Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 14:11
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?
11 24. Jehovah threatened to destroy Israel; Moses by his intercession obtained their pardon, but the present generation, with the exception of Caleb, were not allowed to enter Canaan.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Num 14:11
How long will this people provoke Me?
Mistrust of God deplored and denounced
I. The sin of israel is here defined: How long will it be ere they believe Me? Observe that Gods account of all the murmuring and fear which these people felt was simply that they did not believe Him. They doubtless said that they were naturally afraid of their enemies: the Anakim, the sons of the giants, these would overcome them. No, says God that is an idle excuse. No fear of giants would enter their minds if they believed Me. If these sons of Anak had been ten times as high as they were, yet the almighty Lord could vanquish them, and if their cities had been literally as well as figuratively walled up to the skies, yet Jehovah could smite them out of heaven, and cast their ramparts into the dust. Gigantic men and battlemented cities are nothing to Him who divided the Red Sea. When the Omnipotent is present opposition vanishes. Ah, but these people might have replied, we fear because of our weakness. We are not a drilled host, like the armies of Egypt. We know not how to fight against chariots of iron: we are only feeble men, with all these women and children to encumber our march. We cannot hope to drive out the hordes of Amalekites and Canaanites. A sense of weakness is the cause of our terror and complaint. But the Lord puts the matter very differently. What had their weakness to do with His promise? How could their weakness affect His power to give them the land? He could conquer Amalek if they could not. Our trembling is not humility, but unbelief. We may mask it how we please, but that is the state of the case as God sees it, and He sees it in truth. Mistrust towards God is not a mere weakness, it is a wickedness of the gravest order.
II. Describe this sin of not believing.
1. At the first blush it would seem incredible that there should be such a thing in the universe as unbelief of God. Jehovahs word is but Himself in action, His will making itself manifest; and is it to be supposed that this can be a lie under any conceivable circumstances whatsoever? Oh, the incredible infamy which lies even in the bare thought of calling in question the veracity of God. It is so vile, so unjust, so profane a thing that it ought to be regarded with horror, as a monstrous wrong.
2. Consider, next, that, though unbelief certainly exists, it is a most unreasonable thing. If God hath made a promise, on what grounds do we doubt its fulfilment? Which of all the attributes of God is that which comes under suspicion? Truth enters into the very conception of God: a false god is no God. Any other doubt in the world may plead some warrant, but a doubt of Gods truthfulness is utterly unreasonable, and if sin had not filled man with madness, unbelief would never find harbour in a single bosom.
3. Again, because this sin is so unreasonable, it is also most inexcusable. As it is to the glory of every man to be upright, so it is to the honour of God to be faithful to His solemn declarations. Even on the lowest conceivable ground, the Lords own interests are bound up with His truth. There is no supposable reason why the Lord should not be true: how dare we then, without the slightest cause, cast suspicion upon the truthfulness of the Most High?
4. I venture to say that unbelief of Gods word ought, therefore, to be impossible. It ought to be impossible to every reverent-hearted man. Doth he know God and tremble in His presence, and shall he think of distrusting Him? No one that hath ever seen Him in contemplation, and bowed before Him in sincere adoration, but must be amazed at the impertinence that would dare to think that God can lie.
III. The sin bitterly deplored. We have all been guilty of it. But what I want to call to your remembrance is this, that in any one case of doubting the truthfulness of God there is the full venom of the entire sin of unbelief. That is to say, if you distrust the Lord in one, you doubt Him altogether. The Scripture calls Him, God who cannot lie. Do you think He can lie once, then He can lie and the Scripture is broken? Ah, but I mean He may not keep His promise to me; I am such an unworthy person. Yes, but when a man forfeits his word it is no defence for him to say, I told an untruth, but it was only to an unworthy person. No, the truth must be spoken irrespective of persons. I have no right to deceive even a criminal. Do you dare say that to one person the Lord can be untrue? If it can be so, He is not a true God any more. You may as well doubt Him about everything if you distrust Him upon any one matter. Do you reply that you doubted Him upon a very trivial matter, and it was only a little mistrust? Alas! there is a world of iniquity in the faintest discredit of the thrice-holy Lord. Reflect, then, with sorrow that we have been guilty of this sin, not once, but a great many times. Timorousness and suspicion spring up in some bosoms like weeds in the furrows. They sing the Lords praises for a great deliverance just experienced, but the next cloud which darkens the sky fills them with fear, and they again mistrust Divine love.
