Numbers 14:20–32

This is remarkably fine. The order, the tone, and the spirit of this whole appeal are beautiful. First and above all, there is a jealous care for the Lord's glory. That glory must be guarded on every side. Yet it is mainly on this ground — the keeping up of God's glory — that he asks pardon for the people... "Let the power of my Lord be great." To what end? Judgement and destruction? No; "The Lord is long-suffering." What a thought! The power of God in long-suffering and pardon!... Such words were pleasing to the ear of Jehovah, who delights in giving pardon.

Notice that at the very moment Jehovah pronounces judgment, He acts according to the word to which Moses had tied Him in his faith. Even if his faith did not reach as high as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their absolute, unconditional promises, it did fall back on the pledge Jehovah had given for His government of the people — and Jehovah holds to that pledge. So He dealt with that generation and swept it away, on the terms of His own proclamation. He would hold fast His mercy, but He would by no means clear the guilty. There was pardon, or Israel would never have entered the land. But He would "by no means clear the guilty", and so that generation fell.

His main thought was not of himself at all but of God and His glory. The people had rebelled first against God, and only after that against Moses himself. Even so, his one concern was how the Egyptians and the surrounding nations would read such a drastic judgment. With that in mind, and with God's declared patience and mercy in mind, he asked boldly for pardon. His plea prevailed, and God granted pardon as far as the death penalty was concerned.

In His government God may chasten us for our good, or even as a testimony, as in David's case and in Numbers 14:20. Yet between Himself and the guilty person He may forgive, and not count the sin against him — no longer hold him guilty.

Let the reader carefully note these two statements. They are absolute and unqualified. "I have pardoned." And, "All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." Nothing could possibly touch these grand facts. The pardon stands secure, and the glory will yet shine out over all the earth. No power of earth or hell, men or devils, can ever interfere with the divine integrity of these two precious statements.

Moses appeals to the power of God to overcome obstacles, even the obstacle of Israel's stubbornness. He also appeals to what the Lord had told him: that He is "longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression"... On this ground Moses pleaded with God to pardon the iniquity of Israel, as He had done all through the wilderness journey. Once again, in this wonderful instance, Moses gives a beautiful picture of the interceding grace of the Lord Jesus, which keeps and sustains His people despite their waywardness.

There is, first and above all, a jealous care for the Lord's glory. His glory must be guarded on every side. But then it is on this very ground, mainly, the maintaining of the divine glory, that pardon is sought for the people. The two things are linked together in the most blessed way in this intercession. "Let the power of the Lord be great." To what end? Judgment and destruction? No; "The Lord is slow to anger." What a thought! The power of God shown in patience and pardon!

Let the reader carefully note these two statements. They are absolute and unqualified. "I have pardoned." And, "all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD." Nothing could possibly touch these grand facts. No power of earth or hell, men or devils, can ever interfere with the divine integrity of these two precious statements.

Yet this grievous sin brought penalties under the government of God. Verse 21 begins, "But truly, as I live…" which is the formula of an oath. The letter to the Hebrews records the unchangeable oath made to Abraham. It also records how He swore in His wrath, "They shall not enter My rest." The men who brought a bad report of the land would never enter it. What is more, the very next day the people were to begin a fresh journey. It led not into the land but away from it. So began a weary pilgrimage of no less than forty years.

I often wondered why that verse about the whole earth being filled with the glory of the Lord (Num. 14) comes in just where it does. Then I saw that God took up Israel as a people who were to know Him, and from whom His glory should flow out into all the earth. But they had no knowledge of it, and in their hearts turned back again to Egypt. Then God says, as it were, Though Israel has failed, I will have My purpose fully carried out. They have not known My ways; they shall fall in the wilderness. But I will yet have a people (their children) who will answer to the desires of My heart, and the earth shall yet be filled with My glory.

That, of course, is judgment; and the filling of the earth with God's glory here has nothing to do with the gospel. The Lord will have the whole earth full of His glory, but He does not use the gospel for that purpose. He does send the gospel, and presses it on men with infinite patience and goodness; but they reject it; and then comes judgment.

