Last week, we took a break from the weekly blogs to celebrate our country’s 250th birthday. Today, we return to what was going on with Israel as recorded in the fourteenth chapter of Numbers. Many of the Israelite leaders have crossed a forbidden line with God and sealed their fate concerning ever being able to enter the Promised Land. https://www.cosdavis.com/the-danger-of-forfeiting-gods-promises/ will refresh your memory of the tragedy they have brought upon themselves.
Today, I want to remind each of us of the importance of faith and how God responds to our faith or faithlessness. The faith of Joshua and Caleb stands in stark contrast to the cowardly, faithless actions of the other ten spies and those who bought into their negative report.
When the Israelites reached the edge of the land God promised them, Moses selected one man from each of the twelve tribes to sneak into and spy on their future home. They were to see what the land was like, the fortifications of the cities, and the strength of the people, to determine plans to take what God had given them. Numbers 13:1-20.
God’s response to their rebellion.
The report of the ten spies and the subsequent actions of many of the people were an outright rebellion against God. What they did pointed to one thing: a lack of faith or trust in Him. In their arrogance and pride, they had a better plan than God; they knew more than He did, and openly criticized Him and His leader, Moses.
How many times had God heard such complaints like this, “Would that we had died in Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!” Despite all of His mercies and miracles, God had heard this faithless refrain several times and was tired of it. Their rejection of His plan to possess the Promised Land was the clincher; He could never trust them to obey and work with His plan. Listen to God’s mournful conclusion to the matter:
“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are making against me.” Numbers 14:26.
God’s response to their rebellion is what some call “poetic justice.” In other words, their rhetoric about dying in the wilderness would become their reality. They would indeed die in the wilderness! “As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will surely do to you. Your corpses shall fall in this wilderness.” Numbers 14:28-29.