor takes any by oversight who are designed for life, tho' in the midst of those that are to die.

Wesley: Num 14:39

But it was now too late. There was now no place for repentance. Such mourning as this there is in hell; but the tears will not quench the flames.

Wesley: Num 14:40

Designed or prepared themselves to go up.

Wesley: Num 14:45

Largely so called, but strictly the Amorites.

Wesley: Num 14:45

A place so called afterwards, Num 21:3, from the slaughter or destruction of the lsraelites at this time.

JFB: Num 14:12

Not a final decree, but a threatening, suspended, as appeared from the issue, on the intercession of Moses and the repentance of Israel.

JFB: Num 14:17

Be magnified.

JFB: Num 14:21

This promise, in its full acceptation, remains to be verified by the eventual and universal prevalence of Christianity in the world. But the terms were used restrictively in respect to the occasion, to the report which would spread over all the land of the "terrible things in righteousness" [Psa 65:5] which God would do in the infliction of the doom described, to which that rebellious race was now consigned.

JFB: Num 14:22

Very frequently.

JFB: Num 14:24

Joshua was also excepted, but he is not named because he was no longer in the ranks of the people, being a constant attendant on Moses.

JFB: Num 14:24

Under the influence of God's Spirit, Caleb was a man of bold, generous, heroic courage, above worldly anxieties and fears.

JFB: Num 14:25

That is, on the other side of the Idumean mountain, at whose base they were then encamped. Those nomad tribes had at that time occupied it with a determination to oppose the further progress of the Hebrew people. Hence God gave the command that they seek a safe and timely retreat into the desert, to escape the pursuit of those resolute enemies, to whom, with their wives and children, they would fall a helpless prey because they had forfeited the presence and protection of God. This verse forms an important part of the narrative and should be freed from the parenthetical form which our English translators have given it.

JFB: Num 14:30

These are specially mentioned, as honorable exceptions to the rest of the scouts, and also as the future leaders of the people. But it appears that some of the old generation did not join in the mutinous murmuring, including in that number the whole order of the priests (Jos 14:1).

JFB: Num 14:34

That is, in consequence of your violation of the covenant betwixt you and Me, by breaking the terms of it, it shall be null and void on My part, as I shall withhold the blessings I promised in that covenant to confer on you on condition of your obedience.

JFB: Num 14:36-38

Ten of the spies struck dead on the spot--either by the pestilence or some other judgment. This great and appalling mortality clearly betokened the hand of the Lord.

JFB: Num 14:40-45

Notwithstanding the tidings that Moses communicated and which diffused a general feeling of melancholy and grief throughout the camp, the impression was of very brief continuance. They rushed from one extreme of rashness and perversity to another, and the obstinacy of their rebellious spirit was evinced by their active preparations to ascend the hill, notwithstanding the divine warning they had received not to undertake that enterprise.

JFB: Num 14:40-45

That is, realizing our sin, we now repent of it, and are eager to do as Caleb and Joshua exhorted us--or, as some render it, though we have sinned, we trust God will yet give us the land of promise. The entreaties of their prudent and pious leader, who represented to them that their enemies, scaling the other side of the valley, would post themselves on the top of the hill before them, were disregarded. How strangely perverse the conduct of the Israelites, who, shortly before, were afraid that, though their Almighty King was with them, they could not get possession of the land; and yet now they act still more foolishly in supposing that, though God were not with them, they could expel the inhabitants by their unaided efforts. The consequences were such as might have been anticipated. The Amalekites and Canaanites, who had been lying in ambuscade expecting their movement, rushed down upon them from the heights and became the instruments of punishing their guilty rebellion.

JFB: Num 14:45

The name was afterwards given to that place in memory of the immense slaughter of the Israelites on this occasion.

Clarke: Num 14:14

That thy cloud standeth over them - This cloud, the symbol of the Divine glory, and proof of the Divine presence, appears to have assumed three different forms for three important purposes

1.    It appeared by day in the form of a pillar of a sufficient height to be seen by all the camp, and thus went before them to point out their way in the desert. Exo 40:38

2.    It appeared by night as a pillar of fire to give them light while travelling by night, which they probably sometimes did; (see Num 9:21); or to illuminate their tents in their encampment; Exo 13:21, Exo 13:22

3.    It stood at certain times above the whole congregation, overshadowing them from the scorching rays of the sun; and probably at other times condensed the vapours, and precipitated rain or dew for the refreshment of the people. He spread a cloud for their covering; and fire to give light in the night; Psa 105:39. It was probably from this circumstance that the shadow of the Lord was used to signify the Divine protection, not only by the Jews, but also by other Asiatic nations. See the note on Num 14:9, and see particularly the note on Exo 13:21 (note).

Clarke: Num 14:18

The Lord is longsuffering - See the note on Exo 34:6.

Clarke: Num 14:19

Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people - From Num 14:13 to Num 14:19 inclusive we have the words of Moses’ s intercession; they need no explanation, they are full of simplicity and energy; his arguments with God (for be did reason and argue with his Maker) are pointed, cogent, and respectful; and while they show a heart full of humanity, they evidence the deepest concern for the glory of God. The argumentum ad hominem is here used in the most unexceptionable manner, and with the fullest effect.

Clarke: Num 14:20

I have pardoned - That is, They shall not be cut off as they deserve, because thou hast interceded for their lives.

Clarke: Num 14:21

All the earth shall be filled, etc. - כל הארץ kol haarets , all This land, i. e., the land of Canaan which was only fulfilled to the letter when the preaching of Christ and his apostles was heard through all the cities and villages of Judea. It does not appear that the whole of the terraqueous globe is meant by this expression in any of the places where it occurs connected with this promise of the diffusion of the Divine light. See Psa 72:19; Isa 40:5; Hab 2:14.

Clarke: Num 14:24

But my servant Caleb, etc. - Caleb had another spirit - not only a bold, generous, courageous, noble, and heroic spirit; but the Spirit and influence of the God of heaven thus raised him above human inquietudes and earthly fears, therefore be followed God fully; וימלא אחרי vaimalle acharai , literally, he filled after me: God showed him the way he was to take, and the line of conduct he was to pursue, and he filled up this line, and in all things followed the will of his Maker. He therefore shall see the promised land, and his seed shall possess it. A dastardly spirit in the things of God is a heavy curse. How many are retarded in their course, and fall short of the blessings of the Gospel, through magnifying the number and strength of their adversaries, their own weakness and the difficulties of the way, with which we may connect their distrust of the power, faithfulness, and goodness of God! And how many are prevented from receiving the higher degrees of salvation by foolishly attributing insurmountable power, either to their inward corruptions or outward enemies! Only such men as Joshua and Caleb, who take God at his word, and who know that against his wisdom no cunning can stand, and against his might no strength can prevail, are likely to follow God fully, and receive the heights, lengths, breadths, and depths of the salvation of God.

Clarke: Num 14:34

After the number of the days - The spies were forty days in searching the land, and the people who rebelled on their evil report are condemned to wander forty years in the wilderness! Now let them make them a captain and go back to Egypt if they can. God had so hedged them about with his power and providence that they could neither go back to Egypt nor get forward to the promised land! God has provided innumerable spiritual blessings for mankind, but in the pursuit of earthly good they lose them, and often lose the others also! If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the fruit of the land, but not otherwise; unless for your farther punishment God give you your portion in this life, and ye get none in the life to come. From so great a curse may God save thee, thou money-loving, honor-hunting, pleasure-taking, thoughtless, godless man

Clarke: Num 14:34

And ye shall know my breach of promise - This is certainly a most harsh expression; and most learned men agree that the words את תנואתי eth tenuathi should be translated my vengeance, which is the rendering of the Septuagint, Vulgate, Coptic, and Anglo-Saxon, and which is followed by almost all our ancient English translations. The meaning however appears to be this: As God had promised to bring them into the good land, provided they kept his statutes, ordinances, etc., and they had now broken their engagements, he was no longer held by his covenant; and therefore, by excluding them from the promised land, he showed them at once his annulling of the covenant which they had broken, and his vengeance because they had broken it.

Clarke: Num 14:37

Those men that did bring up the evil report died - Thus ten of the twelve that searched out the land were struck dead, by the justice of God, on the spot! Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, and Joshua, of the tribe of Ephraim, alone escaped, because they had followed God fully. Let preachers of God’ s word take heed how they straiten the way of salvation, or render, by unjust description, that way perplexed and difficult which God has made plain and easy.

Clarke: Num 14:40

We - will go up unto the place, etc. - They found themselves on the very borders of the land, and they heard God say they should not enter it, but should be consumed by a forty years’ wandering in the wilderness; notwithstanding, they are determined to render vain this purpose of God, probably supposing that the temporary sorrow they felt for their late rebellion would be accepted as a sufficient atonement for their crimes. They accordingly went up, and were cut down by their enemies; and why? God went not with them. How vain is the counsel of man against the wisdom of God! Nature, poor, fallen human nature, is ever running into extremes. This miserable people, a short time ago, thought that though they had Omnipotence with them they could not conquer and possess the land! Now they imagine that though God himself go not with them, yet they shall be sufficient to drive out the inhabitants, and take possession of their country! Man is ever supposing he can either do all things or do nothing; he is therefore sometimes presumptuous, and at other times in despair. Who but an apostle, or one under the influence of the same Spirit, can say, I can do All Things Through Christ who strengtheneth me?

Calvin: Num 14:11

11.And the Lord said unto Moses God remonstrates with respect to their indomitable obstinacy, because they had just now hesitated not petulantly to despise and reject Him with the most atrocious insults, and notwithstanding all the clearest manifestations of His power. For I know not whether the sense which some give be suitable, when they translate the verb נאף , naatz, “to provoke.” ⁵⁷ Jerome comes nearer to the genuine sense, How long will they detract me? But let us be contented with the genuine intention of God, which He confirms by the succeeding antithesis, where He complains that He is disparaged, because they do not take into consideration the many miracles whereby He had abundantly testified His power and loving-kindness; and thus He proves their contempt, because they deliberately refuse credit to the many signs of which the accumulation at least ought to have subdued or corrected their stubbornness.

The denunciation of their final punishment follows, together with a statement of the atrocity of their crime; for the particle “How long” indicates its long continuance, as well as the enduring patience of God. He had, indeed, punished others severely, but only for example’s sake, in order that the name of their race should remain undestroyed, whereas he now declares that He will deal with them as. with persons in a desperate condition, who cease not to make a mock of His patience. Hence we are taught, that, although God is placable in His nature, still the hope of pardon is deservedly cut off from unbelievers, who are so obdurate as that tie produces no effect upon them by His hand, or by His countenance, or His word. he then briefly adverts to the use of the signs, viz., that their object was, that the knowledge or experience of them should awaken hopes of success.

If the apparent contradiction offends any one, that God should declare the people to be cast off, when it was already decreed that tie would pardon them, a reply may be sought from elsewhere in three words; for God does not here speak of His secret and incomprehensible counsel, but only of the actual circumstances, showing what the people had deserved, and how horrible was the vengeance which impended, ⁵⁸ in respect to their wicked and detestable revolt, since it was not His design to keep Moses back from earnest prayer, but to put the sincerity of his piety and the fervency of his zeal to the proof. And, in fact, he does not contravene the prohibition, except upon the previous exhibition of some spark of faith. See Exo 32:0

Calvin: Num 14:13

13.Then the Egyptians shall hear it Moses here, according to his custom, stands “in the breach” of the wall, as it is said in Psa 106:23, to sustain and avert the anger of God, which else would burst forth, since through his intercession it came to pass that the fire was speedily extinguished, and the people were not consumed. In order to support his request., he only objects that God’s holy namo would be the sport of the wicked, if the people should perish altogether I have endeavored to reduce to their proper meaning the words which translators variously render. First, he says, “The Egyptians shall hear, whereas it is a thing sufficiently notorious, and testified by miracles, that this people was rescued from among them by thy might. The same report will also obtain currency among; the nations of Canaan, who have already heard that thou: art the protector of this people, and have undertaken the charge of governing them. If, therefore, they should altogether perish, all the nations which have heard of thy fame will east the blame on thee, and will think that thy power is broken down in the midst of its course, so that thou could not carry through to the end the work thou hadst undertaken.” The substance amounts to this, that because God had manifested by clear and evident signs that He was the deliverer of this people, He would be exposed to the reproach of the wicked, unless He should preserve in safety those whom He had once redeemed. For nothing else would occur to the minds of the heathen nations, except that God was unable to maintain His blessing, however desirous He might be to do so. And assuredly this is no ordinary effect of God’s goodness, so to connect the glory of His name with our salvation, that whatever is adverse to us brings with it reproach upon Him, because the mouth of the wicked will be open to blaspheme. And this will in fact turn to our advantage, if on our part, without dissimulation, and in zealous sincerity, we beseech God to uphold His own glory in saving us; for many boldly plead the name of God in their own behalf, although they are unaffected by any real care or love for it. Moreover, because the more illustrious God’s exercise of His power has been, the more insolently are the ungodly disposed to blaspheme, if it has appeared to fail; we must always entreat of Him that He should not desert the work of His hands which He has begun in us. To this effect are the words, “They have heard that thou art seen face to face;” for, if the people’s safety were not maintained, the failure would have been imputed to none but God, who had put. forth the power of His hand to preserve them. In fine, since their astonishing exodus had been a testimony of God’s favor, so, if he had suffered the people to perish in the desert, all would have considered it a sign of His weakness, inasmuch as it was not probable that He should not accomplish what tie desired, unless He were unable to do so.

Calvin: Num 14:17

17.And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great He derives another ground of confidence from the vision, in which God had more clearly manifested His nature, from whence it appears how much he had profited by it, and what earnest and anxious attention he had paid to it. Hence, however, we derive a general piece of instruction, that there is nothing more efficacious in our prayers than to set His own word before God, and then to found our supplications upon His promises, as if He dictated to us out of His own mouth what we were to ask. Since, then, God had manifested Himself to Moses in that memorable declaration, which we have already considered, he was able to derive from thence a sure directory for prayer; for nothing can be more sure than His own word, on which if our prayers are based, there is no reason to fear that they will be ineffectual, or that their results should disappoint us, since He who has spoken will prove Himself to be true. And, in fact, this is the reason why He speaks, viz., to afford us the grounds for addressing Him, for else we must needs be dumb.

Calvin: Num 14:18

Since I have expounded the 18^th verse elsewhere, ⁵⁹ let my readers refer to that place.

Calvin: Num 14:19

19.Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people In order to encourage his hope of pardon, he first sets before himself the greatness of God’s mercy, and then the past instances by which it had been proved that God was inclined to forgiveness. And, indeed, the mercy of God continually invites us to seek reconciliation whenever we have sinned; and, though iniquities heaped upon iniquities, and the very enormity of our sins, might justly make us afraid, still the abundance of His grace, of which mention is here made, must needs occur to us, so as to swallow up all dread of His wrath. David, also, betaking himself to this refuge, affords us an example how all alarm is to be overcome. (Psa 51:1) But, since the bare and abstract recognition of God’s goodness is often insufficient for us, Moses applies another stay in the shape of experience: Pardon, (he says,) as thou hast so often done before. For, since the goodness of God is unwearied and inexhaustible, the oftener we have experienced it, the more ought we to be encouraged to implore it; not that we may sink into the licentious indulgence of sin, but lest despair should overwhelm us, when we are lying under the condemnation of God, and our own conscience smites and torments us. In a word, let us regard this as a most effective mode of importunity, when we beseech God by the benefits which we have already experienced, that He will never cease to be gracious.

Calvin: Num 14:20

20.And the Lord said, I have pardoned, according to thy word God signifies that tie pardons for His servant Moses’ sake, and makes, as it were, a present to him of those whom He had already devoted to destruction. Hence we gather how much the entreaties of the pious avail with God: as He is said, in Psa 145:19, to “fulfil the desire of them that fear him.” He would, indeed, have done of His own accord what He granted to Moses; but, in order that we may be more earnest in prayer, the use and advantage of prayers is commended, when God declares that He will not only comply with our requests, but even obey them.

But how is it consistent for Him to declare that He had spared those, upon whom He had determined to inflict the most extreme punishment, and whom He deprived of their promised inheritance? I reply that the pardon in question was not granted to the individuals, but to their race and name. For the opinion of some is unnatural, who think that they were released from the penalty of eternal death, and thence that God was propitiated towards them, because He was contented with their temporal punishment. I do not doubt, then, but that Moses was so far heard, as that the seed of Abraham should not be destroyed, and the covenant of God should not fail For He so dispensed the pardon as to preserve their posterity uninjured, whilst He inflicted on the unbelievers themselves the reward of their rebellion. Thus the conditions of the pardon were of no advantage to the impious rebels, though they opened a way for the faithful fulfillment of His promise.

Calvin: Num 14:21

21.But as truly as I live, all the earth It is, indeed, plain that God here swears by His life and glory: the meaning is only ambiguous in this respect, that some translate it in the past tense, that the earth had been filled with His glory, which had already been displayed in so many miracles. And this seems to accord well with what follows, “Those, who have seen my glory — shall not see the land;” still the future tense suits the context better, viz., that God should call to witness His glory, which He will hereafter assert. Moses feared lest the destruction of the people should be turned into a reproach and contumely against God; God now declares with an oath that He would so vindicate His glory, as that those, who were guilty of so great a crime, should not escape punishment. He proclaims that those should not see the land, who had shut their eyes against the miracles, of which they had been spectators and eye-witnesses, and in their blindness had endeavored to set them at naught. For, inasmuch as they had not been taught to fear God by so many signs, they were worse than unworthy of beholding the land, the possession of which ought to have been assured to them by those very signs, if God’s truth had not been utterly rejected by their ingratitude.

God complains that He had been “tempted” by them “ten times;” because they had not ceased constantly to provoke Him by their frowardness; for it is no fixed or definite number, which is intended, but God would merely indicate that they had done so without measure or end. We have elsewhere ⁶⁰ shown what it is to tempt God, viz., to subject His power to the narrow rule of our own senses, and to prescribe to Him the mode in which He is to act, according to our own desires: so as to defer to Him no further than our carnal reason dictates. The source and cause of this tempting of God is subjoined, i.e., when men refuse to listen to His voice; since nothing but obedience, which is the mistress of humility, can restrain our insolence.

Calvin: Num 14:24

24.But my servant Caleb By synecdoche Caleb alone is now excepted, although Joshua was a partaker of the same grace, as he had been also a sharer in his courageous conduct; but Caleb is especially distinguished, because he had, as it were, uplifted the banner, and had stood forth first to encourage Joshua, The sum of his praise is that he “fulfilled ⁶¹ to go after God.” The word “will,” which some understand, is superfluous, since the expression is complete without any addition. God, therefore, commends Caleb’s perseverance in obeying; because he not only promptly exhorted the others, but also proceeded boldly and unhesitatingly, without being deterred by any obstacles. God, however, magnifies his perseverance, because he looked to Him alone in his noble conflict with so great a multitude. For it is an extraordinary case for a person to stand firm, and to hold a straight course in the midst of violent and tempestuous disturbances, when all the world is, as it were, convulsed. Although the word רוח , ruach, ⁶² is sometimes used for the disposition of the mind, yet I have no doubt but that Moses signifies, by metonymy, that Caleb was thus influenced by divine inspiration.

Calvin: Num 14:25

25.Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites Some thus resolve these words; “Although the Amalekites dwell in the valley;” and others thus: “Since the Amalekites abide in the valleys to lay ambuscades.” Others think that their object is to inspire terror, lest the Israelites should remain too long in the enemy’s country, since they would be daily exposed to fresh attacks. I am, however, rather of opinion that they are spoken in reproach. For they had already arrived at the borders of the inhabited land, so that their enemies might be put to the rout at once: whereas God commands them to retire, and thus expels them from the land, which they had actually reached. Still I do not deny that He sets before them the necessity of the case, and thus enforces their obedience; as if He had said, that nothing now remained but to retreat, and again to throw themselves into the desert.

Calvin: Num 14:26

26.And the Lord spoke unto Moses ⁶³ I have translated the copula by the word itaque (therefore,) to indicate the connection with what precedes: for Moses does not here recount anything new, but, by way of explanation, repeats a point of great importance, viz., that they, who had refused to enter the land, would be deprived of its possession. He begins with the passionate interrogation: ⁶⁴ “How long shall this troublesome dregs of a people be borne with, who never cease to murmur against me?” And God says that He “had heard” their turbulent cries; in order that they might more certainly perceive that their pride was intolerable, since God Himself was weary of it, although He is long-suffering and slow to anger. It is in bitter irony that He says He will deal with them in accordance with their own resolution and desire. Nothing, indeed, was further from their intention than to wander in the wilderness, but, since they had held back from entering the land, God says that He will gratify them in a very different sense, viz., that they shall never enjoy the sight of that land, which they had despised. By His oath, He expresses His extreme wrath, as also it is said in Psa 95:11,

“Unto whom I swore in my wrath, that they
shall not enter into my rest.” ⁶⁵

It was necessary that their stolidity should be thus aroused, lest, when God was so greatly provoked, they should still continue self-satisfied, according to their went. He aggravates their punishment by another circumstance, i.e., that, they were to be deprived of the inheritance which He had sworn to give to Abraham; for the lifting up of the hand ⁶⁶ (as I have said elsewhere) was a form of oath; just as if God were called down from heaven by the outstretched hand to be witness and judge: and, although this does not indeed literally apply to God, still we know that He commonly transfers to Himself the things that belong to men. Moreover, this was a most severe reproof, that they by their wickedness and self-will should nullify a promise, which God had ratified by an oath, in so far, at least, as its fulfillment affected themselves: for He points out immediately afterwards that, although they had rejected the proffered blessing, he would still be true; and would bestow on their little ones that which they had refused for themselves. It is thus that God tempers His judgments against those hypocrites, who falsely profess to honor His name, so as to preserve a seed for the propagation of His Church: nor is He ever so severe towards the reprobate, as to fail in sustaining His mercy towards His elect. Nay, He here declares that Hie will be gracious towards their children, as a means of inflicting punishment on the fathers. It was an indirect accusation of God, when they lamented over their children, as if they were to be carried away as “a prey;” whereas, God promises that they shall be the possessors of the land, in order to reprove this wicked blasphemy.

Calvin: Num 14:33

33.And your children shall wander in the wilderness ⁶⁷ He here pronounces that their children shall be in some measure partakers of their punishment, inasmuch as they shall wander in the desert until the time prescribed: for by the word shepherds, He means sojourners, ⁶⁸ who have no certain or settled residence. To this effect is the similitude in the song of Hezekiah:

“My lodging is departed as a shepherd’s tent.” ⁶⁹
(Isa 38:12.)

In short, He declares that they shall be wandering and unsettled, and lead a life, like shepherds conducting their flocks from place to place.

He calls the wicked rebellions, whereby they had corrupted themselves, metaphorically “whoredoms;” for, from the time that God had espoused them to Himself, their true chastity would have been to embrace His grace in sincere faith, and at the same time to devote themselves to His service; but by rejecting tits pure worship, they had broken their sacred marriage-vow like gadding harlots.

