Schoolmaster to Christ
NUMBERS CHAPTER 14
Schoolmaster to Christ
NUMBERS CHAPTER 14
Scripture Reading: Numbers 14 (KJV)
"And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night." What else could be expected from a people who had nothing before their eyes but mighty giants, lofty walls, and great cities? What but tears and sighs could emanate from a congregation who saw themselves as grasshoppers in the presence of such insuperable difficulties? – especially since they had no sense of God's power; power that could carry them victoriously through it all. The whole assembly was abandoned to the dominion of infidelity. The dark and chilling clouds of unbelief surrounded them. God was shut out. There was not a single ray of light to illumine the darkness with which they had surrounded themselves. They were occupied with themselves and their difficulties instead of with God and His resources. Therefore, what else could they do but lift up the voice of weeping and lamentation?
What a contrast between this and the opening of Exodus 15. In the latter their eyes were only on Jehovah, and therefore they could sing the song of victory. "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed; thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. The people shall hear and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina." Instead of this, it was Israel that was afraid, and sorrow took hold of them. “Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them: all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them.” In short, it is a complete reversing of the picture. The sorrow, the trembling, and the fear take hold of Israel instead of their enemies. And why? Because the One Who filled their vision in Exodus 15 is completely shut out in Numbers 14. This makes all the difference. In one case, faith is in the ascendant; in the other, infidelity.
"By the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over which thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in; in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever."
These triumphal accents greatly contrast with the infidel cries and lamentations of Numbers 14. Not a syllable about sons of Anak, lofty walls, and grasshoppers, in Exodus 15. No, it is all Jehovah. It is His right hand, His mighty arm, His power, His inheritance, His habitation, His actions on behalf of His ransomed people. If the inhabitants of Canaan are referred to, they are thought of only as sorrowing, terror-stricken, trembling, and melting away.
But when we come to Numbers 14 all is sadly reversed. The sons of Anak rise into prominence. The towering walls, the giant cities with frowning bulwarks fill the people's vision, and we hear no word about the Almighty Deliverer. With difficulties on one side and grasshoppers on the other, one is constrained to cry out, "Can it be possible that the triumphal singers by the Red Sea have become the infidel weepers at Kadesh?"
From this we learn a deep and holy lesson. As we pass along through these wilderness scenes, we must continually recur to those words which tell us that, "All these things happened unto Israel for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are met" (1 Cor. 10:11). We are so much like Israel; prone to look at the difficulties surrounding us, rather than at the blessed One Who has undertaken to carry us through it all, bringing us safely into His everlasting kingdom? Why are we sometimes cast down? Why do we sometimes mourn? Why are accents of discontent and impatience heard in our midst, rather than the songs of praise and thanksgiving? Simply because we allow circumstances to shut God out, instead of having God as a perfect covering for our eyes and a perfect object for our hearts.
Further, let us enquire why we so sadly fail to make good our position as heavenly men – to take possession of that which belongs to us as Christians; to plant the foot on that spiritual and heavenly inheritance that Christ has purchased for us; on which He has entered as our forerunner? What answer must be given to these inquiries? Just one word – unbelief.
Concerning Israel, it is declared by the voice of inspiration that, "they could not enter in [to Canaan] because of unbelief" (Heb. 3; emphasis added). So is it with us. We fail to enter our heavenly inheritance – fail to take possession of our true and proper portion. We fail to walk, day by day, as a heavenly people, having no place, no name, no portion in the earth – having nothing to do with this world except to pass through it as pilgrims and strangers, treading in the footsteps of Him who has gone before, and taken His place in the heavens. And why do we fail? Because of unbelief. Where faith does not live, the things that are seen have more power than the things that are unseen. May the Holy Spirit strengthen our faith, energize our souls, and lead us upward and onward, so that we may not merely be found talking of heavenly life, but living it to the praise of Him Who has called us and, in His infinite grace, has set us free.
"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! 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? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt."
There are two melancholy phases of unbelief exhibited in Israel's history in the wilderness: at Horeb, and at Kadesh. At Horeb they made a calf and said, "These be thy gods, O Israel, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." At Kadesh they proposed to make a captain to lead them back into Egypt. In the former, we observe the superstition of unbelief – in the latter, the willful independence of unbelief. We should not marvel that those who thought a calf had brought them out of Egypt would seek a captain to lead them back, The human mind is tossed like a ball from one to the other of these evils. There is no resource save that which faith finds in the living God. Israel simply lost sight of God. It was either a calf or a captain; either death in the wilderness, or return to Egypt. Joshua and Caleb stand in bright contrast with all this. To them it was neither death in the wilderness, or return to Egypt, but an abundant entrance into the Promised Land behind the impenetrable shield of Jehovah.
