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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 is episode 1624, and we're looking at Numbers chapter 14, verses 11 through 19. So Numbers started out. The first ten chapters were God getting the Israelites ready to move from Sinai to the promised land, the land of Canaan. Then the cloud lifted up from the tabernacle, that was the signal to move, and so the people moved out very orderly. But then within three days the grumbling started, and we saw three accounts of grumbling before they ever reached the edge of Canaan. Now we're there. We're at Kidish Barnea, the edge of the wilderness of Peron, the edge of the wilderness of Zen, and the edge of Canaan. So they're right there poised to move into the promised land. Moses sent twelve scouts, one from each tribe, into Canaan to see what it was like. They spent forty days scouting out the land of Canaan. Then they came back and made their report. They said, Yes, this land is bountiful, but the cities are large and fortified, and there are giants in the land. So ten of the scouts said it couldn't be done. It was impossible. Caleb and Joshua said that God would make it happen, and as faithful followers of God, they were to do this. Well, the ten negative scouts got the whole Israelite community so worked up that they were talking about stoning Moses and Arod, appointing new leaders, and returning to Egypt. Then in verse ten, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting. So we left it off last time with this high point of drama of scouts have come back, they've made their report, there's been the argument between we can do it, we can't do it, the people are all in a tizzy, they're about ready to riot, and then God shows up. Brings us to Numbers chapter fourteen, verse eleven. The Lord said to Moses, How long will these people despise me? How long will they not trust in me despite all the signs I have performed among them? I will strike them with a plague and destroy them, then I'll make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are. So God appears so that his glory appears to everyone. But says he speaks to Moses. Do other people hear him speaking or not? Don't know. Don't think so. I think he's speaking directly to Moses. But what do the people think about God showing up? I don't know. I would think they know they've been misbehaving, so this is probably not a good sign for them. But God says to Moses, kind of a rhetorical question, how long will these people despise me? How long will they not trust me? So despise, that's a pretty strong word. And it's exactly what's going on here. They are despising him. They're basically saying, We don't need God, we don't want God, we don't want to be the people of God anymore. And how long would they not trust me, despite all the signs I've performed among them? Now this translation says trust. A lot of translations say believe. And those two words are related, and it just depends on the translator, which you would prefer to use. I think too often we dumb down the word believe to believing facts, where biblically believing is more than just believing the facts about something, saying, okay, I think that's true, to the point of trusting. Believe it enough to trust. And so that's why I like this translation that they translate it as trust. How long will they not trust me, despite all the things I've done to show that I can be trusted? I mean, you just look at all the things God has done for them, the miracles from sending Moses in the first place, to the judgments on Egypt to parting the Red Sea to providing the manna, to providing the water, to empowering them and their meager little flimsy army to fight off the Amalekites, all these things that God has done, despite the I mean the incredible things they saw at Mount Sinai with the fire and the smoke and the voice of God, and they still don't trust him. So he asks this rhetorical question of Moses, how long is this going to go on? And then he answers it, not long, because I'm going to destroy them. I'm going to strike them with a plague, and then make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are. This looks very similar to what we saw back in Exodus 32, specifically verse 10. This was the golden calf incident when Moses was with God on Mount Sinai. God says, You need to go down there. He says, They're worshiping a golden calf. In fact, I think I'm going to destroy them right now and start over with you, Moses. And Moses argues for the people for mercy. Now, what's going on here? Moses talking God out of something. I think this is just the way God's helping working with Moses here. So in a lot of other examples where we've seen judgment of God, he just does it. When he struck Miriam with the skin disease, he didn't say, I'm going to strike Miriam with a skin disease, where Moses has an opportunity to argue with him about it. He just does a bam. When the sons of Aaron offered the unauthorized fire on their first day on the job, he didn't say, I'm going to strike the damn. Bam. He just did it. When the grumbling, the first counter grumbling over the hardships of the wilderness, there was fire from the Lord right then. He didn't say, I'm going to do it. So a lot of times we see judgment from God. There's no questions about it. There's no advanced warning. Here he announces it to Moses. And it's almost like he's cueing Moses up. Where he's now saying, And Moses, this is your opportunity to be the intercessor I have appointed you to be, to be the mediator I have taught you to be, to speak on behalf