This example teaches us how God visits the iniquities of the fathers on their children, and yet chastises no one undeservedly; since the descendants here referred to, ⁷⁰ although atoning for the fault of others, were still by no means innocent themselves. But in the judgments of God there is always a deep abyss, into which if you fear to be plunged, adore that which it is not lawful to question. Nevertheless, there is no doubt but that thus also God provided for the welfare of those, towards whom He appeared to show some marks of severity. For He waited not only until they had grown up, but also, as was advantageous to themselves, until they had attained the strength of manhood, and until a new generation had sprung up. He assigns a second reason why He postponed the fulfillment of His promise for forty years, viz., that tie might repay the ill-spent days by as many years. Having, then, spoken of their children, He again returns to the actual criminals themselves, who were to be consumed in all that long period of time, as if by a lingering disease. The noun תנואת , tenuoth, which I have rendered vanity, ⁷¹ is derived from the verb נוא , nu, which signifies to render ineffectual. Translators, however, extract from it various meanings. Some thus construe it: Ye shall know whether I am false, or whether my word shall be vain. Others, rendering it prohibition, depart more widely from the sense. But, in my judgment, it is an ironical concession, whereby God reproves their detestable pride, which had no other object than to accuse God of falsehood, and to charge Him calumniously with failing to fulfil His words. Unless, ⁷² perhaps, it should be preferred to take it passively; because the people had endeavored to annihilate, as it were, God himself. But still I rather adopt this sense, that they should perceive by certain and experimental proof, whether God’s promises were frivolous or vain. Moreover, we must bear in mind the admonition of the Prophet, to which I have referred, (Psa 95:11,) and which the Apostle adapts to our present use, (Heb 4:6,) viz., that a better rest is now offered to us, from which we are to fear lest our unbelief should withhold us. For it is not sufficient for us that God’s hand should once have been extended to us, unless we allow ourselves to be directed by it, until our earthly wanderings are concluded, and it conducts us into our heavenly rest.

Calvin: Num 14:36

36.And the men, which Moses sent to search the land I do not at all approve of the view which some take, that this is recorded by anticipation; for there is no question but that Moses recounts the special punishment which was inflicted by God upon the perfidious spies. He had previously treated of the general punishment of the whole people; when he now relates that the ten men were smitten by the plague, he intimates that God would begin with them, so as to manifest by this conspicuous and notable example how grossly He was offended by their very disgraceful contempt of His grace. Their sudden and unnatural death was, therefore, a kind of presage to all the others of the punishment which awaited them. For in the first place, the expression, “the plague,” is emphatic, as much as to say that they should not die in the ordinary course of nature. Again, by “the sight of God,” ⁷³ he means something else than as if he had said, “before God;” for God was not merely a beholder of their destruction, but in a strange and unusual manner He executed His awful judgment, as if He had publicly ascended the tribunal. And this appeared more clearly by His prolonging the life of Caleb and Joshua, who were the only survivors of that generation until the end of the time prescribed. It is true, indeed, that the verbs ⁷⁴ are in the past tense; but, since there is an evident πρόληψις, I have not hesitated to change the tense, which is a sufficiently common idiom of the language; and thus the connection of the address is better preserved.

Calvin: Num 14:39

39.And Moses told all these sayings It was, indeed, a just cause for mourning, when they heard that God, whose longsuffering they had so wantonly abused, would hereafter be inexorable. Yet here we have set before our eyes that “sorrow of the world which worketh death,” as Paul says, (2Co 7:10,) when the wicked, as they weep and complain, cease not to murmur against God; nay, when they gnaw the bit with greater obstinacy, and thus, like savage and untamable beasts, rush forward to their destruction in blind desperation. The temporal punishment could not, indeed, be redeemed by any tears; but, if there had been the disposition to repent, their only remedy would have been voluntarily to submit themselves, and calmly to undergo whatever chastisement God might be pleased to inflict. First of all, however, they proudly struggle to shake off the punishment awarded to them, and whilst they pretended penitence, increasingly kick against God. There is no doubt but that it was under the pretence of submission that they prepared themselves on the morrow to advance; but wherefore was this, except that they may overturn God’s inviolable decree! Nevertheless, they sought, as if against His. will, to make a way for themselves, though He forbade. “Behold us, (they said,) we are ready;” but it was too late; for the opportunity had fled. For, as the Prophet exhorts us to “seek the Lord while he may be found,” (Isa 4:6,) so also we ought to follow Him when He calls us. But of what avail was this unseasonable alacrity of the people? When God wishes them to retire into the desert, they affect a desire to obey Him by advancing further; and still would have their confession of sin accepted as a sufficient satisfaction.

Calvin: Num 14:41

41.And Moses said, Wherefore do ye now transgress? He rejects this feigned penitence, whereby the sinner tries all sorts of shifts, ⁷⁸ so as not to submit himself to God. “If thou wilt return, O Israel, return unto me,” saith the Lord by Jeremiah, (Jer 4:1.) The first thing, therefore, which we must consider is, what God requires of us; so that it may plainly appear that we truly submit ourselves to His power.

In order to restrain their temerity, Moses reminds them that they will seek in vain for success, when they depart from God’s command. And this is a very useful piece of instruction, that His grace will never be wanting to us, if we simply obey His word; but when, in contempt and neglect of His precepts, we are carried away by our own feelings, the event will never be prosperous. If any should object that the wretched people had no other remedy, I have already stated, that they ought to have been contented with this consolation, viz., that banishment from the land of Canaan was not disinheritance from the hope of eternal life. Nay, if they had humbled themselves before God, they might expect that their punishment would have been a profitable help to them. By their misdirected activity they double the evil. After having pointed out their danger, Moses again impresses upon them that God is not with them, because they had deserted Him: and that His blessing was withheld, because they had refused to follow Him at the proper time.

Calvin: Num 14:44

44.But they presumed to go up unto the hill-top It was not, indeed, their intention deliberately to array themselves against God, but rather did they endeavor to appease Him by this means of propitiation. Nor was their self-deceit devoid of a colorable pretext, inasmuch as they were ready cheerfully to welcome death, so as to offer their lives in sacrifice, and thus to compensate for their previous hesitation and inertness. It is thus that the zeal of the wicked is fervent, when it ought to be still; whereas, when God commands, coldness and apathy possess their minds, so that they are no more aroused by His voice, than as if they were stones. In a word, when it ought to be quiet, unbelief is always active, prompt, and bold; but when God would have it advance, it is timid, slow, and dead.

In conclusion, Moses adds, that their foolish enterprise was punished; for they were not merely routed and put to flight by their enemies, but utterly destroyed. ⁷⁹ Hence we gather, that their audacity failed them in the trial, and was deficient in true courage. At the same time he recounts another sign of their senselessness, in that they left behind the ark of God, as well as Moses, and rushed forward, like doomed persons, to be slaughtered. Hence it appears that unbelievers, when carried away by the blind impulse of their zeal, are as much destitute of reason and discretion as if they deliberately conspired for their own destruction.

Defender: Num 14:34

This verse provides essentially the only Biblical argument for the "year/day" school of prophetic interpretation, which converts prophetic "days" into years, especially in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. But this verse was spoken explicitly as a judgment on the faithless generation of Israelites, not as a key to future prophecy. All males 20 years old or above would die during their 40 years in the desert. Thus only Joshua and Caleb, who were excepted because of their faith, were more than 60 years old when the Israelites finally crossed the Jordan, even though God through Moses had indicated the normal life span at the time to be 70 or 80 years (Psa 90:10). Joshua actually lived to age 110, and Caleb was still in full strength at age 85 (Jos 14:10-11; Jos 24:29)."

TSK: Num 14:11

How long will this : Num 14:27; Exo 10:3, Exo 16:28; Pro 1:22; Jer 4:14; Hos 8:5; Zec 8:14; Mat 17:17

provoke : Num 14:23; Deu 9:7, Deu 9:8, Deu 9:22, Deu 9:23; Psa 95:8; Heb 3:8, Heb 3:16

believe me : Deu 1:32; Psa 78:22, Psa 78:32, Psa 78:41, Psa 78:42, Psa 106:24; Mar 9:19; Joh 10:38, Joh 12:37; Joh 15:24; Heb 3:18

TSK: Num 14:12

smite : Num 16:46-49, Num 25:9; Exo 5:3; 2Sa 24:1, 2Sa 24:12-15

will make : Exo 32:10

TSK: Num 14:13

And Moses said unto the Lord : From this verse to Num 14:19, inclusive, we have the words of the earnest intercession of Mosescaps1 . tcaps0 hey need no explanation; they are full of simplicity and energy.

Then the : Exo 32:12; Deu 9:26-28, Deu 32:27; Jos 7:8, Jos 7:9; Psa 106:23; Eze 20:9, Eze 20:14

TSK: Num 14:14

they have : Exo 15:14; Jos 2:9, Jos 2:10, Jos 5:1

art seen : Num 12:8; Gen 32:30; Exo 33:11; Deu 5:4, Deu 34:10; Joh 1:18, Joh 14:9; 1Co 13:12; 1Jo 3:2

thy cloud : Num 9:15-21, Num 10:34; Exo 13:21, Exo 13:22, Exo 40:38; Neh 9:12, Neh 9:19; Psa 78:14, Psa 105:39

TSK: Num 14:15

Jdg 6:16

TSK: Num 14:16

Deu 9:28, Deu 32:26, Deu 32:27; Jos 7:9

TSK: Num 14:17

Mic 3:8; Mat 9:6, Mat 9:8

TSK: Num 14:18

longsuffering : Exo 34:6, Exo 34:7; Psa 103:8, Psa 145:8; Jon 4:2; Mic 7:18; Nah 1:2, Nah 1:3; Rom 3:24-26; Rom 5:21; Eph 1:7, Eph 1:8

visiting : Exo 20:5, Exo 34:7; Jer 23:2

TSK: Num 14:19

Pardon : Exo 32:32, Exo 34:9; 1Ki 8:34; Psa 51:1, Psa 51:2; Eze 20:8, Eze 20:9; Dan 9:19

according : Isa 55:7; Tit 3:4-7

and as thou : Exo 32:10-14, Exo 33:17; Psa 78:38, Psa 106:7, Psa 106:8, Psa 106:45; Jon 3:10, Jon 4:2; Mic 7:18; Jam 5:15; 1Jo 5:14-16

until now : or, hitherto

TSK: Num 14:21

as truly : Deu 32:40; Isa 49:18; Jer 22:24; Eze 5:11, Eze 18:3, Eze 33:11, Eze 33:27; Zep 2:9

all the : Psa 72:19; Hab 2:14; Mat 6:10

TSK: Num 14:22

which have : Num 14:11; Deu 1:31-35; Psa 95:9-11, Psa 106:26; Heb 3:17, Heb 3:18

tempted : Exo 17:2; Psa 95:9, Psa 106:14; Mal 3:15; Mat 4:7; 1Co 10:9; Heb 3:9

ten times : Gen 31:7, Gen 31:41; Job 19:3

TSK: Num 14:23

Surely they shall not see : Heb. If they see, Num 26:64, Num 32:11; Deu 1:35-45; Neh 9:23; Psa 95:11, Psa 106:26; Eze 20:15; Heb 3:17, Heb 3:18, Heb 4:3

TSK: Num 14:24

my servant : Num 14:6-9, Num 13:30, Num 26:65; Deu 1:36; Jos 14:6-14

another spirit : Caleb had another spirit; not only a bold, generous, courageous, noble, and heroic spirit, but the Spirit and influence of God, which thus raised him above human inquietudes and earthly fears. Therefore he followed God fully; literally, ""and he filled after me:""God shewed him the way he was to take and the line of conduct he was to pursue, and he filled up this line, and in all things followed the will of his Maker.

followed me : Num 32:11, Num 32:12; Deu 6:5; Jos 14:8, Jos 14:9; 1Ch 29:9, 1Ch 29:18; 2Ch 25:2; Psa 119:80, Psa 119:145; Pro 23:26; Act 11:23; Eph 6:6; Col 3:23

TSK: Num 14:25

the Amalekites : Num 13:29

turn you : Num 14:4; Deu 1:40; Psa 81:11-13; Pro 1:31

TSK: Num 14:27

How long : Num 14:11; Exo 16:28; Mat 17:7; Mar 9:19

I have heard : Exo 16:12; 1Co 10:10

TSK: Num 14:28

As truly : Num 14:21, Num 14:23, Num 26:64, Num 26:65, Num 32:11; Deu 1:35; Psa 90:8, Psa 90:9; Heb 3:17

as ye have : Num 14:2

TSK: Num 14:29

carcases : Num 14:32, Num 14:33; 1Co 10:5; Heb 3:17; Jud 1:5

all that were : Num 1:45, Num 26:64

TSK: Num 14:30

sware : Heb. lifted up my hand, Gen 14:22

save Caleb : Num 14:38, Num 26:65, Num 32:12; Deu 1:36-38

TSK: Num 14:31

little ones : Num 26:6, Num 26:64; Deu 1:39

ye said : Num 14:3

know : Their children, by possessing Canaan, knew what a good land their fathers had despised.

the land : Gen 25:34; Psa 106:24; Pro 1:25, Pro 1:30; Mat 22:5; Act 13:41; Heb 12:16, Heb 12:17

TSK: Num 14:32

Num 14:29; 1Co 10:5; Heb 3:17

TSK: Num 14:33

shall wander in the wilderness : or, feed, This implies, that they should move from place to place in the deserts, as the Bedounin Arabs, who have no certain dwelling, but rove about seeking pasture for their flocks. Num 32:13; Jos 14:10; Psa 107:4, Psa 107:40

forty years : Num 33:38; Deu 1:3, Deu 2:14

bear : Num 5:31; Jer 3:1, Jer 3:2; Eze 23:35, Eze 23:45-49; Hos 9:1

TSK: Num 14:34

After : Num 13:25; 2Ch 36:21

the number : Psa 95:10; Eze 4:6; Dan 9:24; Rev 11:3

shall ye bear : Num 18:23; Lev 20:19; Psa 38:4; Eze 14:10

ye shall : 1Ki 8:56; Psa 77:8, Psa 105:42; Jer 18:9, Jer 18:10; Lam 3:31-33; Heb 4:1

breach of promise : or, altering of my purpose, Tenooathi , rather, my failure, or disannulling, from noo , to fail, disannul; for as they had broken their engagements, God was no longer held by his covenant. Deu 31:16, Deu 31:17; 1Sa 2:30; Zec 11:10

TSK: Num 14:35

I will surely : Num 23:19

this evil : Num 14:27-29, Num 26:65; 1Co 10:5, 1Co 10:11; Heb 3:19

TSK: Num 14:36

Num 13:31-33

TSK: Num 14:37

those men : Thus ten of the twelve who searched out the land were struck dead, by the justice of God, on the spot. In commemoration of this event, the Jews, to this day, celebrate a fast, on the seventh day of the month Elul.

died : Num 14:12, Num 16:49, Num 25:9; Jer 28:16, Jer 28:17, Jer 29:32; 1Co 10:10; Heb 3:17; Jud 1:5

TSK: Num 14:38

Num 26:65; Jos 14:6-10

TSK: Num 14:39

mourned greatly : Exo 33:4; Pro 19:3; Isa 26:16; Mat 8:12; Heb 12:17

TSK: Num 14:40

rose up : Deu 1:41; Ecc 9:3; Mat 7:21-23, Mat 26:11, Mat 26:12; Luk 13:25

for we have sinned : We are sensible of our sin, and repent of it; and are now ready to do as Caleb and Joshua exhorted us. Or, though we have sinned, yet we hope God will make good his promise.

TSK: Num 14:41

do ye : Num 14:25; 2Ch 24:20

but it shall : Job 4:9; Jer 2:37, Jer 32:5

TSK: Num 14:42

Deu 1:42; Jos 7:8, Jos 7:12; Psa 44:1, Psa 44:2-11

TSK: Num 14:43

Num 14:25, Num 13:29; Lev 26:17; Deu 28:25

because : Jdg 16:20; 1Ch 28:9; 2Ch 15:2; Isa 63:10; Hos 9:12

TSK: Num 14:44

they presumed : This miserable people a short time ago, thought that, though Omnipotence was with them, they could not conquer and possess the land! Now they imagine, that though God himself go not with them, yet they shall be sufficient to drive out the inhabitants, and take possession of their country! Man is ever supposing he can do all things, or do nothingcaps1 . hcaps0 e is therefore sometimes presumptuous, and at other times in despair. Num 15:30; Deu 1:43

the ark : Num 10:33; 1Sa 4:3-11

TSK: Num 14:45

the Amalekites : Num 14:43; Exo 17:16; Deu 1:44, Deu 32:30; Jos 7:5, Jos 7:11, Jos 7:12

Hormah : Num 21:3; Jdg 1:17

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Num 14:12

And disinherit them - By the proposed extinction of Israel the blessings of the covenant would revert to their original donor.

Barnes: Num 14:13-17

The syntax of these verses is singularly broken. As did Paul when deeply moved, so Moses presses his arguments one on the other without pausing to ascertain the grammatical finish of his expressions. He speaks here as if in momentary apprehension of an outbreak of God’ s wrath, unless he could perhaps arrest it by crowding in every topic of deprecation and intercession that he could mention on the instant.

Barnes: Num 14:21-23

Render: But as truly as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord; Num 14:22 all those men, etc.; Num 14:23 shall not see, etc.

Num 14:22

These ten times - Ten is the number which imports completeness. Compare Gen 31:7. The sense is that the measure of their provocation was now full: the day of grace was at last over. However, some enumerate 10 different occasions on which the people had tempted God since the exodus.

Ps. 90, which is entitled "a Prayer of Moses,"has been most appropriately regarded as a kind of dirge upon those sentenced thus awfully by God to waste away in the wilderness.

Barnes: Num 14:24

My servant Caleb - Caleb only is mentioned here as also in Num 13:30 ff. Both passages probably form part of the matter introduced at a later period into the narrative of Moses, and either by Joshua or under his superintendence. Hence, the name of Joshua is omitted, and his faithfulness together with its reward are taken for granted. In Num 14:30, Num 14:38, both names are mentioned together; and these verses in all likelihood belong to the same original composition as Num 14:6-10.

Barnes: Num 14:25

Render: And now the Amalekites and the Canaanites are dwelling (or abiding) in the valley: wherefore turn you, etc. (that so ye be not smitten before them). The Amalekites were the nomad bands that roved through the open pastures of the plain Num 14:45 : the Canaanites, a term here taken in its wider sense, were the Amorites of the neighboring cities (compare Num 14:45 with Deu 1:44), who probably lived in league with the Amalekites.

Tomorrow - Not necessarily the next day, but an idiom for "hereafter,""henceforward"(compare the marginal reading in Exo 13:14; Jos 4:6).

By the way of the Red sea - That is, apparently, by the eastern or Elanitic gulf.

Barnes: Num 14:33

Your whoredoms - Their several rebellions had been so many acts of faithless departure from the Lord who had taken them unto Himself. And as the children of the unchaste have generally to bear in their earthly careers much of the disgrace and the misery which forms the natural penalty of their parents’ transgression; so here the children of the Israelites, although suffered to hope for an eventual entry into Canaan, were yet to endure, through many long years’ wandering, the appropriate punishment of their fathers’ willfulness.

Barnes: Num 14:34

My breach of promise - In the original, a word, found elsewhere only in Job 30:10, and meaning "my withdrawals""my turning away."See the margin.

Barnes: Num 14:45

Unto Hormah - literally, "the Hormah:"i. e. "the banning,"or "ban-place."Compare Num 21:3; Jos 12:14. According to the view taken of Kadesh (see Num 13:26), Hormah is identified, through its earlier name, Zephath Jdg 1:17, with es-Safah on the southeastern frontier of Canaan, by which the Israelites quitted the Arabah for the higher ground, (or with Sebaita, which lies further to the west, about 25 miles north of Ain Gadis).

Poole: Num 14:12

This was not an absolute determination, as the event showed, but only a condition, like that of Nineveh’ s destruction within forty days, with a condition implied, except there be speedy repentance, or powerful intercession.

Poole: Num 14:13

Then i.e. in case thou dost utterly destroy them.

Thou broughtest up this people whereby thou didst get great honour to thyself, which now thou wilt certainly lose.

Poole: Num 14:14

To the inhabitants of this land for there was much intercourse between these two nations.

Poole: Num 14:15

As one man i.e. altogether, or to a man; and suddenly as it were by one blow, as if all had but one neck.

Poole: Num 14:16

His power was quite spent in bringing them out of Egypt, and could not finish the work he had begun and had sworn to do.

Poole: Num 14:17

Be great i.e. appear to be great, discover its greatness; a real verb put for a declarative, or the thing for the manifestation of the thing. And this may be understood either,

1. Of God’ s power in preserving the people, and carrying them on into Canaan, which sense may seem to be favoured by the foregoing verse, where the Egyptians deny that God had power to do so. And according to that sense he adds the following words, not as an explication of this power, but as an argument to move him to show forth his power for his people notwithstanding their sins, according as , or rather because , (as the Hebrew word is oft rendered,) he had spoken, saying, &c., and so he should maintain the honour and the truth of his own name, or of those titles which he had ascribed to himself. Or,

2. The power of his grace and mercy, or the greatness of his mercy , as he calls it, Num 14:19 , in pardoning of this and their other sins; for to this the following words manifestly restrain it,

according as thou hast spoken & c., where the pardon of their sins is the only instance of this power both described in God’ s titles, Num 14:18 , and prayed for by Moses, Num 14:19 , pardon, I beseech thee , &c., and granted by God in answer to him, Num 14:20 , I have pardoned , &c. Nor is it strange that the pardon of sin, especially of such great sins, be spoken of as an act of power in God, because undoubtedly it is an act of omnipotent and infinite goodness; whence despairing sinners sometimes cry out that their sins are greater than God can pardon, as some translate Cain’ s words, Gen 4:13 . And since power is applied to God’ s wrath in punishing sin, Rom 9:22 , why may it not as well be attributed to God’ s mercy in forgiving it? especially if it be considered that even in men revenge is an act of impotency, and consequently it must needs be an act of power to conquer their passions and inclinations to revenge, and to pardon those enemies whom they could destroy.

Poole: Num 14:18

These words may seem to be very improperly mentioned, as being a powerful argument to move God to destroy this wicked people, and not to pardon them. It may be answered, that Moses useth these words together with the rest, partly because he would not sever what God had put. together, and partly to show that he did not desire a fulfil and absolute pardon, (but was willing that God should execute his vengeance upon the principal authors of this rebellion, and leave some character of his displeasure upon all the people, as God did,) but only that God would not disinherit them, Num 14:12 , nor kill all the people as one man , Num 14:15 , nor destroy them both root and branch, because he, had promised not to extend his wrath against them in punishing their sins beyond the third and fourth generation. But the truer answer seems to be, that these words are to be translated otherwise, and in destroying he will not utterly destroy , though he visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children ,

unto the third and fourth generation Of which See Poole "Exo 34:7" , where all this verse is explained.

Poole: Num 14:19

After many and great provocations; show thyself still to be the same sin-pardoning God.

Poole: Num 14:20

So far as not utterly to destroy them, as I threatened, Num 14:12 , and thou didst fear, and beg the prevention of it, Num 14:15 .

Poole: Num 14:21

i.e. With the report of the glorious and righteous acts of God in punishing this rebellious people in manner following. That this is the true sense, appears both from the particle of opposition, and the solemn introduction of them.

But truly as I live and from the following verses, because all these men , &c, which come in without any note of opposition, and have a manifest relation to and connexion with this verse.

Poole: Num 14:22

My glory i.e. my glorious appearances in the cloud, and in the tabernacle.

Ten times i.e. many times. A certain number for an uncertain, as Gen 31:7 Lev 26:8 Job 19:3 . Though some reckon ten times precisely, wherein they did eminently provoke God.

Poole: Num 14:24

Joshua is not here named, because he was not now among the people, but a constant attendant upon Moses; nor was he to be reckoned as one of them, any more than Moses and Aaron were, because he was to be their chief commander.

Another spirit with him i.e. was a man of another temper and carriage, faithful and courageous, not acted by that evil spirit of cowardice, unbelief, unthankfulness, disobedience, which ruled in his brethren, but by the Spirit of God.

Fully i.e. universally and constantly, in and through difficulties and dangers, which made his partners halt.

The land whereinto he went in general, Canaan, and particularly Hebron, and the adjacent parts, Jos 14:9 .

Shall possess it or, shall expel it , i.e. its inhabitants, the land being oft put for the people of it. Compare Jos 8:7 14:12 .

