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Welcome. I'm Cliff Hedges. This is Pastor Cliff's Notes. This is a podcast where we are studying the Bible. We're working our way through the book of Numbers. Today's episode 1623, and we're looking at Numbers chapter 14, verses 1 through 10. So the first part of Numbers, the first 10 chapters, God was getting the Israelites ready to move from Sinai to the promised land, the land of Canaan. So he was organizing them, counting them, getting them ready. Then the cloud lifted from the tabernacle. That was the signal to move, and the people moved out very orderly. But three days later, grumbling started. It began at Tabarath, where they grumbled about the hardships of the wilderness. Then at Kibroth Hatahava, they were grumbling about the food, were tired of manna. Then after that, Miriam and Aaron, Moses' siblings, were grumbling about Moses, that he seemed to be so extra special, doesn't God speak through them? Well then finally they arrive at Kadesh Barnea, the edge of Canaan, and Moses sent twelve men, one from each tribe to scout out the land. They were gone for forty days and came back and gave the report. They said, Yes, this is a bountiful land, but the cities are large and fortified, and the people are giants. It's too hard, it can't be done. Well Caleb, one of the twelve, argued that they could do it. Not only could, but they must do it. We see faith here exhibited by Caleb. See in the report of the scouts, now we'll see the community's response, or in Numbers chapter fourteen, verse one. Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in the wilderness. See, three times here we see the reference that it's pretty much everybody. In verse one, the whole community broke in the loud cries. Verse 2, all the Israelites complained, and the whole community told them, if only. Now does that mean every last person? No, but it just means the vast majority of people have got caught up in this. And so this first part, verse two, all the Israelites complain about Moses and Aaron. And they tell them, if only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had dried in this wilderness. So the complaint here, more than a complaint, really, it's an accusation, it's against Moses and Aaron. Then verse 3, why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Now it's a complaint, or more appropriately, an accusation against God Himself. Continuing to verse 3. Our wives and children will become plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? So they said to one another, let's appoint a leader and go back to Egypt. All right, this is more than just grumbling. This is rebellion. And so they say, Well, let's appoint a new leader. Well, that would mean we reject God's chosen leader and God's chosen mediator. He wasn't just their leader, he was their mediator, the ones who stood between the people and God, chosen by God to be that mediator. So they're essentially saying we don't need or want a mediator. We'll choose our own leader. And we want to go back to Egypt. Well, going back to Egypt, this is an absolute rejection of God's plan, which amounts to an absolute rejection of God. And so they're not only saying we don't want or need a mediator from God, we don't want to be God's people anymore. So this is this is pretty serious rebellion here. This is not grumbling. This is absolute rejection of God. Verse 5. Then Moses and Aaron fell face down in front of the whole assembly of the Israelite community. So falling face down is a sign of submission. Are they showing submission to the community? I don't think so. I think they're falling before God because they know God is present. Some say they're ducking basically because they know God is about to act, and they don't want to get caught up in it. But they're falling before God, prostrating themselves before God. So it's Moses and Aaron do this. Verse 6, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunah, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes. So pause there. So tearing your clothes is a sign of mourning. If somebody dies, you tear your clothes. It can also be a sign of distress. Remember the religious leaders in Jerusalem, when they had Jesus testify before them and he said he was the Son of God, they tore their clothes because they said he had blasphemed in front of them. Well, that's kind of the same thing going on here. What these people are doing is blasphemy. These people are rejecting God. So yes, they are mourning. This is an absolute loss of faith on the part of the community. Verse 7, and they said to the entire Israelite community, The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey and give it to us. So Caleb and Joshua, two of the twelve, are saying, No, we must do this. We must go in and take the land. And the only contingencies here is if the Lord is pleased with us. If that happens, then God will make this happen. And so this if the Lord is pleased with this, that's not saying, oh, we've got to do something special to make God happy. Up to this point, that's not been a question. The Lord is pleased with them. He has brought them here. He has already sent them into the land. See in Moses' comments in Deuteronomy chapter 1, where he looks back at this, he said, as soon as we arrived, God said, Go in and take the land. And then the people said, We'd like to send scouts first. God said, Okay. So God has already said, go in and take the land. Yes, he is pleased with them. This is his will. So it's not like they have to do anything. The risk is their rebellion, because if they rebel, the Lord will not be pleased with them. Verse 9, only don't rebel against the Lord, and don't be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. Remember back in verse 32, part of the report was this land devours its inhabitants. Look to that and said, We're not sure exactly what that means, other than it's just a scary description of it. Well, they said the land devours its inhabitants, and Caleb and Joshua are saying, We will devour them, because God is on our side. Continuing in verse nine, their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don't be afraid of them. So it's who do you think more highly of them or God? Verse ten. While the whole community threatened to stone them, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting. So now the people are talking about actually killing Moses and Aaron, choosing a new leader to take them back to Egypt, where they grumbled. That was what actually prompted God to send Moses to rescue them, was their grumbling about how bad things were in Egypt. And they're now talking about going back. That would be better. And then we have this high moment of drama. The glory of the Lord appeared. Not just appeared to Moses and Aaron, but to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting. We've heard the report of the scouts. Now we're seeing the response of the people. Now we're going to see the response of God to all of this next time. It doesn't make sense. The land devours its inhabitants, yet it's produced these giants. So obviously, that isn't right. The people are descendants of the Nephilim who all died in the flood. It's better to die in Egypt than to die here. What? Oh, it'd be better to die here in the wilderness than die in the land of Canaan. It doesn't make sense. God has performed all these amazing miracles to get us here in order to kill us here. Again, it doesn't make sense. And that's where fear can often trump rational thought. And it has definitely done that here. They are so afraid and they're just feeding off one another that they've lost all sense of rational thought, and they're just operating based on fear. And what we see is this is an absolute lack of faith in God. How often do we act similarly though? We say, I believe God is in charge, but I live as if He's not in charge of things. And there's some irony in these comments that they make in verse two, if only we had died in this wilderness, as we'll see after God enters into the foray here, they will die in the wilderness. Verse 3, their fear of their children becoming plunder. Actually their children will be the ones to take the promised land in forty years. So we've seen the scouting of the land, we've seen the report from the scouts, now we've seen the response of the people, and it's bad. Now the glory of the Lord has appeared, and we're going to see what God has to say about all this. Thanks for joining me. Join me again next time as we continue working through numbers.