Daily Scripture Reading Numbers 13:25 - 14:10
Daniel had been at Grace Fellowship for eight years. He trusted his pastors deeply. Pastor Mark and Pastor James were kind, smart, and always seemed to know what they were talking about. Whenever Daniel had doubts or questions, he looked to them for answers. He believed they would never lead the church in the wrong direction.
Over time, the messages at the church began to change. The pastors still talked about Jesus, but they spoke less and less about sin, repentance, or the cross. Instead, sermons focused on God’s unconditional love and how everyone was already accepted. They often said things like, “You don’t have to clean yourself up first - just come as you are.” While that sounded kind, they rarely mentioned that coming to Jesus also meant turning from sin.
Daniel noticed the shift but didn’t think much of it. He figured the pastors knew what people needed to hear in today’s culture. When a few longtime members quietly left the church, Daniel assumed they were just being too critical.
Many Christians believe their pastors will not lead them astray. However, the 13th and 14th chapters of Numbers warn us that it is in fact the leaders who often lead a group of people away from following God.
The 11th chapter of Numbers tells us that after spending a year at Mount Sinai, the Israelites broke camp and started journeying to the promised land. The 13th chapter tells us Yahweh instructed Moses to send a leader from each tribe to spy out the land that Yahweh was going to give to Israel. Take note that each of the spies was a leader, and that Yahweh promised to give them the land.
Num. 13:25 ¶ Then they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days,
It is roughly 200 miles / 300 km from the southern tip of the promised land up to the northern tip. If they walked 30 miles per day, they could go from south to north in about 7 days.
Num. 13:26 and went and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.
Num. 13:27 Thus they recounted to him and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
The positives about the land were its fruitfulness.
Num. 13:28 Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
The negatives were the strength of the people and the fortifications of their cities.
Num. 13:29 Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”
The Amalekites were descendants of Esau, meaning they were distant relatives of the Israelites (see Genesis 36:12). The Hittites and Jebusites were subsets of the Canaanites (see Genesis 10:15-16).
The spies were saying that in order to enter the promised land, they would have to fight through the Amalekites who were living in the Negev. Then, in order to possess the land, they would have to conquer the Hittites, Jebusites, and Canaanites, because they were occupying the promised land itself. Israel had already fought the Amalekites when they came out of Egypt (see Exodus 17:8).
Num. 13:30 ¶ Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we are surely able to overcome it.”
Notice the word “quieted”. Up to this point of the story, we have no indication how the congregation was reacting to the report. However, the fact that Caleb quieted the people indicates there was a reaction coming from the people.
Caleb believed they could conquer the land.
Num. 13:31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.”
Most of the spies believed they could not conquer the land. Remember, the spies were leaders.
Num. 13:32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land, which we have passed through to spy out on, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.
Take note of the word “bad”. The leaders clearly discouraged any thought of entering the land of Canaan. Yahweh told Israel to go conquer the land, but it was leaders who were discouraging the people from obeying Yahweh.
Num. 13:33 There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Num. 14:1 ¶ Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.
Num. 14:2 And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
Num. 14:3 And why is Yahweh bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
Think about the pessimism. The Israelites assumed they would get killed when they entered the land of Canaan. This happened within a couple years of when Yahweh brought all the plagues upon the Egyptians to free the Israelites from slavery. It was also within a couple years of the provision of manna and quail in the wilderness to feed all the people. In fact, the manna was still appearing on the ground everyday. Each day the Israelites went out and gathered manna which should have reminded them of Yahweh’s power. However, they had become so used to picking up the manna each day that they forgot what the manna proved.
Num. 14:4 So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
Num. 14:5 ¶ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.
Num. 14:6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;
This verse informs us that out of the 12 spies, Joshua and Caleb believed they could conquer the land, but the rest did not.
Num. 14:7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
Num. 14:8 If Yahweh is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey.
Num. 14:9 But as for you, only do not rebel against Yahweh; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. Their protection has been removed from them, and Yahweh is with us; do not fear them.”
Look at the phrase “do not rebel against Yahweh”. This captures the real sin.
Look at the phrase “do not fear the people of the land”. Jesus said something similar when He was walking on earth. Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28)
Num. 14:10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
Many Christians believe that, since their pastor has seminary training, they can trust him to always teach the truth. Thus, they assume whatever they hear from the pastor is correct. However, just as it was leaders of Israel who caused the congregation to rebel against Yahweh, so too, throughout church history, it has often been leaders who led churches away from truth and into heresy. We should not blindly agree with whatever church leaders teach. Each Christian should know the Bible so that they can accurately assess whether or not their pastor is teaching the truth.
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. If you have already joined my email list, thank you and please tell others about Bible Mountain. If you have not joined my email list yet, please do so now. In order to join, go to BibleMountain.com, click on subscribe, and that will take you to a page where you can sign up. Your email address will not be sold nor given away. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”