Poole: Num 14:25

In the valley beyond the mountain at the foot whereof they now were, Num 14:40 . And this clause is added, either,

1. As an aggravation of Israel’ s misery and punishment, that being now ready to enter and take possession of the land, they are forced to go back into the wilderness; or,

2. As an argument to oblige them more willingly to obey the following command of returning into the wilderness, because their enemies were very near them, and severed from them only by that Idumean mountain, and if they did not speedily depart, their enemies would hear of them and fall upon them, and so the evil which before they causelessly feared would come upon them; they, their wives, and their children would become a prey to the Amalekites and Canaanites, because God had forsaken them, and would not assist nor defend them. The verse may be rendered thus,

And or But , for the present,

the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley therefore (which particle is here understood, as it is in other places)

to-morrow turn ye & c. Though some knit these words to the former, and read the place thus, Caleb— and his seed shall possess it , to wit, the land near Hebron, and also the land of the Amalekites and of the Canaanites that dwell in the valley .

Quest. But how are the Canaanites said to dwell in the valley here, when they dwelt in the hill , Num 14:45 , and by the sea-coasts, Num 21:1 ?

Answ 1. Part of them dwelt in one place, and part in other places.

2. The word Canaanite may here be understood more generally of all the inhabitants of Canaan.

By the way of the Red Sea i.e. that leadeth to the Red Sea, and to Egypt, the place whither you desire to return, Num 14:3,4 .

Poole: Num 14:27

Bear with or pardon , as Num 14:19,20 , or spare ; which words are necessarily and easily understood. It is a short and imperfect speech, which is frequent in case of anger, as Exo 32:32 Psa 6:3 90:13 .

Poole: Num 14:28

As you wickedly wished you might have died in the wilderness, Num 14:2 , I will bring your imprecations upon your heads.

Poole: Num 14:30

To make you i.e. your nation; for God did not swear to do so to these particular persons.

Poole: Num 14:33

Wander like sheep, feeding in the deserts; or shall be shepherds , i.e. shall live like the shepherds of Arabia, in tents, and removing from place to place, having no certain dwelling.

Forty years i.e. so long as to make up the time of your dwelling in the wilderness forty years, as appears from Num 33:8 Deu 1:3 2:14 . Compare Amo 5:25 . It is manifest that one whole year and part of another were past before this sin or judgment.

Your whoredoms i.e. the punishment of your whoredoms, to wit, of your apostacy from, and perfidiousness against, your Lord, who was your Husband, and had married you to himself. See Jer 3:14 . Whence idolatry is called whoredom.

Poole: Num 14:34

Each day for a year so there should have been forty years to come, but God was pleased mercifully to accept of the time past as a part of that time.

My breach of promise that as you have first broken the covenant between you and me, by breaking the terms or conditions of it, so I will make it void on my part, by denying you the blessings promised in that covenant, and to be given to you in case of your obedience. So you shall see that the breach of promise wherewith you charged me, Num 14:3 , lies at your door, and was forced from me by your perfidiousness. Or, my breach ; either passively, i.e. your breaking off from me, as such pronouns are oft used, as Gen 1:4 Isa 53:11 56:7 ; or actively, i.e. my breaking off or departing from you, and stopping the current of my blessings towards you; you shall feel by experience how sad your condition is when I withdraw my grace and favour from you.

Poole: Num 14:37

Either by the pestilence threatened Num 14:12 , or by some other sudden and extraordinary judgment, sent from the cloud in which God dwelt, and from whence he spake to Moses, and wherein his glory at this time appeared before all the people, Num 14:10 , who therefore were all, and these spies among the rest, before the Lord.

Poole: Num 14:40

Gat them up i.e. designed, or attempted, or prepared themselves to go up; for that they were not yet actually gone up, plainly appears from Num 14:42,44 , and from Deu 1:41 . Things designed or endeavoured in Scripture phrase are oft said to be done. See on Gen 37:21,22 Ex 8:18 .

Poole: Num 14:41

The commandment of the Lord either that command, Go not up , &c., which, though in this place mentioned after, yet may seem to have gone before their transgression, by comparing this place with Deu 1:42,43 ; or that command above, Num 14:25 , Turn ye, and get ye into the wilderness , &c., which was a course directly contrary to that which they took.

Poole: Num 14:44

They presumed guilty both of rashness and rebellion; thus running from one extreme to another.

Poole: Num 14:45

The Canaanite largely so called, but strictly the Arnorite, as appears from Deu 1:44 .

Which dwelt so they were a part and branch of those that dwelt in the valley, Num 14:25 . Or, sat , i.e. placed themselves, lay in ambush, expecting your coming.

Hormah a place so called afterwards Num 21:3 , from the great slaughter or destruction of the Israelites at this time.

Haydock: Num 14:11

Detract. Hebrew, "despise, irritate, or blaspheme." God is incapable of anger, says Origen; he only foretells what will come to pass.

Haydock: Num 14:13

That the. The sentence is left imperfect, to signify the agitation and distress with which Moses was oppressed, as if he had said, Thou wilt thus afford a pretext, that the Egyptians and Chanaanites may say to one another, that thou couldst not perform what thou hadst promised; and therefore, that in vexation thou hadst destroyed thy people. (Haydock) ---

Hebrew, "Then the Egyptians shall hear it....and will tell it to the inhabitants of this land....because the Lord could not," &c., ver. 16. (Calmet) ---

Thus they will blaspheme thy holy name. (Menochius)

Haydock: Num 14:15

One man. All at once, (Calmet) entirely, without sparing so much as one. (Vatable)

Haydock: Num 14:16

Sworn. God swore to give this land to the Hebrews, but not to this particular generation. His oath would be equally fulfilled by raising posterity to Moses, ver. 13. But, at his entreaty, he spared the descendants of this people, and gave the land to their children under Josue. (Haydock)

Haydock: Num 14:17

Lord, in overcoming all difficulties, raised either by the enemy, or by thy rebellious people.

Haydock: Num 14:18

Mercy. Septuagint, "merciful and true," as Exodus xxxiv. 6, 7. On that occasion, it is not written that God swore. (Haydock) ---

But equal credit is to be given to his word, as to an oath. (Menochius) ---

Clear, or, as St. Jerome expresses it in Exodus, and no man of himself is innocent before thee. (Calmet) ---

By these titles God will be addressed; and therefore Moses mentions them all, though some of them might seem to obstruct his petition of pardon. (Menochius) ---

He knew that none of God's perfections were contrary to one another, or to his nature of consummate goodness; and he sued for the pardon of his people, with all due submission to the dictates of his justice. (Haydock)

Haydock: Num 14:20

Forgiven the sins to those who repent; but the punishment due to them must be undergone, though not so soon as I had threatened, ver. 12, 19. How happy is that nation, which has one like Moses to intercede for them! (Haydock)

Haydock: Num 14:21

Lord. I will surely punish the guilty; and all the earth shall know that their own crimes, and not my imbecility, prevented their taking possession of Chanaan. My glory shall shine both in my long-suffering, and in the effects of my justice. Let me pass for a dead god, like the idols, if I do not perform what I say.

Haydock: Num 14:22

The men, above twenty years of age, ver. 29. ---

Majesty, manifested by the signs, &c. (Haydock) ---

Ten times; very often. It is not necessary to specify the number of the rebellions, as some have done, placing the first on the other side of the Red Sea, (Exodus xiv. 11,) and the tenth here. The expression is often used to express a great but indefinite number. (Ecclesiastes vii. 20.) (Calmet)

Haydock: Num 14:23

It. None of those who murmured ever entered the land of promise. Origen (hom. 27,) believes that the Levites behaved with fidelity, and were not comprised in the punishment. In effect, Eleazar certainly entered Chanaan, Josue xiv. 1. Salmon also, who espoused Rahab, had seen the wonders of God, but had not joined with the rest; so that, when it is said (ver. 2,) that all murmured, we must explain it by St. Jerome's rule, of the greatest part; as, no doubt, many would abhor the conduct of the seditious. (Calmet) ---

Omnia non ad totum referenda esse sed ad partem maximam. (St. Jerome, ep. 146. ad Dam.)

Haydock: Num 14:24

Spirit. The spirit of obedience and of courage. (Menochius) ---

Followed me, as a guide, and hath fulfilled all my desires. (Vatable) ---

This he was enabled to do by God's free grace. But his co-operation merited a reward. See St. Augustine, de Grat. &. Lib. iv.) (Worthington)

Haydock: Num 14:25

For. Hebrew, "Now," &c. The enemy is ready to attack you in the defiles, and I will not expose you at present to their fury, as you shall not enter the land for many years. Wherefore to-morrow, &c. (Haydock) ---

It seems they complied reluctantly, for they probably encamped in that neighbourhood about a year. (Calmet)

Haydock: Num 14:30

Hand, the posture of one taking an oath, Genesis xv. 18.

Haydock: Num 14:33

Years. Within five days from the departure out of Egypt, (Menochius) and above 38 from this time. Hebrew, "they shall be shepherds," without any fixed dwelling, like the shepherds of that country. ---

Consumed. They had complained that Chanaan consumed and devoured its inhabitants. (Calmet) ---

Their children underwent a temporal, but salutary, punishment for their sin. (St. Augustine, ep. 75.) (Worthington)

Haydock: Num 14:37

Lord, by pestilence, (ver. 12; Philo,) or by the exterminating angel, 1 Corinthians x. 10. They were burnt to death before the tabernacle, or at least died suddenly. (Jansenius) The Jews have appointed a fast on the 7th of the 6th month, to bewail this event, ver. 39. (Calmet)

Haydock: Num 14:41

Which conduct shall not, &c. They had been ordered to return: now they will advance, and, though admonished that the Lord will not assist them, they depend upon their own efforts, being ever full of themselves, and distrustful of God, the two sources of all spiritual misfortunes. (Haydock)

Haydock: Num 14:44

Blinded, with presumption, as the Hebrew yahpilu, insinuates. "Their heart was puffed up with pride, and they ascended," Deuteronomy i. 43. (Calmet) ---

The enemy was ready to receive them, and easily routed this rabble, abandoned by God, and by Moses, Aaron and his sons, Josue, and other men of virtue and sense. They who before lay lurking in the valleys, (ver. 25,) assume fresh courage, when they become the executioners of God's vengeance, and come pouring down from their mountains, with irresistible fury; nor do they stop till they had made a dreadful carnage of the Hebrews. The same place was again deluged with blood, (chap. xxi. 3,) and was called Horma, or "the Curse." The Samaritan and Septuagint add, and they returned into the camp, Thus, by their own woeful experience, they began to feel that God would keep his word in punishing the common people, as well as the leaders, ver. 37. (Haydock)

Gill: Num 14:11

And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Out of the cloud upon the tabernacle:

how long will this people provoke me? which suggests that they had often provoked him, and had done it long ago, and still continued to do so; and he had long bore their provocations; but it was not reasonable, nor could it be expected by Moses or any other, that he would bear them much longer:

and how long will it be ere they believe me; unbelief was a sin they had often and long been guilty of, and which greatly prevailed among them, and was the root of all their murmurings, mutiny, and rebellion; and what was highly provoking to the Lord, since they ought to have believed him, and that he was able to make good, and would make good his promises to them:

for all the signs which I have showed among them; the wonders and miracles he had wrought in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, and in their sight; on account of which they should have given credit to his word, and which were strong aggravations of their unbelief; and is the true reason why they entered not into the good land, Heb 3:18.

Gill: Num 14:12

I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them,.... Deprive them of inhabiting the land; so as many as died of the pestilence were even all the spies who brought an evil report of the good land, Num 14:37; with respect to the body of the people, this is to be considered not as a peremptory decree or a determined point; but is delivered partly by way of proposal to Moses, to draw out from him what he would say to it; and partly by way of threatening to the people, to bring them to a sense of their sin and repentance for it:

and will make of thee a greater nation, and mightier than they: this anticipates an objection that might be made, should the people of Israel be cut off by the plague, and so disinherited of the land of Canaan, what will become of the oath of God made to their fathers? to which the answer is, it would be fulfilled in making the posterity of Moses as great or a greater and more powerful nation than Israel now was, and by introducing them into the land of Canaan, who would be of the seed of the fathers of Israel, as Jarchi observes, as those people were; and this was said to prove Moses, and try his affection to the people of Israel; and give him an opportunity of showing his public and disinterested spirit.

Gill: Num 14:13

And Moses said unto the Lord,.... In an abrupt manner, as the following words show, his mind being greatly disturbed and distressed by the above threatening:

then the Egyptians shall hear it; that the Lord had smitten the Israelites with the pestilence; the Targum of Jonathan interprets it of the children of the Egyptians who were suffocated in the sea:

for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them; they were once sojourners among them, and slaves unto them, and they were delivered from them by the mighty hand of the Lord upon the Egyptians, destroying their firstborn; and therefore when they shall hear that the Israelites were all destroyed at once by a pestilence in the wilderness, it will be a pleasure to them, as follows.

Gill: Num 14:14

And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land,.... The land of Canaan, between which and Egypt there was an intercourse, though not by the way of the wilderness, being neighbours, and their original ancestors brethren, as Mizraim and Canaan were; or "they will say" ^t, and that with joy, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; but what they would say does not appear so plain; either it was that the Israelites were killed in the wilderness, a tale they would tell with pleasure; but that the Canaanites would hear of doubtless before them, and not need their information, since the Israelites were upon their borders; or that the Lord had brought them out of Egypt indeed, but could carry them no further, could not introduce them into the land he had promised them; or rather they would say to them what follows, for the preposition "for" is not in the text, and may be omitted; and so the sense is, they will tell them:

they have heard that thou Lord art among this people; in the tabernacle that was in the midst of them, in the most holy place of it:

that thou Lord art seen face to face: as he was by Moses, who was at the head of them:

and that thy cloud standeth over them; and sheltered and protected them from the heat of the sun in the daytime, when it rested upon them in their encampment:

and that thou goest before them, by daytime in a pillar of a cloud,

and in a pillar of fire by night; in their journeys; they will tell of those favours thou hast shown Israel; and yet, after all, will observe that thou hast destroyed them, which will not redound to thine honour and glory.

Gill: Num 14:15

Now if thou shall kill all this people, as one man,.... Suddenly, and at once, as might be done by a pestilence; and as 185,000 were smitten at once, and as thought by the same disease, by the Angel of the Lord in the camp of the Assyrians, in later times, 2Ki 19:35,

then the nations which have heard the fame of thee; the Egyptians, Canaanites, and others, as Aben Ezra observes; who had heard the report of the wonderful things done by him for Israel, and of the great favours he had bestowed upon them, and so of his power, and goodness, and other perfections displayed therein, which made him appear to be preferable to all the gods of the Gentiles:

will speak, saying; as follows.

Gill: Num 14:16

Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them,.... That though he brought them out of Egypt, he was not able to bring them through the wilderness into Canaan; and that though he had wrought many signs and wonders for them, he could work no more, his power failed him, he had exhausted all his might, and could not perform the promise and oath he had made:

therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness; because he could not fulfil his word, and so made short work of it, destroying them all together, which Moses suggests would greatly reflect dishonour on him; and in this he shows, that he was more concerned for the glory of God than for his own.

Gill: Num 14:17

And now, I beseech thee, let the power of Lord be great,.... That is, appear to be great; the power of God is great, not only mighty, but almighty; it knows no bounds, nothing is impossible with him, he can do whatever he pleases, Psa 147:5; his power, and the greatness of it, had been seen in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt, and through the Red sea, and in providing for them, protecting and defending them in the wilderness; and the request of Moses is, that it might appear greater and greater in bringing them into the land of promise; or else he means an exceeding great display of the grace and mercy of God in the forgiveness of the sins of the people; for as the power of God is seen in his forbearance and longsuffering with the wicked, Rom 9:22; much more in the forgiveness of the sins of men, there being more power and virtue in grace to pardon, than there is in sin to damn; and as it is an indication of strength in men, and of their power over themselves, when they can rule their own spirits, keep under their passions, and restrain their wrath, and show a forgiving temper, Pro 16:32; so it is an instance of the power of God to overcome his wrath and anger stirred up by the sins of men; and, notwithstanding their provocations, freely to forgive: pardon of sin is an act of power, as well as of grace and mercy, see Mat 9:6; and this sense agrees with what follows. The first letter in the word for "great" is larger than usual, that it might be taken notice of; and to signify the exceeding greatness of the power of God, Moses desired might be displayed in this case: and the letter numerically signifies ten, and has been thought to respect the ten times that Israel tempted the Lord, Num 14:22; and to suggest, that though they had so done, yet the grace and mercy of God should ten times exceed the ingratitude of the people ^u:

according as thou hast spoken, saying; as in Exo 34:6; and is as follows.

Gill: Num 14:18

The Lord is longsuffering,.... Towards all men, and especially towards his own people:

and of great mercy, being abundant in goodness, and keeping mercy for thousands:

forgiving iniquity and transgression, all sorts of sin:

and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation; which may seem to make against the plea of Moses for mercy and forgiveness; but the reason of these words being expressed seems to be, because they go along with the others in the passage referred to, and are no contradiction to the forgiving mercy of God in a way of justice; nor did Moses request to have the guilty cleared from punishment altogether, but that God would show mercy, at least to such a degree as not to cut off the whole nation, and leave no posterity to inherit the land; which is supposed in visiting the sin of the fathers to the third or fourth generation.

Gill: Num 14:19

Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people,

according unto the greatness of thy mercy,.... Intimating, that though the sin of this people was great, the mercy of God to pardon was greater; and therefore he entreats that God would deal with them, not according to the greatness of their sins, and the strictness of justice, but according to the greatness of his mercy, who would, and does, abundantly pardon:

and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now; which shows both that these people had been continually sinning against the Lord, ever since they came out of Egypt, notwithstanding the great goodness of God unto them, and that he had as constantly pardoned; and therefore it was hoped and entreated that he would still continue to pardon them, he being the same he ever was, and whose mercy and goodness endure for ever: he had pardoned already sins of the like kind since their coming out of Egypt, as their murmurings for bread in the wilderness of Sin, Exo 16:1, and for water at Rephidim, Exo 17:1, and even a greater sin than these, idolatry, or the worship of the calf, Exo 32:1.

Gill: Num 14:20

And the Lord said, I have pardoned, according to thy word. So as not to kill them utterly as one man: which is an instance of his being plenteous in mercy, and ready to forgive; and of the virtue and efficacy of the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man, and of the great regard the Lord has to the prayers of a good man for others. The Jerusalem Targum is,"and the Word of the Lord said, lo, I have remitted and forgiven according to thy word;''which must be understood of Christ, the essential Word, and shows, according to the sense of the Targumist, that he has a power to forgive sin, and must be a divine Person, for none can forgive sin but God; see Mar 2:7.

Gill: Num 14:21

But as truly as I live,.... Which is the form of an oath, as the Targum; the Lord swears by his life, or by himself, because he could swear by no greater:

all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord; this is not the thing sworn unto or confirmed, but that by which the oath is made and confirmed; and the sense is, that as sure as the earth "had been" filled with the glory of the Lord, as it may be rendered, as it had been with the fame of what he had done in Egypt, and at the Red sea; or as it "should be" filled with it in later times, especially in the kingdom of the Messiah in the latter day; see Isa 6:3; so sure the men that had provoked him should not see the land of Canaan.

Gill: Num 14:22

Because all those men which have seen my glory,.... His glorious Majesty, or the emblem of it in the cloud, on the tabernacle, which had often appeared to them, and the glorious things done by him; the glory of his power, wisdom, goodness, faithfulness, and truth, displayed in bringing them out of Egypt, through the Red sea, and thus far in the wilderness, even to the borders of the land of Canaan; it should be rendered, not "because", but "that", for this is the thing sworn to, or the matter of the oath:

and my miracles which I did in Egypt; by the hand of Moses, both before them, when he was sent to them, as a proof of his divine mission, and before Pharaoh and all his court, Exo 7:10, inflicting plagues upon him and his people, Exo 7:20,

and in the wilderness; in raining manna from heaven about their tents, Exo 16:14; sending them quails, Exo 16:13; and giving them water out of the rock, Exo 17:6,

and have tempted me now these ten times; which the Jews understand precisely and exactly of such a number, and which they reckon thus ^w; twice at the sea, Exo 14:11; twice concerning water, Exo 15:23; twice about manna, Exo 16:2; twice about quails, Exo 16:12; once by the calf, Exo 32:1; and once in the wilderness of Paran, Num 14:1, which last and tenth was the present temptation: these are reckoned a little otherwise elsewhere ^x; but perhaps it may be better, with Aben Ezra, to interpret it of many times, a certain number being put for an uncertain, they having frequently tempted the Lord:

and have not hearkened to my voice; neither to his word of promise, nor to his word of command, and particularly his late order to go up and possess the land, Deu 1:21.

Gill: Num 14:23

Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers,.... Not possess and enjoy the land of Canaan, which the Lord by an oath had promised their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give it to their seed; and now he swears that these men, who had so often tempted him, and been disobedient to him, should not inherit it; so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem take it for an oath; see Heb 3:11,

neither shall any of them that provoked me see it; that provoked him by the ill report they had brought of the land, by their unbelief, by their murmurings, and mutiny.

Gill: Num 14:24

But my servant Caleb,.... Who was one of the spies, and brought a good and true report of the land; and so in that, as well as in other things, approved himself to be a faithful servant of the Lord, and who had stilled the people at the beginning of their murmur, and with Joshua had attempted to quiet them afterwards; and though Joshua is not here mentioned, because, as some say, he had no children, and therefore it could not be said of him that his seed should possess the land, as is said of Caleb; or rather, because he was to be the general and commander of the people, who was to introduce them into the land of Canaan, and therefore there was no necessity of expressing him by name, yet he is afterwards mentioned, Num 14:30,

because he had another spirit with him; different from that of the rest of the spies, excepting Joshua; a spirit of faith, and of the fear of the Lord, of might and courage, of truth and faithfulness; believing in the promise of God, which the spies distrusted, being persuaded the land might easily be conquered, which they feared; and bringing a true report of the land, the reverse of the ill and false one they brought. For this is to be understood not of the Holy Spirit of God, nor of his work upon the hearts of good men, which is different from the spirit of the world, though Caleb was possessed of that also:

and hath followed me fully; with full purpose of heart whithersoever he led him, or directed him, in every path of duty, and in the exercise of every grace; or "hath fulfilled after me" ^y; obeyed his word of command, fulfilled his mind and will, by going after him, and acting according to the rules and directions he gave him:

him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; the land of Canaan he went into to spy and search:

and his seed shall possess it; not the whole land, but Hebron, and the parts about it, where he particularly went, and which he and his posterity afterwards enjoyed, see Num 13:22. The Targum of Onkelos is, "shall expel it"; the inhabitants of it; for the word signifies both to inherit and disinherit; and so Jarchi interprets it, shall disinherit the Anakim, and the people that are in it, that is, drive them out of it, as Caleb did, Jos 15:13.

Gill: Num 14:25

And now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley,.... By the Canaanites are meant the Amorites, as Aben Ezra, which were a principal people of the land of Canaan, and which may be confirmed by Deu 1:19; this may seem contrary to what is said Num 13:29; where they are said to dwell in the mountain; but it may be reconciled by observing, that indeed their proper settled habitation was in the mountain; but now they went down from thence, and "sat" ^z in the valley, as it may be rendered, in ambush, there lying in wait for the children of Israel, as in Psa 10:8; and so Aben Ezra interprets it of their sitting there, to lie in wait for them: and now, though these people had so sadly provoked the Lord, yet such was his goodness to them, as to warn them of the design of their enemies, and of the danger by them, to provide for their safety, by giving them the following instruction:

tomorrow turn you; do not go forward, lest ye fall into their ambushment, but turn about, and go the contrary way; return in the way, or towards the parts from whence ye came: this they are bid to do tomorrow, but did not till some time after; for, contrary to the command of God, they went up the mount, where they were defeated by the Amalekites and Canaanites, after which they stayed in Kadesh some days, Deu 1:44,

and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea; or in the way towards it; and so they would be in the way to Egypt, where the people were desirous of returning again; but as they were always a rebellious and disobedient people, and acted contrary to God, so in this case; for when he bid them go back towards the Red sea again, then they were for going forward, and entering into the land of Canaan, Num 14:40; though when he bid them go up, and possess it, then they were for returning to Egypt, Num 14:4.

