This chapter is not Israel’s finest moment. Ten of the twelve spies reported the Canaan could not be invaded, and what appears to be the entire nation rebels against God (except Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb). Unfortunately, there are far too many topics here to cover them all (eg. intercessory prayer, intermittent obedience, accepting responsibility, faith, etc). I’ll try to touch on at least two.
“Then Moses and Aaron… And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh… tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ‘The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord.’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them…’ ” (v5-9a,11-12a,13a abr)
I completely understand God’s anger and frustration with the people: “…none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers.” (v22-23a) The funny thing is, believing in God actually took very little faith at this point – God was physically present (in cloud and fire), Moses spoke God’s words directly to the people, and they saw with their own eyes the deliverance from Egypt, including more than a dozen miraculous signs (parting a sea? water from a stone? ten plagues?). If “seeing is believing”, why can’t the people believe and obey? A few chapters ago it said “At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.” (Num 9:23) The people seem to go in cycles of obedience/disobedience.
Before we criticize Israel too much, let’s reflect on our own lives – are we not the same today? I know I am. I have times where I “get it right” (spend time with God, listen to His voice, fulfill His will and calling) and I have times where I “get it wrong” (disregard Him, throw obedience to the wind, live for myself).
Thankfully, Jesus has paid the ultimate penalty for our sin, so when we (or someone around us) do “get it wrong”, we can remember Moses’ amazing intercessory prayer: “And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, “The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.’ ” (v17-19)
By praying this prayer for ourselves, and/or someone else, we are reminded of the seriousness of sin, and the mercy and grace of God. Jesus has already paid for the sin on the cross, so we can humble ourselves, throw ourselves at God’s feet, and ask for forgiveness. After that, we can return to obeying God and no longer live under the guilt and shame of our sin. This is what it means to repent – literally turn away from what we were doing (wrong), and do something completely different (right). Easier said than done? Yes. Does that make it any less necessary? No.
My encouragement for us today is to remember the prayer of Moses – use it to repent when “getting it wrong” and return to “getting it right”. The more time we spend with God, the more we practice hearing and obeying, the more often we will “get it right”, and fewer times we will need to repent. Additionally, no matter how consistently we “get it right”, we will still need to intercede for others before God, so keep that prayer handy. 🙂
Father God, thank you for being so gracious and merciful. You sent Your Son Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin, so we may experience right relationship with You. Please teach us the sound of Your voice, so we may obey. Please form our hearts to align with Yours, so we may intercede on behalf of those who may not be following You in that moment. Please forgive all of us according to the greatness of Your steadfast love, just as You forgave Israel and freed them from Egypt. All honor, power and glory be to You, O Lord God Almighty. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training