The People of Israel Want to Go Back to Egypt

In short

Numbers 14:1-25. The people hear about the enemy and give up. Moses begs God to not kill them all.

Why it is important

If hundreds of thousands of people saw a sea parted AND walked through it and can STILL not trust in God, then we are crazy if we think, “I’ll never forsake God.”

What is in this story

Recap: Twelve spies; two have faith in God’s deliverance; ten do not

Act I: The Israelites take the word of the ten and have a breakdown. Their conclusions:

1. We wish we had died in Egypt (v. 2)
2. We wish we would die here in the wilderness (v. 2)
3. It’s God’s fault (v. 3)
4. Think of the children! And our wives – the enemy will hurt them. (v. 3)
5. We should go back to Egypt (vs. 3-4)
6. Optimism? No thanks – and let’s kill the optimists. (vs. 9-10)

Act II: The LORD reacts

• “the glory of the LORD appeared… to all the people of Israel” (v. 10)
• God’s hand is on the trigger, ready to wipe out the Israelites (v. 12)
• Moses pleads with God, appealing to His character (vs. 13-19)
• God relents… kind of. He will not start over, flood-style, but the adults will not get to see the promised land. (vs. 20, 30)
• The marvelous irony in God’s judgment (vs. 28-31), “what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness…. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected.” [referring to #2 and #4]

Theology and doctrine

Did God mean it? Was He really going to kill everyone (before Moses interceded)?

The verse I am speaking of is Num 14:12, “I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

• I don’t see how we could ever know what God had in His plans
• Some say it was a test for Moses, and of course it was, but was God bluffing?
• Moses seemed to think God would kill everyone (except Moses), Num 14:15, “Now if you kill this people as one man, then…”
• If all were killed, then some prophecies would be voided. For example, Genesis 49:10, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah.” Moses is a Levite, and if only he remained, this could not be fulfilled, it would seem.
• Maybe I am wrong, but as I read verse 12, God Himself does not say that He would kill everyone. Only to harm and “disinherit” them.
• That’s still astounding, don’t get me wrong. But perhaps the intent was not quite what it seems.