Chapter 14
The people are afraid to enter Canaan, and plan to select a new leader to take them back to Egypt and slavery.
Moses and Aaron fall on their faces, Joshua and Caleb tear their clothes and remind the people that God is with them and He is NOT with the inhabitants of Canaan. So these people decide to just stone the whole bunch of them, and would have had the Lord not appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people.
God says he will wipe out Israel and start over with Moses. This verse:
11 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? [Num 14:11 ESV]
People are always looking for a sign, claiming something was a sign, or asking for a sign to decide what they should do. But here is clear proof that even when there is a sign, most people won't accept it for what it is. What could have been going through their heads after seeing the plagues of Egypt, the Red Sea part, after hearing God's own voice at Sinai, water from the rock, mana, quail...all these things, all this provision of God, had come before the border of Canaan. And still they doubt. They are stubborn, and stiff-necked. They are never going to be the nation God wants. So God says this:
12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they." [Num 14:12 ESV]
God says He is going to kill them off with disease. Hmm...is this a theme? Is this one of the ways God deals with disobedient nations? He did it to those Philistines who were keeping the Ark. He had sent a plague among Israel before as punishment. But here is the thing...the USA is not God's chosen people, and we are not under that kind of a direct covenant with God at all. The New Covenant is in effect, a covenant with individuals, and with the church. Corona virus is not a punishment aimed at changing the behavior of a nation. I can see it as a birth pain. But the last similar one was in 1918. Maybe H1N1...This is just a virus, a consequence of the imperfection the first sin introduced.
But Moses intercedes for the people yet again. The first time was when the people worshiped the golden calf while Moses was on Sinai getting the 10. And now this time, when they refuse to go where God is clearly and unambiguously leading. This verse is part of Moses' plea on behalf of Israel:
18 'The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.' [Num 14:18 ESV]
2023 - But...he didn't visit the iniquity of the fathers on the children for 3 or 4 generations, even though Moses was quoting when he said that. In fact, God is so merciful that it was the very next generation that entered Canaan. So, God can do this, we can see that it is sort of the natural way of things, but even this God can, will, has, and does overcome.
2025 - Here are the relevant verses:
18 'The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.' 19 Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now." [Num 14:18-19 ESV].
Moses asks God to NOT visit the guilt in this case, and in vs 20, God has pardoned them. The only ones to be punished are the GUILTY, those who would not fight, and who were named in the census. Every one of those who are guilty will die in the desert, but not one of those too young were punished, and neither were Caleb or Joshua, because they were not guilty either.
2025 - Here are the four places that phrase shows up:
5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, [Exo 20:5 ESV]
7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." [Exo 34:7 ESV]
18 'The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.' [Num 14:18 ESV]
9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, [Deu 5:9 ESV]
So the original of this was in Exo 20, and it is quoted three more times. In Deuteronomy, the "original" statement of this principle shows up in a reiteration of the 10. This third and fourth generation thing is specifically about those who worship other Gods. It is about the very FIRST commandment. I still think this is about the effects of those who knowingly reject God. It is not about pagans who have never heard, it is about God's own people, who, having seen the wonders of God and experienced his peace, and who then reject him in favor of idols, and who's rebellious influence will continue to the third and fourth. In that day, perhaps one could expect to see both their grands and their great-grands before they died. The third and fourth generations. In such a strongly patriarchal society, the influence, the power, the "mandates" of the old man would be highly influential down to these descendants. But we see from God's forgiveness in the Numbers verse that the subsequent generations are punished ONLY IF THEY PERSIST in rebellion! That is proven by the fact that the next generation after these did indeed enter the promised land, and we see that it is there dedication and willingness to follow God's commandments, despite the influence of their fathers, that is the basis for how God deals with them. They were NOT held accountable for their father's faults, but were rewarded for their own righteousness.
2025 - This verse:
28 Say to them, 'As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. [Num 14:28-30 ESV]. It was not "all of Israel" 20 years old and upwards would die in the desert, it was the MEN, twenty and up, who were specifically listed in the census, who were to die. The cowards who cried all night at the though of having to take what God had given them. It is possible that their wives, in addition to their children under 20, did enter the promised land, at least some of them.
2025 - And one more comment on the "iniquity of the fathers" based on this verse:
33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. [Num 14:33 ESV].
Here is a clear statement of the nature of the promised consequences to the children. They were going to have to wander for 40 years because of the actions of their fathers. They would be "visited" with the punishment that God's justice required him to inflict on the rebellious, but the "visitor" would not stay forever. Once the consequences of the father's sins were complete - and the consequences are clearly the physical, earthly consequences and NOT eternal condemnation based on the father's sins - the blessings God bestows on those who follow him would return in full force. This is ALL ABOUT earthly consequences and surely we see this same thing today in the consequences to children of having criminal fathers!
God relents, but says that none of those who have despised him will enter Canaan. So begins the 40 years of wandering. Everyone over 20 would die before they entered. And this verse also:
33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. [Num 14:33 ESV]
God says they will wander 40 years, a day for each day the spies were in the land. 40 again. God also takes direct and immediate action against the 10 unfaithful spies who recommended not going in. This passage:
37 the men who brought up a bad report of the land--died by plague before the LORD. [Num 14:37 ESV]
Another sign. God used disease to carry out his will. Once you notice it, there seem to be a lot of instances like this. From very early on, God had said that if Israel would obey him he wouldn't visit the diseases of Egypt on them. I may be 180 degrees off on the disease thing. Maybe it is a persistent and consistent punishment God sends on those who disobey him...This would need a lot more study I think.
So the people decide they'll go in anyway, to show God they have repented. Moses warns them that God isn't with them and they will therefore be defeated. Moses doesn't go with them to battle, nor does the Ark of the Covenant. They are defeated, and turn tail and run.