"And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 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. 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. 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. But all the congregation bade stone them with stones."
And for what were they to be stoned? Was it for telling lies? Was it for blasphemy or evil doing? No, it was for their bold and earnest testimony of truth. They had been sent to spy out the land, bringing back a true report. This they did; and for this "All the congregation bade stone them with stones." The people did not like the truth then anymore than now. Truth is never popular. There is no place for it in this world, or in the human heart. Lies will be received; and error in every shape; but not truth. In their day, Joshua and Caleb had to encounter what all true witnesses, in every age, have experienced and all must expect – the opposition and hatred of their fellows. There were six hundred thousand voices raised against two men who simply told the truth, and trusted in God. So it has been; so it is; and so it will be until that glorious moment when our precious Lord shall return, and every knee shall bow.
Like Joshua and Caleb, we should always bear a full, clear, and uncompromising testimony to the truth of God. There is such a tendency in our age to corrupt the truth – to fritter it away; to surrender it to a lower standard. There is an urgent need of having the truth in the soul, to say, "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen." Caleb and Joshua had not only been in the land, but they had been with God in the land. They had looked at it from faith's point of view. They knew that in the purpose of God the land was theirs; that as the gift of God it was worth having; and that by the power of God they should possess it. Joshua and Caleb – men full of faith; full of courage; full of power.
They lived in the light of God's presence, while the whole congregation was wrapped in the dark shades of unbelief. What a contrast. This always marks the difference between the people of God. It is not uncommon in our age to find those who are obviously Christian; but who never seem to rise to the height of their standing and portion as saints of God. They are often doubtful and fearful; overcast with clouds; usually on the darker side of things. They are usually looking at themselves, their circumstances, or their difficulties. They are seldom bright and happy; seldom able to exhibit that joyful confidence and courage becoming a Christian, bringing glory to God.
This is lamentable, and represents some grave defect – something is radically wrong. The Christian should always be peaceful and happy; always able to praise God, come what may. His joys flow from the living God, not from himself or from the scene through which he is passing. A Christian's joy is beyond the reach of earthly influence. He can say, "God, the spring of all my joys." This is the sweet privilege of the feeblest child of God. But here is where we so sadly fail and come short. We take our eyes off God, fixing them on ourselves, or on our circumstances, grievances, or difficulties. Thus, all becomes darkness and discontent, murmuring and complaining. But this is not Christianity – not at all. Then what is it? It is unbelief – dark, deadly, God-dishonoring, heart-depressing unbelief. "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Such is the language of a true spiritual Caleb or Joshua – language addressed to two whose hearts were feeling the pressure of difficulties and dangers. The Spirit of God fills the soul of a true believer with holy boldness. He gives moral elevation above the chilling and murky atmosphere around, and lifts the soul into the bright sunshine of that region "where storms and tempests never rise."
"And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they."
What a moment in the history of Moses. Human nature might regard this as his golden opportunity. Never before and never since has an occasion like this occurred, when a man had such a door open before him. The enemy, as well as man’s own heart, might say, "Now's your time. You have here an offer of becoming the head and founder of a great and mighty nation – an offer made to you by Jehovah Himself. You have not sought it. It is put before you by the living God, and it would be the very height of folly on your part to reject it."
But, Moses was not a self-seeker. He had drunk too deeply into the spirit of Jehovah to seek to be anything. He had no unholy ambition, no selfish aspirations. He desired only God's glory and His people's good; and in order to reach those ends, he was ready to lay himself and his interests on the altar.
His reply is marvelous. Instead of jumping at the offer contained in the words, "I will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they" – instead of eagerly grasping at the golden opportunity of laying the foundation of his personal fame and fortune – he sets himself completely aside, and replies in accents of the most noble disinterestedness: "And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou, Lord, art among this people; that thou, Lord, art seen face to face; and that thy cloud standeth over them; and that thou goest before them, by daytime in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness" (vv. 13-16).