Gill: Num 14:26

And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,.... Before he had been only speaking to Moses, who had interceded with him to pardon the people, which he had granted; but at the same time assured him they should not enter into and possess the land of Canaan, and the same he repeats to him and Aaron together:

saying: as follows.

Gill: Num 14:27

How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me?.... Bear with their murmurings, spare them, and not cut them off? how long must sparing mercy be extended to them? the Lord speaks as one weary of forbearing, so frequent and aggravated were their murmurings. The Jews understand this not of the whole congregation of Israel, but of the ten spies, from whence they gather, that ten make a congregation; and they interpret the phrase, "which murmur against me", transitively, "which cause to murmur against me"; made the children of Israel murmur against him, so Jarchi; but rather all the people are meant, as appears from Num 14:28, and from the following clause:

I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me; for their murmurings were not only against Moses and Aaron, but against the Lord himself, Num 14:2.

Gill: Num 14:28

Say unto them, as truly as I live, saith the Lord,.... The form of an oath, as in Num 14:21,

as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you; what they had wished for, and expressed in the hearing of the Lord, he threatens them should be their case.

Gill: Num 14:29

Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness,.... They had wished they had died in it, Num 14:2, and the Lord here declares they should, which is signified by the falling of their carcasses in it, or their bodies, which when dead fall to the ground, having no strength to support themselves:

and all that were numbered of you: but a few months before this time, when their number was 603,550, Num 1:46,

according to your number from twenty years old and upward; which is observed, as Jarchi thinks, to except the Levites, for they were not numbered with the other tribes; and when they were numbered by themselves, their number was taken from a month old and upwards; wherefore it need not be wondered at, if we find that there were of them who did not fall in the wilderness, but entered into the land of Canaan, as it is certain Eleazar the priest, the son of Aaron, did, Num 34:17,

which have murmured against me; which shows, that not the spies only, who caused the people to murmur, but the people themselves who murmured, and had been numbered, from twenty years old and upward, are the evil congregation the Lord thus threatened with death.

Gill: Num 14:30

Doubtless ye shall not come into the land,.... The land of Canaan; or "if ye shall come" ^a; that is, I swear ye shall not, so the Targum of Jonathan:

concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein; not them personally, but the people and nation of which they were, and to which they belonged, the seed and posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the oath was made:

save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun; who brought a good report of the land. Caleb is mentioned first, as Aben Ezra thinks, because he first appeased and quieted the people; but in Num 14:38 Joshua stands first, so that nothing is to be inferred from hence; these were the only two of the spies that went into the land of Canaan, Num 13:4; and the only two of the Israelites that were numbered, from twenty years old and upwards, Num 14:29; those of the tribe of Levi, not being in that account, must be remembered to be excepted also.

Gill: Num 14:31

But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey,.... To the Canaanites, Num 14:3,

them will I bring in; into the land of Canaan, and so fulfil the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for the unbelief of this congregation did not make the faith, or faithfulness of God, of none effect:

and they shall know the land which ye have despised; shall know what a good land it is by experience, and shall possess and enjoy it with approbation, delight, and pleasure, which they, believing the spies, rejected with, loathing and disdain.

Gill: Num 14:32

But as for you, your carcasses,.... Which way of speaking seems to be used to distinguish them from their children:

they shall fall in this wilderness: which is repeated for the confirmation and certainty it, and an emphasis is laid on the words, this which are pronounced with an accent, to put them in mind of their wish, Num 14:2.

Gill: Num 14:33

And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years,.... Or "feed" ^b, as shepherds, who go from place to place, and seek fresh pasture for their sheep; it being the custom of a shepherd, as Aben Ezra observes, not to stand or rest in a place; and so like sheep grazing in a wilderness, where they have short commons, and wander about in search, of better. These forty years are to be reckoned from their coming out of Egypt, from whence they had now been come about a year and a half:

and bear your whoredoms; the punishment of their idolatries, which are frequently signified by this phrase, and particularly of the idolatry of the calf, which God threatened to punish whenever he visited for sin, Exo 32:34; and of other sins, as their murmurings, &c. for it was on account of them their children wandered so long in the wilderness, and were kept out of the possession of the land of Canaan:

until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness; everyone of them be consumed by death, save those before excepted, Num 14:30.

Gill: Num 14:34

After the number of days in which ye searched the land,

even forty days,.... For so long they were searching it, Num 13:25,

each day for a year; reckoning each day for a year, forty days for forty years, as in Eze 4:6,

shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years: which number is given, being a round one, otherwise it was but thirty eight years and a half ere they were all cut off, and their children entered the land:

and ye shall know my breach of promise; God never makes any breach of promise; his covenant he will not break, nor alter what is gone out of his lips; men break their promises, and transgress the covenant they have made with him, but he never breaks his, Psa 89:34; this should rather be rendered only, "ye shall know my breach"; experience a breach made upon them by him, upon their persons and families by consuming them in the wilderness: the Targum of Jonathan is,"and ye shall know what ye have murmured against me;''this same word is used in the plural in Job 33:10, and is by the Targum rendered "murmurings" or "complaints"; and so the sense is, ye shall know by sad experience the evil of complaining and murmuring against me. The Vulgate Latin version is,"ye shall know my vengeance;''and so the Septuagint,"ye shall know the fury of my anger''which give the sense, though not a literal version of the words.

Gill: Num 14:35

I the Lord have said,.... Determined, resolved on doing what I have declared, and again repeat it; the decree is absolute and peremptory, and will never be revoked:

I will surely do it to all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me; against his ministers, Moses the chief magistrate, and Aaron the high priest; and this is interpreted gathering, conspiring, and rebelling against the Lord himself, on account of which they might be truly called an evil congregation, and therefore it was a determined point with him to destroy them:

in this wilderness they shall be consumed; by wasting diseases:

and there they shall die; as they wished they might, Num 14:22; with respect to which this was so often repeated, Exo 16:3; and which the Jews interpret not only of a corporeal death, but of an eternal one; for they say ^c"the generation of the wilderness (of those that died there) have no part in the world to come, nor shall stand in judgment, as it is said, "in this wilderness", &c. Num 14:35.''

Gill: Num 14:36

And the men which Moses sent to search the land,.... Ten of them:

who returned; as they all did, who were sent to search it:

and made all the congregation to murmur against him; against, Moses that sent them; they murmured themselves, and made others murmur:

by bringing up a slander upon the land; that it ate up its inhabitants, and that the inhabitants of it were of such a stature, and so gigantic and strong, and dwelt in such walled cities, Num 13:28, that there was no probability of subduing them, Num 13:31.

Gill: Num 14:37

Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land,.... They, and they only at this time:

died by the plague before the Lord; either by the pestilence immediately sent upon them by the Lord, or by a flash of lightning from him, or in some other way; however, by the immediate hand of God, and in his presence, being in the tabernacle of the congregation, Num 14:10; though the Jews differently relate the manner of their death; some say worms came out of their navels, and up to their jaws, and ate them and their tongues; and others that they came out of their tongues, and entered their navels, which they take to be a just retaliation for sinning with their tongues: and the time of their death they differ about; some say, as the Targum of Jonathan, that it was upon the seventh, and others that it was on the seventeenth of Elul or August they died ^d.

Gill: Num 14:38

But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh,.... Here Joshua is set first, as Caleb is in Num 14:30; which shows that they were equal in dignity, and therefore are indifferently put, sometimes the one first, and sometimes the other:

which were of the men that went to search the land; were two of the spies, and were for the tribes of Judah and Ephraim, Num 13:6,

lived still; were not stricken with death, when the other spies were; though perhaps upon the very spot, and in the same place, and among them, when they were struck dead; but these remained alive, and continued many years after, and entered the good land, and possessed it.

Gill: Num 14:39

And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel,.... That all that had murmured, who were of twenty years old and upwards, should die in the wilderness, and never see nor enter into the land of Canaan, on the borders of which they now were:

and the people mourned greatly; because of their unhappy case, that they should be cut off by death in the wilderness, and be deprived of the enjoyment of the good land; their sorrow seems to have been not a godly sorrow, or true repentance for sin committed, but a worldly sorrow that works death; it was not on account of the evil of sin, the pardon of which they did not seem to seek after, but on account of the evil that was likely to come to them by it.

Gill: Num 14:40

And they rose up early in the morning,.... The next morning after they had heard the bad news of their consumption in the wilderness; not being able, perhaps, to sleep that night with the thoughts of it, and being now in a great haste to go up and possess the land of Canaan, as they were before to return to Egypt:

and gat them up into the top of the mountain; which was the way the spies went into the land of Canaan, Num 13:17; this they did not actually ascend, as appears from Num 14:44; but they determined upon it, and got themselves ready for it:

saying, lo, we be here; this they said either to one another, animating each other to engage in the enterprise; or to Moses and Joshua, signifying that they were ready to go up and possess the land, if they would put themselves at the head of them, and take the command and direction of them:

and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: the land of Canaan:

for we have sinned; in not going up to possess it, when they were bid to go, and in listening to the spies that brought an ill report of it, and by murmuring against Moses and Aaron, and the Lord himself, and proposing to make them a captain and return to Egypt, Num 14:2, but this acknowledgment and repentance were not very sincere, by what follows.

Gill: Num 14:41

And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord?.... Which was to turn back into the wilderness, and go the way that leads to the Red sea, Num 14:25; instead of which now they were for going forward into the land of Canaan, though averse to it just before:

but it shall not prosper; their attempt to enter into it.

Gill: Num 14:42

Go not up, for the Lord is not among you,.... And therefore could not expect success, for victory is of the Lord; the Targum of Jonathan adds,"the ark, and the tabernacle, and the cloud of glory move not,''which were a plain indication that the Lord would not go with them, and therefore could not hope to prevail over their enemies and enter the land, but on the contrary might expect to be defeated by them, as follows:

that ye be not smitten before your enemies; of which they would be in great danger should they attempt to go up the hill, and the Lord not with them.

Gill: Num 14:43

For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you,.... Having removed from the valley, Num 14:25; or else had detached a party to defend the pass on the top of the mountain, and where perhaps they designed to feign a retreat if they found it proper, and draw them into a combat in the valley:

and ye shall fall by the sword: by the sword of the Amalekites and Canaanites:

because ye are turned away from the Lord: from the word of the Lord, from hearkening to and obeying his command:

therefore the Lord will not be with you; the consequence of which must be bad for them.

Gill: Num 14:44

But they presumed to go up unto the hill top,.... In a bold, audacious, and presumptuous manner; they attempted to go up to the top of the hill, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Moses against it, and the danger they would be exposed unto; but withdrawing themselves from God and his ministers, and lifted up in themselves, and confident of their own strength, ventured on this rash enterprise: the Vulgate Latin version is, "being darkened they went up": either having their understandings darkened, and being given up to a judicial blindness and hardness of heart; or else they went up in the morning while it was dark, before daylight; which latter sense is favoured by the Targum of Jonathan,"and they girded (or armed) themselves in the dark, before the morning light;''and the former by an ancient exposition, called Tanchuma, mentioned by Jarchi,"they went obscure (as it were in the dark) because without leave:"

nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp; the cloud not being taken up, but abiding on the tabernacle, which was the signal for resting, both for the ark, and for the camp, the Kohathites did not move with the ark: the Jews ^e have a notion, that there were two arks which went with Israel in the wilderness, one in which the law was put, and another in which the broken pieces of the tables were left; that in which the law was, was placed in the tabernacle of the congregation, and of this it is written, "the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not", &c. but that in which the broken pieces of the tables were, went in and out with them: but this does not clearly appear; and it is highly probable no ark went with them at this time; nor did Moses, the leader and commander of the people, stir from the camp of the Levites; wherefore it was a bold and hazardous undertaking the other camps engaged in without God going with them, and their general before them, or Joshua his minister; for if one did not go, the same may be concluded of the other.

Gill: Num 14:45

Then the Amalekites came down,.... The hill; met the Israelites as they ascended: and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill; the same with the Amorites, one of the seven nations of Canaan, Num 13:29,

and smote them; with the sword, having the advantage of them in coming down the hill upon them:

and discomfited them even unto Hormah; the name of a place, so called from what happened there; as Jarchi says; either from this destruction of the Israelites at this time by these their enemies, or from the destruction of the Canaanites by Israel, Num 21:4; and so here has its name by anticipation; or it may be from both these events, and seems to be confirmed by a third of the like kind, having been in former times called Zephath, Jdg 1:17; see Jos 15:30; though some take it to be an appellative here, and not the proper name of a place, and render it even unto destruction, as the Targum of Jonathan, denoting the very great destruction and havoc that were made among them: how many were destroyed is not certain; the judgment threatened them of God soon began to take place, that their carcasses should fall in that wilderness.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Num 14:11

¹ tn The verb נָאַץ (na’ats) means “to condemn, spurn” (BDB 610 s.v.). Coats suggests that in some contexts the word means actual rejection or renunciation (Rebellion in the Wilderness, 146, 7). This would include the idea of distaste.

² tn The verb “to believe” (root אָמַן, ’aman) has the basic idea of support, dependability for the root. The Hiphil has a declarative sense, namely, to consider something reliable or dependable and to act on it. The people did not trust what the Lord said.

NET Notes: Num 14:12

¹ tc The Greek version has “death.”

NET Notes: Num 14:13

¹ tn The construction is unusual in that we have here a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive with no verb before it to establish the time sequence. The context requires that this be taken as a vav (ו) consecutive. It actually forms the protasis for the next verse, and would best be rendered “when…then they will say.”

NET Notes: Num 14:14

¹ tn The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.

² tn “Face to face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.

NET Notes: Num 14:15

¹ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of מוּת (mut), וְהֵמַתָּה (vÿhemattah). The vav (ו) consecutive makes this also a future time sequence verb, but again in a conditional clause.

² tn Heb “as one man.”

NET Notes: Num 14:17

¹ tc The form in the text is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay), the word that is usually used in place of the tetragrammaton. It is the plural form with the pronominal suffix, and so must refer to God.

NET Notes: Num 14:18

¹ tn The expression is רַב־חֶסֶד (rav khesed) means “much of loyal love,” or “faithful love.” Some have it “totally faithful,” but that omits the aspect of his love.

² tn Or “rebellion.”

³ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the verbal activity of the imperfect tense, which here serves as a habitual imperfect. Negated it states what God does not do; and the infinitive makes that certain.

⁴ sn The Decalogue adds “to those who hate me.” The point of the line is that the effects of sin, if not the sinful traits themselves, are passed on to the next generation.

NET Notes: Num 14:19

¹ tn The verb סְלַח־נָא (selakh-na’), the imperative form, means “forgive” (see Ps 130:4), “pardon,” “excuse.” The imperative is of course a prayer, a desire, and not a command.

² tn The construct unit is “the greatness of your loyal love.” This is the genitive of specification, the first word being the modifier.

NET Notes: Num 14:20

¹ tn Heb “forgiven according to your word.” The direct object, “them,” is implied.

NET Notes: Num 14:21

¹ sn This is the oath formula, but in the Pentateuch it occurs here and in v. 28.

NET Notes: Num 14:22

¹ tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.

² tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.

³ tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

NET Notes: Num 14:23

¹ tn The word אִם (’im) indicates a negative oath formula: “if” means “they will not.” It is elliptical. In a human oath one would be saying: “The Lord do to me if they see…,” meaning “they will by no means see.” Here God is swearing that they will not see the land.

NET Notes: Num 14:24

¹ tn Heb “seed.”

NET Notes: Num 14:25

¹ sn The judgment on Israel is that they turn back to the desert and not attack the tribes in the land. So a parenthetical clause is inserted to state who was living there. They would surely block the entrance to the land from the south – unless God removed them. And he is not going to do that for Israel.

NET Notes: Num 14:27

¹ tn The figure is aposiopesis, or sudden silence. The main verb is deleted from the line, “how long…this evil community.” The intensity of the emotion is the reason for the ellipsis.

² sn It is worth mentioning in passing that this is one of the Rabbinic proof texts for having at least ten men to form a congregation and have prayer. If God called ten men (the bad spies) a “congregation,” then a congregation must have ten men. But here the word “community/congregation” refers in this context to the people of Israel as a whole, not just to the ten spies.

NET Notes: Num 14:28

¹ sn Here again is the oath that God swore in his wrath, an oath he swore by himself, that they would not enter the land. “As the Lord lives,” or “by the life of the Lord,” are ways to render it.

² tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is an “oracle.” It is followed by the subjective genitive: “the oracle of the Lord” is equal to saying “the Lord says.”

³ tn Heb “in my ears.”

sn They had expressed the longing to have died in the wilderness, and not in war. God will now give them that. They would not say to God “your will be done,” so he says to them, “your will be done” (to borrow from C. S. Lewis).

NET Notes: Num 14:29

¹ tn Or “your corpses” (also in vv. 32, 33).

NET Notes: Num 14:30

¹ tn The relative pronoun “which” is joined with the resumptive pronoun “in it” to form a smoother reading “where.”

² tn The Hebrew text uses the anthropomorphic expression “I raised my hand” in taking an oath.

³ tn Heb “to cause you to dwell; to cause you to settle.”

NET Notes: Num 14:31

¹ tn Or “plunder.”

² tn Heb “know.”

NET Notes: Num 14:33

¹ tn The word is “shepherds.” It means that the people would be wilderness nomads, grazing their flock on available land.

² tn Heb “you shall bear your whoredoms.” The imagery of prostitution is used throughout the Bible to reflect spiritual unfaithfulness, leaving the covenant relationship and following after false gods. Here it is used generally for their rebellion in the wilderness, but not for following other gods.

³ tn The infinitive is from תָּמַם (tamam), which means “to be complete.” The word is often used to express completeness in a good sense – whole, blameless, or the like. Here and in v. 35 it seems to mean “until your deaths have been completed.” See also Gen 47:15; Deut 2:15.

NET Notes: Num 14:34

¹ tn Heb “you shall bear.”

² tn The phrase refers to the consequences of open hostility to God, or perhaps abandonment of God. The noun תְּנוּאָה (tÿnu’ah) occurs in Job 33:10 (perhaps). The related verb occurs in Num 30:6 HT (30:5 ET) and 32:7 with the sense of “disallow, discourage.” The sense of the expression adopted in this translation comes from the meticulous study of R. Loewe, “Divine Frustration Exegetically Frustrated,” Words and Meanings, 137-58.

NET Notes: Num 14:36

¹ tn The verb is the Hiphil infinitive construct with a lamed (ל) preposition from the root יָצָא (yatsa’, “to bring out”). The use of the infinitive here is epexegetical, that is, explaining how they caused the people to murmur.

NET Notes: Num 14:38

¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the preposition “from,” “some of” – “from those men.” The relative pronoun is added to make a smoother reading.

NET Notes: Num 14:39

¹ tn The preterite here is subordinated to the next preterite to form a temporal clause.

² tn The word אָבַל (’aval) is rare, used mostly for mourning over deaths, but it is used here of mourning over bad news (see also Exod 33:4; 1 Sam 15:35; 16:1; etc.).

NET Notes: Num 14:40

¹ tn The verb וַיַּשְׁכִּמוּ (vayyashkimu) is often found in a verbal hendiadys construction: “They rose early…and they went up” means “they went up early.”

² tn The Hebrew text says literally “the top of the hill,” but judging from the location and the terrain it probably means the heights of the hill country.

³ tn The verb is simply “said,” but it means the place that the Lord said to go up to in order to fight.

⁴ sn Their sin was unbelief. They could have gone and conquered the area if they had trusted the Lord for their victory. They did not, and so they were condemned to perish in the wilderness. Now, thinking that by going they can undo all that, they plan to go. But this is also disobedience, for the Lord said they would not now take the land, and yet they think they can. Here is their second sin, presumption.

NET Notes: Num 14:41

¹ tn The line literally has, “Why is this [that] you are transgressing….” The demonstrative pronoun is enclitic; it brings the force of “why in the world are you doing this now?”

² tn Heb “mouth.”

NET Notes: Num 14:42

¹ tn This verb could also be subordinated to the preceding: “that you be not smitten.”

NET Notes: Num 14:44

¹ tn N. H. Snaith compares Arabic ’afala (“to swell”) and gafala (“reckless, headstrong”; Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 248). The wordעֹפֶל (’ofel) means a “rounded hill” or a “tumor.” The idea behind the verb may be that of “swelling,” and so “act presumptuously.”

² tn The disjunctive vav (ו) here introduces a circumstantial clause; the most appropriate one here would be the concessive “although.”

NET Notes: Num 14:45

¹ tn Heb “came down.”

² tn The verb used here means “crush by beating,” or “pounded” them. The Greek text used “cut them in pieces.”

³ tn The name “Hormah” means “destruction”; it is from the word that means “ban, devote” for either destruction or temple use.

Geneva Bible: Num 14:15

Now [if] thou shalt kill [all] this people as ^{( g )} one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,

^{( g )} So that none shall escape.

Geneva Bible: Num 14:20

And the LORD said, I have pardoned ^{( h )} according to thy word:

^{( h )} In that he did not utterly destroy them, but allowed their children and certain others to enter.

Geneva Bible: Num 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 ^{( i )} ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

^{( i )} That is, various times and often.

Geneva Bible: Num 14:24

But my servant Caleb, because he had another ^{( k )} spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

^{( k )} A meek and obedient spirit, and not rebellious.

Geneva Bible: Num 14:25

(Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites ^{( l )} dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the ^{( m )} wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

^{( l )} And lie in wait for you.

^{( m )} For I will not defend you.

Geneva Bible: Num 14:33

And your children shall ^{( n )} wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your ^{( o )} whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

^{( n )} The word signifies to be shepherds, or to wander like shepherds to and fro.

^{( o )} Your infidelity and disobedience against God.

Geneva Bible: Num 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 ^{( p )} shall know my breach of promise.

^{( p )} Whether my promise is true or not.

Geneva Bible: Num 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 ^{( q )} sinned.

^{( q )} They confessed their sin in rebelling against God, but did not consider their offence in going up without God's commandment.

Geneva Bible: Num 14:44

But they ^{( r )} 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.

^{( r )} They could not be stayed by any means.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Num 14:1-45

1 The people murmur at the news.

6 Joshua and Caleb labour to still them.

11 God threatens them.

13 Moses intercedes with God, and obtains pardon.

26 The murmurers are debarred from entering into the land.

36 The men who raised the evil report die by a plague.

40 The people that would invade the land against the will of God are smitten.

Maclaren: Num 14:19

Moses The Intercessor

Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of Thy mercy, and as Thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.'--Num. 14:19.

SEE how in this story a divine threat is averted and a divine promise is broken, thus revealing a standing law that these in Scripture are conditional.

This striking incident of Moses' intercession suggests to us some thoughts as to

I. The Ground Of The Divine Forgiveness.

The appeal is not based on anything in the people. God is not asked to forgive because of their repentance or their faith. True, these are the conditions on which His pardon is received by us, but they are not the reasons why it is given by Him. Nor does Moses appeal to any sacrifices that had been offered and were conceived to placate God. But he goes deeper than all such pleas, and lays hold, with sublime confidence, on God's own nature as his all-powerful plea. The greatness of Thy mercy' is the ground of the divine forgiveness, and the mightiest plea that human lips can urge. It suggests that His very nature is pardoning love; that mercy' is proper to Him, that it is the motive and impulse of His acts. He forgives because He is mercy. That is the foundation truth. It is the deep spring from which by inherent impulse all the streams of forgiveness well up.

What was true when Moses prayed for the rebels is true to-day. Christ's work is the consequence, not the cause, of God's pardoning love. It is the channel through which the waters reach us, but the waters made the channel for themselves.

