Numbers 14: 1 – 45
We ain’t going – nowhere – no how
14 So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron]fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. 6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the LORD delights in 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, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.” 10 And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel. 11 Then the LORD said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” 13 And Moses said to the LORD: “Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, LORD, are among these people; that You, LORD, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above 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 kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, 16 ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, 18 ‘The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” 20 Then the LORD said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; 21 but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD— 22 because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23 they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. 24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. 25 Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.” 26 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: 29 The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. 30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. 31 But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. 32 But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. 35 I the LORD have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ ” 36 Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, 37 those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the LORD. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land. 39 Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. 40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised, for we have sinned!” 41 And Moses said, “Now why do you transgress the command of the LORD? For this will not succeed. 42 Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the LORD is not among you. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.” 44 But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah.
As I was considering these scripture passages I thought how fearful frightened people would respond to the negative report given by their representatives who had returned from scouting out the Promised Land. Imagine that you were there and heard all the stories and promises about a new land of freedom. You excitement is dashed to dust when you hear the bad news report. What would you start to think? I put down some words that I think might be in their thoughts.
Wind so swift
Oppression won't lift
Tent won't close
Panic grows
Get your mind off conquering
We ain't goin' nowhere
No way no how
Whoo-ee ride me high
Tomorrow's the day
Giants gonna come
Oh, oh, like bugs we’ll get smashed
So much for a promise land!
I don't care
How many orders they sent
Morning came and morning went
Pick up your items
And pack up your tent
We ain't goin' nowhere
No way, no how
Whoo-ee ride me high
Tomorrow's the day
Giants gonna come
Oh, oh, like bugs we’ll get smashed
So much for a promise land !
Buy me a flute
And a bow that shoots
How about they send some substitutes
They might strap me
To the tree with roots
We ain't goin' nowhere
Nowhere – no how!
Whoo-ee ride me high
Tomorrow's the day
Giants gonna come
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
Heading back to Egypt
Better a live slave then dead
We are not sure this God can keep
All his people
Supplied with sleep
We'll climb that hill no matter how steep
And cross the sea somehow no matter how deep
Whoo-ee ride me high
Tomorrow's the day
My bride's gonna come
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly!
We’re leaving here well at least we are gonna try.
14 So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.
The people were devastated. They felt as though their dream had collapsed, as indeed it had. They lifted up their voice and cried, and they wept all night. It was a sign of how pent up they were, and how much they were a slave to their emotional state. They were clearly in no state to engage in a large scale invasion. It would have done them no favors to allow them to enter the land in that condition. The only hope all along had been that their trust in Yahweh would have enabled them to overcome their fears, but because their faith was lacking it had not happened. And now they were caught short. In the end all resulted from a lack of faith. Had they trusted God their weakness would have been made strong.
It is not difficult to guess at what their decision would be even before we learn of it. They were frightened and therefore incapable. It would be another generation before they would become strong enough to again contemplate a serious entry into the land.
2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!
The people were just distraught. They blamed Moses and Aaron for their predicament. All that they could do was wish that they had died when younger so as not to face this dreadful situation. If only they had died in Egypt, or in the wilderness, how much better it would have been for them. They would have cause to remember those words, for they would come back to haunt them. How unlucky they were to have survived, they thought. Ironically, of course, they would have their wish. They would die in the wilderness.
3 Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
They forgot all that Yahweh had done for them, and how He had revealed His mighty power, and delivered them from an enemy far worse than these. All they could think of was that Yahweh had brought them here to die at the edge of the sword. They would be slaughtered and their wives and little ones be at the mercy of the enemy. The best they could hope for was to become slaves. They had already been defeated in their own minds. They were certainly in no condition to take up arms.
We need not doubt that weapon training had taken place in the wilderness. Moses would have been greatly at fault if he had not seen to that. But they clearly had no confidence in their ability to use them. They had come to it too late. (It would be another thing with the next generation. They would have no slave background. They would have been hardened by the wilderness. They would have been trained to arms from their earliest years).
4 So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”
So in their panic and folly they began to think of appointing a leader who would take them back to Egypt as a bunch of slaves. It was, of course, both pathetic and madness. What could be worse than that? But at that time they were temporarily deranged. And they still had their eyes on the fish, melons, onions and garlic. What a pathetic group they were. Just like some of us can be when God challenges us in the face of difficulties.
It would be a misnomer to call this a rebellion. They were rather revealing how pathetic their condition was. They were clutching at straws and babbling foolishness. It demonstrated what they were - men who sought the flesh and had little thought of the Spirit. But it was still a rejection of Yahweh and His covenant for Yahweh had delivered them from Egypt, and now they were rejecting His deliverance and wishing to get back to what they were before.