So the question is not whether the earth is to be filled with the knowledge of the LORD's glory. All believers long for that, whether they understand it clearly or not. The question is how such a blessed outcome is to be reached. The prediction occurs in substance in Num. 14:21, Isa. 11:9, and Hab. 2:14. In all of them it goes with the carrying out of divine judgments. It never comes (as has been hastily and wrongly assumed) by the preaching of the gospel, the action of the church, or the dealings of providence, ordinary or extraordinary. It is an honour reserved for the Lord Jesus; and He alone is worthy.

They gained nothing from a testimony passed on to them by their fathers, nor from miracles worked before their own eyes. They tempted God by speaking against Him. God had provided streams to quench their thirst in a miraculous way. Even so their unbelief said, "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" They admit that God had worked wonders for them, but they said, in effect, "He has given us water — can He give us bread?" Men speak against God when there are no miracles, and ask, "Why does He not step in?" They forget that when God did work miracles before the eyes of men, they spoke against God. Miracles and signs do not change the heart of man. Miracles or no miracles, the natural man is unbelieving.

To tempt was to doubt His presence and action on their behalf, as Israel did, not only "ten times" (Num. 14), but also just before the Lord sent fiery serpents to cut them off.

It shows how serious the sin of murmuring and complaining about the trials of the wilderness is. At the same time it teaches us that the heart of all such complaint is doubting whether the Lord is with us. These are common traps of Satan. He often entangles the feet of the Lord's people with them and robs them of their peace and joy, even when he does not bring about their fall. The antidote to all these tendencies is a firm, unwavering grip on the truth that the Lord is among us.

The complaint God makes in this verse is striking: they "have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice." God punished the grumbling people again and again, but none of it seemed to do any good. The people died a miserable death in the desert. So a new generation entered the land of promise, apart from Joshua and Caleb. Man in the flesh, tested by the law, could not please God and had to be born again.

But there is such a thing as government, as well as grace. This must never be forgotten, and these things must never be confused. The whole book of God shows the difference between grace and government. Perhaps no part of it shows this more strongly than the section now open before us. Grace will pardon. Grace will fill the earth with the blessed beams of divine glory. But notice the terrible movement of the wheels of government in these burning words.

It is this warning that stops the living in their tracks. The dead — those whose consciences are not touched, who do not say, "To whom shall we go? you have the words of eternal life" — treat the warning with contempt and perish. This is what happened to Israel in the wilderness, and God swore to them that they should not enter into His rest (Num. 14:21-23). And why? They had given up their confidence in Him. They had heard reports of the beauty and excellence of the land. Even so, their unbelief robbed them of the promised rest.

But there is such a thing as government, as well as grace. This must never be forgotten, and the two must never be confused. The whole book of God shows the difference between grace and government. Perhaps no part of it shows this more strongly than the section now open before us. Grace will pardon, and grace will fill the earth with the blessed beams of divine glory. But notice the terrible movement of the wheels of government in these burning words.

It is very important to notice that unbelief kept Israel out of Canaan here. The inspired commentary in Hebrews 3 settles the question: "So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief." It might be said that the time for Israel to enter Canaan had not come, since the sin of the Amorites had not yet reached its peak. But that is not the reason Israel refused to cross the Jordan. They knew nothing and thought nothing about the sin of the Amorites... They ought to have entered. They were responsible to do so, and they were judged for not doing so. The way was open.

Here at the border of the land there is nothing riotous or openly shameful — no idol, no feasting and playing. On the contrary, the respectable world condemns the filth of idol worship, yet approves the wisdom that guided Israel then. Before entering a hostile country, was it not praiseworthy caution to weigh the chances of victory and the enemy's power to resist? The sin here is independence from God. They would test the fruitfulness of the land and the strength of its inhabitants. Little did they think that God was testing them... Hebrews 3 refers to this very time... and the Holy Spirit uses another word — provocation — to show how exceedingly wicked their sin was... This despising of the land was the provocation.

"But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD... none of those who despised me shall see it." That, of course, is judgment; and the filling of the earth with God's glory here has nothing to do with the gospel. The Lord will have the whole earth full of His glory, but He does not use the gospel for that purpose. He does send the gospel, and He presses it on men with endless patience and goodness. But they reject it, and then judgment comes.