II. The Persistency Of The Divine Pardon.

As thou hast forgiven … even until now.'

His past is the guarantee of His future. This is true of every one of His attributes. There is no limitation to the divine forgiveness; you cannot exhaust it.

Sometimes there may be long tracts of almost utter godlessness, or times of apathy. Sometimes there may be bursts of great and unsanctified evil after many professions of fidelity, as in David's case. Sometimes there may be but a daily experience in which there is little apparent progress, little consciousness of growing mastery over sin, little of deepening holiness and spiritual power. Be it sol To all such, and to every other form of Christian unfaithfulness, this blessed thought applies.

We are apt to think as if our many pardons in the past made future pardons less likely, whereas the truth is that we have received forgiveness so often in the past that we may be quite sure that it will never fail us in the future. God has established a precedent in His dealings with us. He binds Himself by His past.

As in His creative energy, the forces that flung the whole universe forth were not exhausted by the act, but subsist continually to sustain it, as He fainteth not, neither is weary,' so in the works of His providence, and more especially of His grace, there is nothing in the exercise of any of His attributes to exhaust that attribute, nothing in the constant appeal which we make to His forgiving grace to weary out that grace. And thus we may learn, even from the unfading glories of the heavens and the undimmed splendours of His creative works, the lesson that, in the holier region of His love, and His pardoning mercy, there is no exhaustion, and that all the past instances of His pardoning grace only make the broader, firmer ground of certainty as to His continuous present and future forgiveness for all our iniquity. He who has proposed to us the seventy times seven' as the number of our forgivenesses will not let His own fall short of that tale. Our iniquities may be more than the hairs of our heads,' but as the psalmist who found his to be so comforted himself with thinking, God's' thoughts which are to usward' were more than can be numbered.' There would be a pardoning thought for every sin, and after all sins had been forgiven, there would be multitudes of redemptions' still available for penitent souls.

There is but one thing that limits the divine pardon, and that is continuous rejection of it.

Whoever seeks to be pardoned is pardoned.

III. The Manner Of The Divine Forgiveness.

He pardoned, but He also inflicted punishment, and in both He loves equally. The worst, that is the spiritual, consequences (which are the punishments) of sin, namely separation and alienation from God, He removes in the very act of forgiveness, but His pardon does not affect the natural consequences. Thou wast a God that forgavest them and tookest vengeance of their inventions,' says a psalmist in reference to this very incident. Thank God that He loves us too wisely and well not to let us by experience know that it is a hitter thing to forsake the Lord.'

It is a blessing that He does so, and a sign that we are pardoned, if we rightly use it.

IV. The Vehicle Of The Divine Forgiveness.

The Mediator. Moses here may be taken as a dim shadow of Christ.

Moses was faithful in all his house,' but Jesus is the true Mediator, whose intercession consists in presenting the constant efficacy of His sacrifice, and to whom God ever says, I have pardoned according to Thy word.'

Trust utterly to Him. You cannot weary out the forgiving love of God. Christ ever liveth to make intercession'; with God is plenteous redemption.' He shall redeem Israel out of all his iniquities.'

MHCC: Num 14:11-19

Moses made humble intercession for Israel. Herein he was a type of Christ, who prayed for those that despitefully used him. The pardon of a nation's sin, is the turning away the nation's punishment; and for that Moses is here so earnest. Moses argued that, consistently with God's character, in his abundant mercies, he could forgive them.

MHCC: Num 14:20-35

The Lord granted the prayer of Moses so far as not at once to destroy the congregation. But disbelief of the promise forbids the benefit. Those who despise the pleasant land shall be shut out of it. The promise of God should be fulfilled to their children. They wished to die in the wilderness; God made their sin their ruin, took them at their word, and their carcases fell in the wilderness. They were made to groan under the burden of their own sin, which was too heavy for them to bear. Ye shall know my breach of promise, both the causes of it, that it is procured by your sin, for God never leaves any till they first leave him; and the consequences of it, that will produce your ruin. But your little ones, now under twenty years old, which ye, in your unbelief, said should be a prey, them will I bring in. God will let them know that he can put a difference between the guilty and the innocent, and cut them off without touching their children. Thus God would not utterly take away his loving kindness.

MHCC: Num 14:36-39

Here is the sudden death of the ten evil spies. They sinned in bringing a slander upon the land of promise. Those greatly provoke God, who misrepresent religion, raise dislike in men's minds toward it, or give opportunity to those to do so, who seek occasion. Justly are murmurers made mourners. If they had mourned for the sin, when they were faithfully reproved, the sentence had been prevented; but as they mourned for the judgment only, it did them no service. There is in hell such mourning as this; but tears will not quench the flames, nor cool the tongue.

MHCC: Num 14:40-45

Some of the Israelites were now earnest to go forward toward Canaan. But it came too late. If men would but be as earnest for heaven while their day of grace lasts, as they will be when it is over, how well would it be for them! That which has been duty in its season, when mistimed, may be turned into sin. Those who are out of the way of their duty, are not under God's protection, and go at their peril. God bade them go, and they would not; he forbade them, and they would go. Thus is the carnal mind enmity against God. They had distrusted God's strength; they now presume upon their own without his. And the expedition fails accordingly; now the sentence began to be executed, that their carcases should fall in the wilderness. That affair can never end well, which begins with sin. The way to obtain peace with our friends, and success against our enemies, is, to have God, as our Friend, and to keep in his love. Let us take warning from the fate of Israel, lest we perish after the same example of unbelief. Let us go forth, depending on God's mercy, power, promise, and truth; he will be with us, and bring our souls to everlasting rest.

Matthew Henry: Num 14:11-19

Here is, I. The righteous sentence which God gave against Israel for their murmuring and unbelief, which, though afterwards mitigated, showed what was the desert of their sin and the demand of injured justice, and what would have been done if Moses had not interposed. When the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle we may suppose that Moses took it for a call to him immediately to come and attend there, as before the tabernacle was erected he went up to the mount in a similar case, Exo 32:30. Thus, while the people were studying to disgrace him, God publicly put honour upon him, as the man of his counsel. Now here we are told what God said to him there.

1. He showed him the great evil of the people's sin, Num 14:11. What passed between God and Israel went through the hands of Moses: when they were displeased with God they told Moses of it (Num 14:2); when God was displeased with them he told Moses too, revealing his secret to his servant the prophet, Amo 3:7. Two things God justly complains of to Moses: - (1.) Their sin. They provoke me, or (as the word signifies) they reject, reproach, despise me, for they will not believe me. This was the bitter root which bore the gall and wormwood. It was their unbelief that made this a day of provocation in the wilderness, Heb 3:8. Note, Distrust of God, of his power and promise, is itself a very great provocation, and at the bottom of many other provocations. Unbelief is a great sin (1Jo 5:10), and a root sin, Heb 3:12. (2.) Their continuance in it: How long will they do so? Note, The God of heaven keeps an account how long sinners persist in their provocations; and the longer they persist the more he is displeased. The aggravations of their sin were, [1.] Their relation to God: This people, a peculiar people, a professing people. The nearer any are to God in name and profession, the more he is provoked by their sins, especially their unbelief. [2.] The experience they had had of God's power and goodness, in all the signs which he had shown among them, by which, one would think, he had effectually obliged them to trust him and follow him. The more God has done for us the greater is the provocation if we distrust him.

2. He showed him the sentence which justice passed upon them for it, Num 14:12. "What remains now but that I should make a full end of them? It will soon be done. I will smite them with the pestilence, not leave a man of them alive, but wholly blot out their name and race, and so disinherit them, and be no more troubled with them. Ah, I will ease me of my adversaries. They wish to die; and let them die, and neither root nor branch be left of them. Such rebellious children deserve to be disinherited."And if it be asked, "What will become of God's covenant with Abraham then?"here is an answer, "I shall be preserved in the family of Moses: I will make of thee a greater nation. "Thus, (1.) God would try Moses, whether he still continued that affection for Israel which he formerly expressed upon a like occasion, in preferring their interests before the advancement of his own family; and it is proved that Moses was still of the same public spirit, and could not bear the thought of raising his own name upon the ruin of the name of Israel. (2.) God would teach us that he will not be a loser by the ruin of sinners. If Adam and Eve had been cut off and disinherited, he could have made another Adam and another Eve, and have glorified his mercy in them, as here he could have glorified his mercy in Moses, though Israel had been ruined.

II. The humble intercession Moses made for them. Their sin had made a fatal breach in the wall of their defence, at which destruction would certainly have entered if Moses had not seasonably stepped in and made it good. Here he was a type of Christ, who interceded for his persecutors, and prayed for those that despitefully used him, leaving us an example to his own rule, Mat 5:44.

1. The prayer of his petition is, in one word, Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people (Num 14:19), that is, "Do not bring upon them the ruin they deserve."This was Christ's prayer for those that crucified him, Father forgive them. The pardon of a national sin, as such, consists in the turning away of the national punishment; and that is it for which Moses is here so earnest.

2. The pleas are many, and strongly urged.

(1.) He insists most upon the plea that is taken from the glory of God, Num 14:13-16. With this he begins, and somewhat abruptly, taking occasion from that dreadful word, I will disinherit them. Lord (says he), then the Egyptians shall hear it. God's honour lay nearer to his heart than any interests of his own. Observe how he orders this cause before God. He pleads, [1.] That the eyes both of Egypt and Canaan were upon them, and great expectations were raised concerning them. They could not but have heard that thou, Lord, art among this people, Num 14:14. The neighbouring countries rang of it, how much this people were the particular care of heaven, so as never any people under the sun were. [2.] That if they should be cut off great notice would be taken of it. "The Egyptians will hear it (Num 14:13), for they have their spies among us, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of the land "(Num 14:14); for there was great correspondence between Egypt and Canaan, although not by the way of this wilderness. "If this people that have made so great a noise be all consumed, if their mighty pretensions come to nothing, and their light go out in a snuff, it will be told with pleasure in Gath, and published in the streets of Askelon; and what construction will the heathen put upon it? It will be impossible to make them understand it as an act of God's justice, and as such redounding to God's honour; brutish men know not this (Psa 92:6): but they will impute it to the failing of God's power, and so turn it to his reproach, Num 14:16. They will say, He slew them in the wilderness because he was not able to bring them to Canaan, his arm being shortened, and his stock of miracles being spent. Now, Lord, let not one attribute be glorified at the expense of another; rather let mercy rejoice against judgment than that almighty power should be impeached."Note, The best pleas in prayer are those that are taken from God's honour; for they agree with the first petition of the Lord's Prayer, Hallowed be thy name. Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory. God pleads it with himself (Deu 32:27), I feareth the wrath of the enemy; and we should use it as an argument with ourselves to walk so in every thing as to give no occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, 1Ti 6:1.

(2.) He pleads God's proclamation of his name at Horeb (Num 14:17, Num 14:18): Let the power of the Lord be great. Power is here put for pardoning mercy; it is his power over his own anger. If he should destroy them, God's power would be questioned; if he should continue and complete their salvation, notwithstanding the difficulties that arose, not only from the strength of their enemies, but from their own provocations, this would greatly magnify the divine power: what cannot he do who could make so weak a people conquerors and such an unworthy people favourites? The more danger there is of others reproaching God's power the more desirous we should be to see it glorified. To enforce this petition, he refers to the word which God had spoken: The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy. God's goodness had there been spoken of as his glory; God gloried in it, Exo 34:6, Exo 34:7. Now here he prays that upon this occasion he would glorify it. Note, We must take our encouragement in prayer from the word of God, upon which he has caused us to hope, Psa 119:49. "Lord, be and do according as thou hast spoken; for hast thou spoken, and wilt thou not make it good?"Three things God had solemnly made a declaration of, which Moses here fastens upon, and improves for the enforcing of his petition: - [1.] The goodness of God's nature in general, that he is long-suffering, or slow to anger, and of great mercy; not soon provoked, but tender and compassionate towards offenders. [2.] His readiness in particular to pardon sin: Forgiving iniquity and transgression, sins of all sorts. [3.] His unwillingness to proceed to extremity, even when he does punish. For in this sense the following words may be read: That will by no means make quite desolate, in visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. God had indeed said in the second commandment that he would thus visit, but here he promises not to make a full end of families, churches, and nations, at once; and so it is very applicable to this occasion, for Moses cannot beg that God would not at all punish this sin (it would be too great an encouragement to rebellion if he should set no mark of his displeasure upon it), but that he would not kill all this people as one man, Num 14:15. He does not ask that they may not be corrected, but that they may not be disinherited. And this proclamation of God's name was the more apposite to his purpose because it was made upon occasion of the pardoning of their sin in making the golden calf. This sin which they had now fallen into was bad enough, but it was not idolatry.

(3.) He pleads past experience: As thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt, Num 14:19. This seemed to make against him. Why should those be forgiven any more who, after they had been so often forgiven, revolted yet more and more, and seemed hardened and encouraged in their rebellion by the lenity and patience of their God, and the frequent pardons they had obtained? Among men it would have been thought impolitic to take notice of such a circumstance in a request of this nature, as it might operate to the prejudice of the petitioner: but, as in other things so in pardoning sin, God's thoughts and ways are infinitely above ours, Isa 55:9. Moses looks upon it as a good plea, Lord, forgive, as thou hast forgiven. It will be no more a reproach to thy justice, nor any less the praise of thy mercy, to forgive now, than it has been formerly. Therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed, because they have to do with a God that changes not, Mal 3:6.

Matthew Henry: Num 14:20-35

We have here God's answer to the prayer of Moses, which sings both of mercy and judgment. It is given privately to Moses (Num 14:20-25), and then directed to be made public to the people, Num 14:26-35. The frequent repetitions of the same things in it speak these resolves to be unalterable. Let us see the particulars.

I. The extremity of the sentence is receded from (Num 14:20): " I have pardoned, so as not to cut them all off at once, and disinherit them."See the power of prayer, and the delight God takes in putting an honour upon it. He designed a pardon, but Moses shall have the praise of obtaining it by prayer: it shall be done according to thy word; thus, as a prince, he has power with God, and prevails. See what countenance and encouragement God gives to our intercessions for others, that we may be public-spirited in prayer. Here is a whole nation rescued from ruin by the effectual fervent prayer of one righteous man. See how ready God is to forgive sin, and how easy to be entreated: Pardon, says Moses (Num 14:19); I have pardoned, says God, Num 14:20. David found him thus swift to show mercy, Psa 32:5. He deals not with us after our sins, Psa 103:10.

II. The glorifying of God's name is, in the general, resolved upon, Num 14:21. It is said, it is sworn, All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Moses in his prayer had shown a great concern for the glory of God. "Let me alone,"says God, "to secure that effectually, and to advance it, by this dispensation."All the world shall see how God hates sin even in his own people, and will reckon for it, and yet how gracious and merciful he is, and how slow to anger. Thus when our Saviour prayed, Father, glorify thy name, he was immediately answered, I have glorified it, and will glorify it yet again, Joh 12:28. Note, Those that sincerely seek God's glory may be sure of what they seek. God having turned this prayer for the glorifying of himself into a promise, we may turn it into praise, in concert with the angels, Isa 6:3, The earth is full of his glory.

III. The sin of this people which provoked God to proceed against them is here aggravated, Num 14:22, Num 14:27. It is not made worse than really it was, but is shown to be exceedingly sinful. It was an evil congregation, each bad, but altogether in congregation, very bad. 1. They tempted God - tempted his power, whether he could help them in their straits - his goodness, whether he would - and his faithfulness, whether his promise would be performed. They tempted his justice, whether he would resent their provocations and punish them or no. They dared him, and in effect challenged him, as God does the idols (Isa 41:23), to do good, or do evil. 2. They murmured against him. This is much insisted on, Num 14:27. As they questioned what he would do, so they quarrelled with him for every thing he did or had done, continually fretting and finding fault. It does not appear that they murmured at any of the laws or ordinances that God gave them (though they proved a heavy yoke), but they murmured at the conduct they were under, and the provision made for them. Note, It is much easier to bring ourselves to the external services of religion, and observe all the formalities of devotion, than to live a life of dependence upon, and submission to, the divine Providence in the course of our conversation. 3. They did this after they had seen God's miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness, Num 14:2. They would not believe their own eyes, which were witnesses for God that he was in the midst of them of a truth. 4. They had repeated the provocations ten times, that is, very often: the Jewish writers reckon this exactly the tenth time that the body of the congregation had provoked God. First, at the Red Sea, Exo 14:11. In Marah, Exo 15:23, Exo 15:24. In the wilderness of Sin, Exo 16:2. At Rephidim, Exo 17:1, Exo 17:2. The golden calf, Ex. 32. Then at Taberah. Then at Kibroth-Hattaavah, ch. 11. And so this was the tenth. Note, God keeps an account how often we repeat our provocations, and will sooner or later set them in order before us. 5. They had not hearkened to his voice, though he had again and again admonished them of their sin.

IV. The sentence passed upon them for this sin. 1. That they should not see the promised land (Num 14:23), nor come into it, Num 14:30. He swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest, Psa 95:11. Note, Disbelief of the promise is a forfeiture of the benefit of it. Those that despise the pleasant land shall be shut out of it. The promise of God should be fulfilled to their posterity, but not to them. 2. That they should immediately turn back into the wilderness, Num 14:25. Their next remove should be a retreat. They must face about, and instead of going forward to Canaan, on the very borders of which they now were, they must withdraw towards the Red Sea again. Tomorrow turn you; that is, "Very shortly you shall be brought back to that vast howling wilderness which you are so weary of. And it is time to shift for your own safety, for the Amalekites lie in wait in the valley, ready to attack you if you march forward."Of them they had been distrustfully afraid (Num 13:29), and now with them God justly frightened them. The fear of the wicked shall come upon him. 3. That all those who had now grown up to men's estate should die in the wilderness, not all at once, but by degrees. They wished that they might die in the wilderness, and God said Amen to their passionate wish, and made their sin their ruin, snared them in the words of their mouth, and caused their own tongue to fall upon them, took them at their word, and determined that their carcases should fall in the wilderness, Num 14:28, Num 14:29, and again, Num 14:32, Num 14:35. See with what contempt they are spoken of, now that they had by their sin made themselves vile; the mighty men of valour were but carcases, when the Spirit of the Lord had departed from them. They were all as dead men. Their fathers had such a value for Canaan that they desired to have their dead bodies carried thither to be buried, in token of their dependence upon God's promise that they should have that land for a possession: but these, having despised that good land and disbelieved the promise of it, shall not have the honour to be buried in it, but shall have their graves in the wilderness. 4. That in pursuance of this sentence they should wander to and fro in the wilderness, like travellers that have lost themselves, for forty years; that is, so long as to make it full forty years from their coming out of Egypt to their entrance into Canaan, Num 14:33, Num 14:34. Thus long they were kept wandering, (1.) To answer the number of the days in which the spies were searching the land. They were content to wait forty days for the testimony of men, because they could not take God's word; and therefore justly are they kept forty years waiting for the performance of God's promise. (2.) That hereby they might be brought to repentance, and find mercy with God in the other world, whatever became of them in this. Now they had time to bethink themselves, and to consider their ways; and the inconveniences of the wilderness would help to humble them and prove them, and show them what was in their heart, Deu 8:2. Thus long they bore their iniquities, feeling the weight of God's wrath in the punishment. They were made to groan under the burden of their own sin that brought it upon them, which was too heavy for them to bear. (3.) That they might sensibly feel what a dangerous thing it is for God's covenant-people to break with him: " You shall know my breach of promise, both the causes of it, that it is procured by your sin"(for God never leaves any till they first leave him), "and the consequences of it, that it will produce your ruin; you are quite undone when you are thrown out of covenant."(4.) That a new generation might in this time be raised up, which could not be done all of a sudden. And the children, being brought up under the tokens of God's displeasure against their fathers, and so bearing their whoredoms (that is, the punishment of their sins, especially their idolatry about the golden calf, which God now remembered against them), might take warning not to tread in the steps of their fathers' disobedience. And their wandering so long in the wilderness would make Canaan at last the more welcome to them. It should seem that upon occasion of this sentence Moses penned the ninetieth Psalm, which is very apposite to the present state of Israel, and wherein they are taught to pray that since this sentence could not be reversed it might be sanctified, and they might learn to apply their hearts unto wisdom.

V. The mercy that was mixed with this severe sentence.

1. Mercy to Caleb and Joshua, that though they should wander with the rest in the wilderness, yet they, and only they of all that were now above twenty years old, should survive the years of banishment, and live to enter Canaan. Caleb only is spoken of (Num 14:24), and a particular mark of honour put upon him, both, (1.) In the character given of him: he had another spirit, different from the rest of the spies, an after-spirit, which furnished him with second thoughts, and he followed the Lord fully, kept close to his duty, and went through with it, though deserted and threatened; and, (2.) In the recompence promised to him: Him will I bring in due time into the land whereinto he went. Note, [1.] It ought to be the great care and endeavour of every one of us to follow the Lord fully. We must, in a course of obedience to God's will and of service to his honour, follow him universally, without dividing, - uprightly, without dissembling, - cheerfully, without disputing, - and constantly, without declining; and this is following him fully. [2.] Those that would follow God fully must have another spirit, another from the spirit of the world, and another from what their own spirit has been. They must have the spirit of Caleb. [3.] Those that follow God fully in times of general apostasy God will own and honour by singular preservations in times of general calamity. The heavenly Canaan shall be the everlasting inheritance of those that follow the Lord fully. When Caleb is again mentioned (Num 14:30) Joshua stands with him, compassed with the same favours and crowned with the same honours, having stood with him in the same services.

2. Mercy to the children even of these rebels. They should have a seed preserved, and Canaan secured to that seed: Your little ones, now under twenty years old, which you, in your unbelief, said should be a prey, them will I bring in, Num 14:31. They had invidiously charged God with a design to ruin their children, Num 14:3. But God will let them know that he can put a difference between the guilty and the innocent, and cut them off without touching their children. Thus the promise made to Abraham, though it seemed to fail for a time, was kept from failing for evermore; and, though God chastened their transgressions with a rod, yet his loving kindness he would not utterly take away.

Matthew Henry: Num 14:36-45

Here is, I. The sudden death of the ten evil spies. While the sentence was passing upon the people, before it was published, they died of the plague before the Lord, Num 14:36, Num 14:37. Now,

1. God hereby showed his particular displeasure against those who sinned and made Israel to sin. (1.) They sinned themselves, in bringing up a slander upon the land of promise. Note, Those greatly provoke God who misrepresent religion, cast reproach upon it, and raise prejudices in men's minds against it, or give occasion to those to do so who seek occasion. Those that represent the service of God as mean and despicable, melancholy and uncomfortable, hard and impracticable, needless and unprofitable, bring up an evil report upon the good land, pervert the right ways of the Lord, and in effect give him the lie. (2.) They made Israel to sin. They designedly made all the congregation murmur against God. Note, Ring-leaders in sin may expect to fall under particular marks of the wrath of God, who will severely reckon for the blood of souls, which is thus spilt.

2. God hereby showed what he could have done with the whole congregation, and gave an earnest of the execution of the sentence now passed upon them. He that thus cut off one of a tribe could have cut off their whole tribes suddenly, and would do it gradually. Note, The remarkable deaths of notorious sinners are earnests of the final perdition of ungodly men, 2Pe 2:5, 2Pe 2:6. Thus the wrath of God is revealed, that sinners may hear and fear.

II. The special preservation of Caleb and Joshua: They lived still, Num 14:38. It is probable that all the twelve spies stood together, for the eyes of all Israel were now upon them; and therefore it is taken notice of as very remarkable, and which could not but be affecting to the whole congregation, that when the ten evil spies fell down dead of the plague, a malignant infectious distemper, yet these two that stood among them lived, and were well. God hereby confirmed their testimony, and put those to confusion that spoke of stoning them. He likewise gave them an assurance of their continued preservation in the wilderness, when thousands should fall on their right hand and on their left, Psa 91:7. Death never misses his mark, nor takes any by oversight that were designed for life, though in the midst of those that were to die.

