Doubting and Rebelling
August 9
Lesson 10
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Devotional Reading:
Psalm 78:5–17
Background Scripture:
Numbers 14:1–25
Printed Text:
Numbers 14:1–12
Lesson Aims
After participating in this lesson, each student will be able to:
1. Summarize the people of Israel’s complaint as they rebelled against Moses and Aaron and refused to enter the promised land.
2. Tell how doubt leads people today to reject God’s promises and his will for their lives.
3. Write a devotional thought that encourages faith in the face of rebellion.
How to Say It
Aaron. AIR-un.
Abraham. AY-bruh-ham.
Abram. AY-brum.
Caleb. KAY-leb.
Canaan. KAY-nun.
Egypt. EE-jipt.
Jephunneh. Jih-FUN-eh.
Joshua. JOSH-yew-uh.
Moses. MO-zes or MO-zez.
Pentateuch. PEN-ta-teuk.
Pharaoh. FAIR-o or FAY-roe.
Sinai. SIGH-nye or SIGH-nay-eye.
Daily Bible Readings
Monday, Aug. 3—Rebelling Against God (Psalm 78:5–17)
Tuesday, Aug. 4—Reaping the Whirlwind (Hosea 8:1–10)
Wednesday, Aug. 5—An Offering for Transgression? (Micah 6:1–8)
Thursday, Aug. 6—Mourning for Our Rebellion (Lamentations 1:16–21)
Friday, Aug. 7—Return to the Lord (Lamentations 3:39–50)
Saturday, Aug. 8—A Compassionate God (Micah 7:14–20)
Sunday, Aug. 9—Go Back to Egypt? (Numbers 14:1–12)
Key Verse
Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?
—Numbers 14:3
Introduction
A. Long Journeys
A friend recently described a transoceanic, 8,000-mile flight he had experienced (endured?). His description of being confined inside the tight quarters of a Boeing 747 with hundreds of other people for many hours made it sound like an experience that no sane person would ever agree to. Yet a century ago, this journey would have been by ship and would have taken weeks, even months. A millennium ago this trip would have been unimaginable. I took my friend’s complaints with a grain of salt, for I knew that he had been warm, fed, and safe, having gone halfway around the world in less than 24 hours.
The book of Numbers tells the crucial story of Israel’s odyssey from the bondage of Egypt to the freedom of the promised land of Canaan. It was not an easy journey. There were no hotels along the way, no 747s to whisk people about. It was a move that required utter trust in the Lord and in his appointed leader, Moses.
Today’s lesson focuses on a tragic turn of events in this story. It shows that Israel let the hardships and uncertainty of its situation turn into doubt and rebellion. The result was the delay of entry into the promised land for a generation and an unnecessary sojourn in the wilderness for 40 years.
B. Lesson Background
The first five books of the Bible (sometimes called the Pentateuch) tell the story of God’s plan to create a people for himself (Exodus 6:7). This plan included the selection of Abram (later renamed Abraham) as the man of faith to be the father of this nation (Genesis 15:6). Abraham’s descendants multiplied greatly, but ended up in Egypt as a nation of slaves under the bondage of the Pharaoh. God’s plan was far from complete—his chosen people were hardly a nation, and they were in the wrong place (Egypt). God had promised Abraham that they would inherit the land of Canaan (Genesis 15:18).
The Exodus story is the account of God’s miraculous liberation of an entire people-group from the slavery imposed by the Egyptians. The Egyptian threat was finally put to rest by Israel’s experience at the Red Sea. While in the Sinai Peninsula, the people received revelations from God that were intended to form them into his holy people. They were to be controlled by his law, worshiping at his holy tabernacle. We might say that most of the process of nation-building had then been accomplished. The identity of Israel was clear: a holy people whose God was the Lord.
The book of Numbers shows that God intended a three-part plan for his people: rescue from Egypt, reception of the law, and movement to a new homeland. Israelite spies indeed saw the richness of the land before them, describing it as flowing “with milk and honey” (Numbers 13:27). They brought back a cluster of grapes so large that it required two men to carry it (13:23).
While the report of the spies verified the richness of this land, the majority of the spies also reported that the residents were too formidable. The result was that the Israelites were terrified as they concentrated on the report of opposing armies rather than the report of a land with overflowing abundance.
There was a minority report as well. It came from 2 of the 12 spies. They were of the opinion that the time was ripe to sweep in and claim the land that God had promised them. Unfortunately, this minority opinion was drowned out by the fearful cries of the Israelite people in general. They believed that they had been led to a dead end and would be destroyed. We should remember that these were the same people who had watched God destroy the great army of the Egyptians in the waters of the Red Sea.
