Numbers
14:1 ¶ 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.
Here is mass hysteria and a lack of faith. Although we can see
examples of it in our lives this seems crazy after the supernatural deliverance
at the Red Sea the Hebrews saw. But, each of us has been delivered from some
potentially catastrophic thing only to cry out again for God’s deliverance and
wish we had done something different often showing a complete lack of faith in
God’s providential hand and in His mercy. God brought you to the place you are
and you wish you had never left the place where you were and yet God has a plan
for your life and you are where He wants you to be right now and will see His
will bear out in your life.
Notice
previous examples of the Hebrew’s whining about “good ole’ Egypt.”
Exodus
16:3 And the children of Israel said
unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of
Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full;
for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly
with hunger.
Numbers
14:5 ¶ 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.
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.
Joshua and Caleb plead with the children of Israel not to rebel
against God nor fear the Canaanites. At this time they would all have been
client states of Egypt whose Pharaoh and army had been destroyed, leaving them
dependent on their own abilities in a land where it was more likely that one
city would fight another than that they would unite. Of course they will try to
unite. But, their defense, the might of Egypt, is gone. At this point it is an
ideal time to attack. Hesitation will give them time to do what they do, join
forces. The Hebrews threaten to stone the two faithful men.
No comments:
Post a Comment