5 Then Moses and Aaron]fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
Moses and Aaron were appalled. Here were the people before the very Tabernacle of The Creator and Sustainer of Heaven and Earth, our Great Master Yahweh, and yet they were talking like this. What could Yahweh be thinking of it? They hardly dared to think. Indeed they were afraid for the people. They fell on their faces in trepidation and pleading before Yahweh. Let Him not now come and strike them all dead where they were. It was true that these people were seeking to reverse all that Yahweh had done, but let Him have mercy.
6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;
Joshua and Caleb, the only two scouts who had not spoken against going forward, now tore their clothes in order to demonstrate their anguish, before they pleaded with the people. The tearing of the clothes was a deliberate expression of deep emotion intended to gain the greatest effect.
The time for diplomacy was past and Joshua now took his stand with Caleb, and is named first as being of senior position. It was no longer a matter of prudence in allowing parties seen as unbiased to speak up, but a matter of desperation where every effort had to be used. He hoped that his added authority might carry some weight. They had after all become used to receiving Moses’ orders from him.
7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’
They assured the people that the land that they had passed through was an exceedingly good land. And that Yahweh, if He delighted in them because they trusted Him, was well able to bring them in to it, and give it to them. They assured them that it really was a land flowing with milk and honey, the land that Yahweh had promised to give them.
9 Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.”
So they pleaded with them not to rebel against Yahweh. Nor were they to fear the people of the land. Against Yahweh the people of the land would have no defense, their defense was removed. Their protecting shadow was gone. Rather than the land eating up its inhabitants, they would be eaten up by the Israelites. Defeating them would be as easy as eating bread because Yahweh was with Israel, His people, so that they had no need to be afraid of them.
10 And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.
The crowd in their deep distress, stricken in their own consciences although not willing to admit it, took this badly, for it emphasized their guilt, and guilty men often become angry in trying to justify themselves. Who were these men who dared to talk like this? They were guilty of treason against the people and their chieftains. The cry went up that they should be stoned with stones. How dare they defend Yahweh? The people were beside themselves. But then all were suddenly shaken by an unexpected event.
They were gathered around the Tent of meeting for the purpose of hearing the report from the scouts and without warning ‘the glory of Yahweh appeared in the Tent of meeting to all the children of Israel’. There could be no doubt in anyone’s mind. Everyone saw it. And they could hardly have been other than afraid.
He had seen Moses and Aaron as they cried to Him, He had seen His servants who were risking their lives in being faithful to Him, and He was here to act, and all were now aware of it. And now no doubt their memory of the past was also reawakened, and they remembered fearfully the past judgments of Yahweh.
11 Then the LORD said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, who had almost certainly been continually interceding for the people. He asked him how long these people could be allowed to despise Yahweh. How long could they go on not believing in Him in the face of the signs and wonders which He had wrought among them? Let Moses explain why He should not now destroy them all. He would smite them with pestilence and remove them from under the promises to the patriarchs, disinheriting them. Then He would fulfill His promises by raising up from Moses, who was a son of Abraham, a nation greater (more numerous) and mightier than them.
Here faith is revealed as a central issue in the covenant. Faith, while not prominent as a specific subject in the Old Testament, in fact underlay its whole message. Men responded to Yahweh because they believed. It was the whole basis of the covenant. Thus Abraham believed in Yahweh and He counted it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15.6), and it was because he believed His covenant promises and acted on them that he was blessed. Faith was basic to the commencement of Yahweh’s deliverance in Egypt (Exodus 4.31). It was greatly strengthened by their deliverance at the Red Sea (Exodus 14.31). Lack of it was a blot on Israel (Deuteronomy 1.32) and on Moses and Aaron (Numbers 20.12). But when they did believe they sang His praise (Psalm 106.12). It was only if Israel believed that they would be established (Isaiah 7.9). Men were to believe in the sure foundation laid down by Yahweh, and then they would be at rest and not be in a hurry (Isaiah 28.16). It was central to God’s whole purposes (Isaiah 43.10).
Thus the fact that these people did not believe in spite of the signs that He had performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, made it clear that they were not open to His deliverance. It demonstrated that they had closed minds.
13 And Moses said to the LORD: “Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, LORD, are among these people; that You, LORD, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
Moses resorted to a similar argument to the one that he had used at the incident of the molten calf (Exodus 32.12). Let Yahweh consider that when the Egyptians heard what He had done they would crowingly declare to the Canaanites ‘what Yahweh had done’. Here was a fierce God indeed, they would jeer. He had done the same to these people as He had previously done to the Egyptians.
