Numbers 14:1

_AND ALL THE CONGREGATION LIFTED UP THEIR VOICE, AND CRIED; AND THE PEOPLE WEPT THAT NIGHT._ All the congregation lifted up their voice - not literally the whole, because there were some exceptions....

1._And all the congregation lifted up their voice. _Here we see how easily, by means of a few incentives, sedition is excited in a great multitude; for the people, unless governed by the counsel of others, is like the sea, exposed to many tempests; and the corruption of human nature produces this amongst innumerable other evils, that lies and impostures prevail over truth. There was, indeed, some pretext for the error of the people, in that they saw ten most choice leaders of their tribes dissuading them from entering the land, and only two advising them to proceed. But that credulity, to which they were too much inclined, is without excuse, because it arose from incredulity; for, if the dignity and reputation of ten men availed so much with them, that they were thus easy of belief, ought they not much rather to have given credit to the word of God, who had promised them the land four hu...

1-4 Those who do not trust God, continually vex themselves. The sorrow of the world worketh death. The Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and in them reproached the Lord. They look back with causeless discontent. See the madness of unbridled passions, which makes men prodigal of what nature accounts most dear, life itself. They wish rather to die criminals under God's justice, than to live conquerors in his favour. At last they resolve, that, instead of going forward to Canaan, they would go back to Egypt. Those who walk not in God's counsels, seek their own ruin. Could they expect that God's cloud would lead them, or his manna attend them? Suppose the difficulties of conquering Canaan were as they imagined, those of returning to Egypt were much greater. We complain of our place and lot, and we would change; but is there any place or condition in this world, that has not somet...

CHAPTER XIV _The whole congregation weep at the account brought by the_ _spies_, 1. _They murmur_, 2, 3; _and propose to make themselves a captain, and go back to_ _Egypt_, 4. _Moses and Aaron are greatly affected_, 5. _Joshua and Caleb endeavour to appease and encourage the_ _people_, 6-9. _The congregation are about to stone them_, 10. _The glory of the Lord appears, and he is about to smite the_ _rebels with the pestilence_, 11, 12. Moses ma

EXPOSITION THE REBELLION AT KADESH (continued) (Numbers 13:1, Numbers 14:1). NUMBERS 14:1 AND THE PEOPLE WEPT THAT NIGHT. As the spies repeated their dismal tidings, each to the leading men of his own tribe, and as the report was spread swiftly through the tents (cf. Deuteronomy 1:27) with ever-increasing exaggerations, the lamentation became universal. NUMBERS 14:2 Murmured against Moses

AND ALL THE CONGREGATION LIFTED UP THEIR VOICE AND CRIED,.... This is not to be understood of every individual in the congregation of Israel, but of the princes, heads, and elders of the people that were with Moses and Aaron when the report of the spies was made; though indeed the report might quickly spread throughout the body of the people, and occasion a general outcry, which was very loud and clamorous, and attended with all the signs of distress imaginable, in shrieks and tears and lamentations: AND THE PEOPLE WEPT THAT NIGHT: perhaps throughout the night; could get no sleep nor rest all the night, but spent it in weeping and crying, at the thought of their condition and circumstances, and the disappointments they had met with, as they conceived, of entering into and possessing the land....

CHAPTER 14 The Rebellion of the People, Moses' Intercession and the Divine Sentence _ 1. The rebellion (Numbers 14:1)_ 2. The intercession of Moses (Numbers 14:11) 3. The divine sentence (Numbers 14:26) 4. The presumption of the people and the defeat (Numbers 14:40) The words of unbelief of the ten spies yielded an awful harvest among the people. The camp was transformed into a camp of despair, weeping and crying during the night. Outspoken rebellion against Moses and Aaron was heard on all sides. Worse than that took place; they accused Jehovah of deception. Such is unbelief. They

NUMBERS 14:1 (P). THE PEOPLE'S DISCOURAGEMENT AT THE REPORT OF THE SPIES. This section is also a fusion of JE and P: its composite character is suggested by the repetitions in Numbers 14:1. In Numbers 14:6 the minority report proceeds from Joshua and Caleb (not from Caleb only, as in Numbers 13:30, JE), and so is derived from P. But the protest in Numbers 14:7 f., though appearing to be made by both jointly, is really Caleb's, for like Numbers 13:30 it is directed a

LIFTED UP THEIR VOICE. Hebrew idiom "lifted up and gave their voice". Genesis 21:16; Psalms 18:13.Jeremiah 2:15.Psalms 104:12; Psalms 77:18; Habakkuk 3:10. CRIED. cried aloud. What. contrast to Exodus 15:1, "Then sang". Compare Exodus 15:13, and note...

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