'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 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.'
--NUM. xiv. 1-10.
Terror is more contagious than courage, for a mob is always more prone
to base than to noble instincts. The gloomy report of the spies jumped
with the humour of the people, and was at once accepted. Its effect was
to throw the whole assembly into a paroxysm of panic, which was
expressed in the passionate Eastern manner by wild, ungoverned
shrieking and tears. What a picture of a frenzied crowd the first verse
of this chapter gives! That is not the stuff of which heroes can be
made. Weeping endured for a night, but to such weeping there came no
morning of joy. When day dawned, the tempest of emotion settled down
into sullen determination to give up the prize which hung within reach
of a bold hand, ripe and ready to drop. It was one of the moments which
come once at least in the lives of nations as of individuals, when a
supreme resolve is called for, and when to fall beneath the stern
requirement, and refuse a great attempt because of danger, is to
pronounce sentence of unworthiness and exclusion on themselves. Not
courage only, but belief in God, was tested in this crucial moment,
which made a turning-point in the nation's history. Our text brings
before us with dramatic vividness and sharpness of contrast, three
parties in this decisive hour--the faithless cowards, the faithful
four, and the All-seeing presence.
I. Note the faithless cowards. The gravity of the revolt here is partly
in its universality, which is emphasised in the narrative at every
turn: '_all_ the congregation' (v. 1), '_all_ the children of Israel,'
the _whole_ congregation' (v. 2), '_all_ the assembly of the
congregation' (which implies a solemn formal convocation), '_all_ the
company' (v, 7), '_all_ the congregation,' '_all_ the children of
Israel' (v. 10). It was no sectional discontent, but full-blown and
universal rebellion. The narrative draws a distinction between the
language addressed to Moses, and the whisperings to one another.
Publicly, the unanimous voice suggested the return to Egypt as an
alternative for discussion, and put it before Moses; to one another
they muttered the proposal, which no man had yet courage to speak out,
of choosing a new leader, and going back, whatever became of Moses.
That could only mean murder as well as mutiny. The whispers would soon
be loud enough.
In the murmurs to Moses, observe the distinct and conscious apostacy
from Jehovah. They recognise that God 'has brought' them there, and
they slander Him by the assertion that His malignant, deliberate
purpose was to kill them all, and make slaves of their wives and
children. That was how they read the past, and thought of Him! He had
enticed them into His trap, as a hunter might some foolish animal, by
dainties strewed along the path, and now they were in the toils, and
their only chance of life was to break through. Often, already, had
they raised that mad cry--'back to Egypt!' but there had never been
such a ring of resolve in it, nor had it come from so many throats, nor
had any serious purpose to depose Moses been entertained. If we add the
fact that they were now on the very frontier of Canaan, and that the
decision now taken was necessarily final, we get the full significance
of the incident from the mere secular historian's point of view. But
its bearing on the people's relation to Jehovah gives a darker
colouring to it. It is not merely faint-hearted shrinking from a great
opportunity, but it is wilful and deliberate rejection of His rule,
based upon utter distrust of His word. So Scripture treats this event
as the typical example of unbelief (Psa. xcv.; Heb. iii. and iv.). So
regarded, it presents, as in a mirror, some of the salient
characteristics of that master sin. Bad as it is, it is not out of the
range of possibility that it should be repeated, and we need the
warning to 'take heed lest any of us should fall after the same example
of unbelief.'
We may learn from it the essentials of faith and its opposite. The
trust which these cowards failed to exercise was reliance on Jehovah, a
personal relation to a Person. In externals and contents, their trust
was very unlike the New Testament faith, but in object and essence it
was identical. They had to trust in Jehovah; we, in 'God manifest in
the flesh.' Their creed was much less clear and blessed than ours, but
their faith, if they had had it, would have been the same. Faith is not
the belief of a creed, whether man-made or God-revealed, but the
cleaving to the Person whom the creed makes known. He may be made known
more or less perfectly; but the act of the soul, by which we grasp Him,
does not vary with the completeness of the revelation. That act was one
for 'the world's grey fathers' and for us. In like manner, unbelief is
the same black and fatal sin, whatever be the degree of light against
which it turns. To depart from the living God is its essence, and that
is always rebellion and death.
