September 25, 2025
Numbers 14:26-38 (HCSB)
26 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long must I endure this evil community that keeps complaining about Me? I have heard the Israelites’ complaints that they make against Me. 28 Tell them: As surely as I live,” this is the Lord’s declaration, “I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. 29 Your corpses will fall in this wilderness—all of you who were registered in the census, the entire number of you 20 years old or more—because you have complained about Me. 30 I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 I will bring your children whom you said would become plunder into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it. 32 But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for 40 years and bear the penalty for your acts of unfaithfulness until all your corpses lie scattered in the wilderness. 34 You will bear the consequences of your sins 40 years based on the number of the 40 days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will know My displeasure. 35 I, Yahweh, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to the entire evil community that has conspired against Me. They will come to an end in the wilderness, and there they will die.”36 So the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and who returned and incited the entire community to complain about him by spreading a negative report about the land— 37 those men who spread the negative report about the land were struck down by the Lord. 38 Only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive of those men who went to scout out the land.
David Bale
In September of this year, my high school class will get together for our 40th H.S. reunion. Because of all the recent reminders I’ve received, it has made me stop and reflect on how much has transpired in my life over those forty years. Give or take a few years, that’s about half of a person’s lifetime. Then I compare that to the same amount of time this generation of Israelites will spend wandering around in a desert. What a brutal judgement! Was God’s decision too harsh? At some point we will all experience feelings of fear, doubt, and inadequacy. The issue is not whether we are sufficient for the task, but how we respond, when a challenge is beyond our capabilities. Often times as an obstacle grows in our mind, we want to run in the opposite direction, away from the challenge and toward safety. However, avoiding a task that God has given us will lead to bondage. As a result of their refusal to trust the LORD and move forward, that generation of Israelites never saw the Promised Land that God had already given them. When God calls us to a task beyond our abilities, we need to recognize our feelings of inadequacy and then choose to rely on Him and His promises. He always empowers us for the works He assigns.
26 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long must I endure this evil community that keeps complaining about Me? I have heard the Israelites’ complaints that they make against Me. 28 Tell them: As surely as I live,” this is the Lord’s declaration, “I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. 29 Your corpses will fall in this wilderness—all of you who were registered in the census, the entire number of you 20 years old or more—because you have complained about Me. 30 I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 I will bring your children whom you said would become plunder into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it. 32 But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for 40 years and bear the penalty for your acts of unfaithfulness until all your corpses lie scattered in the wilderness. 34 You will bear the consequences of your sins 40 years based on the number of the 40 days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will know My displeasure. 35 I, Yahweh, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to the entire evil community that has conspired against Me. They will come to an end in the wilderness, and there they will die.”36 So the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and who returned and incited the entire community to complain about him by spreading a negative report about the land— 37 those men who spread the negative report about the land were struck down by the Lord. 38 Only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive of those men who went to scout out the land.
David Bale
In September of this year, my high school class will get together for our 40th H.S. reunion. Because of all the recent reminders I’ve received, it has made me stop and reflect on how much has transpired in my life over those forty years. Give or take a few years, that’s about half of a person’s lifetime. Then I compare that to the same amount of time this generation of Israelites will spend wandering around in a desert. What a brutal judgement! Was God’s decision too harsh? At some point we will all experience feelings of fear, doubt, and inadequacy. The issue is not whether we are sufficient for the task, but how we respond, when a challenge is beyond our capabilities. Often times as an obstacle grows in our mind, we want to run in the opposite direction, away from the challenge and toward safety. However, avoiding a task that God has given us will lead to bondage. As a result of their refusal to trust the LORD and move forward, that generation of Israelites never saw the Promised Land that God had already given them. When God calls us to a task beyond our abilities, we need to recognize our feelings of inadequacy and then choose to rely on Him and His promises. He always empowers us for the works He assigns.
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