Numbers 14

1 All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

2 All the children of Yisra'el murmured against Moshe and against Aharon: and the whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Mitzrayim! or would that we had died in this wilderness!

3 Why does the LORD bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: wouldn't it be better for us to return into Mitzrayim?

4 They said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Mitzrayim.

5 Then Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Yisra'el.

6 Yehoshua the son of Nun and Kalev the son of Yefunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes:

7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Yisra'el, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.

8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey.

9 Only don't rebel against the LORD, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is removed from over them, and the LORD is with us: don't fear them.

10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. The glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the children of Yisra'el.

11 The LORD said to Moshe, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?

12 I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.

13 Moshe said to the LORD, Then the Mitzrim will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them;

14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you LORD are in the midst of this people; for you LORD are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.

15 Now if you shall kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying,

16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.

17 Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying,

18 The LORD is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and that will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.

19 Pardon, Please, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your lovingkindness, and according as you have forgiven this people, from Mitzrayim even until now.

20 The LORD said, I have pardoned according to your word:

21 but in very deed, as I live, and as all the eretz shall be filled with the glory of the LORD;

22 because all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I worked in Mitzrayim and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice;

23 surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it:

24 but my servant Kalev, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him will I bring into the land into which he went; and his seed shall possess it.

25 Now the `Amaleki and the Kana`ani dwell in the valley: tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Sea of Suf.

26 The LORD spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying,

27 How long [shall I bear] with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Yisra'el, which they murmur against me.

28 Tell them, As I live, says the LORD, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you:

29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me,

30 surely you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, save Kalev the son of Yefunneh, and Yehoshua the son of Nun.

31 But your little ones, that you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected.

32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.

33 Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.

34 After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my alienation.

35 I, the LORD, have spoken, surely this will I do to all this evil congregation, who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

36 The men, whom Moshe sent to spy out the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the land,

37 even those men who did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before the LORD.

38 But Yehoshua the son of Nun, and Kalev the son of Yefunneh, remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land.

39 Moshe told these words to all the children of Yisra'el: and the people mourned greatly.

40 They rose up early in the morning, and got them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which the LORD has promised: for we have sinned.

41 Moshe said, Why now do you disobey the mitzvah of the LORD, seeing it shall not prosper?

42 Don't go up, for the LORD isn't among you; that you not be struck down before your enemies.

43 For there the `Amaleki and the Kana`ani are before you, and you shall fall by the sword: because you are turned back from following the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.

44 But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moshe, didn't depart out of the camp.

45 Then the `Amaleki came down, and the Kana`ani who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Hormah.

Numbers 14 Commentary

Chapter 14

The people murmur at the account of the spies. (1-4) Joshua and Caleb labour to still the people. (5-10) The Divine threatenings, The intercession of Moses. (11-19) The murmurers forbidden to enter the promised land. (20-35) Death of the evil spies. (36-39) Defeat of the people, who now would invade the land. (40-45)

Verses 1-4 Those who do not trust God, continually vex themselves. The sorrow of the world worketh death. The Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and in them reproached the Lord. They look back with causeless discontent. See the madness of unbridled passions, which makes men prodigal of what nature accounts most dear, life itself. They wish rather to die criminals under God's justice, than to live conquerors in his favour. At last they resolve, that, instead of going forward to Canaan, they would go back to Egypt. Those who walk not in God's counsels, seek their own ruin. Could they expect that God's cloud would lead them, or his manna attend them? Suppose the difficulties of conquering Canaan were as they imagined, those of returning to Egypt were much greater. We complain of our place and lot, and we would change; but is there any place or condition in this world, that has not something in it to make us uneasy, if we are disposed to be so? The way to better our condition, is to get our spirits in a better frame. See the folly of turning from the ways of God. But men run on the certain fatal consequences of a sinful course.