Note the short memory and churlish unthankfulness of unbelief. It has
been often objected to the story of the Exodus, that such extremity of
folly as is ascribed to the Israelites is inconceivable in such
circumstances. How could men, with all these miracles in mind, and
manna falling daily, and the pillar blazing every night, and the roll
of Sinai's thunders scarcely out of their ears, behave thus? But any
one who has honestly studied his own heart, and known its capacity for
neglecting the plainest indications of God's presence, and forgetting
the gifts of His love, will believe the story, and see brethren in
these Israelites. Miracles were less wonderful to them, because they
knew less about nature and its laws. Any miracles constantly renewed
become commonplace. Habit takes the wonder out of everything. The heart
that does not 'like to retain God in its knowledge' will find easy ways
of forgetting Him, and revolting from Him, though the path be strewed
with blessings, and tokens of His presence flame on every side. True,
it is strange that all the wonders and mercies of the past two years
had made no deeper impression on these people's hearts; but if they had
not done so, it is not unnatural that they had made so slight an
impression on their wills. Their ingratitude and forgetfulness are
inexplicable, as all sin is, for its very essence is that it has no
sufficient reason. But neither is inconceivable, and both are repeated
by us every day.
Note the credulity of unbelief. The word of Jehovah had told them that
the land 'flowed with milk and honey,' and that they were sure to
conquer it. They would not believe Him unless they had verification of
His promises. And when they got their own fears reflected in the
multiplying mirror of the spies' report, they took men's words for
gospel, and gave to them a credence without examination or
qualification, which they had never given to God. I think that I have
heard of people who inveigh against Christians for their slavish
acceptance of the absolute authority of Jesus Christ, and who pin their
faith to some man's teaching with a credulity quite as great as and
much less warrantable than ours.
Note the bad bargain which unbelief is ready to make. They contemplated
a risky alternative to the brave dash against Canaan. There would be
quite as much peril in going back as forward. The march from Egypt had
not been so easy; but what would it be when there were no Moses, no
Jethro, no manna, no pillar? And what sort of reception would wait them
in Egypt, and what fate befall them there? In front, there were perils;
but God would be with them. They would have to fight their way, but
with the joyous feeling that victory was sure, and that every blow
struck, and every step marched, brought them nearer triumphant peace.
If they turned, every step would carry them farther from their hopes,
and nearer the dreary putting on of the old yoke, which 'neither they
nor their fathers were able to bear.' They would buy slavery at as dear
a price as they would have to pay for freedom and wealth. Yet they
elected the baser course, and thought themselves prudent and careful of
themselves in doing so. Is the breed of such miscalculators extinct?
Far greater hardships and pains are met on the road of departure from
God, than any which befall His servants. To follow Him involves a
conflict, but to shirk the battle does not bring immunity from strife.
The alternatives are not warfare or peace, God's service or liberty.
The most prudent self-love would coincide with the most
self-sacrificing heroic consecration, and no man can worse consult his
own well-being than in seeking escape from the dangers and toil of
enlisting in God's army, by running back through the desert to put his
neck in chains in Egypt. As Moses said: 'Because then servedst not the
Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart for the
abundance of all things, therefore thou shalt serve thine enemies, in
hunger, and in thirst, and in want of all things.'
II. The faithful four. Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua, are the only
Abdiels in that crowd of unbelieving dastards. Their own peril does not
move them; their only thought is to dissuade from the fatal refusal to
advance. The leader had no armed force with which to put down revolt,
and stood wholly undefended and powerless. It was a cruel position for
him to see the work of his life crumbling to pieces, and every hope for
his people dashed by their craven fears. Is there anywhere a nobler
piece of self-abnegation than his prostrating himself before them in
the eagerness of his pleading with them for their own good? If anything
could have kindled a spark of generous enthusiasm, that passionate
gesture of entreaty would have done it. It is like: 'We beseech you, in
His stead, be ye reconciled to God.' Men need to be importuned not to
destroy themselves, and he will have most success in such God-like work
who, as Moses, is so sure of the fatal issues, and so oblivious of all
but saving men from self-inflicted ruin, that he sues as for a boon
with tears in his voice, and dignity thrown to the winds.
