by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
Last November 27, a 60-day ceasefire that would result in a Hezbollah retreat to north of the Litani River as per 2006 UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and withdrawal of the IDF from southern Lebanon has been agreed upon by Israel and Lebanon with the backing of the US, France and other mediating countries. The agreement came shortly after the IDF ground troops reached the Litani River.
Meanwhile negotiations for an Israel-Hamas temporary ceasefire with hostage-prisoner exchange seem to be reviving but fighting continues in Jabalia and a few other areas of northern Gaza.
Let us continue to pray for the release of all the remaining 101 Israeli hostages (alive or dead) and for a just end to the wars against the Jewish nation. Let us continue to stand with Israel and pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6-9).
The bad report of the land by 10 of the 12 scouts sent out for a reconnaissance mission into Canaan at the end of Numbers 13 results in the most serious rebellion against the LORD that would cost the Israelites dearly. Chapter 14 of the Book of Numbers details the sad turn of events. It begins with the very first verses of the chapter. The Hebrew verses of Numbers 14:1-4 are given below (read right to left, top down):
תִּשָּׂא֙ כָּל־הָ֣עֵדָ֔ה וַֽיִּתְּנ֖וּ אֶת־קֹולָ֑ם וַיִּבְכּ֥וּ הָעָ֖ם בַּלַּ֥יְלָה הַהֽוּא׃
וַיִּלֹּ֙נוּ֙ עַל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֔ן כֹּ֖ל בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַֽיֹּאמְר֨וּ אֲלֵהֶ֜ם כָּל־הָעֵדָ֗ה לוּ־מַ֙תְנוּ֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם אֹ֛ו בַּמִּדְבָּ֥ר הַזֶּ֖ה לוּ־מָֽתְנוּ׃
וְלָמָ֣ה יְ֠הוָה מֵבִ֨יא אֹתָ֜נוּ אֶל־הָאָ֤רֶץ הַזֹּאת֙ לִנְפֹּ֣ל בַּחֶ֔רֶב נָשֵׁ֥ינוּ וְטַפֵּ֖נוּ יִהְי֣וּ לָבַ֑ז הֲלֹ֧וא טֹ֦וב לָ֖נוּ שׁ֥וּב מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃
וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־אָחִ֑יו נִתְּנָ֥ה רֹ֖אשׁ וְנָשׁ֥וּבָה מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃
The English Standard (ESV) Bible translation follows:
1Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.
2And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
3Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
4And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
In verse 2, the rebellious people were actually preferring to die in the Egypt or in the wilderness! They had forgotten all the miracles they had seen and the good things the LORD had bestowed upon them. And they were actually contemplating to head back to Egypt in direct disobedience to the LORD’s will and plan for them. That would also mean murdering Moses, Aaron and all their leaders! Moses and Aaron were dismayed; as well as Joshua and Caleb who were part of the scouting party of the land (verse 6). But only they turned in a minority report urging the people to proceed as planned. Numbers 14:7-8 records what they said to the assembly of Israel (Hebrew verses read right to left, top down):
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ אֶל־כָּל־עֲדַ֥ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָבַ֤רְנוּ בָהּ֙ לָת֣וּר אֹתָ֔הּ טֹובָ֥ה הָאָ֖רֶץ מְאֹ֥ד מְאֹֽד׃
אִם־חָפֵ֥ץ בָּ֙נוּ֙ יְהוָ֔ה וְהֵבִ֤יא אֹתָ֙נוּ֙ אֶל־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֔את וּנְתָנָ֖הּ לָ֑נוּ אֶ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־הִ֛וא זָבַ֥ת חָלָ֖ב וּדְבָֽשׁ׃
The ESV Bible translation is given below:
7and 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.
8If 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.
The familiar description of a land overflowing with milk and honey is prefixed with Joshua’s and Caleb’s eyewitness assessment that it is indeed an exceedingly good land. Then in verse 9 they followed these pronouncements with an appeal to the people not to rebel against the LORD and not to fear the inhabitants of the land. They correctly call the people’s reaction to the negative report of the 10 scouts a wholesale rebellion against the LORD.