of the people. In my mind, that's what's going on here. Does God intend to kill them? No. He could, and he'd be entirely justified in doing that, but he does it to Moses to allow Moses to step up and speak for them. And I think it makes it more serious for the people. Moses tells them, you know, God was about ready to kill you all, so quit acting up like this. This idea of Moses' intercessor brings up the whole question of intercessory prayer. God, who is infinite and holy, has a perfect plan that has been laid out from the beginning, yet he still listens to us with our intercessory prayers. How does that work? Well, we don't know. It does. And this is just one of the mysteries, one of the tensions that we have to live in. And I always say embrace the tension. If God were so incredibly understandable to us, he would be a very complex God. And he is an incredibly complex God. So he reveals things to us in ways that we can get a handle on to a certain degree. There's still a lot of tension and mystery. And this is one of them. Perfect God with a perfect plan, but he still listens to us. He doesn't necessarily do what we want, but he listens to us. Verse 13. But Moses replied to the Lord, The Egyptians will hear about it, for by your strength you brought up this people from them. And so what's Moses' first thought here? God's reputation amongst the pagan nations. The Egyptians saw what you did. The Egyptians know what you did. The Egyptians know how you went about it and what you did, and you brought these people away. And if you destroy them now in the wilderness, they're going to hear about that. What's that going to do to your reputation amongst the pagans? Verse 14. They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among these people, how you, Lord, are seen face to face, how your cloud stands over them, and how you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night. If you kill this people with a single blow, the nations will have heard of your fame and declare, Since the Lord wasn't able to bring this people into the land, he swore to them, he slaughtered them in the wilderness. So Moses' concern here is about God's reputation, God's glory. Three times here in verse 14, you have an emphatic you, that is the pronoun you, singular, second person, you Lord. He says, They have heard about you, Lord. They've heard how you, Lord, is seen face to face, how your clouds don't understand, how you go before them. So oftentimes in language like Hebrew, you don't need a pronoun because it's really wrapped up in the verb. If you have a verb that's in second person singular format, you don't need the word you, it's part of the verb. So when you add the pronoun you, it's we call it emphatic, meaning it's there for a reason to make a point. So the fact three times Moses uses the pronoun you, which don't need to be there grammatically. He's making the point. His concern is about God, God's reputation, God's glory. So here he makes this appeal. He's appealing for the people, but the basis of his appeal is God's glory. Verse 17. So now may my Lord's power be magnified just as you have spoken. The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, forgiving inequity and rebellion, but he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the father's inequity on the children to the third and fourth generation. So he says, just as you have spoken. He is quoting from Exodus 34, 6 and 7. This was on Mount Sinai, where after we had the time out of dealing with the golden calf, and Moses goes back up on the mountain. And Moses had asked God, please let me see your glory. And God said, Well, you can't. I'll show you what you can see. I'll pass in front of you and proclaim my name. And when he does, this is part of what he says about the Lord's slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, forgiving inequity, and rebellion, not leaving the guilty unpunished, but bringing consequences to the father's inequity to the children of the third and fourth generation. So that's what he says to Moses on Mount Sinai. And this reference to the third and fourth generation, that we first saw back in Exodus 20, verse 5, the second commandment part of bowing down to idols, it's not going to go unpunished. Now, this punishing to the third and fourth generation, there's a lot of argument over that and debate what exactly does that mean. Because later in Deuteronomy, he specifically says, No, I don't punish children for their father's sins. But what we do see so often is subsequent generations repeating the sins of the previous generation. So most people take this to mean that if one generation sins and the second generation does it, they are going to get punished too for their own actions. Then verse 19, please pardon the iniquity of this people and keep him with the greatness of your faithful love, just as you have forgiven them from Egypt until now. So first he made the appeal for God's glory. Lord, if you smite these people, even though they deserve it, what's that gonna say to the pagans around? Next he appeals to God's mercy. Lord, you are merciful. Please show your mercy to these people. Even though you're entirely justified in smacking them down, please show mercy. God has spoken and says they deserve destruction. Now Moses has interceded for them. Moses is acting as the intercessor, Moses is acting as the mediator, but God has placed him there for this very purpose. So next time we'll see what's God's response to Moses' intercession. Thanks for joining me. Join me in next time as we continue working through numbers.