IV. Lastly, as we have now deplored this sin, we shall conclude by heartily denouncing it.
1. This sin of unbelief, if there were no other reason for denouncing it, let it be reprobated because it insults God.
2. This is sufficient reason for denouncing it, and yet since weaker reasons may perhaps help the stronger, let me mention that we are bound to hate unbelief because it is the ruin of the great mass of our race. Why are men lost? All their sins which they have done cannot destroy them if they believe in Jesus, but the damning point is that they will not believe in Him Thus saith the Scriptures, He that believeth not is condemned already. Why? Because he hath not believed on the Son of God.
3. We may hate it, again, because it brings so much misery and weakness upon the children of God. If we believed Gods promises we should no longer be bowed down with sorrow, for our sorrow would be turned into joy. We should glory in our infirmities–sea, we should glory in tribulation also, seeing the good result which the Lord bringeth forth from them. The man who steadily believes his God is calm, quiet, and strong.
4. One very shocking point about this unbelief is that it has hampered the work of Christ in the world. The Christ that can save is a Christ believed in, but of a Christ who is not believed in it is written, He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The sin of unbelief
1. The heinousness of unbelief; shun it.
2. The large number and convincing character of the evidences of Christianity; remember that our faith should bear a proportion to them. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required, &c.
3. God takes our conduct as evidence of our belief or unbelief; let us show our faith by our works. Faith without works is dead. Faith worketh by love, &c.
4. Take heed lest we be disinherited because of unbelief (Rom 11:20-21; Heb 3:12-19; Heb 4:1-11). (W. Jones.)
Gods complaint
Two things God justly complains of to Moses.
1. Their sin: They provoke me; or, as the word signifies, they reject, reproach, despise Me; for they will not believe Me. That was the bitter root which bore the gall and wormwood. It was their unbelief that made this a day of provocation in the wilderness (Heb 3:8). Note, distrust of God, and His power and promise, is itself a very great provocation, and at the bottom of many other provocations. Unbelief is a great sin (1Jn 5:10); and a root sin (Heb 3:12).
2. Their continuance in it: How long will they do so? Note, the God of heaven keeps an account how long sinners persist in their provocations, and the longer it is, the more He is displeased.
The aggravations of their sin were–
1. Their relation to God. This people; a peculiar people; a professing people. The nearer any are to God in name and profession, the more is He provoked by their sins, especially their unbelief.
2. The experience they had had of Gods power and goodness, in all the signs which He had showed among them, by which one would think He had effectually obliged them to trust Him and follow Him. The more God has done for us, the greater is the provocation if we distrust Him. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Faith induced by inward discipline as well as by external evidence
It seems almost incredible; and yet when we think of it, it is only too natural. It is important to remember that faith is a plant of slow growth. It cannot be suddenly summoned into existence on a special emergency; and in order to its development there must be not only evidences presented from without, but a discipline going on within. We are apt to think that because so many deliverances have been wrought for Israel, therefore their faith must have become very strong. We forget that though God had done His part all the way through, they never had done theirs. Their faith was really utterly unexercised. It is not faith, to trust in God after He has wrought deliverance. That was all they did. If they had ever learned to trust Him before the deliverance came, it would have been a different thing. They had had abundant opportunities for the exercise of faith; but they had let them all pass by. They had contracted a habit of distrust. And instead of becoming stronger in faith, they were actually getting weaker; and accordingly when the crisis came, it was only what was to be expected that their courage should utterly fail, simply because it had no faith to rest upon. How shall we stand the test when our day of crisis comes? The answer will depend on the antecedent question, how we have improved those opportunities which have been previously given for the development of our faith. He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much. Weighed in the balances and found wanting. After all their advantages they missed the prize. The appeal of Joshua and Caleb was the last opportunity; they never had another. The glory of the Lord appeared (verse 10), no longer to open up a way for them, but to frustrate their rebellious attack on His two faithful servants, and to pass sentence of condemnation on the entire congregation. Through the mediation of Moses, the lives of the people are spared; but they are degraded from their position as the hosts of the Lord. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)
All the signs which I have shewed.—
Miracles no remedy for unbelief
Nothing is more surprising to us at first reading than the history of Gods chosen people; it seems strange that they should have acted as they did age after age, in spite of the miracles which were vouchsafed them.
