141 Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried , and the people wept that night . 2 All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron ; and the whole congregation said to them, " Would that we had died in the land of Egypt ! Or would that we had died in this wilderness ! 3 "Why is the Lord bringing us into this land , to fall by the sword ? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder ; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt ?" 4 So they said to one another , " Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt ."
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel . 6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh , of those who had spied out the land , tore their clothes ; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel , saying , " The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land . 8 " If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us- a land which flows with milk and honey . 9 "Only do not rebel against the Lord ; and do not fear the people of the land , for they will be our prey . Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them." 10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones . Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel .
11 The Lord said to Moses , "How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst ? 12 "I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they." 13 But Moses said to the Lord , "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst , 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land . They have heard that You, O Lord , are in the midst of this people , for You, O Lord , are seen eye to eye , while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night . 15 "Now if You slay this people as one man , then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say , 16 'Because the Lord could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath , therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness .' 17 "But now , I pray , let the power of the Lord be great , just as You have declared e , 18 ' The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness , forgiving iniquity and transgression ; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.' 19 " Pardon , I pray , the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness , just as You also have forgiven this people , from Egypt even until now ."
20 So the Lord said , " I have pardoned them according to your word ; 21 but indeed , as I live , all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord . 22 "Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness , yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice , 23 shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers , nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. 24 "But My servant Caleb , because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully , I will bring into the land which he entered , and his descendants shall take possession of it. 25 " Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys ; turn tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the Red e Sea ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 14:1-25
Commentary on Numbers 14:1-4
(Read Numbers 14:1-4)
Those who do not trust God, continually vex themselves. The sorrow of the world worketh death. The Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and in them reproached the Lord. They look back with causeless discontent. See the madness of unbridled passions, which makes men prodigal of what nature accounts most dear, life itself. They wish rather to die criminals under God's justice, than to live conquerors in his favour. At last they resolve, that, instead of going forward to Canaan, they would go back to Egypt. Those who walk not in God's counsels, seek their own ruin. Could they expect that God's cloud would lead them, or his manna attend them? Suppose the difficulties of conquering Canaan were as they imagined, those of returning to Egypt were much greater. We complain of our place and lot, and we would change; but is there any place or condition in this world, that has not something in it to make us uneasy, if we are disposed to be so? The way to better our condition, is to get our spirits in a better frame. See the folly of turning from the ways of God. But men run on the certain fatal consequences of a sinful course.
Commentary on Numbers 14:5-10
(Read Numbers 14:5-10)
Moses and Aaron were astonished to see a people throw away their own mercies. Caleb and Joshua assured the people of the goodness of the land. They made nothing of the difficulties in the way of their gaining it. If men were convinced of the desirableness of the gains of religion, they would not stick at the services of it. Though the Canaanites dwell in walled cities, their defence was departed from them. The other spies took notice of their strength, but these of their wickedness. No people can be safe, when they have provoked God to leave them. Though Israel dwell in tents, they are fortified. While we have the presence of God with us, we need not fear the most powerful force against us. Sinners are ruined by their own rebellion. But those who, like Caleb and Joshua, faithfully expose themselves for God, are sure to be taken under his special protection, and shall be hid from the rage of men, either under heaven or in heaven.
Commentary on Numbers 14:11-19
(Read Numbers 14:11-19)
Moses made humble intercession for Israel. Herein he was a type of Christ, who prayed for those that despitefully used him. The pardon of a nation's sin, is the turning away the nation's punishment; and for that Moses is here so earnest. Moses argued that, consistently with God's character, in his abundant mercies, he could forgive them.
Commentary on Numbers 14:20-35
(Read Numbers 14:20-35)
The Lord granted the prayer of Moses so far as not at once to destroy the congregation. But disbelief of the promise forbids the benefit. Those who despise the pleasant land shall be shut out of it. The promise of God should be fulfilled to their children. They wished to die in the wilderness; God made their sin their ruin, took them at their word, and their carcases fell in the wilderness. They were made to groan under the burden of their own sin, which was too heavy for them to bear. Ye shall know my breach of promise, both the causes of it, that it is procured by your sin, for God never leaves any till they first leave him; and the consequences of it, that will produce your ruin. But your little ones, now under twenty years old, which ye, in your unbelief, said should be a prey, them will I bring in. God will let them know that he can put a difference between the guilty and the innocent, and cut them off without touching their children. Thus God would not utterly take away his loving kindness.