Numbers 14:26-45 NKJV
26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: 29 The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. 30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. 31 But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. 32 But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. 35 I the Lord have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ ”
36 Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, 37 those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the Lord. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.
39 Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. 40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned!”
41 And Moses said, “Now why do you transgress the command of the Lord? For this will not succeed. 42 Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.”
44 But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah.
We read today how the people of Israel faced the consequences of their lack of faith and disobedience. After the Israelites had heard the negative report from the ten spies, they grumbled and rebelled against God’s plan to take them into the Promised Land. Despite God’s constant provision and promises, they doubted and were afraid to trust His guidance. As a result, God pronounced judgment upon them. Their generation would not enter the Promised Land, except for Joshua and Caleb. The Israelites would wander in the wilderness for forty years, one year for each day the spies spent in the land.
Yet, even in the midst of their rebellion, God’s mercy is evident. He listens to Moses’ intercession, showing that while He is just, He is also merciful. The sin of the people brings consequences, but God does not utterly abandon them. His promise of a future for His people, though delayed, still stands.
We, too, are often quick to grumble or rebel when God’s timing or plans don’t align with our own. We may question His goodness or power in moments of trial, forgetting the cross where God displayed the ultimate faithfulness to His promises. Jesus, the true Joshua, went before us, leading us not into an earthly promised land, but into eternal life through His death and resurrection. The wilderness of sin and death was defeated, and in Christ, we have an eternal inheritance that no disobedience can take away.
Though we, like Israel, fall short of God’s perfect will, God does not leave us in our sin. He disciplines us, yes, but He does not destroy us. Like Moses who interceded on behalf of the people, Christ, our mediator, intercedes for us before the Father. Through His sacrifice on the cross, He secures for us the promise of forgiveness and eternal life. Even in the midst of our failures, God’s mercy is greater than our sin. Let us pray: Gracious God, we thank You for the mercy shown to us in Christ Jesus, our Savior, who intercedes for us and assures us of Your unfailing love. Help us to trust You more fully and to rest in the hope of the eternal promised land You have prepared for us through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.