I. Hard as it is to believe, miracles certainly do not make men better; the history of Israel proves it. The only mode of escaping this conclusion is to fancy that the Israelites were much worse than other nations, which accordingly has been maintained. But as we see that in every other point they were exactly like other nations, we are obliged to conclude, not that the Israelites were more hard-hearted than other people, but that a miraculous religion is not much more influential than other religions.
II. Why should the sight of a miracle make us better than we are?
1. It may be said that a miracle would startle us, but would not the startling pass away? Could we be startled for ever?
2. It may be urged that perhaps that startling might issue in amendment of life; it might be the beginning of a new life though it passed away itself. This is very true; sudden emotions–fear, hope, gratitude, and the like–all do produce such results sometimes; blot why is a miracle necessary to produce such effects? Other things startle us besides miracles; we have a number of accidents sent by God to startle us. If the events of life which happen to us now produce no lasting effect upon us then it is only too certain that a miracle would produce no lasting effect upon us either.
III. What is the real reason why we do not seek God with all our hearts if the absence of miracles be not the reason, as assuredly it is not? There is one reason common both to us and the Jews: heartlessness in religious matters, an evil heart of unbelief; both they and we disobey and disbelieve, because we do not love.
IV. In another respect we are really far more favoured than the Israelites. They had outward miracles; we have miracles that are not outward, but inward. Our miracles consist in the sacraments, and they do just the very thing which the Jewish miracles did not: they really touch the heart, though we, so often resist their influence.
V. Let us then put aside vain excuses, and instead of looking for outward events to change our course of life, be sure of this, that if our course of life is to be changed, it must be from within. Let us rouse ourselves and act as reasonable men before it is too late; let us understand, as a first truth in religion, that love of heaven is the only way to heaven. (J. H. Newman, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
And the Lord said unto Moses,…. Out of the cloud upon the tabernacle:
how long will this people provoke me? which suggests that they had often provoked him, and had done it long ago, and still continued to do so; and he had long bore their provocations; but it was not reasonable, nor could it be expected by Moses or any other, that he would bear them much longer,
and how long will it be ere they believe me; unbelief was a sin they had often and long been guilty of, and which greatly prevailed among them, and was the root of all their murmurings, mutiny, and rebellion; and what was highly provoking to the Lord, since they ought to have believed him, and that he was able to make good, and would make good his promises to them:
for all the signs which I have showed among them; the wonders and miracles he had wrought in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, and in their sight; on account of which they should have given credit to his word, and which were strong aggravations of their unbelief; and is the true reason why they entered not into the good land, Heb 3:18.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Intercession of Moses. – Num 14:11, Num 14:12. Jehovah resented the conduct of the people as base contempt of His deity, and as utter mistrust of Him, notwithstanding all the signs which He had wrought in the midst of the nation; and declared that He would smite the rebellious people with pestilence, and destroy them, and make of Moses a greater and still mightier people. This was just what He had done before, when the rebellion took place at Sinai (Exo 32:10). But Moses, as a servant who was faithful over the whole house of God, and therefore sought not his own honour, but the honour of his God alone, stood in the breach on this occasion also (Psa 106:23), with a similar intercessory prayer to that which he had presented at Horeb, except that on this occasion he pleaded the honour of God among the heathen, and the glorious revelation of the divine nature with which he had been favoured at Sinai, as a motive for sparing the rebellious nation (Num 14:13-19; cf. Exo 32:11-13, and Exo 34:6-7). The first he expressed in these words (Num 14:13.): “ Not only have the Egyptians heard that Thou hast brought out this people from among them with Thy might; they have also told it to the inhabitants of this land. They (the Egyptians and the other nations) have heard that Thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of this people; that Thou, Jehovah, appearest eye to eye, and Thy cloud stands over them, and Thou goest before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Now, if Thou shouldst slay this people as one man, the nations which have heard the tidings of Thee would say, Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land which He sware to them, He has slain them in the desert.” In that case God would be regarded by the heathen as powerless, and His honour would be impaired (cf. Deu 32:27; Jos 7:9). It was for the sake of His own honour that God, at a later time, did not allow the Israelites to perish in exile (cf. Isa 48:9, Isa 48:11; Isa 52:5; Eze 36:22-23). – … (Num 14:13, Num 14:14), et audierunt et dixerunt; – = et – et , both – and. The inhabitants of this land (Num 14:13) were not merely the Arabians, but, according to Exo 15:14., the tribes dwelling in and round