So Moses asked Him, had they not heard about how Yahweh was in the midst of His people, and was seen by them face to face when His glory was revealed as it now was? And how His cloud was over them day and night and that Yahweh went before them in cloud and fire? Would they not therefore mock all the more if these same people were destroyed? So much for His faithfulness and protection, they would say. He was not to be trusted.
15 Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, 16 ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.’
And if Yahweh slew them all the observers would declare that with all His extravagant actions and claims He had been unable to do what He had set out to do, bring these people safely into Canaan, even though He had sworn that He would do so. And they would suggest that that was surely why He had slain them in the wilderness, because He had had to face up to His own inadequacy. So it was Yahweh’s reputation in the world that was at stake here, not just a matter of the deserving of the children of Israel.
17 And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, 18 ‘The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’
Having called on Him to consider what people would think, he then turned to a second argument, the compassionate nature of Yahweh as declared by Himself. Let Him now reveal how great His power was by revealing that compassion. Those who are truly great are great enough to show compassion. And who was greater than Yahweh? Had not Yahweh previously declared that He was slow to anger and abundant in covenant love? That He forgave iniquity and transgression, although by no means clearing those who remained in their guilt by failing to repent? (Exodus 34.6-7). On the guilty He brought His judgment even to the third and fourth generation, because they continued obstinate in the face of His mercy. But on those who repented He showed mercy, ‘forgiving iniquity and transgression’. Let Him now reveal this by forgiving these people for their iniquity and transgression.
19 Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
For our Great and Loving Father God Yahweh’s honor’s sake, and for His reputation’s sake, and for the sake of the truth about His nature, Moses prayed that He would pardon this people’s iniquity in accordance with His great covenant love, just as He had continually forgiven them from the time when they left Egypt up to this point. Let Him reveal Himself as the unchanging One, and the One Who forgives.
20 Then the LORD said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; 21 but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD— 22 because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23 they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.
What an amazing relationship our Holy Majestic Creator Yahweh had with Moses. In accordance with Moses’ request He was granting His pardon. He would not totally cast them off. Nevertheless by His own life and by His own glory, that glory with which the whole world would one day be filled, He swore that because they had witnessed all His glory and His signs in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet had tested Him many number of times, refusing to listen to His voice, they would not be permitted to enter the land. None of those who had despised His glory would even see it. They were barred from Yahweh’s land.
24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.
Only Caleb would be allowed to see it, because he along had proved faithful to Yahweh. He had within him a right spirit and had followed Yahweh fully. He therefore would be brought into the land and his children would possess it.
Some question why Joshua was not mentioned here, but the answer is simple. He was one of the establishments of Moses, Aaron and Joshua. His faithfulness and his future were never in doubt. And at this point all recognized that all three of these would not be included in Yahweh’s strictures. They did not need to be mentioned.
25 Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.”
He finished by pointing out that the valley ahead contained Amalekites and Canaanites. Thus by their own admission these foe were too powerful to fight. Well, so be it. In their present state they were right. Let them now turn round and go back to the wilderness from which they had come out. And let them make their way back to the Red Sea. That was symbolic of Egypt. If they wanted Egypt they could have it. For that was what they had sought.
26 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me.
Yahweh first expressed His exasperation at the behavior of His people. He wanted it to be quite clear that He had heard the murmurings of the people against Him, and that He was not sure how long He could put up with them. This was of course speaking of God from a human point of view. He had in fact known all along that this would happen. What He wanted them to face up to was what it was like and the appearance that it gave and those they must watch out for themselves. In fact as Deuteronomy points out His mercy did continue. He would continue to put up with them and would continually watch over them so that they did not become too poverty stricken and fall apart. There Moses could say of them, ‘Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the works of your hand. He knows your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years Yahweh your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing’ (Deuteronomy 2.7). But Numbers tells us nothing about it at this stage. The emphasis here is on their punishment.
28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: 29 The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. 30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.
Moses was to point out to them the consequences of their actions. They had wished that they had died in the wilderness. Well, they would have their wish. Their dead bodies would fall in the wilderness. And this applied to all who earlier with such confidence had been numbered and mobilized as Yahweh’s host in chapters 1-2. Under no circumstances would they enter the land which He had promised them, the only exception being Caleb and Joshua. They had been numbered with such hope. Now their numbering would count against them.
31 But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.
But in startling contrast, their little ones, of whom they had declared that they feared that they would be victims of the Canaanites, they would be brought in and know the land, the land which these had rejected. Rather than being a prey they would make others a prey and hunt them down and destroy them, Anakim and all. Rather than being a prey they would possess the land.