Caleb and Joshua had a different task,--to make one more attempt to
hearten the people by repeating their testimony and their confidence.
Tearing their dresses, in sign of mourning, they bravely ring out once
more the cheery note of assured faith. They first emphatically
reiterate that the land is fertile,--or, as the words literally run,
'good exceedingly, exceedingly.' It is right to stimulate for God's
warfare by setting forth the blessedness of the inheritance. 'The
recompense of the reward' is not the motive for doing His will, but it
is legitimately used as encouragement, in spite of the overstrained
objection that virtue for the sake of heaven is spurious virtue. If
'for the sake of heaven,' it is spurious; but it is not spurious
because it is heartened by the hope of heaven. In Caleb's former report
there was no reason given for his confidence that 'we are well able to
overcome.' Thus far all the discussion had been about comparative
strength, as any heathen soldier would have reckoned it. But the two
heroes speak out the great Name at last, which ought to scatter all
fears like morning mist. The rebels had said that Jehovah had 'brought
us into this land to fall by the sword.' The two give them back their
words with a new turn: 'He will bring us into this land, and give it
us.' That is the only antidote to fear. Calculations of comparative
force are worse than useless, and their results depend on the temper of
the calculator; but, if once God is brought into the account, the sum
is ended. When His sword is flung into the scale, whatever is in the
other goes up. So Caleb and Joshua brush aside the terrors of the Anaks
and all the other bugbears. 'They are bread for us,' we can swallow
them at a mouthful; and this was no swaggering boast, but calm,
reasonable confidence, because it rested on this, 'the Lord is with
us.' True, there was an 'if,' but not an 'if' of doubt, but a condition
which they could comply with, and so make it a certainty, 'only rebel
not against the Lord, and fear not the people of the land.' Loyalty to
Him would give courage, and courage with His presence would be sure of
victory. Obedience turns God's 'ifs' into 'verilys.' There, then, we
have an outline picture of the work of faith pleading with the
rebellious, heartening them and itself by thoughts of the fair
inheritance, grasping the assurance of God's omnipotent help, and in
the strength thereof wisely despising the strongest foes, and settling
itself immovable in the posture of obedience.
III. The sudden appearance of the all-seeing Lord. The bold
remonstrance worked the people into a fury, and fidelity was about to
reap the reward which the crowd ever gives to those who try to save it
from its own base passions. Nothing is more hateful to resolute sinners
than good counsel which is undeniably true. But just as the stones were
beginning to fly, the 'glory of the Lord,' that wondrous light which
dwelt above the ark in the inmost shrine, came forth before all the
awestruck crowd. The stones would be dropped fast enough, and a hush of
dread would follow the howling rage of the angry crowd. Our text does
not go on to the awful judgment which was proclaimed; but we may
venture beyond its bounds to point out that the sentence of exclusion
from the land was but the necessary consequence of the temper and
character which the refusal to advance had betrayed. Such people were
not fit for the fight. A new generation, braced by the keen air and
scant fare of the desert, with firmer muscles and hearts than these
enervated slaves had, was needed for the conquest. The sentence was
mercy as well as judgment; it was better that they should live in the
wilderness, and die there by natural process, after having had more
education in God's loving care, than that they should be driven
unwillingly to a conflict which, in their state of mind, would have
been but their butchery. None the less, it is an awful condemnation for
a man to be brought by God's providence face to face with a great
possibility of service and of blessing, and then to show himself such
that God has to put him aside, and look for other instruments. The
Israelites were excluded from Canaan by no arbitrary decree, but by
their own faithless fears, which made their victory impossible. 'They
could not enter in because of unbelief.' In like manner our unbelief
shuts us out from salvation, because we can only enter in by faith; and
the 'rest that remains' is of such a nature that it is impossible for
even His love to give it to the unbelieving. 'Let us labour, therefore,
to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief.'