The children of Israel have finally reached the border of Canaan, the land that God had promised to them. Their travel from Egypt to Canaan has been adventurous and full of learning lessons along the way. But now what does God instruct them to do?

Numbers 13:1-2
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.

• So twelve men were chosen, one from each tribe, to go and spy out the land of Canaan.

What was the purpose for sending the twelve spies?

• Numbers 13:17-20
  17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: 18 And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; 19 And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; 20 And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.
• They needed to get an assessment of what they were up against and what sort of land that they were inheriting. And so the twelve spies are sent out to the land of Canaan.

Numbers 13:25-27
25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. 26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

• The spies are gone for forty days. But they come back with a good report!
• They bring back the fruit of the land. And it truly is a land flowing with milk and honey.
• Numbers 13:23
  And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
• The cluster of grapes that they cut down was so big that two people had to bring it back between them on a stick!
• But there’s more!
• Numbers 13:28-29
  28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
• It was a land flowing with milk and honey. But it also had strong people that dwelt there also and they dwelt in cities that were heavily fortified.

But before more is shared about these so-called enemies and the people that live there, Caleb, one of the twelve spies, steps in to say something.

• Numbers 13:30
  And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
• Full of faith, he tries to encourage everyone that they were able to go in and conquer and overcome everyone there.
• But he is interrupted by the other spies that were sent with him.
• Numbers 13:31-33
  31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
• They are going against what Caleb is saying. They begin to elaborate more why they aren’t able to conquer the land.
• Look at what they say.
  • They say that the land eats up the people that are there. Yet all twelve spies have come back without being eaten by any of the plants there. And moreover, the people that lived there seem to be OK and not having been eaten by the land.
  • They also say that the land is full of giants and they were like grasshoppers. That was a pretty big comparison to make. Giants to grasshoppers. They were certainly exaggerating to a pretty large degree. That was pretty obvious.
• The twelve spies were speaking doubt. They were magnifying their problems and making it seem bigger than it really was.

But upon hearing this report, how do the children of Israel react? Are they going to be on the side of Caleb or the other spies?

• Numbers 14:1-4
  1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! 3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? 4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
• Wow, what a reaction. They begin to cry and weep. And then they wish that they would have died in Egypt or in the wilderness.
• But then finally, they are ready to return to Egypt and begin to look for a leader to bring them back!
• They have forgotten what Egypt was like, how Egypt treated them. They were ready to go back and be slaves!
• They had also forgotten all that God had done for them.
  • How He delivered them from Egyptian bondage through the 10 plagues.
  • How God had brought the Red Sea crashing back down on the Egyptian armies.
  • How God had helped them defeat the Amalekites when they came to fight against them.
  • How God had provided for them every step of the way.
• God had even told them how He would give them the land of Canaan.
  • Exodus 23:28
    And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
  • God would fight for them using hornets and give them the land!
• In the midst of this evil report from the other spies, the children of Israel had latched on to all that was bad and they had forgotten all that God had done for them and promised to them!
• In murmuring against Moses and Aaron, they were really murmuring against God who had lead them every step of the way.
• So they’re ready to retreat.

What happens next?

• Numbers 14:5-9
  5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
• Moses and Aaron fall on their faces. They are praying to God and interceding for the people.
• And then Joshua and Caleb, two of the twelve spies, come in to try and instill hope and faith in them. They try to tell them that the defense of the people in Canaan has already departed. That God would give them the victory.

Upon hearing the speech of the Joshua and Caleb, how do the children of Israel respond?

• Numbers 14:10
  But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
• Instead of being inspired with hope and faith, they get up and are ready to stone Joshua and Caleb!
• Seems like they have already made up their mind to depart. They’ve decided that trying to conquer Canaan is useless already. They’ve given up already.
• But now God steps in. His glory appears at the tabernacle.

Numbers 14:11-12
11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? 12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

• God is ready to destroy them and disinherit them and just make of Moses a great nation.
• Sounds familiar right? When did God say this to Moses before?
• Exodus 32:10
  Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
• This was the time when the Israelites worshipped the golden calf. But Moses would intercede for them and God would relent and change His mind.
• And once again, Moses steps in to intercede for the children of Israel and once again God changes His mind.