Verses 5-10 Moses and Aaron were astonished to see a people throw away their own mercies. Caleb and Joshua assured the people of the goodness of the land. They made nothing of the difficulties in the way of their gaining it. If men were convinced of the desirableness of the gains of religion, they would not stick at the services of it. Though the Canaanites dwell in walled cities, their defence was departed from them. The other spies took notice of their strength, but these of their wickedness. No people can be safe, when they have provoked God to leave them. Though Israel dwell in tents, they are fortified. While we have the presence of God with us, we need not fear the most powerful force against us. Sinners are ruined by their own rebellion. But those who, like Caleb and Joshua, faithfully expose themselves for God, are sure to be taken under his special protection, and shall be hid from the rage of men, either under heaven or in heaven.

Verses 11-19 Moses made humble intercession for Israel. Herein he was a type of Christ, who prayed for those that despitefully used him. The pardon of a nation's sin, is the turning away the nation's punishment; and for that Moses is here so earnest. Moses argued that, consistently with God's character, in his abundant mercies, he could forgive them.

Verses 20-35 The Lord granted the prayer of Moses so far as not at once to destroy the congregation. But disbelief of the promise forbids the benefit. Those who despise the pleasant land shall be shut out of it. The promise of God should be fulfilled to their children. They wished to die in the wilderness; God made their sin their ruin, took them at their word, and their carcases fell in the wilderness. They were made to groan under the burden of their own sin, which was too heavy for them to bear. Ye shall know my breach of promise, both the causes of it, that it is procured by your sin, for God never leaves any till they first leave him; and the consequences of it, that will produce your ruin. But your little ones, now under twenty years old, which ye, in your unbelief, said should be a prey, them will I bring in. God will let them know that he can put a difference between the guilty and the innocent, and cut them off without touching their children. Thus God would not utterly take away his loving kindness.

Verses 36-39 Here is the sudden death of the ten evil spies. They sinned in bringing a slander upon the land of promise. Those greatly provoke God, who misrepresent religion, raise dislike in men's minds toward it, or give opportunity to those to do so, who seek occasion. Justly are murmurers made mourners. If they had mourned for the sin, when they were faithfully reproved, the sentence had been prevented; but as they mourned for the judgment only, it did them no service. There is in hell such mourning as this; but tears will not quench the flames, nor cool the tongue.

Verses 40-45 Some of the Israelites were now earnest to go forward toward Canaan. But it came too late. If men would but be as earnest for heaven while their day of grace lasts, as they will be when it is over, how well would it be for them! That which has been duty in its season, when mistimed, may be turned into sin. Those who are out of the way of their duty, are not under God's protection, and go at their peril. God bade them go, and they would not; he forbade them, and they would go. Thus is the carnal mind enmity against God. They had distrusted God's strength; they now presume upon their own without his. And the expedition fails accordingly; now the sentence began to be executed, that their carcases should fall in the wilderness. That affair can never end well, which begins with sin. The way to obtain peace with our friends, and success against our enemies, is, to have God, as our Friend, and to keep in his love. Let us take warning from the fate of Israel, lest we perish after the same example of unbelief. Let us go forth, depending on God's mercy, power, promise, and truth; he will be with us, and bring our souls to everlasting rest.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 14

This chapter treats or the murmurings of the children of Israel upon the evil report of the spies, which greatly distressed Moses and Aaron, Nu 14:1-5; and of the endeavours of Joshua and Caleb to quiet the minds of the people with a good account of the land, and of the easy conquest of it, but to no purpose, Nu 14:6-10; and of the Lord's threatening to destroy the people with the pestilence, Nu 14:11,12; and of the intercession of Moses for them, which so far succeeded as to prevent their immediate destruction, Nu 14:13-20; nevertheless they are assured again and again, in the strongest terms, that none of them but Joshua and Caleb should enter into the land, but their carcasses should fall in the wilderness, even all the murmurers of twenty years old and upwards, Nu 14:21-35; and the ten men that brought the evil report of the good land died of a plague immediately, but the other two lived, Nu 14:36-38; and the body of the people that attempted to go up the mountain and enter the land were smitten and discomfited by their enemies, after they had with concern heard what the Lord threatened them with, Nu 14:39-45.