The prize was within their grasp, and yet they let fear overcome faith. They listened to the opinion of 10 cowards rather than claim a spirit of boldness. This is the immediate background of today’s lesson.
I. Anxiety & Revolt (Numbers 14:1–4)
A. Despair of Fear (v. 1)
1. That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.
The spies’ report leads to mass hysteria and despair. The Israelites wallow together in this despondent response as they vent their frustrations and fears. The detail that they weep that night probably signifies that no one gets much, if any, sleep.
Many of us have had crises so intense that we were unable to sleep. This can become a vicious cycle, for lack of sleep wears us down and makes us even more susceptible to despair. The despair of the Israelites is brought on by a lack of faith in God and in their leaders.
What Do You Think?
In what circumstances does our fear mirror that of the Israelites? How do we correct this?
B. Misery of Doubt (vv. 2, 3)
2. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!
A common component of the despair that comes from doubt is the desire to blame someone else for the situation. In this case, the blame is directed toward the two-brother leadership team of Moses and Aaron. This is more than simple griping about minor inconvenience. Shockingly, the people express the belief that they would be better off dead than being in their current situation! To their minds, this despair has gone beyond any hope of remedy.
3. “Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
Think of what the phrase go back to Egypt really implies: in Egypt, the people of Israel were slaves under brutal taskmasters. The Israelites are not now reminiscing about “the good old days.” Their base fear is that their men will be killed in battle in the current situation, leaving their families as plunder for their victorious enemies. Thus a return to Egypt is seen as the lesser of two evils.
C. Rashness of Rebellion (v. 4)
4. And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
The result of the community’s gripe session is that they propose taking matters into their own hands. Surely they must remember the awe-inspiring power of God displayed in the plagues and at the Red Sea! But yesterday’s leader is not good enough for today. Earlier the Israelites had been willing to believe that God had provided Moses to be their leader. They had trusted Moses through frightening events (see Exodus 14:31). Now they are ready to cast him aside and choose their own man to lead them back to Egypt.
II. Trusting & Blessing (Numbers 14:5–9)
A. Reaction to Rebellion (vv. 5, 6)
5. Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.
Moses and Aaron display an instinctive reaction to this popular uprising: they fall facedown before the people. They don’t seem to know what else to do. Symbolically at least, they have given up. They have done their best and their best has been rejected. This is a dangerous situation, and some students think that these two are begging for their lives. If the nation chooses a new captain, the people may want to dispose of the old leaders.
What Do You Think?
Why do you think Moses and Aaron (the very top leaders) fell on their faces before the assembly of the Israelites? What circumstances in life could (or should) cause us to do the same, at least figuratively?
6. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes
Moses and Aaron are not the only champions for God’s plan. There is also Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh. These are men of credibility, having been chosen as 2 of the 12 spies (see Numbers 13:3, where the spies are identified as “leaders” of the Israelites). They see this situation spiraling out of control, toward disaster. They respond publicly in a way that draws attention to themselves. To tear one’s clothes shows extreme agitation. This is a demonstration of great sorrow (see Genesis 37:34).
B. Challenge to Trust (vv. 7, 8)
7.… and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.
The people have drawn a line that leaves them with two choices. They can reject Moses (and the Lord) and attempt to appoint a new leader to take them back to Egypt; or they can continue to accept Moses (and the Lord) and prepare to enter the land of Canaan despite their great fears.
Joshua and Caleb give them two reasons to follow Moses. First, they remind the people that the land before them is exceedingly good. They had seen the grape cluster so heavy it had to be carried on a pole between two men (again, Numbers 13:23). This is a prize worth fighting for. Canaan is the “most beautiful of all lands” (Ezekiel 20:15). The second reason follows.
8. “If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.
Joshua and Caleb’s second reason is that the Lord is on their side. God has promised this land to them. God’s gifts are never inferior or defective. This is a land flowing with milk and honey. This is much more than a land of cows and bees, which produce those two things; this is, rather, a figure of speech for agricultural wealth. It is a land of abundance, purposed by God to be the land of the nation of Israel.
C. Freedom from Fear (v. 9)
9. “Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
Joshua and Caleb equate the Israelites’ fear of the people of Canaan with rebellion against God himself. If the assistance of God is spurned, then the people should be afraid. These two spies know that this does not need to be the case. With God’s help the Israelites can swallow up their adversaries. The territory and influence of those in Canaan is ready to be eaten up and claimed by the people of Israel. Those inhabitants will not be able to stand against the power of the Lord, so there is no reason to fear.