Arabia, the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, and Canaanites, to whom the tidings had been brought of the miracles of God in Egypt and at the Dead Sea. , in Num 14:14, can neither stand for ( dixerunt ) se audivisse , nor for , qui audierunt . They are neither of them grammatically admissible, as the relative pronoun cannot be readily omitted in prose; and neither of them would give a really suitable meaning. It is rather a rhetorical resumption of the in Num 14:13, and the subject of the verb is not only “ the Egyptians, ” but also “ the inhabitants of this land ” who held communication with the Egyptians, or “ the nations ” who had heard the report of Jehovah (Num 14:15), i.e., all that God had hitherto done for and among the Israelites in Egypt, and on the journey through the desert. “ Eye to eye: ” i.e., Thou hast appeared to them in the closest proximity. On the pillar of cloud and fire, see at Exo 13:21-22. “ As one man, ” equivalent to “with a stroke” (Jdg 6:16). – In Num 14:17, Num 14:18, Moses adduces a second argument, viz., the word in which God Himself had revealed His inmost being to him at Sinai (Exo 34:6-7). The words, “ Let the power be great, ” equivalent to “show Thyself great in power,” are not to be connected with what precedes, but with what follows; viz., “ show Thyself mighty by verifying Thy word, ‘Jehovah, long-suffering and great in mercy,’ etc.; forgive, I beseech Thee, this people according to the greatness of Thy mercy, and as Thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now. ” (Num 14:19) = (Num 14:18).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Intercession of Moses. | B. C. 1490. |
11 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? 12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. 13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) 14 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 day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, 16 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. 17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, 18 The LORD is longsuffering, 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. 19 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.
Here is, I. The righteous sentence which God gave against Israel for their murmuring and unbelief, which, though afterwards mitigated, showed what was the desert of their sin and the demand of injured justice, and what would have been done if Moses had not interposed. When the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle we may suppose that Moses took it for a call to him immediately to come and attend there, as before the tabernacle was erected he went up to the mount in a similar case, Exod. xxxii. 30. Thus, while the people were studying to disgrace him, God publicly put honour upon him, as the man of his counsel. Now here we are told what God said to him there.
1. He showed him the great evil of the people’s sin, v. 11. What passed between God and Israel went through the hands of Moses: when they were displeased with God they told Moses of it (v. 2); when God was displeased with them he told Moses too, revealing his secret to his servant the prophet, Amos iii. 7. Two things God justly complains of to Moses:– (1.) Their sin. They provoke me, or (as the word signifies) they reject, reproach, despise me, for they will not believe me. This was the bitter root which bore the gall and wormwood. It was their unbelief that made this a day of provocation in the wilderness, Heb. iii. 8. Note, Distrust of God, of his power and promise, is itself a very great provocation, and at the bottom of many other provocations. Unbelief is a great sin (1 John v. 10), and a root sin, Heb. iii. 12. (2.) Their continuance in it: How long will they do so? Note, The God of heaven keeps an account how long sinners persist in their provocations; and the longer they persist the more he is displeased. The aggravations of their sin were, [1.] Their relation to God: This people, a peculiar people, a professing people. The nearer any are to God in name and profession, the more he is provoked by their sins, especially their unbelief. [2.] The experience they had had of God’s power and goodness, in all the signs which he had shown among them, by which, one would think, he had effectually obliged them to trust him and follow him. The more God has done for us the greater is the provocation if we distrust him.
2. He showed him the sentence which justice passed upon them for it, v. 12. “What remains now but that I should make a full end of them? It will soon be done. I will smite them with the pestilence, not leave a man of them alive, but wholly blot out their name and race, and so disinherit them, and be no more troubled with them. Ah, I will ease me of my adversaries. They wish to die; and let them die, and neither root nor branch be left of them. Such rebellious children deserve to be disinherited.” And if it be asked, “What will become of God’s covenant with Abraham then?” here is an answer, “I shall be preserved in the family of Moses: I will make of thee a greater nation.” Thus, (1.) God would try Moses, whether he still continued that affection for Israel which he formerly expressed upon a like occasion, in preferring their interests before the advancement of his own family; and it is proved that Moses was still of the same public spirit, and could not bear the thought of raising his own name upon the ruin of the name of Israel. (2.) God would teach us that he will not be a loser by the ruin of sinners. If Adam and Eve had been cut off and disinherited, he could have made another Adam and another Eve, and have glorified his mercy in them, as here he could have glorified his mercy in Moses, though Israel had been ruined.