Here Moses takes the highest ground. He is occupied only with the Lord's glory. He cannot endure the thought that the luster of that glory should be tarnished in the view of the uncircumcised nations. He could not endure the thought that he should become a head and a founder, or that future millions would look back to him as their illustrious progenitor, if such personal glory and greatness was to be purchased by the sacrifice of a single ray of God’s glory. So his thought was straight forward – away with it all. Let the name of Moses be blotted out forever. He had said as much in the days of the calf; and he was ready to repeat it in the days of the captain. In the face of the superstition and independence of an unbelieving nation, the heart of Moses throbbed only for the glory of God. This thought must be guarded at all cost. Come what may – cost what it may, the glory of the Lord must be maintained. Moses felt it was impossible for anything to be right if the basis was not firmly laid down in the strict maintenance of the glory of the God of Israel. To think of himself made great at God's expense was insufferable to the heart of this blessed man of God. He could not comprehend that the Name he loved so much should be blasphemed among the nations, or that it should be said by anyone, "The Lord was not able."
But something else lay near the disinterested heart of Moses – the people. He loved and cared for them. No doubt, Jehovah's glory stood uppermost; but Israel's blessing stood next. "And now I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now" (vv. 17-19).
The order, tone, and spirit of this appeal are most exquisite. First and foremost, there is a jealous care for the Lord's glory. On this ground, i.e., maintenance of God's glory, pardon is sought for the people. The two are linked together in this intercession. "Let the power of my Lord be great." To what end, judgment and destruction? No, "The Lord is long-suffering." What a thought – the power of God in long-suffering and pardon. How unspeakably precious. How intimate Moses was with the heart and mind of God, and he stands in contrast with Elijah on Mount Horeb, when he made intercession against Israel. There can be little question regarding which of these two honored men was most in harmony with the mind and spirit of Christ. "Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy." These words were grateful to the ear of Jehovah, Who delights in dispensing pardon. "And the Lord said, I have pardoned, according to thy word." And then He adds, "But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord."
We should carefully note these two statements. They are absolute and unqualified. "I have pardoned" and "All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." Nothing could touch these grand facts. The pardon is secured; and the glory shall yet shine forth over all the earth. No power of earth or hell, men or devils, can interfere with God's integrity regarding these two precious statements. Israel could rejoice in the pardon of their God; and all the earth shall bask in the bright sunshine of His glory.
But, as well as grace, there is government. This must never be forgotten; nor must these things ever be confounded. The whole Book of God illustrates the distinction between grace and government; and perhaps no part more forcibly than the section that now before us. Grace will pardon; and grace will fill the earth with the blessed beams of God’s glory; but mark the appalling movement of the wheels of government as set forth in the following burning words: "Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereunto he went; and his seed shall possess it. (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" (vv. 22-25).
This is most solemn. Instead of confiding in God and going boldly into the land of promise in simple dependence on His omnipotent arm, they provoked Him by their unbelief, despised the pleasant land, and were compelled to turn back again into that great and terrible wilderness.
"The Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 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. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: your carcasses 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, doubtless ye shall not come into the and concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 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. But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. 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. 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" (vv. 26-33).
Such was the fruit of unbelief, and such the governmental dealings of God with a people that had provoked Him by their murmurings and hardness of heart.
It is of utmost importance to note that on the occasion now before us it was unbelief that kept Israel out of Canaan. The inspired commentary in Hebrews 3 places this beyond question. "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." It might be said that the time had not come for Israel's entrance into the land of Canaan. The iniquity of the Amorites had not yet reached its culminating point. But this is not the reason why Israel refused to cross the Jordan. They knew nothing and thought nothing about the iniquity of the Amorites. Scripture is as plain as possible: "They could not enter in" – not because of the iniquity of the Amorites; not because the time had not come, but simply "because of unbelief." They should have entered. They were responsible to do so; and they were judged for not doing so. The way was open. The judgment of faith as uttered by Caleb was clear and unhesitating: "Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." They were as able that moment, as they could ever be at any moment, because the One Who had given them the land was the spring of their ability to enter and possess it.
It is well to see and ponder this deeply. There is a certain style of speaking of the counsels, purposes, and decrees of God – of the enactments of His moral government; the times and seasons that He has put in His own power, that sweeps away the foundations of human responsibility. We must always bear in mind that man's responsibility rests on what is revealed, not on what is secret. Israel was responsible to go up at once and take possession of the land; and they were judged for not doing so. Their carcasses fell in the wilderness, because they did not have faith to enter the land.