This is the decisive point in the history of the wilderness: the people refused to enter the land when they were brought right to its borders. For this they pay the penalty of forty years of wandering, and the whole generation dies, except two people... They are not pilgrims any more, but wanderers; not aimless, but with self-preservation as their only aim for these forty years... Progress stopped does not stop decline; on the contrary, it ripens into the rebellion of Korah and his company, the crowning sin of all... Circumcision stops too, so they lose the very sign of their covenant with the LORD. Grace alone carries them at last through the Jordan, and gives them the land they turn back from here.

We are all dull and slow to understand, even as such a favour is set before us. But a dull heart and a slow mind will not stop us sharing in it in the coming day. What will hinder — and hinder fatally and finally, if it is left to work out its bitter results — is the sin of unbelief... Unbelief lost their fathers the land. Their dead bodies fell in the wilderness. Unbelief would keep anyone who keeps giving way to it from ever being a companion of Christ, and from entering the rest that remains.

But then there is such a thing as government, as well as grace. This must never be forgotten, and we must never confuse the two. The whole book of God shows the difference between grace and government. Perhaps no part of it shows that difference more powerfully than the section now open before us. Grace will pardon, and grace will fill the earth with the blessed beams of divine glory. But look at the terrible movement of the wheels of government.

This is how faith always reasons. Faith reasons from God to the difficulties: it begins with Him. Unbelief, on the contrary, reasons from the difficulties to God: it begins with them. This makes all the difference... Faith looks the difficulties straight in the face. It is not ignorant — not indifferent — not reckless; but what? IT BRINGS IN THE LIVING GOD... Caleb showed this precious faith when he said, "Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."

Caleb's faith lifted him out of the murmurs of Israel, their cowardice and their reproaches of the Lord. He trusted in God, held on to Him and left in His hands difficulties and giants; one thing only he sought — the Lord's delight in him.

Caleb's soul rested entirely on the grace and power of God. That same grace and power had made them triumph at the Red Sea, and had kept the spies while they searched the land... The very same principle of fully following the Lord made him encourage the people to go up. But it would also stop him from trying once the Lord had said, "Tomorrow turn back toward the Red Sea." This was because the Lord had no delight in the people.

This reveals how welcome to the Lord's heart Caleb's faithful testimony had been... He also showed the spirit of devoted discipleship in an evil day. He followed fully, and this became his distinguishing mark — a mark Caleb himself delighted to accept and recall.

Do you know what Caleb said? "I wholly followed the LORD my God" (Joshua 14:8). Oh, you say, he was conceited. No, no, he was consecrated, not conceited.

But the forty years of desert life still lie ahead. He walks them with courage right to the end, because he carries in his heart the memory of the riches and the treasure of Canaan. To him the difficulties of the desert are nothing. He pays no attention to the burning sands, the scorching sun, weariness, or thirst... A hope keeps his courage alive. And the believer's hope is not just Canaan, that is, heaven in a general way. It is Christ.

These males of twenty years and over numbered just over 600,000. Not one of them was left alive from the earlier census, except Caleb and Joshua... we see with what absolute exactness God fulfils the word He has spoken. A solemn fact for the unbeliever, but one in which we who believe can heartily rejoice.

Verse 25 reminds them that the Amalekites and Canaanites dwelt in the valley. They were formidable enemies indeed if God was not leading Israel against them. Israel had lost all claim to God's support. So God told them to turn back into the wilderness by way of the Red Sea. They had more to learn from wilderness experience.

So the people had to turn back into the wilderness and wander there for forty years. There was nothing else for it. They would not go up into the land with God, in simple faith. And He would not go up with them in their self-will and self-confidence. So they simply had to accept the consequence of their disobedience. If they would not enter the land, they must fall in the wilderness.

From Kadesh-barnea Israel had to almost retrace their steps, going back toward the Red Sea. Believers today find similar experiences because of lack of faith. Instead of moving forward in obedience to God, we must go back and learn again what the Red Sea deliverance means. It speaks of the judgment of sin in the flesh through the cross of Christ. If we do not learn it well as we begin our wilderness history, we will have to backtrack to understand it better. That is wandering instead of going steadily forward. Too many believers take almost their whole life to learn this lesson.