II. The humble intercession Moses made for them. Their sin had made a fatal breach in the wall of their defence, at which destruction would certainly have entered if Moses had not seasonably stepped in and made it good. Here he was a type of Christ, who interceded for his persecutors, and prayed for those that despitefully used him, leaving us an example to his own rule, Matt. v. 44.
1. The prayer of his petition is, in one word, Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people (v. 19), that is, “Do not bring upon them the ruin they deserve.” This was Christ’s prayer for those that crucified him, Father forgive them. The pardon of a national sin, as such, consists in the turning away of the national punishment; and that is it for which Moses is here so earnest.
2. The pleas are many, and strongly urged.
(1.) He insists most upon the plea that is taken from the glory of God, v. 13-16. With this he begins, and somewhat abruptly, taking occasion from that dreadful word, I will disinherit them. Lord (says he), then the Egyptians shall hear it. God’s honour lay nearer to his heart than any interests of his own. Observe how he orders this cause before God. He pleads, [1.] That the eyes both of Egypt and Canaan were upon them, and great expectations were raised concerning them. They could not but have heard that thou, Lord, art among this people, v. 14. The neighbouring countries rang of it, how much this people were the particular care of heaven, so as never any people under the sun were. [2.] That if they should be cut off great notice would be taken of it. “The Egyptians will hear it (v. 13), for they have their spies among us, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of the land” (v. 14); for there was great correspondence between Egypt and Canaan, although not by the way of this wilderness. “If this people that have made so great a noise be all consumed, if their mighty pretensions come to nothing, and their light go out in a snuff, it will be told with pleasure in Gath, and published in the streets of Askelon; and what construction will the heathen put upon it? It will be impossible to make them understand it as an act of God’s justice, and as such redounding to God’s honour; brutish men know not this (Ps. xcii. 6): but they will impute it to the failing of God’s power, and so turn it to his reproach, v. 16. They will say, He slew them in the wilderness because he was not able to bring them to Canaan, his arm being shortened, and his stock of miracles being spent. Now, Lord, let not one attribute be glorified at the expense of another; rather let mercy rejoice against judgment than that almighty power should be impeached.” Note, The best pleas in prayer are those that are taken from God’s honour; for they agree with the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Hallowed be thy name. Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory. God pleads it with himself (Deut. xxxii. 27), I feareth the wrath of the enemy; and we should use it as an argument with ourselves to walk so in every thing as to give no occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, 1 Tim. vi. 1.
(2.) He pleads God’s proclamation of his name at Horeb (Num 14:17; Num 14:18): Let the power of the Lord be great. Power is here put for pardoning mercy; it is his power over his own anger. If he should destroy them, God’s power would be questioned; if he should continue and complete their salvation, notwithstanding the difficulties that arose, not only from the strength of their enemies, but from their own provocations, this would greatly magnify the divine power: what cannot he do who could make so weak a people conquerors and such an unworthy people favourites? The more danger there is of others reproaching God’s power the more desirous we should be to see it glorified. To enforce this petition, he refers to the word which God had spoken: The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy. God’s goodness had there been spoken of as his glory; God gloried in it, Exo 34:6; Exo 34:7. Now here he prays that upon this occasion he would glorify it. Note, We must take our encouragement in prayer from the word of God, upon which he has caused us to hope, Ps. cxix. 49. “Lord, be and do according as thou hast spoken; for hast thou spoken, and wilt thou not make it good?” Three things God had solemnly made a declaration of, which Moses here fastens upon, and improves for the enforcing of his petition:– [1.] The goodness of God’s nature in general, that he is long-suffering, or slow to anger, and of great mercy; not soon provoked, but tender and compassionate towards offenders. [2.] His readiness in particular to pardon sin: Forgiving iniquity and transgression, sins of all sorts. [3.] His unwillingness to proceed to extremity, even when he does punish. For in this sense the following words may be read: That will by no means make quite desolate, in visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. God had indeed said in the second commandment that he would thus visit, but here he promises not to make a full end of families, churches, and nations, at once; and so it is very applicable to this occasion, for Moses cannot beg that God would not at all punish this sin (it would be too great an encouragement to rebellion if he should set no mark of his displeasure upon it), but that he would not kill all this people as one man, v. 15. He does not ask that they may not be corrected, but that they may not be disinherited. And this proclamation of God’s name was the more apposite to his purpose because it was made upon occasion of the pardoning of their sin in making the golden calf. This sin which they had now fallen into was bad enough, but it was not idolatry.