32 But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.
But as for the faithless adults of Israel, their dead bodies would fall in the wilderness just as they had wished (14.2). One by one they would die until none remained.
33 And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness.
Meanwhile their children would have to bear the punishment of their fathers’ unfaithfulness by wandering with them in the wilderness for forty years (of which they had already done two) as shepherds, until their fathers’ dead bodies were consumed in the wilderness. They would have no settled lifestyle. They would possess no land of their own. Note the stress on the fate of the adults. That their carcasses would fall in the wilderness is repeated three times for emphasis and for certainty.
34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection.
So would their punishment fit their crime? For forty days they had spied out the land through their chieftains, so having despised it now they would suffer a year for a day, forty years in the wilderness. During that period the covenant would be suspended as regards its final fulfillment. They would be aware that His full favor was not towards them. For them the covenant would not be one of glorious hope. As far as entry into the land was concerned, He was alienated from them, and they from Him.
35 I the LORD have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ ”
The words were certain, for they were the words of Yahweh. Yahweh had spoken. Thus there would be no turning back from it. All who had gathered together against him, as the adult males of the tribes had, would be consumed in the wilderness and there would they die because they were an evil congregation, one which would not trust Yahweh and had rebelled against Him.
36 Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, 37 those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
The first sign of the fulfillment of Yahweh’s punishment was immediately seen in that, apart from Joshua and Caleb, all the chieftains who had gone as scouts into Canaan and had misled and misdirected the people died through a plague. Their guilt was clearly described. They had made all the congregation murmur against Him, and they had brought a falsified report. Thus they had borne false witness of Yahweh.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.
Of the spies only Joshua and Caleb escaped the plague. They alone of all the spies remained alive.
39 Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.
Then Moses told the children of Israel all that Yahweh had said. And they had meanwhile had had time to have second thoughts. They did not want to go back into that dreadful wilderness. Certainly on thinking about it they did not want to return to Egypt. Thus when they heard Moses’ words they regretted their folly. But it was too late. They had revealed that they were in no fit state to invade the land.
40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised, for we have sinned!”
However, they rose up early in the morning and mustered their forces and gathered on the top of a rise from which they could go forward into Canaan in order to demonstrate their readiness to go forward into the place which Yahweh had promised. They admitted that they had sinned. But now, they said, they were ready to make amends. They would go forward. But it was too late. They had capped all their previous disobedience with this greatest disobedience of all. They could no longer be trusted. This day might be another day, but they were still the same old people. Yahweh now recognized, as they should have, that they were not in any state to begin an extensive campaign of warfare.
41 And Moses said, “Now why do you transgress the command of the LORD? For this will not succeed.
Instead of welcoming their change of heart, Moses questioned their behavior. Why did they still reveal their rebellious hearts by disobeying Yahweh? Why did they seek to go against His commandment? Why did they not accept His decision? He had said that they must not go. To go would therefore be to disobey Him. Had they not yet learned their lesson?
42 Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the LORD is not among you.
So he commanded them not to go up for he warned them that if they did Yahweh would not be among them. They had forfeited His presence. If they did go forward they would be smitten down by their enemies.
43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.”
Did they not recognize that the same Amalekites and Canaanites of whom their chieftains had expressed their fears were still there? If they went against them they would fall by the sword, because Yahweh would not fight for them. And the reason why He would not was because they had so devastatingly and firmly turned back from following Him.
44 But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed from the camp.
However they determined that they would go. They did not want to go back into the wilderness. Presumptuously they marched forward under other leaders. But the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh and Moses did not leave the camp. They went on their own. There would be no divine assistance this time.
At this point we can only feel sorry for the people. They did not want the past and they had lost their future. They felt that this was the only way that they could go. They just could not take their families back into the wilderness. Even if it meant going alone they would face up to the enemy and seek to establish a position in Canaan. But they were no match for peoples who probably spent half their time fighting. They went without the incentive of the Ark. They went without Joshua their usual general. They went out of desperation rather than in confidence. They went without faith in Yahweh. And it became evident.
45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah
There could be only one result. The Amalekites and the Canaanites swept down from the hill country and smote those, driving them back even as far as Hormah. Hormah means ‘devoted to destruction’. In this case the name was certainly symbolic. They were beaten back to be devoted to destruction. It was a name often applied to mounds resulting from devastation.
But why did Yahweh not accept their repentance and go forward with them? The answer is because God knows men’s hearts. He recognized that whatever the short term for these men, to attempt the invasion would be fatal. They did not have sufficient faith either in Him or in themselves. And their failure had proved it. Enough time would have to pass until a new generation had been developed which had sufficient faith in Yahweh.
