Lesson 102 - Senior
Memory Verse
"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well" (Psalm 84:5, 6).
Cross References
I The Cowardice of the Israelites
1. The whole congregation wept all night because of the evil report of the ten spies, [NUM:14:1]; [NUM:13:33].
2. They murmured against Moses and Aaron, fearing the fate of their children more than God, [NUM:14:2-3]; [REV:21:8].
3. They proposed to select a captain of their own choice and return into Egypt, [NUM:14:4]; [1CO:10:11].
II The Intercession of their Leaders
1. Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before all the congregation of Israel, [NUM:14:5].
2. Joshua and Caleb, rending their garments, exhorted the people not to rebel against God, [NUM:14:6-9].
3. But the congregation threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb, while the glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle, [NUM:14:10].
III The LORD'S Judgments Threatening Israel
1. He threatened to smite them with pestilence and make of Moses a mightier nation, [NUM:14:11-12]; [EXO:32:10].
2. As Israel's intercessor, Moses prayed that God for His own glory, spare them, [NUM:14:13-19]; [EXO:32:12].
3. And the LORD pardoned Israel according to the words of Moses, [NUM:14:20].
IV The Older Generation Condemned to Die in the Wilderness
1. Having tempted God ten times, they should not see the Promised Land, [NUM:14:21-25]; [MAT:4:7].
2. They were allotted forty years of wandering, and their children only were to enter, [NUM:14:26-35]; [HEB:4:1-2].
3. The ten spies were smitten with a plague, and Joshua and Caleb only were spared to enter, [NUM:14:3-38], [NUM:14:24], [NUM:14:30].
V The Futile Attempt of Israel to Enter the Land
1. They rose up early in the morning purposing of themselves to enter the Promised Land, [NUM:14:39-40].
2. Moses warned them not to transgress the commandment of the LORD, [NUM:14:41-43].
3. Moses remained in the Tabernacle, but they went up and were discomfited by the Amalekites, [NUM:14:44-45].
Notes
Israel's Sin of Unbelief
Israel's woeful failure, when they were led up to the very borders of the Promised Land and were commanded of the LORD to take possession of it, is an outstanding example in history of what unbelief can lead a people into. When in the beginning Satan said to the woman, "Hath God said?" he succeeded in planting in the human heart the seed of unbelief. Even the devils believe and tremble, but unbelief in the hearts of the Israelites is pronounced in the Bible as the sin of sins, which eventually caused the downfall of this nation. And unbelief is today the sin, which is sending countless thousands of the human race to a lost eternity.
We learned in our previous lesson that when Israel reached the borders of Canaan, they proposed to Moses that spies be sent to search this land. The plan seemed to, them, no doubt, the most reasonable step to take. But God who knows the hearts of men saw what was at the bottom of this plan. The Children of Israel were not ignorant of the nature of this Promised Land, for God had told them of its blessings and assured them that He would fight their battles. And had the people possessed the confidence toward God which His goodness toward them and the miracles He had wrought ought to have inspired, they would have taken God at His word and have gone up immediately and possessed the land, as He commanded. But since they had other plans, God let them follow the bent of their own minds with the woeful results which their unbelief brought upon them.
When these twelve spies returned they reported that the land was everything which the LORD had said a land flowing with milk and honey and they had with them the fruits of the land as a token of its blessings. But there were also in the land "strong, walled cities" and "great giants!" And when the evil report of these ten spies was finished, fear was instilled in the hearts of the Israelites, which was the second step in unbelief. All that night they wept, saying, "Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt" or "Would God we had died in this wilderness." They too feared the fate that might befall their children, crying, "Our children shall be a prey." Their next step was to murmur against Moses and Aaron, and to choose a captain to lead them back to Egypt. Thus rebellion against God had set in.
Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, had also seen the walled cities, the strong nations, and giants of the land. But these things inspired no fear in them, for they had faith in God. They remembered the miracles He had wrought and the promises He had made. "And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not" (Numbers 14:7-9). But all the congregation was ready to stone them, even though the glory of the LORD appeared in the Tabernacle of the congregation before all the Children of Israel.
God's Punishment of Israel
At this stage of their rebellion the LORD stepped in, saying unto Moses, "How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they" (Numbers 14:11, 12). But Moses, as a type of the great Intercessor, again came to the rescue of this people and pled their case before the LORD. He reminded the LORD how He had led them out of the land of Egypt by a mighty hand, and had safely brought them to the very borders of the Promised Land. What then would the nations say, were they to be destroyed? "Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now" (Numbers 14:15-19). And as great as the sin of Israel was, yet the LORD heard the plea of Moses, and forgave them. Great is the mercy of God. "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103: 10).
Nevertheless, Israel was not exempt from punishment. No one can sin with impunity. The man who delves into deep sin, after having had the light, need not expect to escape the punishment of a just God. Even David knew what it was to suffer for his great sin, after the LORD had pardoned him. And so a just punishment was meted out to rebellious Israel. This people pronounced their own sentence when they said, "Would God we had died in this wilderness." For God determined that Israel' should spend forty years wandering in that same wilderness, a year for each day that the spies spent in Canaan land, until the last man and woman who had rebelled against the LORD had bleached his bones in the desert sands. And their children, who they said should be a prey, were taken in to the Promised Land. Out of the six hundred thousand men, who were twenty years of age or over when they came out of Egypt, there were just two, Joshua and Caleb, who reached the Promised Land because they were of "another spirit." And as to the ten spies who caused Israel to murmur, "even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD" (Numbers 14:37).
The Attempt of Israel to Enter Canaan
When Moses delivered to the Children of Israel God's stern but just decree concerning them, they mourned greatly but there was no repentance in their mourning. For they rose up early in the morning, and ascended into the top of the mountain, saying, "Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned" (Numbers 14:40). But Moses said, "Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies" (Numbers 14:41, 42). But disregarding the words of Moses, "they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp" (Numbers 14:44). And what were the results of their exploit? "The Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah" (Numbers 14:45). And after forty years this rebellious generation had perished in the wilderness, as the LORD decreed.
Questions
1. What was the state of heart, which caused the Israelites to propose sending spies to search the land?
2. How many days did the spies spend in searching the Land of Canaan?
3. What was the substance of their report and what did they bring with them?
4. What effect did this report have upon the Children of Israel? and what did it eventually lead to?
5. What steps did Moses and Aaron take in behalf of the people when they heard them weeping?
6. What did Joshua and Caleb do in trying to encourage them to possess the land? And what was the response of the people?
7. What did the LORD decide to visit upon the people when they rebelled against Him?
8. What position did Moses take to stay the hand of judgment against the Israelites?
9. What was the final judgment passed upon the men and women who rebelled against God?
10. Of those who were twenty years old or over in Egypt, who reached the Promised Land? and why?