“The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them” (Num 13-14)

Numbers 13-14
Key verses 14:8-9

In the previous passage, the Israelites complained about their hardship in the desert and food. In today’s passage, their complaints continue and go beyond the threshold. God says that they are treating him with contempt. So he punishes them severely that the first generation of the Israelites will die in the wilderness and will never enter the Promised Land. Why is God so angry that he says they treat him with contempt? What is their fundamental problem? Today we are talking about why we fear and complain and how we can overcome it. I pray that we may learn how not to treat God with contempt but please him. 

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”

It was the season for the first ripe grapes (13:20), which was late July or August.  So it seemed several months had passed since they set out. They encamped at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. (12:16; 13:3,26) Kadesh (or Kadesh Barnea) was south of Canaan and west of the Arabah. It is an eleven day march by way of Mt. Seir from Horeb. (Deut 1:2) At Kadesh God told Moses to send some men to explore the land. So Moses selected one leader from each tribe to explore Canaan. Among was Joshua. His original name was Hoshea (“He saves”) but Moses gave him the name Joshua (“Yahweh saves”).

Before sending them, Moses gave them instructions on what to do. They should go through the whole land to see what the land was like, whether the people living there were strong or weak, what kind of land they lived in, whether their towns were fortified or not, whether the soil was fertile or poor, and whether there were trees in it or not. Moses also told them to bring back some of the fruit of the land.

The twelve leaders went as far as Rehob, far north Damascus, probably according to God’s promise (Gen 15:18). They thoroughly explored the land and returned with a huge single cluster of grapes along with some other fruits at the end of forty days.  

27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

They first reported to Moses that the land flowed with milk and honey and that the people living in the land were powerful, the cities were fortified, and there lived even giants. Their report was pretty much factual. However, they presented two different opinions.

30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Caleb, one of the twelve leaders, said that they could possess the land no matter who lived there. But the other leaders said that they could not because of the strong people living in the land. Then the ten leaders went out and spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land. “You know, the land sucks. All the people living there were gigantic and we seemed like grasshoppers before them!” They exaggerated that all the people living in the land were of great size. The word “bad” here means “evil.” It was evil because their report dismayed the Israelites. How did the Israelite respond to the bad report?

1 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

The bad report shook up the whole Israelites. That night all the members of the community wept aloud and grumbled against Moses and Aaron. They complained that they would be killed by their enemies and their wives and children would be taken as a plunder. According to Deut 6:27-28, they said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear.” Fear spread out among them. They felt that they were as small as grasshoppers before the giants. Even before taking their first step into the land, their hearts already melted in fear. They made themselves grasshoppers. The whole community were griped by fear of death. But they never reasoned why and how God was leading to the land to fight. They never recalled the miracles God had shown to them. They even said that God hated them. They said that it would be better for them to go back to Egypt rather than dying while fighting with seemingly invincible giants. This basically denied God’ grace of salvation for them and thus his relationship with them because God made the covenant relationship with them based on the fact that God brought them out of Egypt.

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

Moses and Aaron were greatly troubled. And Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes and said that the land was exceedingly good as God said. (Ex 3:8,17; 13:5) Then they reminded them of God’s will and his presence with them. They emphasized that though the peoples in the land were strong God certainly would and could give the Israelites as he promised if they would not rebel against him. Here rebelling against God was disobeying God’s command that they go up and take possession of the land.

Moses said to them in Deut 1:20-21, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” He also said, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31 and in the wilderness ...” (Deut 1:29-31)

God knew that they would be afraid of fighting to take possession of the land. He understood that the task was daunting. So, he promised that he would fight for them and said that they should not be afraid. Now Joshua and Calen believed what God said through Moses and reiterated it to encourage the Israelites not to be afraid of the people of the land.

Now we see two different responses to the same situation. One group was scared to death while the other group was courageous. What made them different? The difference was how they viewed things - with our own eyes or with God’s eyes. The ten leaders and the whole Israelites community viewed the land with their human eyes and then they couldn’t help fearing. But Joshua and Caleb viewed the land with God’s eyes so they were confident and courageous. If we try to do something by ourselves, we get easily disappointed and then despair if things do not look good. If we are gripped by fear, we are scared to death to see a small bug flying coming to us.

But fear is intrinsic in us. That is what we are. But God can change our fear into confidence. The other day I heard that M DY’s mother passed away. At her last and most fearful moment, she kept calling, “Father, Father, thank you!” Then she was peacefully taken to heavenly home. With God we can overcome fear and become courageous. 

10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”

But the Israelites were still griped by fear. They even hated Joshua and Caleb who encouraged them. Seeing all this, God appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. He was so displeased and even angry at the Israelites. God said that they were treating him with contempt. This was a very strong word.  Why was God so mad? Why did he take their complaints and fear as contempt to him?  

Here God said that they continually refused to believe in him in spite of all the signs he had performed among them. He struck down Pharaoh and Egypt, parted the Red sea in their eyes, and fed them with mana every day and with quail for a month. But they still did not trust in God, continually complaining to him. God said that they tested him ten times. (22) They tested God by complaining and grumbling. It was contempt to God. I would be so mad if someone tested me even twice, saying, “I don’t think you can do it” though I am able to do it.

The Israelites grumbled and complained because of fear. As God said, their fear sprang from unbelief. Deut 1:32 also reads, “32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.”