This should certainly convey a solemn lesson to us. How is it that, as Christians, we fail so in making good our heavenly portion? We are delivered from judgment by the blood of the Lamb; we are delivered from this present world by the death of Christ; but in spirit and by faith we do not cross the Jordan and take possession of our heavenly inheritance. It is generally believed that Jordan is a type of death – the end of our natural life in this world. In one sense, this is true. But how was it that when Israel at last crossed the Jordan, they had to begin to fight? Assuredly, we will not have any fighting to do when we actually get to heaven. The spirits of those who have departed in the faith of Christ are not fighting in heaven. They are not in conflict in any shape or form. They are at rest. They are waiting for the resurrection; but they wait in rest, not in conflict.
Therefore, Jordan typifies something more than the end of an individual's life in this world. We view it in one grand aspect as the figure of Christ's death; just as the Red Sea is a figure of it, in another aspect; and the blood of the paschal lamb, in another. The blood of the lamb sheltered Israel from the judgment of God on Egypt. The waters of the Red Sea delivered Israel from Egypt and all its power. But they had to cross the Jordan; they had to plant the sole of their foot on the land of promise, and make good their place there in spite of every foe. They had to fight for every inch of Canaan.
And what is the meaning of this? Do we have to fight for heaven? When a Christian falls asleep, and his Spirit goes to be with Christ in paradise, is there any question of fighting? Clearly not. What then are we to learn from the crossing of Jordan, and the wars of Canaan? Simply this, Jesus has died. He has passed away from this world. He has not only died for our sins, but He has broken every link that connected us with this world; so that we are dead to the world, as well as dead to sin, and dead to the law. In God's sight and in the judgment of faith, we have as little to do with this world as a man lying dead on the floor. We are called to reckon ourselves dead to all of it, and alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We live in the power of the new life that we possess in union with the risen Christ. We belong to heaven; and it is in making good our position as heavenly men that we fight with wicked spirits in the heavenlies. If we are satisfied to "walk as men", to live as those who belong to this world, to stop short of Jordan, if we are satisfied to live as dwellers on the earth, if we do not aim at our proper heavenly portion and position, then we will not know anything of the conflict of Ephesians 6:12. It is seeking to live as heavenly men now, while on earth, that we will enter into the meaning of that conflict which is the antitype of Israel's wars in Canaan. We will not have to fight when we get to heaven, but if we want to live a heavenly life while on earth – if we seek to carry ourselves as those who are dead to the world and alive to Him Who went down into Jordan's cold flood for us, then without a doubt we must fight. Satan will leave no stone unturned to hinder our living in the power of a heavenly life – hence the conflict. Satan seeks to make us walk as those who have an earthly standing, to be citizens of this world, to contend for our rights, to maintain our rank and dignity, to practically give the lie to that great foundation Christian truth that we are dead and risen with and in Christ.
Turning to Ephesians 6, we see how the inspired writer presents this subject. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood [as Israel had to do in Canaan]; but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in heavenly places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (vv. 10-13; emphasis added).
Here we have proper Christian conduct. Here it is not a question of the lusts of the flesh, or the fascinations of the world, though surely we have to watch against these, but "the wiles of the devil." It is not his power that is forever broken; but it is by those subtle devices and snares that he seeks to keep Christians from realizing their heavenly position and inheritance.
Sadly, it is in carrying on this conflict that we fail so often. We do not seek to apprehend that for which we have been apprehended. Many of us are satisfied with knowing that we are delivered from judgment by the blood of the Lamb. We do not enter into the deep significance of the Red Sea and the river Jordan; we do not practically seize their spiritual import. We walk as men, the very thing for which the apostle blamed the Corinthians. We live and act as if we belonged to this world, whereas Scripture teaches and our baptism expresses that we are dead to the world, even as Jesus is dead to it; and that we are risen in Him, through faith in the operation of God, Who hath raised Him from the dead (Col. 2:12).
May the Holy Spirit lead our souls into the reality of these things. May He so present to us the precious fruits of that heavenly land that is ours in Christ; may He so strengthen us with His own might in the inner man that we may boldly cross the Jordan and plant the foot on the spiritual Canaan. We live far below our privileges as Christians. We allow things that are seen to rob us of the enjoyment of those unseen things. Pray for a stronger faith to take possession of all that God has freely given in Christ.