We now come to the decisive point in the history of the wilderness. The people refused to enter the land when God brought them to its very borders. By this they incur the penalty of forty years of wandering, and the death of the whole generation in the wilderness, except two people. For these, therefore, the whole character of their life is altered. They are not pilgrims any more, but wanderers. They do not wander without aim, yet their only aim for these forty years is to keep themselves alive.

Jehovah refused to go with Israel into the mountain of the Amorites. But He was ready to turn round, in patient grace, and go with them through all their desert wanderings. If Israel would not enter Canaan with Jehovah, He would go back into the wilderness with Israel. Nothing can exceed the grace that shines in this. If God had dealt with them as they deserved, He might at least have left them to wander alone through the desert.

Notice how beautiful this is. At the very moment God sent them back from the land for their unbelief, He gives directions about what to do in the land. His promise and purpose are as sure as His word and His nature, despite man's folly and failure.

We are just like wayward children. How well we can understand Israel's reply, "Here we are. We will go up," to the announcement that they must turn and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea. They could not bear to lose so much ground, and to cross the wilderness afresh. They would go up from where they were, but it cannot prosper; it was not the Lord's way, nor was He with them. Their attempt failed, and ended in defeat and deeper disgrace. The Lord will have us back to the cross so that we may start afresh with Him. We allow that we have sinned, but desire to go on as though we had not. This is not obedience but presumption.

God announces the forty years in a separate message. In them, those who had wanted to die in the wilderness would die there. But God would bring their little ones into the land — the very ones their parents had mourned over as about to fall as prey to the enemy. In the meantime those children would bear the consequences of their fathers' sin, as was needful for the children of such fathers: a year in the wilderness for each day of fruitless searching. Yet because God Himself appointed these years, we cannot call them fruitless. Divine love could inflict no useless pain, just as it cannot withhold the pain that profits.

Such grumbling was a dreadful evil. It judged God as untrustworthy when He had assured them that He would enable them to conquer the land. Let the believer remember that all mere complaint is, in its essence, against God. Is He not caring rightly for His people and all their interests?

But there is such a thing as government, as well as grace. This must never be forgotten; nor must these things ever be confused. The whole book of God shows the difference between grace and government. Perhaps no part of it shows this more strongly than the section now open before us. Grace will pardon. Grace will fill the earth with the blessed beams of divine glory. But notice the terrible turning of the wheels of government.

Then God says, "I have pardoned, according to your word." But He adds, yet I will discipline them. And to the people He says, "as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you." You will get the thing your wretched flesh desired, for you will die in this wilderness.

Hebrews 3 puts this beyond question: "So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief." Someone might say that the time had not come for Israel to enter the land of Canaan. The iniquity of the Amorites had not yet reached its peak. But this is not the reason why Israel refused to cross the Jordan. They knew nothing and thought nothing about the iniquity of the Amorites. Scripture is as plain as possible. They were unable to enter — not because of the iniquity of the Amorites, and not because the time had not come, but "because of unbelief." They ought to have entered. They were responsible to do so, and God judged them for not doing so. The way was open. The judgment of faith spoken by faithful Caleb was clear and without hesitation: "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." They were as able at that moment as they could ever be, because the One who had given them the land was the source of their power to enter it and possess it.

God goes on in His purpose as calmly and quietly as if there had never been the despising of the land. For He says, "When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you." His purpose is as settled as if there had been no rebellion at all. He speaks in the calmness of His own purpose. After telling them of discipline, He says: You shall come into the land. It is settled with Me. I go on in the steadfastness of My own purposes.

The first word to look at is "murmurings." It translates a Greek word pronounced something like "gongusmos." You can almost hear the grumbling and muttering in the sound of it. The children of Israel murmured very often. It was one of their chief sins. They murmured at the Red Sea, at Marah, in the wilderness of Sin, at Rephidim, at the return of the spies, and against Aaron.