However, even though God changes His mind not to destroy all the children of Israel, there are still some consequences of their actions. There is still a punishment. What does God do?

• Numbers 14:26-30
  26 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 27 How 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. 28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: 29 Your 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, 30 Doubtless 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.
• God would grant them what they had said out loud to Moses and Aaron. They cried out that they wished they had died in the wilderness, in the desert. And so God would grant them their wish.
• All those that were 20 years old and upward would perish.
• Numbers 14:33
  And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
• They would just go round and round in the desert until all of them perished. There was no purpose except to grant them this wish. They would just keep wondering around until the time was fulfilled. Forty years they would be going round and round. That was it!

However, God is not done yet.

• Numbers 14:36-37
  36 And 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, 37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
• The ten spies that brought the evil report back from Canaan would perish in the plague.

Numbers 14:39
And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.

• The rage of the people were turned into mourning when they heard the denunciation of divine justice and judgment from God. They knew that the punishment was just.
• However, this sorrow was not for their sin of unbelief, for wishing to die in the wilderness, for their murmuring against Moses and Aaron, or for even raising their hands to want to stone the two faithful spies Joshua and Caleb. They were mourning because of the result of their sin. They had complained at nothing and now God gave them reason to truly weep.
• They were mourning because of the judgment and for not being able to enter into the land of Canaan anymore.
• Those who truly had cause to mourn were Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb. They believed with all their hearts that God would lead them and give them victory. They were so close yet so far from the promised land. They would suffer to be in the wilderness for forty years along with the rest of the children of Israel. However, God did give a promise that Joshua and Caleb would be able to enter in. But forty years? That could have been avoided.

So the children of Israel would spend in night in mourning. However, the next day arose, and with it came some hope. What did the children of Israel do?

• Numbers 14:40
  And 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.
• They are now full of hope that God would be with them to go and help them conquer Canaan.
• They were not ready to obey God and trust Him at the beginning to take the land of Canaan. So God tells them they cannot inherit the land. And now they are in the same place. They are not ready to obey God’s word again. God said that they would not inherit the land and that they would all perish in the wilderness.
• They have realized now what they have lost. They themselves confess that they have sinned. But it is all too late. This confession is not a true confession but a false repentance. It came from a realization of what they had been shut off from and not from the act of rebellion and murmuring itself. It is evident because they are ready to not take God at His word again!

How does Moses respond?

• Numbers 14:41-43
  41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. 42 Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. 43 For 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.
• Moses warns them against going up because God would not be with them and they would be overcome.
• The victory to be obtained would not be from their skill in warfare but rather from the presence of God and God fighting for them.
• But they would not listen.
• Numbers 14:44-45
  44 But 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. 45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.
• Moses did not go with them. The ark of the covenant did not go with them. And God did not go with them.
• They were easily overthrown in their desperate attempt to try and reverse their own fortunes. Many would perish that day. God’s judgment would not be overturned.
• Moses, recounting to them years later said this:
  • Deuteronomy 1:45
    And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
• They would come back defeated, mourning, but God would not listen to them nor give ear to them. They had brought the judgment upon themselves. They were reaping what they themselves had sown.

If only they had learnt the lesson of not complaining or murmuring at the Red Sea, or even at the bitter water, or when they ran out of water or when they ran out of food. God gave them so many opportunities. Every time they failed they didn’t realise that they were laying a path for themselves to easily go down the same road again in the future. God was patient with them. But they would eventually draw a line in the sand which they themselves would cross and that which God would honour. They would all perish in the wilderness those that were 20 years and up.

Are you in a situation where you are tempted to murmur today? Did God lead you there? If He led you there then we have nothing to worry for He will carry us through. If He didn’t lead you there, then it is not murmuring that we must do but mourning, crying out to God for help and repenting from the hardness of our own hearts and decisions that we have made.

We see clearly how God has watched over the children of Israel with such tender care. And He has done the same for each of us as well. Let us learn to trust Him, even when the circumstances get dark and forbidding. For truly He is walking with us in the sunshine as well as in the rain. He will be with us on the mountaintop and also in the valley.