(3.) He pleads past experience: As thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt, v. 19. This seemed to make against him. Why should those be forgiven any more who, after they had been so often forgiven, revolted yet more and more, and seemed hardened and encouraged in their rebellion by the lenity and patience of their God, and the frequent pardons they had obtained? Among men it would have been thought impolitic to take notice of such a circumstance in a request of this nature, as it might operate to the prejudice of the petitioner: but, as in other things so in pardoning sin, God’s thoughts and ways are infinitely above ours, Isa. lv. 9. Moses looks upon it as a good plea, Lord, forgive, as thou hast forgiven. It will be no more a reproach to thy justice, nor any less the praise of thy mercy, to forgive now, than it has been formerly. Therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed, because they have to do with a God that changes not, Mal. iii. 6.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 11, 12:
God spoke to Moses from the glory which filled the Tabernacle. He expressed His displeasure with Israel’s unbelief. He stated His intention to disinherit the nation as a whole, and to make of Moses’ descendants a nation greater and more powerful than the nation of Israel. This would still have been in keeping with His original Covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for Moses was of their lineage.
This was a test of Moses’ faith and leadership. A man of lesser character would have responded to this test by standing aside quietly to let Divine judgment fall upon an ungrateful people. This would mean that his own name would be exalted as the faithful progenitor of God’s people. His own reputation would thus be greatly enhanced.
God may allow the character of His child today to be tested, in like manner. Moses’ response to this test is an example of how to meet and pass this trial of faith.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. And the Lord said unto Moses. God remonstrates with respect to their indomitable obstinacy, because they had just now hesitated not petulantly to despise and reject Him with the most atrocious insults, and notwithstanding all the clearest manifestations of His power. For I know not whether the sense which some give be suitable, when they translate the verb נאף, naatz, “to provoke.” (57) Jerome comes nearer to the genuine sense, How long will they detract me? But let us be contented with the genuine intention of God, which He confirms by the succeeding antithesis, where He complains that He is disparaged, because they do not take into consideration the many miracles whereby He had abundantly testified His power and loving-kindness; and thus He proves their contempt, because they deliberately refuse credit to the many signs of which the accumulation at least ought to have subdued or corrected their stubbornness.
The denunciation of their final punishment follows, together with a statement of the atrocity of their crime; for the particle “How long” indicates its long continuance, as well as the enduring patience of God. He had, indeed, punished others severely, but only for example’s sake, in order that the name of their race should remain undestroyed, whereas he now declares that He will deal with them as. with persons in a desperate condition, who cease not to make a mock of His patience. Hence we are taught, that, although God is placable in His nature, still the hope of pardon is deservedly cut off from unbelievers, who are so obdurate as that tie produces no effect upon them by His hand, or by His countenance, or His word. he then briefly adverts to the use of the signs, viz., that their object was, that the knowledge or experience of them should awaken hopes of success.
If the apparent contradiction offends any one, that God should declare the people to be cast off, when it was already decreed that tie would pardon them, a reply may be sought from elsewhere in three words; for God does not here speak of His secret and incomprehensible counsel, but only of the actual circumstances, showing what the people had deserved, and how horrible was the vengeance which impended, (58) in respect to their wicked and detestable revolt, since it was not His design to keep Moses back from earnest prayer, but to put the sincerity of his piety and the fervency of his zeal to the proof. And, in fact, he does not contravene the prohibition, except upon the previous exhibition of some spark of faith. See Exo 32:0
(57) A.V., “How long will this people provoke, me?” V. “Usquequo detrahet mihi populus iste?” Ainsworth says, “provoke me, or despite, blaspheme, contemptuously provoke me. So the Apostle expoundeth this word blaspheme, in Rom 2:24, from Isa 52:5; and it implieth also a contempt or despising, Pro 1:30; Isa 5:24.”
