Numbers 14:1-4

D. COMPLAINT AND REBELLION (Numbers 14:1-4)

TEXT

Numbers 14:1. 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 to Egypt.

PARAPHRASE

Numbers 14:1. Then all the assembly lifted up their voice and cried; and the people wept that night. 2. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron; and the whole assembly said to them, Would that we had died in this wilderness! 3. And why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword so that our wives and children should be victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? 4. And they said to one another, Let us select a chief and return to Egypt.

COMMENTARY

What should have been a day of rejoicing in anticipation of a great victory through the power of the Lord has been turned into a period of weeping and complaints. Instructions to the people, so confidently expressed by Caleb, are overruled by the discouraging words of the fearful ten, and the spirits of the people are completely extinguished. Now that they are a year and one-half removed from Egypt, the slavery from which they have been delivered does not seem so oppressive. Step by step throughout the interval, the masses have echoed the same tedious refrain: We never should have left Egypt!
Moses and Aaron are the immediate targets for criticism. Nothing they might say would be of any weight to them in the present circumstances. Their argument continues, and lays an even greater blame upon the Lord. He has led them here, and certainly must be blamed because they cannot simply march into the new land unopposed. The people have come to expect everything of Him, and nothing of themselves. Murmurings similar to their protests have been heard before; this is the first time it is actually suggested that another leader be chosen, one who will lead them back to the land of their bondage. We might speculate that, had they actually followed this course, their voices would have risen even more strongly against the renewal of slavery before the first day's servitude had ended.

QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS

255.

How do you account for the fact that the words of the ten spies had a much greater effect upon the Israelites than the words of the two?

256.

Why should the Israelites have forgotten the fact that they were slaves in Egypt, while they refused to march into the land before them as a free people?

257.

Do you think the Israelites would have found true happiness if they had actually returned to Egypt? Defend your answer.