Nothing is easier than for a murmuring spirit to get into the heart of a believer, or into an assembly. Think of the harm one murmuring believer does! That is why the command is so solemn: "nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer" (1 Cor. 10:10)... When we examine it honestly, every bit of murmuring is not against the circumstances, nor against other believers. It always comes out of sheer unbelief towards God. That is the point.

See what a wretched, wicked state of unbelief they had fallen into. They blamed the Lord Himself for their trials and difficulties. Even Christians can fall into this trap. We know it is the Lord who brought us up out of Egypt. So when trials come, our hearts are apt to say, "This comes of my being a Christian; the Lord has brought me into these difficulties." But if Canaan had been on their hearts, the children of Israel would have said, "Thank God that we are this far on our way to Canaan."

It is very important to note that unbelief is what kept Israel out of Canaan... Scripture is as plain as possible: "they were unable to enter because of unbelief." It was not because of the iniquity of the Amorites. It was not because the time had not come. They ought to have entered. They were responsible to do so, and God judged them for not doing so. The way was open. Faithful Caleb spoke the judgment of faith, clear and without hesitation: "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." They were as able at that moment as they could ever be, since the One who had given them the land was the source of their strength to enter it and take it.

The Lord spoke to Moses because of Israel's rebellion: "How long will this people despise Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?" God had been wonderfully patient with them. But how can patience continue in the face of united rebellion?

But there is such a thing as government, as well as grace. We must never forget this, and we must never confuse the two. The whole book of God shows the difference between grace and government. Perhaps no part of it shows it more strongly than the section now open before us. Grace will pardon, and grace will fill the earth with the blessed light of divine glory. But look at the terrible movement of the wheels of government.

God says one striking thing about the budding of Aaron's rod: "I will completely take away from before Me the murmurings of the children of Israel." Let us think about what that means to God and to us. Because we have a great high priest, we can go through wilderness circumstances without a murmur on our lips. Instead of murmuring there can be thanksgiving and praise to God.

Yet this grievous sin brought penalties in the government of God. Verse 21 begins, "But as truly as I live …" which is the formula of an oath. The letter to the Hebrews records the unchangeable oath made to Abraham. It also records how He swore in His wrath, "They shall not enter my rest." The men who brought a bad report of the land would never enter it.

God's answer was this: You say you wish you had died in the wilderness — you will die in the wilderness. "As for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, and your children will wander in the wilderness forty years..." God says, You will have to die, only it will take you forty years to do it.

Unbelief always justifies Satan and makes God a liar. Faith always justifies God and proves Satan a liar. It is always true that it will be done to you according to your faith. On the other hand, unbelief reaps as it sows. So it was with Israel: unhappy, because unbelieving.

Scripture is as plain as possible. "They could not enter in" — not because of the sin of the Amorites, and not because the time had not come. It was simply "because of unbelief." They should have entered. They were responsible to do so, and God judged them for not doing so. The way was open... They were as able at that moment as they could ever be. The One who had given them the land was the source of their ability to enter it and take it.

God says, "I have pardoned according to your word," but I will still chastise them. And to the people He says, "what you have said in My hearing I will do to you." You will get the thing your wretched flesh desired, for you will die in this wilderness... The Lord does chastise in the way of government. But it is blessed to see that He never gives up His purpose, though He deals with the heart according to its unbelief. His purpose is as settled as if there had been no rebellion at all. He speaks in the calmness of His own purpose. After telling them of chastisement, He says: You will come into the land. It is settled with Me. I go on in the steadfastness of My own purposes.

God pronounced His sentence: "Your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness." Then He added, "But your little ones, who you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will know the land that you have rejected."

These males of twenty years and over numbered just over 600,000. Not one man from the earlier census was still alive, except Caleb and Joshua. We turn back to Numbers 14, read verses 20-32 again, and see how exactly God fulfils the word He has spoken. A solemn fact for the unbeliever, but one in which we who believe can heartily rejoice.

They despised their hope, and God takes it away. Not one above twenty should enter the land, except Caleb and Joshua. The little ones, for whom they pretended to care, God would bring in. In forty years that generation would waste away in the wilderness... They had charged God with bringing them to the land to die by the sword (verse 3). Their own fearful words now come back on them as judgment.

