Numbers 32:15

15 What if you turn away from following him? Then he'll leave all of these people in the desert again. And it will be your fault when they are destroyed."

Numbers 32:15 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 32:15

For if ye turn away from after him
From following him in the way of his commandments, from attending his word, worship, and ordinances, and from walking after him, who went before them in a pillar of cloud and fire, as it is suggested they would, should they stop short here and not go over Jordan into the land of Canaan:

he will yet again leave them in the wilderness;
as he did at the time of the affair of the spies, when they were ordered to turn and get into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, and where they had been ever since unto this time, ( Numbers 14:25 ) ,

and ye shall destroy all this people;
be the cause of their destruction, if the Lord should in such a manner resent this step of theirs, as to order them back into the wilderness again, though they were now as they were before, on the border of the land of Canaan.

Numbers 32:15 In-Context

13 "The LORD's anger burned against Israel. He made them wander around in the desert for 40 years. They wandered until all of the people who had done evil in his sight had died.

14 "Now here you are, you bunch of sinners! You have taken the place of your fathers. And you are making the LORD even more angry with Israel.

15 What if you turn away from following him? Then he'll leave all of these people in the desert again. And it will be your fault when they are destroyed."

16 Then they came up to Moses. They said, "We would like to build pens here for our livestock. We would also like to build cities for our women and children.

17 "But we're ready to prepare ourselves for battle. We're even ready to go ahead of the people of Israel. We'll go with them until we've brought them to their place. While we're gone, our women and children will live in cities that have high walls around them. That will keep them safe from the people who are living in this land.