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Forty Years in the Wilderness

Numbers 14:1-45

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This lesson teaches that sin exacts a heavy toll. It also teaches that one of the worst sins we can commit is to rebel against the known will of God in our lives. The sin of rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and idolatry (1Samuel 15:23). Examine your own heart and make certain that you are not rebelling against God’s will for you. 

  1. THE WHOLE CONGREGATION REBELS (14:1-5) 

    1. They Weep Concerning Their Condition (v.1) 

    2. They Murmur Against Moses and Aaron (v.2) 

    3. They Wish They Had Already Died (v.2) 

      1. In the land of Egypt

      2. In the wilderness 

    4. They Rebel Against the Lord (v.3-4) 

      1. They accuse God of evil intent (v.3)

      2. They desire to return to Egypt (v.3)

      3. They seek a captain to lead them back (v.4)

    5. Moses and Aaron Fall on Their Faces (v.5)

  2. JOSHUA AND CALEB SPEAK UP (14:6-10) 

    1. They Rend Their Clothes (v.6) 

    2. They Speak of the Land (v.7-8) 

      1. It is a good land (v.7)

      2. The Lord will give the land (v.8) 

    3. They Speak Against Rebellion (v.9) 

      1. Rebel not against the Lord

      2. Fear not the people of the land

        1. They are bread for us

        2. Their defense is departed from them

        3. The Lord is with us 

    4. The Congregation Rejects Their Advice 

      1. They are ready to stone them

      2. The glory of the Lord appears

  3. MOSES INTERCEDES FOR THE PEOPLE (14:11-20) 

    1. God Prepares to Destroy Them (v.11-12) 

      1. He has lost His patience with them (v.11)

      2. He is ready to destroy them (v.12)

      3. He will make a nation of Moses (v.12) 

    2. Moses Gives God His Arguments (v.13-19) 

      1. He pleads concerning God’s reputation (v.13-16) 

        1. The nations will hear (v.13-14)

          1. The Egyptians (v.13)

          2. The inhabitants of the land (v.14)

        2. They will question God’s power (v.15-16) 

      2. He reminds God of His own name (v.17-18) 

        1. As God Himself declared it (v.17; Exodus 33:17-19; 34:5-8)

        2. As a God of mercy and forgiveness (v.18)

      3. He pleads according to God’s mercy (v.19) 

        1. According to the greatness of His mercy

        2. As He has done so many times before 
    3. God Pardons According to the Word of Moses (v.20)

  4. GOD JUDGES THE CONGREGATION (14:21-39) 

    1. God Declares His Glory (v.21-25) 
      1. All the earth to be filled with His glory (v.21) 
      2. His judgment on those who saw His glory (v.22-23) 
        1. They saw His miracles (v.22)
        2. They tempted Him ten times (v.22) *See the special set of notes at the bottom of this page*
        3. They shall not see the promised land (v.23) 
      3. Blessing on him who declared God’s glory (v.24, 6-9) 
        1. He had another spirit in him
        2. He followed the Lord wholly (Numbers 32:11-12; Joshua 14:8-9)
        3. He shall enter the promised land 
        4. Instructions to return to the wilderness (v.25)
    2. God Declares His Judgment (v.26-35) 
      1. They shall receive what they suggested (v.26-30)
        1. They murmured against the Lord (v.26-27)
        2. They wished to die in the wilderness (v.28-29, 2)
        3. They shall indeed die in the wilderness (v.29-30)
          1. Those twenty and older (v.29)
          2. They shall not enter the land (v.30)
          3. With the exception of Caleb and Joshua (v.30)
      2. They shall wander and die in the wilderness (v.31-35)
        1. Their children (v.31-33)
          1. Shall enter the land (v.31-32)
          2. Shall bear their sins (v.33)
        2. Their wanderings (v.33-34)
          1. Forty years in the wilderness (v.33)
          2. A year for each day the spies were in the land (v.34; 13:25) 
      3. So shall this evil congregation be consumed (v.35) 
    3. God Judges the Spies (v.36-39) 
      1. The unfaithful spies die (v.36-37) 
        1. They made the congregation to murmur (v.36)
        2. They brought a slander on the promised land (v.36)
        3. They are killed by the plague (v.37) 
      2. Joshua and Caleb are spared (v.38)
      3. Moses tells the people God’s message (v.39) 

  5. THE CONGREGATION NOW TRIES TO OBEY (14:40-45) 

    1. They Prepare to Go to Battle (v.40) 
      1. They rise early in the morning
      2. They go up into the mountain
      3. They confess their sin
      4. They prepare to take the land 
    2. They are Warned Not to Go (v.41-43) 
      1. Obedience out of season (v.41) 
        1. Is transgression against the Lord
        2. Will not prosper 
      2. They are commanded to stay (v.42-43) 
        1. The Lord is not with them (v.42)
        2. They will be smitten (v.42-43) 
    3. They Presumed to Go Up (v.44-45; Ps.19:13)
      1. They went despite the warnings (v.44)
      2. The ark of God stayed in the camp (v.44)
      3. The Amalekites and Canaanites smote them (v.45) 
      4.

NOTE: Their presumption (v.44) illustrates the nature of presumptuous sin (Psalm 19:13). Just a short time earlier, they thought they could not win even though God had promised to go with them. Now they have decided that they can win the battle, even though God has made it clear that He will not go with them. In both cases, they presumed to know what was best and rebelled against the revealed will of God for them. We sin when we presume upon God. We presume on God when we assume He will support us in any endeavor we undertake—as long as it is a good cause. However, God only sees as a good cause only those things toward which He has directed us. Are you submitted to the known will of God in your life?

 

NOTE: Special notes on the Israelites tempting God ten times (v.22) 

  1. The Number Ten 

    1. The number ten denotes completeness; not in the sense of perfection so much as in the sense of a full cup or a use of all one’s chances.
    2. We find the phrase, “God said”, ten times in the creation story of Genesis One (v.3,6,9,11,14,20,24,26,28,29)
    3. God gave to Israel ten commandments (Dt.4:13; 10:4) 
    4. Jacob complained that Laban had changed his wages ten times (Genesis 31:7,41); now it is time to leave 
    5. God accused Israel of tempting Him ten times in the wilderness (Numbers 14:22)
    6. Among the Jews, it takes ten men to have a quorum for law or for full religious service (Ruth 4:2) 
    7. Nehemiah, when rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem was threatened ten times (4:12) 
    8. Job accused his friends of reproaching him ten times (19:3) 
    9. Daniel and his friends were proven with pulse for ten days (1:12-15) and they were found to be ten times better than the magicians of the realm (1:20) 
    10. The church of Smyrna will have tribulation ten days (Revelation 2:10)

  2. The Ten Times of Temptation (from Dake’s Reference Bible) 

    1. By murmuring at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:11-12)
    2. By murmuring at Marah for water (Exodus 15:23-26)
    3. By murmuring for flesh and bread (Exodus 16:1-18)
    4. By leaving the manna until morning (Exodus 16:19-22)
    5. By murmuring for water at Rephidim (Exodus 17:1-7)

    6. By making the golden calf and returning to idolatry (Exodus 32)

    7. By murmuring at Taberah (Numbers 11:1-3)
    8. By murmuring for flesh (Numbers 11)
    9. By unbelief in asking that spies be sent into the land of God’s promise (Deuteronomy 1:20-25)
    10. By rebellion at the evil report of the spies (Numbers 13:26-14:10) 

 

 

 

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