Chapter 14

For about the 4th straight chapter, things have gone from bad to worse for the Israelites.

Yesterday we saw how the spies poured cold water on the idea of attacking the Promised land. I pointed out that the spies probably weren’t cowards, even if they couldn’t see that God was going to help them. Their decisions were sound, military thinking based on the numbers of soldiers and their equipment versus the defences.

I will defend the spies, but that defence isn’t available to the people of Israel! They heard the comments of the spies (incidentally, it was rather bad form them leaking to the people behind Moses’ back!), and they freaked. There’s no other way to put it. They heard discouraging messages, and they panicked.

Panicking is stupid, but it’s not a crime. So why did God get so angry that he needed to be talked out of destroying the entire assembly?

Simple – panic was acceptable, but panic turned to cowardice – and cowardice turned to rebellion.

Open rebellion. Pure and simple. Verse 4 tells us that the people of Israel started discussing deposing Moses, and GOING BACK TO EGYPT.

Do you see that? Do you see the tragedy? These people have been miraculously delivered from slavery, with miracle after miracle after miracle. And yet they not only aren’t willing to do what God asks of them, they are basically saying to God “Stuff you, what you did isn’t good enough.”[1]

No wonder God was angry.

Was God really going to kill the people? I find this tough, because it seems to go against the image of God I have always seen. It’s hard to match this angry God against the loving and forgiving God that we understand.

I believe God WAS willing to kill the people. But moreover, it is important to understand that as a whole, they weren’t innocent victims – in the legal structures of basically every society until World War two (and not a few even today!) treason was a capital crime, and that is exactly what they have done – fomented open rebellion against their leadership.

I said that God was willing to kill, and within His rights to do so. I do not believe it was part of His plan, however. He knew that Moses and Aaron would ask for the people to be forgiven; but unless he was serious, the people wouldn’t realise how serious their crime was!

It is here that we see the ever present dichotomy of God – He is merciful (as we see when the people of Israel are forgiven), but He is also just. This is why mercy is needed – if there are no consequences to our behaviour, not only is God unjust, but mercy itself is a cruel lie.
I mentioned in yesterday’s chapter that the spies’ decision would have serious consequences, and here they are – apart from the irrepressible Caleb and the faithful Joshua, the entire generation of Israel would die in the desert. Effectively they are sentenced to 40 years of wandering.

This has an interesting and very practical consequence – the generation that finally enters the Promised Land will be the ones who are born in freedom. Apart from Caleb and Joshua, none of those who enter the Land will remember slavery – and none of them will therefore have the mental patterns of slavery and dependence. If you skip ahead to the book of Joshua (currently being studied by at least one reader – You know who you are, mate, and hope you’re enjoying it! ), the difference is striking!

But it is heartbreak for the current generation.

They are sorry, of course, and vow to take the land now; but ironically, without God’s blessing on the attack, the people of Israel discover that the spies’ assessment is correct. On simple military strength, the Israelites aren’t capable of beating the Canaanites; and naturally they go home with their nose in a sling (vs 44 – 45).

So what does this mean for us?

There are a few things we can say. For one thing, we can accept this chapter as a study in the interrelationship of justice and mercy. We can see how God’s justice demands that sin be punished, but that His mercy demands relenting.

The cross is the obvious place where love and justice meet – the innocent willingly takes the punishment for the guilty, and the guilty go free.

Even though this passage doesn’t mention the word “cross”, and even though Calvary is literally a thousand years in the future, we can still see the shadow of the Cross here.

Also we can see a little problem that, dare I say it, many of us have; when we’ve done the wrong thing, we want to make things right, even when we don’t have the ability to do so. When the people tried to take the Promised Land without God’s help, how did it work out for them?

Not good.

When we sin, we naturally want to try to make restitution. That can be good, and sometimes it’s the right response. But sometimes, sin leads us to miss once-only opportunities. In those circumstances, trying to recapture the opportunity may be counterproductive (or even, as in this case, disastrous!).

That’s the bad news. The good news is that God’s mercy is too great for us to be left without hope for one sin (even a grievous sin). LOOK OUT for the opportunities God will give you in its place!

The people of Israel obviously wanted to avoid the forty years of wandering, but that opportunity was gone. Rather than trying to jemmy a door that God had closed, the people should have taken this time to say “Okay Lord – since you don’t want us to go to the Promised Land now, what DO you want us to do?”

It would possibly have been much more fulfilling and far less frustrating.

It certainly would have led to fewer casualties.

[1]Stronger language might even be correct, but I choose not to put it here!