III. The publication of the sentence to all the people, Num 14:36. He told them all what the decree was which had gone forth concerning them, and which could not be reversed, that they must all die in the wilderness, and Canaan must be reserved for the next generation. It was a very great disappointment, we may well think, to Moses himself, who longed to be in Canaan, as well as to all the people; yet he acquiesced, but they wept and mourned greatly. The assurance which Moses had of God's being glorified by this sentence gave him satisfaction, while the consciousness of their own guilt, and their having procured it to themselves, gave them the greatest vexation. They wept for nothing (Num 14:1), and now they have cause given them to weep; so justly are murmurers made mourners. If they had mourned for the sin when they were faithfully reproved for it (Num 14:9), the sentence would have been prevented; but now that they mourned for the judgment only their grief came too late, and did them no service; they found no place for repentance, though they sought it carefully with tears, Heb 12:17. Such mourning as this there is in hell, but the tears will not quench the flames, no, nor cool the tongue.

IV. The foolish fruitless attempts of some of the Israelites to enter Canaan, notwithstanding the sentence.

1. They were now eager to go forward towards Canaan, Num 14:40. They were up early, mustered all their force, got together in a body, and begged of Moses to lead them on against the enemy, and now there is no more talk among them of making a captain to return into Egypt. They confess their fault: We have sinned; they profess reformation: Lo, we be here, and will go up. They now desire the land which they had despised, and put a confidence in the promise which they had distrusted. Thus when God judges he will overcome, and, first or last, will convince sinners of the evil of all their ungodly deeds, and hard speeches, and force them to recall their own words. But, though God was glorified by this recantation of theirs, they were not benefited by it, because it came too late. The decree had gone forth, the consumption was determined; they did not seek the Lord while he might be found, and now he would not be found. O, if men would but be as earnest for heaven while their day of grace lasts as they will be when it is over, would be as solicitous to provide themselves with oil while the bridegroom tarries as they will be when the bridegroom comes, how well were it for them!

2. Moses utterly disallows their motion, and forbids the expedition they were meditating: Go not up, Num 14:41-43. (1.) He gives them warning of the sin; it is transgressing the commandment of the Lord, who had expressly ordered them, when they did move, to move back towards the Red Sea. Note, That which has been duty, in its season, when it comes to be mistimed may be turned into sin. It is true the command he refers to was in the nature of a punishment, but he that has not obeyed the law is obliged to submit to the penalty, for the Lord is our Judge as well as Lawgiver. (2.) He gives them this warning of the danger: " It shall not prosper, never expect it."Note, It is folly to promise ourselves success in that which we undertake contrary to the mind of God. " The Canaanites are before you to attack you, and the Lord is not among you to protect you and fight for you, and therefore look to yourselves that you be not smitten before your enemies. "Those that are out of the way of their duty are from under God's protection, and go at their peril. It is dangerous going where we cannot expect God should go along with us. Nay, he plainly foresees and foretels their defeat: You shall fall by the sword of the Amalekites and Canaanites (who were to have fallen by their sword); Because you are turned away from the Lord, from following the guidance of his precept and promise, therefore the Lord will not be with you. Note, God will certainly leave those that leave him; and those that are left of him lie exposed to all misery.

3. They venture notwithstanding. Never was people so perverse and so desperately resolved in every thing to walk contrary to God. God bade them go, and they would not; he forbade them, and they would. Thus is the carnal mind enmity to God: They presumed to go up unto the hill-top, Num 14:44. Here, (1.) They struggled against the sentence of divine justice, and would press on in defiance of it. (2.) They slighted the tokens of God's presence, for they would go though they left Moses and the ark of the covenant behind them. They had distrusted God's strength, and now they presume upon their own without his.

4. The expedition speeds accordingly, Num 14:45. The enemy had posted themselves upon the top of the hill, to make good that pass against the invaders, and, being informed by their scouts of their approach, sallied out upon them, and defeated them, and it is probable that many of the Israelites were killed. Now the sentence began to be executed that their carcases should fall in the wilderness. Note, That affair can never end well that begins with sin. The way to obtain peace with our friends, and success against our enemies, is to make God our friend, and keep ourselves in his love. The Jews, like these their ancestors, when they had rejected Christ's righteousness, attempted to establish their own, and it sped as this.

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 14:11-19

Intercession of Moses. - Num 14:11, Num 14:12. Jehovah resented the conduct of the people as base contempt of His deity, and as utter mistrust of Him, notwithstanding all the signs which He had wrought in the midst of the nation; and declared that He would smite the rebellious people with pestilence, and destroy them, and make of Moses a greater and still mightier people. This was just what He had done before, when the rebellion took place at Sinai (Exo 32:10). But Moses, as a servant who was faithful over the whole house of God, and therefore sought not his own honour, but the honour of his God alone, stood in the breach on this occasion also (Psa 106:23), with a similar intercessory prayer to that which he had presented at Horeb, except that on this occasion he pleaded the honour of God among the heathen, and the glorious revelation of the divine nature with which he had been favoured at Sinai, as a motive for sparing the rebellious nation (Num 14:13-19; cf. Exo 32:11-13, and Exo 34:6-7). The first he expressed in these words (Num 14:13.): " Not only have the Egyptians heard that Thou hast brought out this people from among them with Thy might; they have also told it to the inhabitants of this land. They (the Egyptians and the other nations) have heard that Thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of this people; that Thou, Jehovah, appearest eye to eye, and Thy cloud stands over them, and Thou goest before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Now, if Thou shouldst slay this people as one man, the nations which have heard the tidings of Thee would say, Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land which He sware to them, He has slain them in the desert ."In that case God would be regarded by the heathen as powerless, and His honour would be impaired (cf. Deu 32:27; Jos 7:9). It was for the sake of His own honour that God, at a later time, did not allow the Israelites to perish in exile (cf. Isa 48:9, Isa 48:11; Isa 52:5; Eze 36:22-23). - ואמרוּ ... ושׁמעוּ (Num 14:13, Num 14:14), et audierunt et dixerunt; ו - ו = et - et , both - and. The inhabitants of this land (Num 14:13) were not merely the Arabians, but, according to Exo 15:14., the tribes dwelling in and round Arabia, the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, and Canaanites, to whom the tidings had been brought of the miracles of God in Egypt and at the Dead Sea. שׁמעוּ , in Num 14:14, can neither stand for שׁמעוּ כּי ( dixerunt ) se audivisse , nor for שׁמעוּ אשׁר , qui audierunt . They are neither of them grammatically admissible, as the relative pronoun cannot be readily omitted in prose; and neither of them would give a really suitable meaning. It is rather a rhetorical resumption of the שׁמעוּ in Num 14:13, and the subject of the verb is not only " the Egyptians, "but also " the inhabitants of this land "who held communication with the Egyptians, or " the nations "who had heard the report of Jehovah (Num 14:15), i.e., all that God had hitherto done for and among the Israelites in Egypt, and on the journey through the desert. " Eye to eye: "i.e., Thou hast appeared to them in the closest proximity. On the pillar of cloud and fire, see at Exo 13:21-22. " As one man, "equivalent to "with a stroke"(Jdg 6:16). - In Num 14:17, Num 14:18, Moses adduces a second argument, viz., the word in which God Himself had revealed His inmost being to him at Sinai (Exo 34:6-7). The words, " Let the power be great, "equivalent to "show Thyself great in power,"are not to be connected with what precedes, but with what follows; viz., " show Thyself mighty by verifying Thy word, 'Jehovah, long-suffering and great in mercy,' etc.; forgive, I beseech Thee, this people according to the greatness of Thy mercy, and as Thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now. " נשׁא (Num 14:19) = עון נשׁא (Num 14:18).

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 14:20-23

In answer to this importunate prayer, the Lord promised forgiveness, namely, the preservation of the nation, but not the remission of the well-merited punishment. At the rebellion at Sinai, He had postponed the punishment "till the day of His visitation"(Exo 32:34). And that day had now arrived, as the people had carried their continued rebellion against the Lord to the furthest extreme, even to an open declaration of their intention to depose Moses, and return to Egypt under another leader, and thus had filled up the measure of their sins. " Nevertheless, "added the Lord (Num 14:21, Num 14:22), "as truly as I live, and the glory of Jehovah will fill the whole earth, all the men who have seen My glory and My miracles...shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers." The clause, "all the earth,"etc., forms an apposition to "as I live."Jehovah proves Himself to be living, by the fact that His glory fills the whole earth. But this was to take place, not, as Knobel , who mistakes the true connection of the different clauses, erroneously supposes, by the destruction of the whole of that generation, which would be talked of by all the world, but rather by the fact that, notwithstanding the sin and opposition of these men, He would still carry out His work of salvation to a glorious victory. The כּי in Num 14:22 introduces the substance of the oath, as in Isa 49:18; 1Sa 14:39; 1Sa 20:3; and according to the ordinary form of an oath, אם in Num 14:23 signifies "not." - "They have tempted Me now ten times."Ten is used as the number of completeness and full measure; and this answered to the actual fact, if we follow the Rabbins, and add to the murmuring (1) at the Red Sea, Exo 14:11-12; (2) at Marah, Exo 15:23; (3) in the wilderness of Sin, Exo 16:2; (4) at Rephidim, Exo 17:1; (5) at Horeb, Ex 32; (6) at Tabeerah, Num 11:1; (7) at the graves of lust, Num 11:4.; and (8) here again at Kadesh, the twofold rebellion of certain individuals against the commandments of God at the giving of the manna (Exo 16:20 and Exo 16:27). The despisers of God should none of them see the promised land.

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 14:24

But because there was another spirit in Caleb, - i.e., not the unbelieving, despairing, yet proud and rebellious spirit of the great mass of the people, but the spirit of obedience and believing trust, so that "he followed Jehovah fully"(lit., "fulfilled to walk behind Jehovah"), followed Him with unwavering fidelity, - God would bring him into the land into which he had gone, and his seed should possess it. ( אחרי מלּא here, and at Num 32:11-12; Deu 1:36; Jos 14:8-9; 1Ki 11:6, is a constructio praegnans for אחרי ללכת מלּא ; cf. 2Ch 34:31.) According to the context, the reference is not to Hebron particularly, but to Canaan generally, which God had sworn unto the fathers (Num 14:23, and Deu 1:36, comp. with Deu 1:35); although, when the land was divided, Caleb received Hebron for his possession, because, according to his own statement in Jos 14:6., Moses had sworn that he would give it to him. But this is not mentioned here; just as Joshua also is not mentioned in this place, as he is at Num 14:30 and Num 14:38, but Caleb only, who opposed the exaggerated accounts of the other spies at the very first, and endeavoured to quiet the excitement of the people by declaring that they were well able to overcome the Canaanites (Num 13:30). This first revelation of God to Moses is restricted to the main fact; the particulars are given afterwards in the sentence of God, as intended for communication to the people (Num 14:26-38).

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 14:25

The divine reply to the intercession of Moses terminated with a command to the people to turn on the morrow, and go to the wilderness to the Red Sea, as the Amalekites and Canaanites dwelt in the valley. " The Amalekites, "etc.: this clause furnishes the reason for the command which follows. On the Amalekites, see at Gen 36:12, and Exo 17:8. The term Canaanites is a general epithet applied to all the inhabitants of Canaan, instead of the Amorites mentioned in Deu 1:44, who held the southern mountains of Canaan. "The valley"is no doubt the broad Wady Murreh (see at Num 13:21), including a portion of the Negeb, in which the Amalekites led a nomad life, whilst the Canaanites really dwelt upon the mountains (Num 14:45), close up to the Wady Murreh .

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 14:26-38

Sentence upon the Murmuring Congregation. - After the Lord had thus declared to Moses in general terms His resolution to punish the incorrigible people, and not suffer them to come to Canaan, He proceeded to tell him what announcement he was to make to the people.

Num 14:27

This announcement commences in a tone of anger, with an aposiopesis , " How long this evil congregation "(sc., "shall I forgive it,"the simplest plan being to supply אשּׂא , as Rosenmüller suggests, from Num 14:18), " that they murmur against Me? "

Num 14:28-31

Jehovah swore that it should happen to the murmurers as they had spoken. Their corpses should fall in the desert, even all who had been numbered, from twenty years old and upwards: they should not see the land into which Jehovah had lifted up His hand (see at Exo 6:8) to lead them, with the sole exception of Caleb and Joshua. But their children, who, as they said, would be a prey (Num 14:3), them Jehovah would bring, and they should learn to know the land which the others had despised.

Num 14:32-33

" As for you, your carcases will fall in this wilderness. But your sons will be pasturing (i.e., will lead a restless shepherd life) in the desert forty years, and bear your whoredom (i.e., endure the consequences of your faithless apostasy; see Exo 34:16), until your corpses are finished in the desert, "i.e., till you have all passed away.

Num 14:34

" After the number of the forty days that he have searched the land, shall ye bear your iniquity, (reckoning) a day for a year, and know My turning away from you, "or תּנוּאה , abalienatio , from נוא (Num 32:7).

Num 14:35

As surely as Jehovah had spoken this, would He do it to that evil congregation, to those who had allied themselves against Him ( נועד , to bind themselves together, to conspire; Num 16:11; Num 27:3). There is no ground whatever for questioning the correctness of the statement, that the spies had travelled through Canaan for forty days, or regarding this as a so-called round number - that is to say, as unhistorical. And if this number is firmly established, there is also no ground for disputing the forty years' sojourn of the people in the wilderness, although the period during which the rebellious generation, consisting of those who were numbered at Sinai, died out, was actually thirty-eight years, reaching from the autumn of the second year after their departure from Egypt to the middle of the fortieth year of their wanderings, and terminating with the fresh numbering (ch. 26) that was undertaken after the death of Aaron, and took place on the first of the fifth month of the fortieth year (Num 20:23., compared with Num 33:38). Instead of these thirty-eight years, the forty years of the sojourn in the desert are placed in connection with the forty days of the spies, because the people had frequently fallen away from God, and been punished in consequence, even during the year and a half before their rejection; and in this respect the year and a half could be combined with the thirty-eight years which followed into one continuous period, during which they bore their iniquity, to set distinctly before the minds of the disobedient people the contrast between that peaceful dwelling in the promised land which they had forfeited, and the restless wandering in the desert, which had been imposed upon them as a punishment, and to impress upon them the causal connection between sin and suffering. "Every year that passed, and was deducted from the forty years of punishment, was a new and solemn exhortation to repent, as it called to mind the occasion of their rejection"( Kurtz ). When Knobel observes, on the other hand, that "it is utterly improbable that all who came out of Egypt (that is to say, all who were twenty years old and upward when they came out) should have fallen in the desert, with the exception of two, and that there should have been no men found among the Israelites when they entered Canaan who were more than sixty years of age,"the express statement, that on the second numbering there was not a man among those that were numbered who had been included in the numbering at Sinai, except Joshua and Caleb (Num 26:64.), is amply sufficient to overthrow this "improbability"as an unfounded fancy. Nor is this statement rendered at all questionable by the fact, that "Aaron's son Eleazar, who entered Canaan with Joshua"(Jos 14:1, etc.), was most likely more than twenty years old at the time of his consecration at Sinai, as the Levites were not qualified for service till their thirtieth or twenty-fifth year. For, in the first place, the regulation concerning the Levites' age of service is not to be applied without reserve to the priests also, so that we could infer from this that the sons of Aaron must have been at least twenty-five or thirty years old when they were consecrated; and besides this, the priests do not enter into the question at all, for the tribe of Levi was excepted from the numbering in ch. 1, and therefore Aaron's sons were not included among the persons numbered, who were sentenced to die in the wilderness. Still less does it follow from Jos 24:7 and Jdg 2:7, where it is stated that, after the conquest of Canaan, there were many still alive who had been eye-witnesses of the wonders of God in Egypt, that they must have been more than twenty years old when they came out of Egypt; for youths from ten to nineteen years of age would certainly have been able to remember such miracles as these, even after the lapse of forty or fifty years.

Num 14:36-38

But for the purpose of giving to the whole congregation a practical proof of the solemnity of the divine threatening of punishment, the spies who had induced the congregation to revolt, through their evil report concerning the inhabitants of Canaan, were smitten by a "stroke before Jehovah,"i.e., by a sudden death, which proceeded in a visible manner from Jehovah Himself, whilst Joshua and Caleb remained alive.

Keil-Delitzsch: Num 14:39-45

(cf. Deu 1:41-44). The announcement of the sentence plunged the people into deep mourning. But instead of bending penitentially under the judgment of God, they resolved to atone for their error, by preparing the next morning to go to the top of the mountain and press forward into Canaan. And they would not even suffer themselves to be dissuaded from their enterprise by the entreaties of Moses, who denounced it as a transgression of the word of God which could not succeed, and predicted their overthrow before their enemies, but went presumptuously ( לעלות יעפּלוּ ) up without the ark of the covenant and without Moses, who did not depart out of the midst of the camp, and were smitten by the Amalekites and Canaanites, who drove them back as far as Hormah. Whereas at first they had refused to enter upon the conflict with the Canaanites, through their unbelief in the might of the promise of God, now, through unbelief in the severity of the judgment of God, they resolved to engage in this conflict by their own power, and without the help of God, and to cancel the old sin of unbelieving despair through the new sin of presumptuous self-confidence, - an attempt which could never succeed, but was sure to plunge deeper and deeper into misery. Where " the top (or height) of the mountain "to which the Israelites advanced was, cannot be precisely determined, as we have no minute information concerning the nature of the ground in the neighbourhood of Kadesh. No doubt the allusion is to some plateau on the northern border of the valley mentioned in Num 14:25, viz., the Wady Murreh , which formed the southernmost spur of the mountains of the Amorites, from which the Canaanites and Amalekites came against them, and drove them back. In Deu 1:44, Moses mentions the Amorites instead of the Amalekites and Canaanites, using the name in a broader sense for all the Canaanites, and contenting himself with naming the leading foes with whom the Amalekites who wandered about in the Negeb had allied themselves, as Bedouins thirsting for booty. These tribes came down (Num 14:45) from the height of the mountain to the lower plateau or saddle, which the Israelites had ascended, and smote them and יכּתוּם (from כּתת , with the reduplication of the second radical anticipated in the first: see Ewald , §193, c.), "discomfited them, as far as Hormah,"or as Moses expressed it in Deu 1:44, They "chased you, as bees do"(which pursue with great ferocity any one who attacks or disturbs them), "and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah."There is not sufficient ground for altering "in Seir"into "from Seir,"as the lxx, Syriac , and Vulgate have done. But בּשׂעיר might signify "into Seir, as far as Hormah."As the Edomites had extended their territory at that time across the Arabah towards the west, and taken possession of a portion of the mountainous country which bounded the desert of Paran towards the north (see at Num 34:3), the Israelites, when driven back by them, might easily be chased into the territory of the Edomites. Hormah (i.e., the ban-place) is used here proleptically (see at Num 21:3).

Constable: Num 11:1--20:29

1. The cycle of rebellion, atonement, and death chs. 11-20

The end of chapter 10 is the high point of the Book of Numbers spiritually. The beginning of chapter 11 records the beginning of the spiritual decline of Israel that resulted in God's judging the nation. He postponed the fulfillment of His promise to bring her into the Promised Land.

"Chapters 11-20 present a dismal record of their acts of ingratitude and of God's consequent judgments on his ungrateful people. Within these chapters are innumerable instances of his continuing grace. The reader of these texts goes astray if he or she focuses solely on God's wrath or on the constant provocations to his anger by his meandering people. The more impressive feature in this text is God's continuing mercy against continuing, obdurate rebellion. . . .

"These ten chapters now balance and contrast with the ten chapters that present the record of Israel's preparation."⁸⁸

Constable: Num 13:1--14:45

The failure of the first generation chs. 13-14

The events recorded in chapters 13 and 14 took place while Israel was at Kadesh.

Constable: Num 14:1-12

The rebellion of the people 14:1-12

14:1-4 God had just proved His supernatural power to the Israelites three times since the nation had left Sinai (chs. 11-12). There was no excuse for this failure to trust Him to lead them victoriously into Canaan.

14:5-9 Moses and Aaron tried to persuade the people to enter the land (Deut. 1:29-31). They also prayed for the nation in this hour of its rebellion (v. 5). Moreover Joshua and Caleb warned the people against turning back (vv. 7-9). They rightly identified the true actions of the Israelite majority as rebellion against God and fear of the Canaanites (v. 9). They reminded the people that God was with them (v. 9).

14:10-12 Nevertheless the congregation violently rejected their pleas to trust and obey God (v. 10). God Himself prevented the people from stoning Caleb and Joshua by manifesting Himself (v. 10).

". . . the majesty of God flashed out before the eyes of the people in a light which suddenly burst forth from the tabernacle (see at Ex. xxv. 10)."¹¹⁹

As a faithful mediator Moses again interceded for the disobedient Israelites.

The failure of the Israelites grew out of unbelief (v. 11; cf. Heb. 3:19). They failed to believe that God would give them the land of their enemies as He had promised.

Often in Scripture we read of people asking God, "How long?" However here it is God who asked this of Moses. This illustrates the intimate relationship that Moses and God enjoyed (12:7-8).

Was God's threatened action a real possibility, or was He only testing Moses' reaction with this offer? God had threatened a similar punishment at Sinai when the Israelites had made the golden calf (Exod. 32:10). God could have fulfilled His promises to Abraham by destroying and dispossessing all the other living Israelites and by sparing only Moses and his descendants. However, God could not have fulfilled the prophetic promises that He had given through Jacob (Gen. 49) and done so. There would have to be descendants of Judah from whom a great ruler would come (Gen. 49:10) as well as some future for the other tribes.

Perhaps God meant that He would completely destroy that older generation of Israelites immediately (cf. Exod. 32:10). He said that He would also give Moses and his descendants a much larger place in the nation. Perhaps then other peoples would regard Moses as the father of the Israelite nation.

". . . this passage intends to show that the people failed to inherit the Promised Land and hence died in the wilderness without inheriting the blessing, not so much for a specific act of disobedience or for fear of the battles that lay ahead, but rather for the simple fact of their unbelief. They failed to trust in God."¹²⁰

Constable: Num 14:13-19

Moses' intercession for the people 14:13-19

Moses interceded again much as he had done at Sinai (cf. Exod. 32:11-13). Moses based his appeal on God's reputation among the Egyptians (vv. 13-14) and the other nations (vv. 15-16). He also cited God's promise that He would be patient (vv. 17-18) and His past loyal love to Israel (v. 19). Moses' words proved effective (v. 20).

Constable: Num 14:20-38

God's punishment of the people 14:20-38

The fact that God granted the people pardon in response to Moses' intercession is another indication of His grace (vv. 20-21).

The failure of the Israelites would not frustrate God's purpose to manifest His glory throughout the earth through the seed of Abraham (v. 21). Even though the present generation would die in the wilderness, Caleb (and Joshua, not mentioned here, cf. v. 30) would enter the Promised Land.

The ten times the Israelites tested God (v. 22) by complaining were probably these.

1. At the Red Sea (Exod. 14:11-12)

2. At Marah (Exod. 15:23)

3. In the wilderness of Sin (Exod. 16:2)

4. In the wilderness of Sin (Exod. 16:20)

5. In the wilderness of Sin (Exod. 16:27)

6. At Rephidim (Exod. 17:1)

7. At Horeb (Exod. 32)

8. At Taberah (Num. 11:1)

9. At Kibroth-hattaavah (Num. 11:4)

10. At Kadesh (Num. 14:1-3)

It is noteworthy that in Egypt God sent 10 plagues to build the faith of His people, but in the wilderness they complained against Him in unbelief 10 times. Evidently the measure of their iniquity had reached its capacity from God's viewpoint with this tenth rebellion (cf. Gen. 15:16).