(58) “Et quelle punition luy seroit apprestee, si Dieu se vouloit venger d’une revolte si detestable;” and what punishment would be prepared for them, if God chose to take vengeance on so detestable a revolt. — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE EXCISION OF ISRAEL THREATENED AND AVERTED, Num 14:11-25.
11. Provoke me Vulgate, detrahet, slander; R.V., “despise.” The same Hebrew verb is in 2Sa 12:14, and Psa 74:10, translated blaspheme, but the most common rendering is despise. Jehovah is jealous of his good name among men. The cowardice, distrust, and disobedience of Israel were a reflection upon his glory in the eyes of the Gentiles. He had set his name in Israel, and called him his “firstborn son,” (Exo 4:22,) and thus identified his own reputation with that of this favoured nation.
Believe me Unbelief is the germ of all other sins. Hence its culpability. Mar 16:16; Joh 3:18; Joh 16:9, notes. To discredit God’s word is to detract from his reputation.
For all the signs God never requires faith without sufficient grounds. These were the supernatural plagues sent upon the Egyptians, the miraculous deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea, the manifestations of divine power and goodness in the manna, the smitten rock, the pillar of fire, and the grouping of all the sublimities of the physical world about the summit of Sinai at the giving of the law. The firmer the basis for faith the more culpable is unbelief.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Yahweh Declares That He Has Had Enough of These People ( Num 14:11-12 ).
Num 14:11-12
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” ’
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, who had almost certainly been continually interceding for the people. He asked him how long these people could be allowed to despise Yahweh. How long could they go on not believing in Him in the face of the signs and wonders which He had wrought among them? Let Moses explain why He should not now destroy them all. He would smite them with pestilence and remove them from under the promises to the patriarchs, disinheriting them. Then He would fulfil His promises by raising up from Moses, who was a son of Abraham, a nation greater (more numerous) and mightier than them.
Here faith is revealed as a central issue in the covenant. Faith, while not prominent as a specific subject in the Old Testament, in fact underlay its whole message. Men responded to Yahweh because they believed. It was the whole basis of the covenant. Thus Abraham believed in Yahweh and He counted it to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6), and it was because he believed His covenant promises and acted on them that he was blessed. Faith was basic to the commencement of Yahweh’s deliverance in Egypt (Exo 4:31). It was greatly strengthened by their deliverance at the Reed Sea (Exo 14:31). Lack of it was a blot on Israel (Deu 1:32; Psa 78:22) and on Moses and Aaron (Num 20:12). But when they did believe they sang His praise (Psa 106:12). It was only if Israel believed that they would be established (Isa 7:9). Men were to believe in the sure foundation laid down by Yahweh, and then they would be at rest and not be in a hurry (Isa 28:16). It was central to God’s whole purposes (Isa 43:10).
Thus the fact that these people did not believe in spite of the signs that He had performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, made it clear that they were not open to His deliverance. It demonstrated that they had closed minds.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Moses Intercedes for the People
v. 11. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke Me? v. 12. I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them, v. 13. And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for Thou broughtest up this people in Thy might from among them,) v. 14. and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. v. 15. Now if Thou shalt kill all this people as one man, v. 16. 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. v. 17. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, v. 18. 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. v. 19. 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. v. 20. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word; v. 21. But as truly as I live, v. 22. Because all those men which have seen My glory and My miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice, v. 23. surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it; v. 24. but My servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit with him, v. 25. (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley. )
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Observe, how everything of grace and mercy is made to pass through Moses. Herein reader! do not overlook Moses as a type of the ever blessed JESUS. See Isa 42:1 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Num 14:11 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 shewed among them?
Ver. 11. Ere they believe me. ] Unbelief is the root of rebellion and apostasy. Heb 3:12
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
said. See note on Num 3:40.
