READ: Numbers 14:27-38
What exactly have the Israelites done to make the Lord angry? Let’s make a list:
- planned to stone the leaders, 14:10
- put the Lord to the test ten times, 14:22
- did not listen to God’s voice, 14:22
- spurned Him, 14:23 (Spurned means to “reject someone with disdain”.)
- grumbled against Him, 14:26, 29
- made complaints against the Lord, 14:27
- gathered together against Him, 14:35
What exactly is the Lord going to do in response?
- Those who have seen His glory and put Him to the test along with those who spurned Him, will not see the land He swore to their fathers, 14:23.
- God will do to them what the Israelites accused Him of doing; therefore, their corpses will fall in the wilderness, all the numbered men from twenty years old and up, 14:29; none of them will enter The Promised Land except Caleb and Joshua, 14:30, 37-8.
- HOWEVER, He will bring their children into the land even though they said they would become prey, 14:31.
- The Lord will make their sons shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer because of their parents’ unfaithfulness, 14:33.
- They will wander the wilderness for forty years and they will know His opposition, 14:34.
THINK:
-Often when reading excerpts of the Old Testament out of context, God can seem like a hot-tempered, exacting, and harsh Ruler. But when read in context, His patience, mercy, justice, long suffering, and unending love are quite apparent. In this passage, where do you see evidence of the Lord’s attributes?
-In your life, how has God shown you His justice and His great mercy?
PRAY & WORSHIP:
Thank God for His justice and mercy. Ask Him for the grace and wisdom to live a life of obedience and trust. Pray He keeps us from a life of rebellion where He, because of His love, has to discipline us. Pray that by His Spirit we will live a faithful life so that our children and the next generation will not suffer because of our unfaithfulness. Praise Him for the fact that He is for us, not against us!
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