Today, I am reading and commenting on  Numbers 14-15.

When the Israelites reacted to the spies’ report about the land of Canaan by proposing to stone Joshua and Caleb for trying to convince them to go, the glory of God appeared to them and threatened to strike them down.  Moses pleaded with God to forgive them.  God agreed to Moses’ request to forgive the people once more.  However, God also said that none of those who witnessed His signs in Egypt would see the land He had promised their ancestors (except for Caleb and Joshua).  So, while God will forgive our sins, we may still suffer their consequences.  Because they repeatedly disobeyed God and sinned against Him, He denied them the blessing which He had promised to their ancestors.  In the same way, while God will forgive our sins, we forfeit some of the blessings He intended for us when we sin.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Numbers 14-15.

Today I want to comment on the fact that the ten men who explored the Promised Land but spoke against going into it died of a plague after the Israelites refused to enter the land based on their report.  A straight up reading of the passage suggests that their deaths contributed to the Israelites changing their minds and attempting to invade the land the following morning.  It makes me wonder if there was a connection between what they did while they were exploring the land, their fear of invading the land, and the plague which killed them.  We know from the passage that the last two were connected,. but what about that first one.  From other passages, we know that Joshua was devout in his faith in God.  We know from Caleb’s promotion of the invasion here and his speech when he claimed his part of the land that he also was enthusiastic in his faith in God.  On the other hand, we do not know much about the other ten spies.  So, today when I read about them dying of plague it occurred to me that perhaps they caught the plague by participating in some of the “detestable practices” of the people of the land (I put detestable practices in quotes because that term is used by the Bible to describe the practices of the people living in the land without going into detail).  That led me to wonder if perhaps the reason they testified against invading the land was because of the things they did while exploring the land.

One of the things which I have learned over the years is that many of the most vehement atheists are people who have made lifestyle choices which are condemned by God.  They reject the idea of God rather than admit that they have made bad choices.  In the same way, I wonder if the ten spies who were afraid of invading the Promised Land abandoned their faith in God rather than admit to themselves that they had sinned when they took part in various practices among the people of the land.  Perhaps they had dallied with temple prostitutes, or maybe they had eaten non-kosher foods as part of sacrifices to idols.  Either of those might possibly have given them a disease which led to their death.  My point here is that perhaps the reason these ten men did not have faith that God would help the Israelites overcome the people of the land was because they did not want to admit to themselves that violating His commands was a bad thing to do.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Numbers 14-15.

In yesterday’s passage Moses sent twelve men, one from each tribe, to explore the land of Canaan.  Ten of those explorers reported that while the land was indeed rich, the people living there were too powerful for the Israelites.  Caleb and Joshua disagreed.  The people were so frightened by what the other ten explorers reported that they began planning to appoint a leader to take them back to Egypt.  When Joshua and Caleb continued to argue that God could deliver the people of the land into their hands, the people started talking about stoning the two of them.  The people of Israel listened to their experts, to the people who knew the land they were about to enter.  Over 80% of those experts agreed invading the land of Canaan would be a bad idea.  When the remaining experts tried to explain what the other experts were overlooking, the people attempted to silence them for spreading “misinformation”.  The majority of the experts told them they should be afraid, so they were afraid.  They did not listen to the arguments Joshua and Caleb made as to why they should not be afraid and evaluate whether those arguments were valid or not.  Most of the time, the advice given by the majority of those who have studied the situation will be correct, but sometimes, as in this situation, they will be disastrously wrong.  You cannot tell which it is unless you listen to the arguments the dissenters make explaining why they disagree with the majority.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Numbers 14-15.

Ten of the twelve spies who the Israelites sent into the Promised Land to report on it told them that the people of the land were too strong for them.  In fact, when Joshua and Caleb argued that God could and would give them the land, they considered stoning them for it.  Think about that, ten of the twelve “experts” were wrong.  Well, not exactly wrong, just looking at it wrong.  They were right when they said that the people of the land were stronger than the Israelites, but they were not taking God into account.  The people listened to the majority of the “experts”.  Not only did 10 out of the 12 experts agree, one of those who disagreed was a flunky to Moses.  So, there were ten experts who told the people that they were not as strong as the people of the land.  Those ten experts were correct, but they were not telling the whole story. Caleb and Joshua told the people to trust God and not to worry.  The people of Israel failed to compare what the experts told them to their own experience.  Their own experience showed that God could provide when it seemed impossible.  This was only around two years from when God had sent the Plagues on Egypt.  When we listen to the experts let us be sure to measure what they say against our own experience, that will allow us to recognize the ones who get it right, even when they are in the minority (and they usually are in the minority).

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 14-15.

Despite the miraculous ways in which God had brought them out of Egypt and provided for them in the wilderness, the Israelites listened to and trusted the 10 spies who told them that the people of the Promised Land were to powerful for them to overcome.  They went so far as to consider stoning Caleb and Joshua for trying to convince them to trust God.  They were only stopped by the manifestation of God’s presence over the Tabernacle.  Then, despite having been told that God would no longer be with them if they went into the Promised Land at this time, they decided to do so anyway.  This passage always reminds me that the actions God directs us to undertake often have an expiration date.  If we delay in following God’s direction, it may be too late for that action to be successful.