How long . . . ? = to what point. Compare Num 14:27. Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
How long will this: Num 14:27, Exo 10:3, Exo 16:28, Pro 1:22, Jer 4:14, Hos 8:5, Zec 8:14, Mat 17:17
provoke: Num 14:23, Deu 9:7, Deu 9:8, Deu 9:22, Deu 9:23, Psa 95:8, Heb 3:8, Heb 3:16
believe me: Deu 1:32, Psa 78:22, Psa 78:32, Psa 78:41, Psa 78:42, Psa 106:24, Mar 9:19, Joh 10:38, Joh 12:37, Joh 15:24, Heb 3:18
Reciprocal: Gen 18:32 – I will not Exo 23:21 – provoke him not Num 14:22 – which have Num 32:10 – General Deu 9:14 – and I will Neh 9:17 – refused Psa 4:2 – how Psa 78:40 – How oft Jer 13:10 – evil Eze 20:13 – I said Mar 16:14 – unbelief Luk 9:41 – how Luk 10:16 – despiseth you Luk 13:8 – let Joh 4:48 – Except Rom 9:22 – endured 1Co 10:5 – General Heb 11:6 – without 1Jo 5:16 – he shall ask
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A PROVOKING PEOPLE
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 shewed among them?
Num 14:11
Nothing is more surprising to us at first reading than the history of Gods chosen people: it seems strange that they should have acted as they did, age after age, in spite of the miracles which were vouchsafed to them.
I. Hard as it is to believe, miracles certainly do not make men better; the history of Israel proves it.The only mode of escaping this conclusion is to fancy that the Israelites were much worse than other nations, which accordingly has been maintained. But as we see that in every other point they were exactly like other nations, we are obliged to conclude, not that the Israelites were more hardhearted than other people, but that a miraculous religion is not much more influential than other religions.
II. Why should the sight of a miracle make us better than we are?(1) It may be said that a miracle would startle us, but would not the startling pass away? Could we be startled for ever? (2) It may be urged that perhaps that startling might issue in amendment of life; it might be the beginning of a new life, though it passed away itself. This is very true; sudden emotionsfear, hope, gratitude, and the likeall do produce such results sometimes; but why is a miracle necessary to produce such effects? Other things startle us besides miracles; we have a number of accidents sent by God to startle us. If the events of life which happen to us now produce no lasting effect upon us, then it is only too certain that a miracle would produce no lasting effect upon us either.
III. What is the real reason why we do not seek God with all our hearts if the absence of miracles be not the reason, as assuredly it is not?There is one reason common both to us and the Jews: heartlessness in religious matters, an evil heart of unbelief; both they and we disobey and disbelieve, because we do not love.
IV. In another respect we are really far more favoured than the Israelites.They had outward miracles; we have miracles that are not outward, but inward. Our miracles consist in the Sacraments, and they do just the very thing which the Jewish miracles did not: they really touch the heart, though we so often resist their influence.
V. Let us then put aside vain excuses, and instead of looking for outward events to change our course of life, be sure of this, that if our course of life is to be changed, it must be from within.Let us rouse ourselves and act as reasonable men before it is too late; let us understand, as a first truth in religion, that love of heaven is the only way to heaven.
Illustration
There was a scene of Oriental despondency, strong men weeping like children. In vain did Caleb and Joshua strive to reanimate their courage, and quicken their faith in God. Fiercely they murmured against their leaders, and proposed to choose a captain to return to Egypt. They mourned over the fate of their wives and children, and in hot anger at the renewed remonstrances of Caleb and Joshua commanded to stone them with stones. Moses and Aaron had thrown themselves prostrate in prayer before Jehovah.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Num 14:11-25 (JE). Yahwehs Threat to Disinherit the People, and Moses Intercession for them.This section is derived from JE, as appears from the exemption of Caleb only (Num 14:24) from the sentence of exclusion from Canaan pronounced on the existing generation. Moses here shows the same self-effacement as in Exo 32:11 f. [The plea that Yahweh should do nothing which would damage His reputation among the heathen emphasizes a motive for the Divine action which is specially prominent in Ezekiel.A. S. P.].
Num 14:14. they will tell it: literally, they will say; but what will be said is not related, so that there is probably some corruption. The LXX preferably has, all the inhabitants of the land have heard that, etc.
Num 14:22. tempted: better, tested.ten times: a round number, as in Gen 31:7, Neh 4:12, Job 19:3, Zec 8:23.
Num 14:25. Now . . . valley: contrast Num 14:45 (where the people here named occupy the mountain): the clause should probably be omitted (as in Deu 1:40).the Red Sea: i.e. the gulf of Akabah (cf. Num 21:4).