God's answer was this: You say you wish you had died in the wilderness — you shall die in the wilderness... Says God, You will have to die, only it will take you forty years to do it. You searched the land for forty days, and you will bear your guilt for a year for each of those days (Num. 14:34). They must know death.

The Israelites were numbered from twenty years old and upwards. That was the age at which they were able to go out to war, and were regarded as having grown up to manhood, and fit for the service of life (Num. 1:3; 14:29; Lev. 27:3).

The whole sad story can be summed up like this. They rejected their unseen God by making a calf. They rejected their visible leader when they proposed to elect a captain. And as a result their bodies fell outside the land of promise.

They ought to have entered. They were responsible to do so; and they were judged for not doing so. The way was open. Faithful Caleb spoke the judgment of faith clearly and without hesitation: "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." They were as able at that moment as they could ever be. The One who had given them the land was the source of their power to enter it and take it.

God may chasten us under His government for our good, or even as a testimony, as in David's case and Numbers 14:20. Yet between Himself and the guilty He may still forgive, and not impute the sin — He no longer holds him guilty.

They are not pilgrims any more, but wanderers. They still have an aim, but it is only to stay alive for these forty years. It is so much so that the record of those years is not given to us: we have only a few chosen incidents, and they show a state of things that matches this beginning. Progress stopped does not stop decline. Decline ripens instead into the rebellion of Korah and his followers, which is the crowning sin of all.

One thing will hinder, and hinder fatally and for ever if it works out its bitter results: the sin of unbelief. So the letter to the Hebrews keeps this warning from Israel's history before its readers. Unbelief lost their fathers the land. Their bodies fell in the wilderness. Anyone who keeps giving way to unbelief will be shut out for ever from being a fellow or companion of Christ, and from entering the rest that remains.

It is of the greatest importance to note here that it was unbelief that kept Israel out of Canaan on this occasion. The inspired commentary in Hebrews 3 puts this beyond all question: "So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief." Some might say that the time had not come for Israel to enter the land of Canaan. But that is not why Israel refused to cross the Jordan. They knew nothing and thought nothing about such reasons. Scripture is as plain as possible: they were unable to enter — simply "because of unbelief." They ought to have entered. They were responsible to do so, and they were judged for not doing so. The way was open. Faithful Caleb spoke the judgment of faith, clear and certain: "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it." They were as able at that moment as they could ever be. The One who had given them the land was the source of their strength to enter it and take it.

Notice how, at the very moment when the Lord pronounces judgment, He acts according to the exact word to which Moses had tied Him in his faith. Even if his faith did not rise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their absolute, unconditional promises, it went back to the governmental pledge of the Lord. To this pledge the Lord holds. So that generation was dealt with and purged away according to the terms of His own proclamation. He would hold fast His mercy, but He would by no means clear the guilty. There was pardon, otherwise Israel would never have gone into the land. Yet He would not clear the guilty, and so that generation fell. In this way God kept His character intact, and His hand made good what His mouth had spoken.

"My servant Caleb," said the Lord, "because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it." This shows how welcome Caleb's faithful testimony was to the Lord's heart. He also showed the spirit of devoted discipleship in an evil day. He followed fully, and this became his mark — a mark Caleb himself was glad to accept and recall.

In this evil state of things Israel had taunted their children — or rather taunted God about them — as if they faced certain death. Unbelief had fastened on the little ones. Could children like these cross the desert safely and enter the land against such enemies? Unbelief said no. The very people who gave way to such unbelieving doubt of the Lord's care reaped the consequences themselves. The children they thought could never survive the desert were the only ones God brought in. With them went the two men who defended God and held fast to His word: Caleb and Joshua.

If you go to Numbers 15, you get the security of God's purpose beautifully set out. In Numbers 14 He says their bodies will fall in the wilderness. He pronounces judgment on the whole nation, apart from two people. Then chapter 15: "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land," do this and that, and He goes on with His own intentions just as calmly as if nothing in chapter 14 had happened.