Hence, the next verses show that the LORD was ready to destroy all of the people and create a new people out of Moses (see Exodus 32:10). As in the previous similar episode(s), Moses again interceded for the people. Verses 13-19 narrate that Moses was concerned about how the Egyptians and others, including the occupants of Canaan, would view the LORD if the people were not successfully shepherded into the land. They might even claim, falsely that because of the LORD’s inability to bring the people into the land promised, the people had to be killed. Moses also reminded God of his long-suffering character and steadfast love and appealed for forgiveness and pard0n for the Israelites.
In verses 20-38 the LORD showed compassion and acceded to Moses’ intercession but also pronounced judgment on his rebellious people. Numbers 14:22-24 has the LORD speaking (Hebrew verses read right to left, top down):
כִּ֣י כָל־הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים הָרֹאִ֤ים אֶת־כְּבֹדִי֙ וְאֶת־אֹ֣תֹתַ֔י אֲשֶׁר־עָשִׂ֥יתִי בְמִצְרַ֖יִם וּבַמִּדְבָּ֑ר וַיְנַסּ֣וּ אֹתִ֗י זֶ֚ה עֶ֣שֶׂר פְּעָמִ֔ים וְלֹ֥א שָׁמְע֖וּ בְּקֹולִֽי׃
אִם־יִרְאוּ֙ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֖עְתִּי לַאֲבֹתָ֑ם וְכָל־מְנַאֲצַ֖י לֹ֥א יִרְאֽוּהָ׃
וְעַבְדִּ֣י כָלֵ֗ב עֵ֣קֶב הָֽיְתָ֞ה ר֤וּחַ אַחֶ֙רֶת֙ עִמֹּ֔ו וַיְמַלֵּ֖א אַחֲרָ֑י וַהֲבִֽיאֹתִ֗יו אֶל־הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֣א שָׁ֔מָּה וְזַרְעֹ֖ו יֹורִשֶֽׁנָּה׃
The ESV Bible translation is given below:
22none 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,
23shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.
24But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
In these verses, none of those who tested the LORD “ten times” even while they saw all his signs and wonders and miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness will be allowed to see the land promised, except Caleb (and also Joshua in verse 30). The NIV Study Bible actually lists these 10 times while stating that 10 signifies a great number (Exodus 14:10-12; 15:22-24; 16:1-3, 19-20, 27-30; 17:1-4; 32:1-35; Numbers 11:1-3, 4-34; and 14:1-4).
The LORD would still honor his covenantal promises to the people but they will also suffer punishment. All the number of people who despised and rebelled against the LORD would die off. These people listed in the census, 20 years and older would die off in the wilderness (as they had asked for in verse 2). Only their children would be brought into the land and would know the land (verse 31). Numbers 14:34 lays out the extent of the LORD’s judgment on the assembly of Israel (Hebrew verse read right to left, top down):
בְּמִסְפַּ֨ר הַיָּמִ֜ים אֲשֶׁר־תַּרְתֶּ֣ם אֶת־הָאָרֶץ֮ אַרְבָּעִ֣ים יֹום֒ יֹ֣ום לַשָּׁנָ֞ה יֹ֣ום לַשָּׁנָ֗ה תִּשְׂאוּ֙ אֶת־עֲוֹנֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם אַרְבָּעִ֖ים שָׁנָ֑ה וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־תְּנוּאָתִֽי׃
The Literal Standard Version (LSV) Bible translation follows:
34 by the number of the days [in] which you spied out the land, forty days—a day for a year, a day for a year—you bear your iniquities [for] forty years, and you have known My opposition;
The long-acting, selective death sentence was pronounced explicitly in verses 28-35. An entire generation would die off in the wilderness and it would take the chosen people 40 years to get to the land promised! However, the 10 spies who gave a bad, slanderous report about the land were immediately killed by plague (verses 36-38).
The LORD’s judgment as revealed by Moses truly made the people mourn. However, against given instruction and even when neither the Ark of the Covenant nor Moses going with them, they marched toward the land via the hill country, perhaps to show regret and/or even to try to force the LORD to reverse his judgment. But this only resulted in the Amalekites and Canaanites routing and chasing them away (verses 39-45). It was yet another transgression in the LORD’s eyes.
We will continue next time.
God bless us all.