Because the adult generation had failed to trust God He would not defeat their enemies. Therefore He instructed them to march southeast toward the Gulf of Aqabah and away from the Amalekites and Canaanites (v. 25). Since they wanted to return to Egypt, God sent them back toward where they had been. Since they feared their children would die in Canaan, God would preserve those very children in the wilderness and give them a home in Canaan (v. 31). Since the adults had rejected Canaan, God would give it to their children (v. 31). Since they feared dying in Canaan, God would let them die in the wilderness (v. 2).

"Typical of the irony in this story, their punishment is made to fit their crime."¹²¹

"When the Lord asked How long?' [v. 27] he meant this was the end. The oath formula As I live' [v. 28] was the strongest denial conceivable. The things he said next were irrevocably going to happen. That is what lies behind verses 28, 30, and 35."¹²²

The Bible nowhere specifies a particular age of accountability for children. However the fact that God judged all the Israelites who were 20 years old and older for this sin seems significant. He evidently regarded those who had lived 20 years as responsible adults (v. 29).¹²³

The 40-year duration of the punishment resulted from the 40-day duration of the expedition by the spies (v. 34). These years included those already spent in the wilderness since complaining characterized the people from the time they first departed from Egypt.

"The round number forty (v. 34) may refer to a human lifetime: generally speaking, everyone above the age of twenty would die in the wilderness in a period of forty years, because very few people lived beyond the age of sixty. There is a curious connection between the forty days of preparation for an entry that did not take place and forty years of awesome preparation for an entry that would take place--but only for a new generation."¹²⁴

The 10 spies who brought the majority opinion seem to have died shortly after God pronounced their sentence as a result of a plague He sent (v. 37).

"As an unmistakable evidence that God's word of judgment would be literally fulfilled, the spies, except Joshua and Caleb, at this moment were struck dead with a plague from the Lord."¹²⁵

Constable: Num 14:39-45

The presumption of the people 14:39-45

Having received their sentence from the Lord, the people then presumptuously proceeded to go up on their own to take the land (vv. 40-42).

"They are like children who had broken a valuable vase and decided to make it better' by gluing it back together. The result of such action looks nothing like the original."¹²⁶

The Israelites refused to accept God's discipline as they had refused to accept His promise. Thus they rebelled against Him again even though Moses sounded the ominous warning, "the LORD will not be with you" (v. 43). They tried to gain His blessings without Him, which is unbelief. Consequently God allowed their enemies to rout them. The key to success would not be their military might or psychological power but their obedient trust in God.

It is also possible for us Christians to fail to enter into our full reward if we fail to continue to trust and obey God (1 Cor. 9:24-10:13; Heb. 3:12-4:14).¹²⁷ Every genuine Christian will eventually go to heaven, but only the faithful will receive all the rewards God wants each Christian to possess. God will give or withhold these at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; et al.).

"This rather large section of narrative [i.e., chs. 13-14] introduces an important element in the development of God's covenant with Israel: the theme of the faithfulness of God in keeping the covenant and the unfaithfulness of humans in not trusting him.

"Following the account of the people's failure to believe in God in chapters 13 and 14, the writer has attached a further and rather large set of laws dealing with sacrifice and the priesthood (15:1-19:22). Thus, as has been the case throughout the earlier parts of the Pentateuch, after an account of Israel's unbelief, more laws are added within the narrative [cf. Exod. 32; Gal. 3:19-23]."¹²⁸

Battles, this one and the battle with the Canaanites in 21:1-3, frame this section of laws and the Lord's discipline of the Israelites in the wilderness during the next 38 years.¹²⁹

Guzik: Num 14:1-45

Numbers 14 - The People Reject Canaan

A. The rebellion of Israel at Kadesh Barnea.

1. (1) Israel rebels by mourning at their dilemma between faith and unbelief.

So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.

a. Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried: The children of Israel were confronted with two reports regarding the Promised Land. Two of the twelve spies (Caleb and Joshua) say Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it (Numbers 13:30), but the other ten spies said "what God promised about the land is true; nevertheless, the natives of the land are too mighty, and we cannot overcome them, despite what God has promised."

i. We should not forget that the twelve spies were sent one from each tribe (Numbers 13:2); in this way, they truly represent the people of Israel, and the lack of faith of the majority of the spies is a lack of faith on behalf of the whole nation.

ii. We also must remember the details of how and why the spies were sent; the idea to send them did not originate with Moses or with God, but with the people (Deuteronomy 1:19-25); Moses unwisely agreed, and God merely told them how many spies to send and that they should represent the whole nation.

iii. But why were the spies sent? There was no military information needed; God had promised them victory over their enemies. Perhaps a reading of the terrain would have been helpful, but Moses told them to see if the land was good, and to see if the people and cities were weak or strong (Numbers 13:17-20) - and this information indirectly led to the bad report of the ten spies!

b. And the people wept that night: The unbelief of the ten spies truly represented the unbelieving heart of the nation. Israel wept that night upon hearing that the enemies in Canaan were formidable. This mourning had a distinct character.

i. It was mourning because God would not make it all "easy." We often somehow expect that of God, and resent adversity in our lives, forgetting the example of Jesus, who had it "harder" than any of us - and Whom we are not above.

ii. It was mourning filled with a resentful attitude towards God, blaming Him for their "problem" - denying that He is a loving Father who cares for His children.

iii. It was mourning that gave into the feeling of unbelief and fear; mourning that allowed feelings rule in one's life instead of faith in the living God. Here, their clinging to the feelings of fear and mourning is plain sin and rebellion, and their feelings did not by any means justify their rebellion. Clinging to feelings can be sin.

iv. This was mourning over a loss. We usually mourn because something has died. Here, God was trying to cause something to die - the flesh, the sin-nature, the old man (as much as it could in an Old Covenant sense); and Israel mourned because they wanted the old man to live, not die.

c. And the people wept that night: So here, Israel stood barely a year out of Egypt, on the threshold of the Promised Land. Over the first ten chapters of Numbers they had been fully prepared to walk as Promised Land people - they had been ordered and organized; cleansed and purified; set apart and blessed; taught how to give and how to function as priests; had been made to remember judgment spared and deliverance brought; and had been given God's presence as a guide and the tools needed to lead the people.

i. Now God invited them to take the land - and they rebelled through their mourning. Unbelief made them think of God's good for them (the gift of the Promised Land) as something evil.

2. (2-3a) Israel rebels by murmuring.

And all the children of Israel complained 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 died in this wilderness! Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims?"

a. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron: Their murmuring was directed first towards Moses and Aaron, but since these were the LORD's leaders, they were murmuring against the LORD. The vision of Moses and Aaron (to lead these people into the Promised Land) is the LORD's vision. Their complaint is against the LORD, even if they want to hide it by directing to Moses and Aaron.

i. Probably some falsely "spiritual" folks among the murmurers said, "Oh no, we trust the LORD. We love the LORD. We would never rebel against the LORD. It's Moses and Aaron we don't like."

ii. But Joshua and Caleb knew: Only do not rebel against the LORD (Numbers 14:9), and the LORD Himself knew: How long will these people reject Me? (Numbers 14:11)

b. If only we had died: The challenge of faith before the people seemed so great - and so grievous - that they would rather have died than go on with what the LORD has for them.

i. Tragically for this generation, God would give them what their rebellious, unbelieving hearts wanted.

c. Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword: Here, they directly accused the Almighty with sin and evil towards them. They were angry with God, accusing Him of plotting the murder of them and their wives and children.

i. This was a deep state of rebellion. God, who can do no evil, with Whom there is no shadow of turning, was called evil and a murderer by His own people.

ii. Some counsel it is a healthy thing to be angry with God, and to let it all out, so that God and you can be reconciled, as sort of a matter of counseling therapy. While it is true that one may be angry with God, and should take every such feeling to God, it is wrong to ever assume or imply that such feelings are justified. If we are angry at God, we are in sin, because God has never done anything that deserves us being angry. We should honestly bring such sin before God, but never for a moment feeling it to be justified.

d. That our wives and children should become victims: The unbelieving among Israel justified their unbelief on the basis of concern for their wives and children. Tragically, because of their unbelief they would die in the wilderness and their children - a new generation of faith - would inherit the promised land.

3. (3b-4) They rebel by longing for the memory of Egypt.

Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" So they said to one another, "Let us select a leader and return to Egypt."

a. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? This was not better. In the first ten chapters of Numbers, God led Israel through a process intended to change them from a slave-minded people to being a "promised-land" people. Here, they completely revert back to their slave mentality, preferring slavery under cruel, murdering masters than the walk of faith God has for them.

i. Make no mistake; what Israel rejected here was a walk of faith. If God was going to lead them into a deeper trust than they had before, they wanted no part of it. If He made it all easy, that was fine with them - but they did not want a walk of faith.

b. Let us select a leader and return to Egypt: This was pure rebellion. They said that they did not want God's plan, they did not want God's leaders, and they did not want God's land. They believed that they knew better than God.

i. Notice how man-centered their rebellion was: They said to one another (the decision was made among themselves, believing their majority vote had more wisdom than God). Let us select (they didn't like God's selection, so they wanted a leader who would truly represent them - in all their rebellion against God).

4. (5-9) The reaction of the godly against the rebellion of the people.

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: "The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, 'a land which flows with milk and honey.' Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them."

a. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces: Moses and Aaron were older and wiser and therefore knew how bad the situation was. They simply prostrated themselves in prayer, and said not a word to the people (knowing it would do no good), but they knew that they must cry out to God for a miracle if Israel is to be spared.

b. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh: Joshua and Caleb, the two faithful spies, are younger and more optimistic, so they attempt to persuade the people.

i. They tore their clothes, showing utter grief and mourning; acting as if someone had died - or was about to die.

ii. The land . . . is an exceedingly good land; they reminded the people of the faithfulness of God's promise. He promised the land would be good, and it was - they saw it with their own eyes. If God promised we could take possession of it, they could trust that promise also.

iii. Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people . . . the LORD is with us: Their fear and unbelief was willful rebellion. Therefore Joshua and Caleb appealed to their will of the people, asking them to decide to give up their rebellion and return to the LORD. The people of Israel didn't have to give in to their feelings of fear, of anger to the LORD, of unbelief. By God's grace they could choose to submit to Him and trust Him.

5. (10) Two responses to the appeal of Joshua and Caleb.

And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.

a. All the congregation said to stone them with stones: This was the response of the people. Rebellious, carnal man cannot endure the men of faith, who came with the challenge of faith. They would kill Joshua and Caleb for calling them to forsake their unbelief and to trust God.

i. Nothing can be more vexing, more aggravating to the child of God in rebellion than another child of God who is full of faith and submission to God - and who has godly counsel.

b. The glory of the LORD appeared: This was the response of the LORD. We are not yet told what the glory of the LORD would do, but it isn't hard to figure out. Their actions and feelings were not consistent with the glory of the LORD.

· Was it consistent with the glory of the LORD to be unbelieving?

· Was it consistent with the glory of the LORD to mourn because the walk of faith was hard?

· Was it consistent with the glory of the LORD to long for death?

· Was it consistent with the glory of the LORD to accuse God of plotting murder?

· Was it consistent with the glory of the LORD to go back to the slavery of Egypt?

· Was it consistent with the glory of the LORD to reject God's leaders and go with "the people's choice"?

· Was it consistent with the glory of the LORD to threaten to kill those who call you to a deeper life of trust in God?

B. Moses' spectacular intercession for the children of Israel.

1. (11-12) God's charge against Israel and offer to Moses.

Then the LORD said to Moses: "How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."

a. The LORD said to Moses: God does not even speak with the nation; He knows they are past hearing Him. He will speak with Moses, and Moses alone.

i. Many of child of God in rebellion wonders why they do not hear the voice of God anymore; why should they? They are rejecting what God has already said, do they think they can be open to what more He might say?

b. How long will these people reject Me? God had been only good to Israel, and had demonstrated His loving strength towards them countless times. Israel's rejection of God makes no sense.

c. I will strike them . . . and disinherit them . . . I will make of you a nation greater and mightier: This is a dramatic offer to Moses; God says He will give rebellious Israel what they deserve - judgment (indeed, what they said they wanted - to die in the wilderness! [14:2]), and He will fulfill His promises of a land, nation, and blessing to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through Moses instead!

i. This was heady stuff for Moses; he is offered the position of "patriarch" - to become a father for Israel in the same way Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were. Moses knew of their greatness and fame - he was used of God to compile their stories in the book of Genesis!

ii. We must regard this as a real "offer" from God; the LORD does not speak make-believe words. If Moses were to do nothing, this plan of God would go into effect - the nation would perish, and somehow, God would start all over again with Moses - and the new nation would be better (greater and mightier) than the present one!

iii. Moses had a similar "offer" from God back in Exodus 32:7-14; will Moses react in the same way now as then?

2. (13-16) Moses intercedes for Israel, appealing to God's glory.

And Moses said to the LORD: "Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, LORD, are among these people; that You, LORD, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, Because the LORD was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.'"

a. And Moses said to the LORD: Moses did not entertain God's offer for a moment. Instead, he pled for the nation and loved them despite their rebellion, and he was zealous for the glory of God.

b. Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them: Moses' zeal for God's glory was evident. He knew that if God wiped out the present nation and started again with Moses, it would be a black mark on His reputation before the nations - especially Egypt.

i. Perhaps then the nations could claim that the LORD was not able to bring this people to the land. It could be said that the sin and rebellion of man was greater than the power and goodness of God.

c. Which He swore to give them: Moses brought God's promise before Him. He begged God to not give the nations any opportunity to think God has not been true to His word.

3. (17-19) Moses intercedes for Israel, appealing to God's power and promise.

"And now, I pray, let the power of my LORD be great, just as You have spoken, saying, 'The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.' Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now."

a. Let the power of my LORD be great: Moses glories in the power of God, but asks that God would use His power by showing mercy and longsuffering to a rebellious Israel.

b. Just as You have spoken: The list of Numbers 14:18-19 is almost a quote from the words of self-revelation God spoke to Moses in the dramatic encounter Moses had with God in Exodus 34:6-8.

i. Long-suffering . . . abundant . . . forgiving iniquity and transgression . . . by no means clears the guilty . . . mercy: Each of these are mentioned first in Exodus 34:6-8.

ii. Moses basically said: "LORD, you have revealed Yourself to me by Your word. Your word declares who You are. Now LORD, please act towards Israel according to who You have declared Yourself to be in Your word.

c. Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy: Moses knew God's power, and appealed to it; Moses knew God's promise and appealed to it, and Moses knew God's glory and appealed to it. This was a spectacular example of intercession.

i. What made this intercession spectacular was not primarily Moses' method (appealing to God's glory, power, and promise); but Moses' heart. Here, Moses is totally others-centered, not concerned for his own glory, but only for Israel. He displays he shares the heart of God towards His people, and that is what made Moses' intercession spectacular.

ii. This, of course, was God's intention all along: To develop and draw out of Moses just this kind of heart, transforming Moses into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29), long before the time of Jesus.

C. The fate of Israel after the rebellion at Kadesh Barnea.

1. (20) God's promise of pardon in response to Moses' intercession.

Then the LORD said: "I have pardoned, according to your word;

a. I have pardoned: The heart of Moses and his method of intercession were successful. These are sweet words for any sinner to hear.

b. According to your word: This means that Moses' prayer mattered. Some may wonder if prayer is some elaborate game, where God threatens to do something He will never do anyway, and we pray, pretending to believe God will do what He has threatened, and when God hears us pray, He forgets His idle threat and does what He was going to do anyway. Prayer definitely does not work that way.

i. We don't understand the relationship between the eternal, sovereign plan of God and our prayers; but we know it is no game. God never wanted Moses to think of it as a game, and wanted Moses to at least think that his prayers had directly affected the outcome: I have pardoned, according to your word! We should pray as if life and death, heaven and hell, would be decided by our prayers!

2. (21-25) The fate of the rebels and the fate of the faithful.

"But truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD; because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea."

a. But truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD: God's response to Israel would be full of and reflective of His glory. He would show mercy and pardon, but in a way consistent with His glory.

b. They certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it: Therefore, those who put God to the test and rebelled against His promise, would not see the Promised Land. But the faithful like Caleb would inherit the land.

i. Look at the high praise heaped upon Caleb: My servant Caleb . . . he has a different spirit in him . . . [he] has followed Me fully . . . I will bring into the land. Caleb's stand of faith seemed futile when Israel rejected him; but it was richly rewarded by God.

c. Tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness: God had brought them to the threshold of the Promised Land, but they rebelled against Him, and did not enter - so God will send them back to the wilderness.

i. Israel has demonstrated they are still slave-minded; they do not think like Promised Land people. It will take more wilderness training until they are a people ready to live in the Promised Land!

3. (26-35) The death sentence upon the rebels.

And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. Say to them, 'As I live,' says the LORD, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. I the LORD have spoken this; I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.'"

a. All of you who were numbered . . . from twenty years old and above: God gave the message to the nation - this generation must die in the wilderness and would never see the Promised Land. It was as if God said to them, "You didn't want it when it was offered to you, so now you will never have it."

i. They said, If only we had died in this wilderness! (Numbers 14:2). God will now give them their desire. If they preferred death to a walk of faith, God would make that their destiny.

b. Except for Caleb . . . and Joshua: These men of faith were the glorious exceptions. They would enter into the land of promise because they have the hearts and minds of new men.

i. Not even Moses and Aaron were excepted. They would also not enter the Promised Land, each for their own reasons. But we remember that Moses was not guiltless in this whole tragedy, having agreed to the request of the people to send out spies instead of just boldly taking the land by faith.

c. But your little ones: When excusing their unbelief, Israel had claimed concern for their children (Numbers 14:3), accusing God of wanting to murder them. Now, ironically, their children would inherit the land, while they perished in the wilderness.

d. The land which you despised: We may imagine many in Israel objected saying, "We did not despise the land. We wanted it. We were just afraid." But they did despise it, because as much as anything, it was a land of faith for people of faith, and the unbelieving and rebellious do despise the land.

e. Forty days . . . forty years: The spies, representing the nation, failed in the test of 40 days. Now the nation would be tested 40 years - and they would come forth purified, ready to inherit the Promised Land, but only after the man of unbelief and rebellion has perished in the wilderness.

i. The old man, the man still slave-minded to sin, can never enter into God's promises; the old man must die - and God will do whatever it takes to make that happen.

ii. This turning point in Israel's history is an essential lesson for every believer, and is trumpeted to us in Psalm 95:7b-11: Today, if you will hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.' So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'

iii. Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His word, but complained in their tents, and did not heed the voice of the LORD. Therefore He raised up His hand in an oath against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness, to overthrow their descendants among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. (Psalms 106:24-27)

iv. But they and our fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed Your commandments. They refused to obey, and they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their bondage. (Nehemiah 9:16-17)

v. Hebrews 3:7-4:16 makes it clear: God has a place of rest and promise for every believer to enter in to, and it can only be entered by faith. The man of unbelief, self-reliance, and self-focus can never enter into God's rest and abundance.

4. (36-38) An immediate death sentence upon the ten unfaithful spies.

Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.

a. Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land . . . died by the plague before the LORD: If the death of the unbelieving generation would take some 38 years (the number of years left to make a total time of the exodus forty years), the death of the ten unfaithful spies was be immediate.

b. Died by the plague before the LORD: God has one prescription for the old man, and the flesh: to kill it. It can't be reformed. We are not called to turn over a new leaf for God. The old man dies, and only then can the new man patterned after Jesus Christ, can inherit God's land of rest and promise.

5. (39-45) Aftermath: Failure of the attempt to take the Promised Land by man's strength and wisdom.

Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, "Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised, for we have sinned!" And Moses said, "Now why do you transgress the command of the LORD? For this will not succeed. Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the LORD is not among you. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be with you." But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop; nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed from the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah.

a. The people mourned greatly: They were indeed sorry; many people are sorry for the consequence of their sin. But they were not so sorry as to turn their hearts to a genuine trust of the LORD.

b. They rose early . . . went up to the top of the mountain . . . "Here we are, and we will go up . . .we have sinned!" They wanted to make it all better with a few religious works and words but their hearts were not changed. All this was on their initiative, as a way of doing God's will their way, and hoping to reap the same blessings. It could not work. Moses spoke rightly: For this will not succeed.

c. The Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah: It did not succeed because God was not with them. They made a futile attempt in the flesh to accomplish what they had rejected by faith, and it ended in defeat. It was now back to the wilderness.

i. When God was with them, they did not think it was enough; now that God was not with them, they thought they could do it.

© 2004 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Commentary -- Other

Critics Ask: Num 14:25

NUMBERS 14:25 —Did the Amalekites live in the mountain or in the valley?

PROBLEM: This verse says the Amalekites and Canaanites “dwell in the valley.” But verse 45 says the opposite, namely, they “dwelt in that mountain.”

SOLUTION: There are two possibilities. One is that these two verses may be referring to different groups. Some of them may have lived in the mountain and some in the valley. Or, it may have reference to the same people who lived in a valley or plateau which was also a mountain relative to the lower area around it from which they “came down” to fight (v. 45 ).   

Critics Ask: Num 14:29

NUMBERS 14:29 —If nearly all the men from twenty years up died in the wilderness, why have none of their graves been discovered?

PROBLEM: According to Numbers 14:29 , the corpses of all the men older than 20 years would fall in the wilderness. The total was over 600,000. But, if so many died in the wilderness, why do their grave sites not litter the landscape?

SOLUTION: Because the people were condemned to wander in the wilderness, the conditions were such that they were not able to construct graves that could withstand the weather conditions or even the ravages of wild beasts. The graves were probably shallow burial places just beneath the sand or gravel. Consequently, neither the grave sites nor the skeletons of those who were buried could be preserved for any length of time.   

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Numbers (Book Introduction)

NUMBERS. This book is so called because it contains an account of the enumeration and arrangement of the Israelites. The early part of it, from the first through the tenth chapters, appears to be a supplement to Leviticus, being occupied with relating the appointment of the Levites to the sacred offices. The journal of the march through the wilderness is then given as far as Num 21:20; after which the early incidents of the invasion are narrated. One direct quotation only from this book (Num 16:5) is made in the New Testament (2Ti 2:19); but indirect references to it by the later sacred writers are very numerous.

