Numbers 14:20 ¶ And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: 21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. 22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; 23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: 24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. 25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea. 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. 31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. 32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. 34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. 35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
Clearly a test, a proving Moses, the meekest of all men towards
God, results in God’s grace, unmerited mercy, for the children of Israel. Note
some possible cross-references to verse 21;
Psalm
72:19 And blessed be his glorious name
for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.
Habbakuk
2:14 For the earth shall be filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
God says the Israelites have provoked or tempted Him ten times.
There are two different arguments to be made here. One is that this reference
to ten times is a descriptive phrase not meant to be an exact number. That same
argument is for here in Revelation for ten days.
Revelation
2:10 Fear none of those things which
thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that
ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Another more recent argument is made that this ten and the one in
Revelation are literal. That interpreter will count out ten times the Lord is
provoked or, for Revelation, speak of ten major persecutions of Christianity
although there were many more.
Matthew
Henry noted in his commentary which is free online, that Jewish writers had
insisted that this was ten times counting some of these provocations as plural,
“First, at
the Red Sea, Ex. 14:11 . In Marah, Ex. 15:23, Ex. 15:24 . In the wilderness of Sin, Ex. 16:2 . At Rephidim, Ex. 17:1, Ex. 17:2 . The golden calf, Ex. 32, . Then at Taberah. Then at Kibroth-Hattaavah,
ch. 11. And so this was the tenth.”
To contrast this the
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges as referenced on biblehub.com noted, “ But
more probably the expression denotes simply a large number of times, like the
English ‘dozen’ or ‘score’; cf. Genesis 31:7; Genesis 31:41, Nehemiah 4:12, Job 19:3.”
More
importantly than insisting that ten times is an exact number rather than
hyperbole that we all have used with our children Matthew Henry also wrote, “It is much easier
to bring ourselves to the external services of religion, and observe all the
formalities of devotion, than to live a life of dependence upon, and submission
to, the divine Providence in the course of our conversation.” Conversation at
one time also meant behavior and manner of life. So, whichever interpretation
you believe it is not a good idea to provoke God.
Verse 24 doesn’t mean
that Caleb was possessed. I have spoken already how spirit refers to the
invisible mind, heart, talents, and motivations of men and women, and God. Let
me repeat again comments I made on the Spirit of God and the spirit of man.
“The
Spirit is the mind and heart of God just as the spirit of man includes the
heart, reason, emotions, intellect, and talents. For
contexts where the Spirit of God or the spirit of man can be synonymous with
mind please see the following;
Romans 8:27 And he that searcheth
the hearts knoweth what is the mind
of the Spirit, because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
1Corinthians 2:9 But as it
is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which is in
him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we
have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the spirit which is of
God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in
the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he
himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that
he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Ephesians 4:23 And be
renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Philippians 1:27 Only let
your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come
and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel;
2Timothy 1:7 For God hath
not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Now for the heart, and we must
understand that all of our decisions include our invisible minds and hearts.
Here are just a couple of examples.
Exodus 35:21 And they came,
every one whose heart stirred
him up, and every one whom his spirit
made willing, and they brought
the LORD’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for
all his service, and for the holy garments.
Deuteronomy 2:30 But Sihon
king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his
spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver
him into thy hand, as appeareth
this day.
God uses our
spirit to see us for what we are.
Proverbs
20:27 The spirit of man is the candle of
the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
Caleb had a believing spirit and trusted God completely so, of all
the adults, only he and Joshua would come into the Promised Land. All of the
rest of the adults would die in their wanderings. Their children only, besides
Caleb and Joshua, would possess it.
The children of Israel murmured against God. A murmurer is a
complainer, a grumbler and grouser.
Acts
6:1 And in those days, when the number
of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians
against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily
ministration.
Jude
1:16 These are murmurers, complainers,
walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words,
having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.
Notice that in the text evil congregation is defined
as those that are gathered together against God. Evil has a number of definitions
based on context. Evil can refer to our natural human state of being in
rebellion against God.
Evil can
be the opposite of peace. I’ll talk about this more when I come to Isaiah.
Isaiah
45:7 I form the light, and create
darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
It can
be the trouble we find in one day of living.
Matthew
6:34 Take therefore no thought for the
morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof.
It can
be the trouble and anguish we bring on ourselves by having false values.
1Timothy
6:10 For the love of money is the root
of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
It can
be malicious or violent intent or actions.
Genesis
37:33 And he knew it, and said, It is my
son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in
pieces.
And
yes, it can be sin.
2Kings
21:16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent
blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside
his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the
sight of the LORD.
No comments:
Post a Comment