Genuine Repentance Is Key

Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. “Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” [Numbers 14.1-3]

Numbers 14 might very well be one of the saddest chapters in the whole Bible.

After all God had done for Israel, they went on the word of the majority of the spies that went into Canaan and they rebelled against God and everything they had come to know God as to that point.

Here is what happens to people when they fear death: they die.

While at first it appears Moses' intercession for Israel stopped God from wiping them out, with further consideration, all Moses' intercession did was delay their death. The rebels still died in the wilderness - the promise to them unfulfilled.

There are so many questions that might be explored from this story... One such question is, why did God tell them to explore the land first instead of just telling them to go get it sight unseen? 'Just wondering...

As I consider Moses' intercession for Israel, I am not so convinced that Moses' intercession really 'protected' the name and reputation of God... I mean, all those alive that day, except Moses, Joshua and Caleb died anyway! Could it not still have been assumed by Egypt that God was unable to deliver them into their Promised Land? So, I don't think God was at all worried about His reputation. Instead, he was just trying to deal with an unruly bunch of people the way He has always dealt with people:

‘The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.’ [Numbers 14.18]

The idea that God might not be able to deliver His people is nothing more than a distraction. The problem was sin and rebellion.

That problem of sin and rebellion remains the problem among God's people today. If only we would just trust in the LORD and do His will, He will do as He promised on the condition of our obedience. Our time spent trying to decide what doctrines or theology we embrace or reject is, like Moses' 'concern' for God's reputation, merely a distraction! God will reward disobedience consistently.

We must however understand the implications for us regarding Israel's 'compliance':

When Moses reported the LORD’s words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief. Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. “Let’s go,” they said. “We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the LORD has promised us.” But Moses said, “Why are you now disobeying the LORD’s orders to return to the wilderness? It won’t work. Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the LORD is not with you. When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The LORD will abandon you because you have abandoned the LORD.” But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant left the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them back as far as Hormah. [Numbers 14.39-45]

Israel's 'compliance' AFTER God had already moved on from "I have given this land..." to another command, "you must wander in the wilderness for forty years..." was, in fact, further rebellion. There is an important principle to understand here! If God sees His promise will not be fulfilled through us, He will still make good on His promise, but it may not be in 'our generation.' So, we would do well to consider the sincerity of our repentance for disobedience as opposed to our repentance just to get some relief! This directly, and most importantly, applies to our relationship with Jesus. Genuine repentance is key.

Oh man, this is deep, but we need to meditate on it!

Father, Numbers 14 really is a sad chapter. However, it offers tremendous instruction and insight for us today. Thank You.