JFB: Numbers (Outline)

• MOSES NUMBERING THE MEN OF WAR. (Num. 1:1-54)
• THE ORDER OF THE TRIBES IN THEIR TENTS. (Num. 2:1-34)
• THE LEVITES' SERVICE. (Num. 3:1-51)
• OF THE LEVITES' SERVICE. (Num. 4:1-49)
• THE UNCLEAN TO BE REMOVED OUT OF THE CAMP. (Num 5:1-4)
• RESTITUTION ENJOINED. (Num 5:5-10)
• THE TRIAL OF JEALOUSY. (Num. 5:11-31)
• THE LAW OF THE NAZARITE IN HIS SEPARATION. (Num. 6:1-22)
• THE FORM OF BLESSING THE PEOPLE. (Num 6:23-27)
• THE PRINCES' OFFERINGS. (Num. 7:1-89)
• HOW THE LAMPS ARE TO BE LIGHTED. (Num 8:1-4)
• THE CONSECRATION OF THE LEVITES. (Num. 8:5-22)
• THE PASSOVER ENJOINED. (Num 9:1-5)
• A SECOND PASSOVER ALLOWED. (Num 9:6-14)
• A CLOUD GUIDES THE ISRAELITES. (Num 9:15-23)
• THE USE OF THE SILVER TRUMPETS. (Num. 10:1-36)
• MANNA LOATHED. (Num. 11:1-35)
• MIRIAM'S AND AARON'S SEDITION. (Num 12:1-9)
• MIRIAM'S LEPROSY. (Num 12:10-16)
• THE NAMES OF THE MEN WHO WERE SENT TO SEARCH THE LAND. (Num. 13:1-33)
• THE PEOPLE MURMUR AT THE SPIES' REPORT. (Num. 14:1-45)
• THE LAW OF SUNDRY OFFERINGS. (Num. 15:1-41)
• THE REBELLION OF KORAH. (Num. 16:1-30)
• AARON'S ROD FLOURISHES. (Num 17:1-13)
• THE CHARGE OF THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES. (Num 18:1-7)
• THE PRIESTS' PORTION. (Num 18:8-20)
• THE LEVITES' PORTION. (Num 18:21-32)
• THE WATER OF SEPARATION. (Num. 19:1-22)
• THE DEATH OF MIRIAM. (Num. 20:1-29)
• ISRAEL ATTACKED BY THE CANAANITES. (Num. 21:1-35)
• BALAK'S FIRST MESSAGE FOR BALAAM REFUSED. (Num. 22:1-20)
• THE JOURNEY. (Num. 22:21-41)
• BALAK'S SACRIFICES. (Num. 23:1-30)
• BALAAM FORETELLS ISRAEL'S HAPPINESS. (Num. 24:1-25)
• THE ISRAELITES' WHOREDOM AND IDOLATRY WITH MOAB. (Num. 25:1-18)
• ISRAEL NUMBERED. (Num. 26:1-51)
• THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD ASK FOR AN INHERITANCE. (Num 27:1-11)
• MOSES BEING TOLD OF HIS APPROACHING DEATH, ASKS FOR A SUCCESSOR. (Num 27:12-17)
• JOSHUA APPOINTED TO SUCCEED HIM. (Num 27:18-23)
• OFFERINGS TO BE OBSERVED. (Num. 28:1-31)
• THE OFFERING AT THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS. (Num. 29:1-40)
• VOWS ARE NOT TO BE BROKEN. (Num. 30:1-16)
• THE MIDIANITES SPOILED AND BALAAM SLAIN. (Num. 31:1-54)
• THE REUBENITES AND GADITES ASK FOR AN INHERITANCE. (Num. 32:1-42)
• TWO AND FORTY JOURNEYS OF THE ISRAELITES--FROM EGYPT TO SINAI. (Num 33:1-15)
• THE BORDERS OF THE LAND OF CANAAN. (Num. 34:1-29)
• EIGHT AND FORTY CITIES GIVEN TO THE LEVITES. (Num 35:1-5)
• CITIES OF REFUGE. (Num 35:6-8)
• THE BLOOD AVENGER. (Num. 35:9-34)
• THE INCONVENIENCE OF THE INHERITANCE. (Num 36:1-13)

TSK: Numbers (Book Introduction)

The book of Numbers is a book containing a series of the most astonishing providences and events. Every where and in every circumstance God appears; and yet there is no circumstance or occasion which does not justify those signal displays of his grace and mercy; and in every relation we perceive the consistency of the divine intentions, and the propriety of those laws which he established.

TSK: Numbers 14 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Num 14:1, The people murmur at the news; Num 14:6, Joshua and Caleb labour to still them; v.11, God threatens them; v.13, Moses intercedes with God, and obtains pardon; v.26, The murmurers are debarred from entering into the land; v.36, The men who raised the evil report die by a plague; v.40, The people that would invade the land against the will of God are smitten.

Poole: Numbers (Book Introduction)

FOURTH BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED NUMBERS

THE ARGUMENT

This Book giveth us a history of almost forty years travel of the children of Israel through the wilderness, where we have an account of their journeys, and what happened to them therein, with their government, and how they were managed thereby; called Numbers by reason of the several numberings of the people, as at the offerings of the princes, and at their several journeys, &c. But especially two: one, Chapter 1, out of which the priests and Levites were excepted, but numbered by themselves, viz. in the second year after they were come out of Egypt, in the first month whereof the passover was instituted; with the order about the tabernacle, both of the Levites and people, and their several marches, encampings, and manner of pitching their tents, the priests’ maintenance and establishment, by the miraculous budding of Aaron’ s rod, with the several impediments in their marches, both among themselves by several murmurings, seditions, and conspiracies; and from their enemies, viz. the Edomites, Canaanites, over whom having obtained a victory, and afterwards murmuring, they were stung with fiery serpents, and cured by the brazen one; Amorites, whose kings, Sihon and Og, they overcame and slew; and Moabites, where by the allurements of Balaam, who was hired by Balak to curse Israel, they joined themselves to Baal-peor , and are plagued for it; that openly opposed them. The other chief numbering is in Chapter 26, where they are found almost as many as at the first, though among them were none of the first numbering, (according to what God had threatened, Chapter 14,) save Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, by reason of their desire to return back into Egypt upon the discouraging report often of those twelve that Moses sent to spy out the land; whereupon they were forced to wander above thirty-eight years in the wilderness; where he gave them several laws, civil, ecclesiastical, and military; as also particular directions about women’ s inheriting, occasioned by the case of Zelophehad’ s daughters, and concerning vows; and then brings them back to the borders of Canaan, where, after divers victories obtained against their enemies, they were directed how the land of Canaan was to be divided among the tribes, and what portion the Levites were to have among them, together with six cities of refuge set apart for the manslayer. At length Aaron being dead, and Eleazar placed in his stead, and Moses also having received the sentence of death, doth, by God’ s appointment, deliver up the people unto the charge and conduct of Joshua.

Poole: Numbers 14 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 14

The children of Israel murmur against Moses and Aaron, Num 14:1-4 . Moses, Aaron, Caleb, and Joshua go to appease the people, Num 14:5-9 ; wherefore the people would have stoned them, Num 14:10 . The Lord threateneth them with the pestilence, Num 14:11,12 . Moses entreateth the Lord for the people, Num 14:13-19 . The Lord heareth Moses, Num 14:20,21 ; yet promiseth that the murmurers shall never enter into the land of Canaan, Num 14:22,23 . Judgments on the murmurers, Num 14:26-35 . They that brought an evil report on the land die of the plague, Num 14:36,37 . They who would take possession of the land contrary to God’ s command are smitten, Num 14:40-45 .

Except Caleb and Joshua, and some few others. A synecdochial expression, the whole for the greatest part.

MHCC: Numbers (Book Introduction)

This book is called NUMBERS from the several numberings of the people contained in it. It extends from the giving of the law at Sinai, till their arrival in the plains of Jordan. An account is given of their murmuring and unbelief, for which they were sentenced to wander in the wilderness nearly forty years; also some laws, both, moral and ceremonial. Their trials greatly tended to distinguish the wicked and hypocrites from the faithful and true servants of God, who served him with a pure heart.

MHCC: Numbers 14 (Chapter Introduction)

(Num 14:1-4) The people murmur at the account of the spies.

(Num 14:5-10) Joshua and Caleb labour to still the people.

(Num 14:11-19) The Divine threatenings, The intercession of Moses.

(v. 20-35) The murmurers forbidden to enter the promised land.

(Num 14:36-39) Death of the evil spies.

(Num 14:40-45) Defeat of the people, who now would invade the land.

Matthew Henry: Numbers (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Fourth Book of Moses, Called Numbers

The titles of the five books of Moses, which we use in our Bibles, are all borrowed from the Greek translation of the Seventy, the most ancient version of the Old Testament that we know of. But the title of this book only we turn into English; in all the rest we retain the Greek word itself, for which difference I know no reason but that the Latin translators have generally done the same. Otherwise this book might as well have been called Arithmoi , the Greek title, as the first Genesis, and the second Exodus; or these might as well have been translated, and called, the first the Generation, or Original, the second the Out-let, or Escape, as this Numbers. - This book was thus entitled because of the numbers of the children of Israel, so often mentioned in this book, and so well worthy to give a title to it, because it was the remarkable accomplishment of God's promise to Abraham that his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude. It also relates to two numberings of them, one at mount Sinai (ch. 1), the other in the plains of Moab, thirty-nine years after (ch. 26). And not three men the same in the last account that were in the first. The book is almost equally divided between histories and laws, intermixed.

We have here, I. The histories of the numbering and marshalling of the tribes (ch. 1-4), the dedication of the altar and Levites (ch. 7, 8), their march (ch. 9, 10), their murmuring and unbelief, for which they were sentenced to wander forty years in the wilderness (ch. 11-14), the rebellion of Korah (ch. 16, Num 17:1-13), the history of the last year of the forty (ch. 20-26), the conquest of Midian, and the settlement of the two tribes (ch. 31, 32), with an account of their journeys (ch. 33), II. Divers laws about the Nazarites, etc. (ch. 5, 6); and again about the priests' charge, etc. (ch. 18, 19), feasts (ch. 28, 29), and vows (ch. 30), and relating to their settlement in Canaan (ch. 27, 34, 35, Num 36:1-13). An abstract of much of this book we have in a few words in Psa 95:10, Forty years long was I grieved with this generation; and an application of it to ourselves in Heb 4:1, Let us fear lest we seem to come short. Many considerable nations there were now in being, that dwelt in cities and fortified towns, of which no notice is taken, no account kept, by the sacred history: but very exact records are kept of the affairs of a handful of people, that dwelt in tents, and wandered strangely in a wilderness, because they were the children of the covenant. For the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

Matthew Henry: Numbers 14 (Chapter Introduction)

This chapter gives us an account of that fatal quarrel between God and Israel upon which, for their murmuring and unbelief, he swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest. Here is, I. The mutiny and rebellion of Israel against God, upon the report of the evil spies (Num 14:1-4). II. The fruitless endeavour of Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua, to still the tumult (Num 14:5-10). III. Their utter ruin justly threatened by an offended God (Num 14:11, Num 14:12). IV. The humble intercession of Moses for them (Num 14:13-19). V. A mitigation of the sentence in answer to the prayer of Moses; they shall not all be cut off, but the decree goes forth ratified with an oath, published to the people, again and again repeated, that this whole congregation should perish in the wilderness, and none of them enter Canaan but Caleb and Joshua only (v. 20-35). VI. The present death of the evil spies (Num 14:36-39). VII. The rebuke given to those who attempted to go forward notwithstanding (Num 14:40-45). And this is written for our admonition, that we " fall not after the same example of unbelief."

Constable: Numbers (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The title the Jews used in their Hebrew Old Testament for this book comes from the fifth word in the book in the Hebrew text, bemidbar: "in the wilderness." This is, of course, appropriate since the Israelites spent most of the time covered in the narrative of Numbers wandering in the wilderness.

The English title "Numbers" is a translation of the Greek title Arithmoi. The Septuagint translators chose this title because of the two censuses of the Israelites that Moses recorded at the beginning (chs. 1-4) and toward the end (ch. 26) of the book. These numberings of the people took place at the beginning and end of the wilderness wanderings and frame the contents of Numbers.

Date and Writer

Moses wrote Numbers (cf. Num. 1:1; 33:2; Matt. 8:4; 19:7; Luke 24:44; John 1:45; et al.). He evidently did so late in his life on the plains of Moab.¹ Moses evidently died close to 1406 B.C. since the Exodus happened about 1446 B.C., and the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years.

Scope and purpose

When the book opens the Israelites were in the second month of the second year after they departed from Egypt (1:1). In chapters 7-10 we read things that happened in the nation before that. These things happened when Moses finishing setting up the tabernacle, which occurred on the first day of the first month of the second year (7:1; cf. Exod. 40:17). When Numbers closes the Israelites were in the tenth month of the fortieth year (cf. Deut. 1:3). Thus the time Numbers covers is about 39 years.

Geographically the Israelites travelled from Mt. Sinai to the plains of Moab, which lay to the east of Jericho and the Jordan River. However their journey was not at all direct. They proceeded from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea on Canaan's southern border but failed to go into the Promised Land from there because of unbelief. Their failure to trust God and obey Him resulted in a period of 38 years of wandering in the wilderness. God finally brought them back to Kadesh and led them from there to the plains of Moab that lay on Canaan's eastern border.

Even though the wilderness wanderings consumed the majority of the years Numbers records, Moses passed over the events of this period of Israel's history fairly quickly. God's emphasis in this book is on His preparation of the Israelites to enter the land from Kadesh (chs. 1-14), and their preparation to enter from the plains of Moab (chs. 20-36). This indicates that the purpose of the book was primarily to show how God dealt with the Israelites as they anticipated entrance into the Promised Land. It was not to record all the events, or even most events, that took place in Israel's history. This selection of content to teach spiritual lessons is in harmony with the other books of the Pentateuch. Their concern too was more theological than historical.

"The material in Numbers cannot be understood apart from what precedes it in Exodus and Leviticus. The middle books of the Pentateuch hang closely together, with Genesis forming a prologue, and Deuteronomy the epilogue to the collection."²

The content stresses events leading to the destruction of the older generation of Israelites in the wilderness and the preparation of the new generation for entrance into the land. The census at the beginning of the book (chs. 1-4) and the one at the end (ch. 26) provide, ". . . the overarching literary and theological structure of the book of Numbers."³

"We may also venture the purpose of the book in this manner: To compel obedience to Yahweh by members of the new community by reminding them of the wrath of God on their parents because of their breach of covenant; to encourage them to trust in the ongoing promises of their Lord as they follow him into their heritage in Canaan; and to provoke them to worship of God and to the enjoyment of their salvation."⁴

"The Book of Numbers seems to be an instruction manual to post-Sinai Israel. The manual' deals with three areas: (a) how the nation was to order itself in its journeyings, (b) how the priests and Levites were to function in the condition of mobility which lay ahead, and (c) how they were to prepare themselves for the conquest of Canaan and their settled lives there. The narrative sections, of which there are many, demonstrate the successes and failures of the Lord's people as they conformed and did not conform to the requirements in the legislative, cultic, and prescriptive parts of the book."⁵

Theme

I believe the theme of the book is obedience. However others have suggested different though related themes.

"The theme of the Book of Numbers is worship."⁶

"The major theological theme of Numbers is reciprocal in nature: God has brought a people to Himself by covenant grace, but He expects of them a wholehearted devotion. Having accepted the terms of the Sinai Covenant, Israel had placed herself under obligation to obey them, a process that was to begin at once and not in some distant place and time (Exod. 19:8; 24:3)."⁷

Message⁸

To formulate a statement that summarizes the teaching of this book it will be helpful to identify some of the major revelations in Numbers. These constitute the unique values of the book.

The first major value of Numbers is that it reveals the graciousness of God to an extent not previously revealed. We see God's graciousness in His dealings with Israel throughout this book.

In the first section of Numbers (chs. 1-10) God's provision for His people stands out. We see this in the order and purity God specified for the maintenance of the Israelite camp. We see it in the worship God provided for in the camp. We also see it in the movement God prescribed for the camp. God faithfully provided for the needs of His people in these many ways as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.

In the second section of the book (chs. 11-21) God's patience with His people stands out. When the Israelites failed to obey God He did not desert them, but He disciplined them in love. God's patience in dealing with the Israelites did not result from God's weakness, but it was an evidence of His strength. God did not manifest carelessness toward the Israelites by making them wander in the wilderness for 38 years. He manifested carefulness as He used those 38 years to prepare the next generation to obey Him. God disciplined the people for their disobedience, but He always directed them toward the realization of His purpose for them as He disciplined them. The years of wilderness wandering were years of education rather than abandonment. He had similarly prepared Moses for 40 years in the wilderness before the Exodus.

In the third section (chs. 22-36) God's persistence in bringing Israel to the threshold of the land is prominent. God protected Israel from her enemies and provided for her needs. Even though Israel had been unfaithful God persisted in demonstrating faithfulness to the nation He had chosen to bless.

A second major value of this book is the revelation it contains of the gravity of unbelief. This is a revelation of man whereas the first was a revelation of God. Numbers reveals the seriousness of the sin of unbelief that manifests itself in disobedience. The Israelites struggled with unbelief throughout the book, but the most serious instance of it took place at Kadesh Barnea (chs. 13-14).

Numbers reveals the roots of unbelief. These were two causes: a mixed multitude and mixed motives.

The congregation consisted of a combination of believing Israelites and others who had for various reasons joined themselves to the people of God, a mixed multitude. These foreigners joined Israel first at the Exodus (Exod. 12:38), but we find them mixed in with the Israelites throughout Israel's subsequent history (cf. Lev. 24:10-23). This "rabble" was first to complain against God, and their murmuring spread through the camp like a plague periodically (cf. 11:4).

The second cause of unbelief was the mixed motives of the Israelites. They wanted to enjoy God's blessings and obeyed Him to a degree to obtain these. However, they also wanted things that God in His love for them did not want them to have (cf. Gen. 3). The Israelites did not fully commit themselves to God (cf. Rom. 12:1-2). They did not fully allow God to shape them into a nation to fulfill His purpose for them in the world. This too resulted in murmuring. They longed for what they had experienced in Egypt and preferred a comfortable life to the adventurous life to which God had called them. Murmuring is the telltale evidence of selfishness. It arises from a lack of singleminded dedication to God.

The message of Numbers is that everything depends on our attitude toward God. Our attitude toward our opportunities and our circumstances reveals our attitude toward God. If we are not content with what God has brought into our lives, it indicates we may want something different for ourselves than what God wants for us.

When we face a challenge to our faith we must see the difficulty overshadowed by God's presence, power, and promises.

The alternative is to allow the difficulty to block our view of God. The influences of unbelievers and our own doublemindedness will seek to make us behave as the Israelites did. At these times of testing Israel's experiences in Numbers should help us understand what is going on and trust God and obey Him more consistently.

The message of Numbers is a message of comfort on the one hand.

Numbers teaches that the failures of God's people cannot frustrate His plans. In Exodus we saw that the opposition of God's enemies cannot defeat Him. In Numbers we see that the failure of His instruments cannot defeat Him either. God's chosen instruments can postpone God's purposes, but they cannot preclude them.

In Numbers we also see that God always deals with His chosen instruments righteously. He will bless the minority who are faithful to Him even though they live among a majority who are under His discipline for being unfaithful. We see this in God's dealings with Caleb and Joshua. God honors the faithful. He will also faithfully work with those He is disciplining because of unfaithfulness. He will encourage them to experience the greatest blessing they can within the sphere of their discipline. We see this in His dealings with the rebellious generation. Furthermore God will not overlook those who have disobeyed Him because they have established a record of past obedience. He will discipline them too. We see this in God's dealings with Moses. Whereas God honors the faithful He also disciplines the unfaithful.

Numbers further teaches us that God's provisions are always adequate for His people's needs (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9). He sustained the Israelites in the wilderness. Their failures were not a result of God's inadequate provision but their own dissatisfaction with His provision. God Himself is an adequate resource for His people as we go through life (cf. Exod. 14-17).

On the other hand Numbers is also a message of warning. Every believer and every group of believers (e.g., a local church) from time to time face the same challenge to faith that the Israelites faced in the wilderness and at Kadesh. The crisis comes when faith encounters obstacles that only God's supernatural power can overcome. The believer should then proceed against these obstacles in simple confidence in God. Our response will depend on whether we are willing to act on our belief that God's presence, power, and promises can overcome them.

We can fail to realize all that God wants for us if we fail to trust Him.

By way of review Genesis expounds faith. Exodus reveals that faith manifests itself in worship and obedience. Leviticus explains worship more fully. Numbers stresses the importance of obedience.

Numbers shows the importance of obedience by revealing the roots, process, and fruits of disobedience.

Constable: Numbers (Outline)

Outline

I. Experiences of the older generation in the wilderness chs. 1-25

A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the south chs. 1-10

1. The first census and the organization of the people chs. 1-4

2. Commands and rituals to observe in preparation for entering the land chs. 5-9

3. The departure from Sinai ch. 10

B. The rebellion and judgment of the unbelieving generation chs. 11-25

1. The cycle of rebellion, atonement, and death chs. 11-20

2. The climax of rebellion, hope, and the end of dying chs. 21-25

II. Prospects of the younger generation in the land chs. 26-36

A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the east chs. 26-32

1. The second census ch. 26

2. Provisions and commands to observe in preparation for entering the land chs. 27-30

3. Reprisal against Midian and the settlement of the Transjordanian tribes chs. 31-32

B. Warning and encouragement of the younger generation chs. 33-36

1. Review of the journey from Egypt 33:1-49

2. Anticipation of the Promised Land 33:50-36:13

Constable: Numbers

Numbers

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Numbers (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION.

This fourth Book of Moses is called Numbers , because it begins with the numbering of the people. The Hebrews, from its first words, call it Vaydedabber . It contains the transactions of the Israelites, from the second month of the second year after their going out of Egypt, until the beginning of the eleventh month of the 40th year; that is, a history almost of thirty-nine years. (Challoner) --- In the nine first chapters various orders of people are described, and several laws are given or repeated. From the 10th to the 33d, the marches and history of God's people are related; (Haydock) from the 20th of the second month, in the second year after their departure out of Egypt, till the eleventh month of the 40th year, and the last of Moses: so that this Book contains the transactions of almost thirty-nine years; (Tirinus) whereas, the Book of Leviticus specified only some of the laws and occurrences of one month. Here we behold what opposition Moses experienced from Aaron and his sister, from Core, and from all the people; and yet God protected him, in the midst of all dangers, and confounded, not only their attempts, but those also of Balaam, and of all his external foes. (Haydock) --- Moses conquers the Madianites, and divides the conquered country between the tribes of Ruben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasses. In the three last chapters, he describes the land of Chanaan, orders all the inhabitants to be exterminated, assigns cities for the Levites, and for refuge; and forbids such marriages, as might cause any confusion in the distribution of the lands belonging to each tribe. Moses composed this part of the Pentateuch, as well as that of Deuteronomy, a little while before his death, out of the memoirs which he had carefully preserved. (Calmet) --- According to Usher, the people were numbered this second time, in the year of the world 2514, chap. i.; after which they leave the desert of Sinai, (chap. x. 11.) go to Cades-barne, and return thither again 2552. Soon after this, Mary and Aaron die; Moses lifts up the brazen serpent; and the Hebrews take possession of part of the promised land (2553) on the eastern banks of the Jordan. That on the western side, flowing with milk and honey, was conquered by Josue in the following years. (Haydock)

Gill: Numbers (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS

This book has its name from the account it gives of the "numbers" of the children of Israel, twice taken particularly; which name it has with this Greeks and Latins, and so with the Syriac and Arabic versions; but with the Jews it is called sometimes "Vajedabber", from the first word of it, "and the Lord spake"; and sometimes "Bemidbar", from the fifth word of the first verse, "in the wilderness", and sometimes "Sepher Pikkudim"; or, as with Origen ^a, "Ammesph‚kodim", the book of musters or surveys. That it was written by Moses is not to be doubted; and is indeed suggested by our Lord himself, Joh 5:46 compared with Num 3:14, and the references to it, in the New Testament, fully ascertain to us Christians the authenticity of it, as that of our Lord hinted at, and those of the apostle in 1Co 10:4. It contains an history of the affairs of the Israelites, and of their travel in the wilderness for the space of thirty eight years; though the principal facts it relates were done in the second year of their coming out of Egypt, and in the last of their being in the wilderness; and it is not merely historical, but gives a particular account of several laws, ceremonial and judicial, to be observed by the people of Israel, as well as has many things in it very instructive, both of a moral and evangelical nature.

Gill: Numbers 14 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 14

This chapter treats or the murmurings of the children of Israel upon the evil report of the spies, which greatly distressed Moses and Aaron, Num 14:1; and of the endeavours of Joshua and Caleb to quiet the minds of the people with a good account of the land, and of the easy conquest of it, but to no purpose, Num 14:6; and of the Lord's threatening to destroy the people with the pestilence, Num 14:11; and of the intercession of Moses for them, which so far succeeded as to prevent their immediate destruction, Num 14:13; nevertheless they are assured again and again, in the strongest terms, that none of them but Joshua and Caleb should enter into the land, but their carcasses should fall in the wilderness, even all the murmurers of twenty years old and upwards, Num 14:21; and the ten men that brought the evil report of the good land died of a plague immediately, but the other two lived, Num 14:36; and the body of the people that attempted to go up the mountain and enter the land were smitten and discomfited by their enemies, after they had with concern heard what the Lord threatened them with, Num 14:39.