Bible Talks

From: Messages of God's Love: 1951

Numbers 14:13-15:16¹³And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) ¹⁴And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou Lord art among this people, that thou Lord art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, ¹⁶Because 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. ¹⁷And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, ¹⁸The 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. ¹⁹Pardon, 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. ²⁰And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word: ²¹But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. ²²Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; ²³Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: ²⁴But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. ²⁵(Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea. ²⁶And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, ²⁷How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. ²⁸Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: ²⁹Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, ³⁰Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. ³¹But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. ³²But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. ³³And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. ³⁴After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. ³⁵I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. ³⁶And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, ³⁷Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord. ³⁸But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still. ³⁹And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. ⁴⁰And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up 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. ⁴¹And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper. ⁴²Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. ⁴³For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you. ⁴⁴But 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. ⁴⁵Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah. ¹And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you, ³And will make an offering by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savor unto the Lord, of the herd, or of the flock: ⁴Then shall he that offereth his offering unto the Lord bring a meat offering of a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil. ⁵And the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or sacrifice, for one lamb. ⁶Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meat offering two tenth deals of flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil. ⁷And for a drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine, for a sweet savor unto the Lord. ⁸And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice in performing a vow, or peace offerings unto the Lord: ⁹Then shall he bring with a bullock a meat offering of three tenth deals of flour mingled with half an hin of oil. ¹⁰And thou shalt bring for a drink offering half an hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. ¹¹Thus shall it be done for one bullock, or for one ram, or for a lamb, or a kid. ¹²According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to every one according to their number. ¹³All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. ¹⁴And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord; as ye do, so he shall do. ¹⁵One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. ¹⁶One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you. (Numbers 14:13‑15:16)

Moses’ intercession for the people is most beautiful, as he asks the Lord to pardon them; and how wonderfully he typifies the Lord Jesus here. We, like the children of Israel, deserved punishment for our sins. We were enemies of God and unbelieving in our hearts, just at they were, but the Lord Jesus has perfectly glorified God about the whole question of sin and sins, in order that we might be brought nigh to God, and into His favor. We notice, however, that although the people were not cut off, they did come under God’s government. This, too, has a needful lesson for us, for although we are sure of heaven, as sure as God can make us through Christ’s redemptive work, we cannot escape His gornment. He must correct and chasten us as His children.

The Israelites had said that their children would die in the wilderness, and that was why they murmured and wanted to go back to Egypt, so the Lord said that their children would not die as they expected. Instead of that He said that they would wander in the wilderness until all the men of war had died, and then their children, whom they had said would perish in the wilderness, would be the ones who would enter the promised land. Only Caleb and Joshua were preserved of the older ones to enter the land. Surely the government of God is a solemn thing!

When the people heard this message from the Lord they mourned, but soon the wayward hearts found another plan. They would try to escape this government of God. Instead of returning to Egypt, they said they would now go up and conquer the land of Canaan in their own strength. Moses told them that they could not do this, and that if they attempted it they would only fall before their enemies, in spite of Moses’ warning they insisted on going, and no sooner had they got up to the top of the hill than the Amalekites and the Canaanites came out and fought against them, utterly defeating them. Their self-willed venture only ended in a shameful defeat before their enemies. It is well for us to remember that the Lord Jesus has said, “without Me, ye can do nothing,” John 15:5⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (John 15:5), for in the face of our enemies we are just as helpless as the children of Israel; but His Word also tells us in Phil. 4: 13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Let us never fear the path of obedience, for He will always give strength if we look to Him, but it is a good thing to be so “in the fear of the Lord all the day long” that we fear to displease Hint God cannot bless us in the path of disobedience to His Word.

After the Lord had told the people that they must wander in the wildeess until all the rebels were consumed, it is beautiful to see His thoughts in grace manifested, in that He immediately speaks of the time when they would get into the land. He delighted to tell of this, and provision was made for their free will offerings, and the drink offerings to acompany them. The drink offering speaks of joy, and so when we have the Lord Jesus before us and give willingly to Him, it gives joy to God’s heart as well as to ours. God our Father is so good that we can never do anything for Him but what He gives us more in return than our feeble offering—yet He delights to reive from us when we give from our hearts.

ML 01/14/1951

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