We now proceed with this chapter. "And the men which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the Land, even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still" (vv. 36-38).
It is both amazing and wonderful to think that out of a vast assembly of six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, there were only two that had faith in the living God. Of course, we do not speak of Moses, but merely of the congregation. Except for two brilliant exceptions, a spirit of unbelief governed the whole assembly. They could not trust God to bring them into the land; no, they thought He had brought them into the wilderness to die; and they reaped according to their dark unbelief. The ten false witnesses died by the plague; and the many thousands who received their false witness were compelled to turn back into the wilderness, there to wander for forty years – there to die and be buried.
But Joshua and Caleb stood on the blessed ground of faith in the living God – that faith which fills the soul with joyful confidence and courage. And of them we may say, they reaped according to their faith. God always honors the faith that He has implanted in the soul. It is His own gift, and we say with reverence that He honors it wherever it exists. In the simple power of faith, Joshua and Caleb were able to withstand a tremendous tide of infidelity. In the face of every difficulty, they held fast their confidence in God; and in the end He honored their faith, for while the carcasses of their brethren were moldering in the dust of the wilderness, their feet were treading the vine-clad hills and fertile valleys of the land of Canaan. The former declared that God had brought them forth to die in the wilderness; and they were taken at their word. The latter declared that God was able to bring them into the land, and they were taken at their word.
This is a weighty principle, "According to your faith be it unto you." Let us remember that God delights in faith. He loves to be trusted, and He delights to put honor on those who trust Him. On the contrary, unbelief grieves Him. It provokes and dishonors Him, bringing darkness and death over the soul. It is a terrible sin to doubt the living God Who cannot lie, and to harbor questions when He has spoken. The devil is the author of all doubtful questions. He delights in shaking the soul’s confidence, but he has no power whatsoever against a soul that simply confides in God. His fiery darts can never reach one who is hidden behind the shield of faith. Truly it is so – how precious it is to live a life of childlike trust in God. It makes the heart happy, and fills the mouth with praise and thanksgiving. It chases away every cloud and mist, and brightens our path with the beams of our Fathers countenance. On the other hand, unbelief fills the heart with all manner of questions, throws us in on ourselves, darkens our path and makes us miserable. Caleb's heart was filled with joyful confidence, while the hearts of his brethren were filled with bitter murmurings and complaints. It is always true that if we want to be happy, we must be occupied with God and His surroundings. If we want to be miserable, we have only to be occupied with self and its surroundings. For a moment, look at the first chapter of Luke. What was it that shut up Zacharias in dumb silence? It was unbelief. What was it that opened the hearts of Mary and Elizabeth? It was faith. Here lay the difference. Zacharias might have joined those pious women in their songs of praise, were it not that dark unbelief sealed his lips in melancholy silence. What a picture; what a lesson. Oh that we may learn to simply trust God. May we never have a doubtful mind – in the midst of an infidel scene may we be strong in faith, giving glory to God.
The closing paragraph of this chapter teaches another holy lesson – let us apply our hearts to it with all diligence. "And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. And they rose early in the morning, and gat them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned. And Moses said, wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? But it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites, and the Canaanites are there before you. And ye shall fall by the sword; because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hill top; nevertheless, the ark of the covenant of the Lord and Moses, departed not out of the camp. The Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah."
The human heart is a mass of contradictions. When exhorted to go up in the energy of faith and possess the land, they shrank back and refused. They fell down and wept when they should have conquered. In vain did the faithful Caleb and Joshua assure them that the Lord would bring them in and plant them in the mountain of His inheritance – that God was able. The people would not go up, because they could not bring themselves to trust God. But now, instead of bowing their heads and accepting the governmental dealings of God, they would go up presumptuously, trusting in themselves.
But how vain it was to move without the living God in their midst. Without Him, they could do nothing. And yet, when they might have had Him, they were afraid of the Amalekites; but now they presume to face those very people without Him. "Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised." This was more easily said than done. An Israelite without God was no match for an Amalekite; and it is remarkable that when Israel refused to act in the energy of faith, when they fell under the power of God-dishonoring unbelief, Moses points out to them the difficulties to which they themselves had referred. He tells them "The Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you."
This is full of instruction. By their unbelief, they had shut out God; and therefore it was obviously a question between Israel and the Canaanites. Faith would have made it a question between God and the Canaanites. This was precisely the way in which Joshua and Caleb viewed the matter when they said, "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. 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."