Their distrust made God so mad because it was fundamentally denying his power and rejecting him. Nothing can dishonor God more than distrusting in God. God had said repeatedly that he would give them the land. In 13:2, God also said, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.” No doubt he would give them the land no matter what. But the Israelites continually refused to believe God’s power and his faithfulness to his promises. God is not happy when we don’t trust in him because it is treating him with contempt. When he says they treated him with contempt, it is not a joke. The consequences were so grave.

God said that he would strike them down with a plague and destroy them and make Moses into a great and stronger than they. Things were so egregious that it was similar to when they made a golden calf for themselves. (Ex 32-33) At that time God was about to destroy Israel and rebuild a new nation through Moses. Now the same thing was happening. What did Moses do?

First, Moses said that if God destroyed the Israelites he had rescued from Egypt he would be ridiculed by foreign nations. By saying this, Moses meant that God should not destroy the Israelites for his name sake.

Secondly, Moses asked him to forgive the Israelites again according to his abounding love.

17 “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”

Moses reminded God of what he said in Ex 34:6-7. Moses knew that God cannot revoke what he said. How did God respond?

20 The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.”

As he declared previously, God forgave them. Nevertheless, he would not overlook their sin. The first generation who disobeyed him and tested him ten times would not ever see the Promised Land. It may be confusing that he forgave them and then would punish them. We can understand this in view of his glory. God forgave them because he declared his abounding love. If not, his glory would be tarnished. But he would punish them because they already blasphemed him by showing him contempt so it was necessary to do justice for his glory. God never fails and never discredits or compromise his glory as he said, “as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth,…” (14:20)

The following section (verses 26-35) shows specifically how God would punish them.

26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: 29 In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.”

Every one of them who were twenty old or more who was counted in the census and grumbled against God would die in the wilderness as they said (14:2). They would wander in the wilderness until the last person died. It would take forty years. In that respect, the following stories in this book are about how they suffered and died as God cursed. So someone says that the book of Numbers is the saddest book in the Bible. Because of their unbelief, they lost God’s blessing. Their children would also suffer for their parents’ unfaithfulness for forty years, but they would enter and enjoy the land their parents rejected. This way they would know what it was like to have God against them.

On the spot God struck down the ten leaders who spread the bad report about the land. But Joshua and Caleb survived and would enter the land because they believed and trusted in God. God is not pleased with one who refuses to believe. But he is pleased with one who believes in him.

Now that they could not enter the land, God told Moses to return to the desert along the route to the Red Sea. As the Israelites came to realize that they did a regretful thing, they tried to obey God’s command. “Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord promised. Surely we have sinned!” But it was too late. Moses clearly warned them that they were disobeying God again and that they would be defeated because God was not with them. Regardless, they presumptuously went up to the land by themselves and were defeated. Later Moses recalled that they rebelled against the Lord’s command and in their arrogance they marched up into the hill country. (Deut 1:43) They regretted but never repented. They still depended on themselves and never trusted in God. That way they began to die in their sin as God cursed.

Overall, the passage tells us about Israel’s sin and God’s punishment. God saw that their fundamental problem was that they refused to believe and trust in him. They did not believe God’s promises for them. They did not believe that God was able to give them the land. They rejected God though God’s presence was with them. That way they distrusted in God and showed their contempt to God.

God is angry when we refuse to believe in him, still complaining, grumbling, and fearing. It is dishonoring God and provoking him to anger. God does not make light of our refusing to trust in him because it is contempt to him. Along with the incidents in chapters 11-12, this incident was mentioned in NT as a bad example.

Paul said in 1 Cor 10-11, “10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.”

He warned that we believers must not complain and rebel against God.  Heb 3:7-12 also say,

7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” 12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”

This was written in reference to unbelief in Jesus. Jesus is the greatest and last sign God has shown to humankind. If we refuse to believe in him, there will be no more opportunity to enter God’s rest, the kingdom of God. Unbelief is what makes God angry most and the consequences are irrevocably grave; that is, eternal death.

However, God is very pleased with those who trust in him and believe in his Son Jesus. Though God let the first generation of the Israelites die in the wilderness, Caleb and Joshua were allowed to enter the Promised Land because they fully trusted in God and thus believed his promise. They said,

“8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

In that sense, this incident in today’s passage teaches us who will enter the kingdom of God. Only those who trust in God as Joshua and Caleb did and believe in Jesus can enter his kingdom. Faith is not something we can live without. Not believing is rejection of God and so it incurs God’s wrath.

This is also applied to our life. We are having difficulty in preaching and disciple making. Regardless, God commands us to go up to campus and preach the gospel again. It is daunting. We have some kind of fear that we may fail again. But God is pleased with us if we trust in him and challenge again. Last week, I finished reading the book of Psalms, which I began just after my heart surgery. The book nurtured me and inspired me a lot. God told me in Psalm 126,

“5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.”

God has motivated me to fear not but engage again in preaching and teaching on campus. I made an excuse that I was busy at work and had no time for fishing. But I can’t disobey God. I shouldn’t displease God. I mustn’t dishonor God, making an excuse. May God show me a good way such that I can engage in serving the campus anew this fall. 

God Is not pleased with our complaints and fear. If we complain and grumble in fear, he will take his blessing away from us. So never complain; never grumble; and never fear. Let’s pray that we may please and honor God by overcoming fear and negative thoughts by fully trusting in him.

By David Yun