One striking fact emerges. Among all these men of twenty and over, numbering just over 600,000, not one was left alive who had been in the earlier census, except Caleb and Joshua. We turn back to Numbers 14 and read verses 20-32 again, and we see with what complete exactness God fulfils the word He has spoken. A solemn fact for the unbeliever, but one in which we who believe can heartily rejoice.

Unbelief always justifies Satan and makes God a liar. Faith always justifies God and proves Satan a liar. It is always true that according to your faith it will be done to you. And unbelief, on the other hand, reaps as it sows. That is how it was with Israel — unhappy, because unbelieving.

But now God Himself steps in. They will be dealt with according to their faith; they shall perish in the wilderness, according to their wish.

Unbelief had fastened on the little ones. It seemed pointless to expect that such as they could pass safely through the desert and enter the land in the face of the enemy. The very people who gave way to such unbelieving doubt of the Lord's care reaped the consequences themselves. And the children, who they thought could never survive the horrors of the wilderness, were the only ones brought in, along with the two men who defended God and held fast to His word — Caleb and Joshua.

Therefore, their concern for their little ones was not love at all. The best way we can love our children is by giving them a good example by obeying the Lord. God cared far more for the children than they did.

Suppose a friend gave me something as a great treasure. I am sure it is mine, yet I seldom look at it and seldom care to think about it. That would prove something. Not that I doubted it was mine, but that I despised the thing and placed no value on it. This is very often how we treat the heavenly glory that belongs to us. We do not question the truth of the promises. But when our souls are not dwelling on the glory before us and delighting in it, there is a "despising of the pleasant land."

Suppose I say I am counting on God to bring my children to Canaan, while all the time I am educating them for Egypt. That is a deadly delusion. My conduct proves my profession to be a lie. And I should not be surprised if God, in His righteous dealings, lets me be filled with the fruit of my own doings.

These males of twenty years and over numbered just over 600,000. Of all who had been counted in the earlier census, not one was left alive except Caleb and Joshua. Turn back to Numbers 14 and read verses 20-32 again. There you see with what absolute exactness God fulfils the word He has spoken. It is a solemn fact for the unbeliever, but one in which we who believe can rejoice with all our hearts.

God's answer was this: You say you wish you had died in the wilderness — you shall die in the wilderness… God says, You will have to die, only it will take you forty years to do it… They had to know death.

It is of the greatest importance to note here that it was unbelief that kept Israel out of Canaan on this occasion… Someone might say that the time for Israel to enter Canaan had not yet come. The iniquity of the Amorites had not yet reached its height. But this is not the reason why Israel refused to cross the Jordan. They knew nothing and thought nothing about the iniquity of the Amorites. Scripture is as plain as possible: "they were unable to enter" — not because of the iniquity of the Amorites, not because the time had not come — but simply "because of unbelief." They ought to have entered. They were responsible to do so, and they were judged for not doing so. The way was open.

Psalm 95 refers to this moment, and Hebrews 3 and 4 quote that psalm. They press the point home: unbelief lay at the root of it all. "So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief." We need to note this. It shows their case was not a loss of blessing through backsliding. They had entered, by profession only, into a calling they never had faith for at all. This is the point of the solemn warnings that have so large a place in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

God will deal with them according to their faith. They will die in the wilderness, just as they wished. Only the faithful and the children will enter the land. Even they must bear, as they march, the consequences of the unbelief of the mass. However, other hopes and other consolations will be their portion.

One striking fact emerges at the end of the chapter. These males of twenty years and over numbered just over 600,000. Among them, not one man from the earlier census was still alive, except Caleb and Joshua. Turn back to Numbers 14, read verses 20-32 again, and you see how exactly God fulfils the word He has spoken. A solemn fact for the unbeliever, but one in which we who believe can heartily rejoice.

Take care: many profess, and many fall by the way and never get in at all. Israel all came out of Egypt, but they fell in the wilderness, and never reached the goal. There is no question raised here about a true soul going in. "We who have believed enter that rest" — no doubt about that; but you should remember Israel. They heard the report from the spies — the gospel of the rest of Canaan in their day — and never got in. The word preached by the spies did not profit them, because it lacked the divine mixture of faith: "it was not mixed with faith in them that heard it." "They were unable to enter because of unbelief."