Here is the grand secret. The Lord's pleasure with His people secures victory over every foe. But if He is not with them, they are as water poured on the ground. The ten unbelieving spies had declared themselves to be as grasshoppers in the presence of the giants; and Moses, taking them at their word, tells them, as it were, that grasshoppers are no match for giants. However, if it is true that "according to your faith, so be it unto you;" it is also true that according to your unbelief, so be it unto you.
But the people presumed. They affected to be something when they were nothing. How miserable we are when presuming to move in our own strength. What defeat and confusion. What exposure and contempt. What humbling and smashing to pieces. In unbelief they abandoned God; and in their vain-presumption He abandoned them. They would not go with Him in faith; and He would not go with them in their unbelief. "Nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp." They went without God, and hence they fled before their enemies.
Thus it must always be. It is of no possible use to affect strength, to put forth lofty pretensions, presuming to be something. Assumption and affectation are worse than worthless. If God is not with us, we are as the morning vapor. But this must be learned practically. We must be brought down to the bottom of all that is in self, in order to prove its utter worthlessness. Truly it is the wilderness with all its varied scenes and its thousand and one exercises that leads to this practical result – there we learn what flesh really is; there nature fully comes out in all its phases, sometimes full of cowardly unbelief, at other times full of false confidence. At Kadesh, refusing to go up when told to go; at Hormah, persisting in going when not told.
But, before we depart from Hormah, there is one special lesson that we should seek to learn: There is immense difficulty in walking humbly and patiently in the path that our own failure has rendered necessary for us. In refusing to go into the land Israel's unbelief rendered it needful in the governmental dealings of God that they should turn about and wander in the wilderness for forty years. To this they were unwilling to submit. They kicked against it. They could not bow their necks to the necessary yoke.
This is often the case with us. We fail; we take some false step; we get into trying circumstances; in consequence; then, instead of meekly bowing down under the hand of God and seeking to walk with Him in humbleness and brokenness of spirit, we grow restive and rebellious. We quarrel with the circumstances instead of judging ourselves; and in self-will, we seek to escape from the circumstances, instead of accepting them as the just and necessary consequence of our own conduct.
It may happen that through weakness or failure of one kind or another, we refuse to enter a position or path of spiritual privilege, and are thrown back in our course and put in a lower level in the school. Then, instead of humbly carrying ourselves and submitting to the hand of God in meekness and contrition, we presume to force ourselves into the position and affect to enjoy the privilege and put forth pretensions to power, ending in humiliating defeat and confusion.
These things demand profound consideration. It is a great thing to cultivate a lowly spirit – a heart content in a place of weakness and contempt. God will resist the proud, but to the lowly He gives grace. A pretentious spirit will sooner or later be brought down; and all hollow assumptions of power will be exposed. If there is not faith to take possession of the Promised Land, there is nothing left but to tread the wilderness in meekness and lowliness.
Blessed be God, we will have Him with us in that wilderness journey, though we will not and cannot have Him with us in our self-chosen path of pride and assumption. Jehovah refused to accompany Israel into the mountain of the Amorites; but He was ready to accompany them in patient grace through all their desert wanderings. If Israel would not enter Canaan with Jehovah, He would go back into the wilderness with Israel. Nothing can exceed the grace that shines in this. Had they been dealt with according to what they deserved, they might have been left to wander alone through the desert. But, blessed forever be His great Name, God does not deal with us after our sins, or reward us according to our iniquities. His thoughts are not our thoughts; His ways are not our ways. Notwithstanding all the unbelief, ingratitude, and provocation exhibited by the people; notwithstanding that their return back into the desert was the fruit of their own conduct, yet did Jehovah, in condescending grace and patient love, turn back with them to be their traveling companion for forty long and dreary years in the wilderness.
Praise God, if the wilderness proves what man is, it also proves what God is. And it proves what faith is, because Joshua and Caleb had to return with the whole congregation of their unbelieving brethren, and remain out of their inheritance for forty years, though they themselves were prepared to go up into the land. This might seem a great hardship. Human nature might judge it unreasonable that two men of faith should have to suffer as a result of the unbelief of others. But faith can afford to wait patiently. Besides, how could Joshua and Caleb complain of the protracted march, when they saw Jehovah share it with them? No, they were prepared to wait for God's time – faith is never in a hurry. The faith of the servants might well be sustained by the grace of the Master.
