Return to Egypt as a dog returns to its vomit.
Return to an unholy life like a washed sow returns to the mud.
Humans find comfort in familiarity, even when it’s harmful. Clinging to old habits like the ancient Israelites, who longed to return to Egypt as a result of their suffering, and despite God’s protection, today’s believing community has those who, like the ancient Israelites, tend to want to return to a former lifestyle despite God’s love and protection.
Examining the ancient Israelites’ journey reveals insights into today’s behavior toward God. Notably, many today treat Jesus with as much disdain as the ancient Israelites did, but today, feelings, thoughts, and attitudes are withheld from public view. Ancient Israelites were heading to a land God had promised them, a land with abundance, and because of their disdain for God and God’s messengers, they perished, never setting eyes on the promised land. Today, we have many who are pledged to eternal life with God, and Jesus is the one who has paved the way to that eternal life. Will everyone make it to that promised eternal life, or will only a few experience that promised life?
With that said, let’s dive into Numbers 14. I will be using the New Living Translation (NLT).
The Whispers
Numbers 14:3, “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?” [Exodus 5:21; 16:3; Deuteronomy 1:39].
Comment: One of the most challenging times reading the story of Exodus is how people could turn their backs on God, who has performed miracle after miracle that they saw with their eyes. How could these people be so disrespectful to God, who was with them the entire time, who led them, fed them, fought for them, and protected them? Could it have been spiritual forces that are against God and His people? All anyone has concerning why these people would feel contempt for God is speculation, theories, and conjecture without solid evidence, or is there?
A Forming Coup
Numbers 14:4, Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”
Comment: Not only are the Israelites fearful about entering the land God promised, but they have also been disrespectful toward God, Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. They now seek to overthrow the leadership and choose someone to do what they desire. This reminds me of some churches that hire a pastor, and then after the pastor preaches the gospel by calling for repentance and what it means to follow Jesus, they fire that pastor and hire someone who will preach what makes them feel good. It also reminds me of our political situation since much of what is said here also tells how politics has gone off the rails and decided to follow their ways by returning their countries to what our sovereign God condemned. At this point, it has become difficult to distinguish between politics and religion.
Moses attempts to comfort the Israelites.
Numbers 14:5, 8–9, “5 Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel. 8 And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey.9 Do not rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
Comment: Moses and Aaron attempt to show their shame before the people and most likely pray that God would have mercy. Moses tells the people that if God is pleased with everyone, He will bring all safety into the promised land, and the reward that He will give to the land to the people. Then Moses pleaded with the people not to rebel against the LORD, and that they were not to be frightened of the people in that land. Moses said those people are not protected as long as the LORD is with them. That did not inspire the people to behave and repent of their disrespect toward the LORD. In verse 10, the people decide not to listen, and the whole community begins to plot about stoning Joshua and Caleb.
The LORD was not pleased, and in verses 11 through 12, He laments about how long the people would treat Him with contempt. It has become clear what will occur; God will not tolerate this behavior and attitude much longer. He has shown His long-suffering with these people ever since they were in Egypt, and now, things have reached a point where He must repeat what He did when Moses came down the mountain and saw the people worshiping a golden bull. These people are about to meet their end.
The LORD has had enough.
In verses 20–23, “Then the Lord said, I will pardon them as you have requested. But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, [Isaiah 6:3; 11:9.] not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again, they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it.”
Comment: The LORD has agreed to pardon the people because of Moses’ intercession. However, because of the people’s contempt for him, He will not permit them to enter the promised land. So, he redirects them back into the wilderness, where they will die. Then, in verse 23, we see that the LORD will allow those who did not treat Him with contempt to enter the promised land. Finally, in verse 30, we are told Caleb and Joshua are the only ones who will enter the promised land. Once again, I believe there are parallels to this story in the New Testament, and I feel that [Hebrews 6:4-11] speaks to this.
Today, we live in an age where believing in Jesus is a once-and-done event; there is nothing people need to do except go to church and serve. Being baptized and confessing one’s faith in Jesus is all that is required to be saved and to maintain that salvation. I’m afraid that people today are being misled. In Romans 10:9, we are told that you will be saved if you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and in John 3:36, we read, “And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remain under God’s angry judgment.
The People Remain Obstinate
In Numbers 14:41-45, the people remain defiant and resist the LORD; consequently, things do not go well.
“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. Your enemies will only crush you 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.” However, the people pushed 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.”
In conclusion, what can we today gather from the constant disobedience of the Israelites? For me, just like the saying goes: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905, from the series Great Ideas of Western Man. I’m concerned the farther we are from the resurrection of our Lord, the quicker people will abandon the faith and seek to worship strange deities of the past. A great falling away from the faith is just around the corner, and most cannot see its approach.
God bless all, and may He open your spiritual eyes to see what is approaching and warn you not to follow the path of the Israelites, encouraging you to remain steadfast in the faith, awaiting His return.
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