What Do You Think?
What actions and attitudes of Joshua and Caleb can we live by today?
Piece of Cake
Piece of Cake was a novel written in 1983 by Derek Robinson. It tells the story of a Royal Air Force fighter squadron based in France during the early days of World War II. During the lackadaisical days of what was called the Phony War—the period of time when Germany had not yet unleashed its armies against the Western powers—the pilots of Hornet Squadron had a good life.
But when the real fighting started in April 1940, their lot changed. The easy times were over. The jolly young pilots had had heaps of fun to that point, but now they were being killed regularly. First in France, then later during the Battle of Britain, Hornet Squadron took heavy casualties. Most of its pilots were killed in action. The surviving commanding officer had to instill discipline to get his men to learn that being one of “the good guys” did not automatically lead to victory in aerial combat.
The phrase piece of cake is meant to describe something that is easy or pleasant to accomplish. What the pilots first thought would be a piece of cake turned into a difficult, deadly confrontation. The Israelites went the other way. They thought conquest of Canaan to be an impossible task; Joshua and Caleb said it would be a piece of cake (as the King James Version puts it, “they are bread for us”). If the Lord is on your side, hard tasks can become a piece of cake. —J. B. N.
III. Rebellion & Punishment (Numbers 14:10–12)
A. God Appears (v. 10)
10a. But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.
The them of this verse is Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb. The emotion of the people is so strong that they turn into a murderous mob, ready to kill those who oppose their will.
What Do You Think?
Have you ever experienced a time when church members strongly opposed their leaders? How was the situation resolved?
[Use this question with caution if your church has had problems here!]
10b. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.
The four are saved by the Lord’s miraculous intervention: the mob is stopped cold by an appearance of the glory of the Lord. This takes place at the Tent of Meeting, which was probably the site of the earlier confrontation too. God’s glory does not shine way off in the distance, but right in the middle of the people. The witnesses to this glory include all the Israelites.
B. God Questions (v. 11)
11. The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?
God does not address the nation as a whole, but speaks directly to Moses. It is possible, however, that the people also can hear God’s voice. At any rate, they understand that God has responded to their act of rebellion in a dramatic way. They are not going to get away with their schemes.
What Do You Think?
How do you trust God at those times when it seems hardest to do so?
God brings two charges against Israel. First, they have provoked him, meaning they have called forth his wrath. Second, they have stubbornly refused to believe him, to trust him. God has given them ample evidence of his power through many signs, but their unbelief persists. God rhetorically asks Moses how long he should put up with these acts of rebellion. This situation cannot continue. Just because God is “slow to anger” (Numbers 14:18) does not mean that he overlooks rebellion. God is patient, but rebellion against him is futile for he eventually will punish it.
Signs
When I was but a mere lad (many years ago!), I joined the local Boy Scouts troop. It was not an exceptionally good experience because of poor leadership, but it was a learning experience nonetheless. One incident I well remember was an overnight camping venture into a forested area about an hour’s drive from town. We did a variety of things out in the woods, and at one point we had a lesson in following signs.
A couple of the older boys went off into the woods and were to leave various “signs” behind for us to follow. When the rest of us started out, we were looking for those signs (this was long before the days of handheld Global Positioning System devices!). At one location we found etched in the pathway an arrow pointing straight ahead, so we followed. At a fork in the path there was a branch broken to indicate the direction we should take. Other signs led us on, and eventually we found the older boys waiting for us.
Think about it: if we had come across a clear, unmistakable sign, it would have been pretty silly to say “I think we made a mistake; let’s backtrack and start over in a different direction.” God’s signs are unmistakable, particularly those found within his written Word. Understandably, there can be concern when we go a while without apparent reaffirmation, but each new sign confirms all the previous ones. The ancient Israelites reacted to God’s signs in a less than faithful way. Will we repeat their mistakes? —J. B. N.
C. God Threatens (v. 12)
12. “I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”
God proposes a new plan to Moses: he will destroy Israel and take away their inheritance of the land of Canaan. He will abandon them in the wilderness to suffer and die. This does not mean that God will abandon his promise to Abraham, though. God proposes that he will raise up a new nation from the descendants of Moses himself, and thereby continue his promise.
Just as not all of the sons of Abraham shared in God’s promise, neither will all the sons of Jacob. The way things are looking at this point, God intends the 12 tribes to be no more. Instead, God proposes that there is to be a new nation built on a new father. That person will be God’s faithful servant Moses.
Visual for Lesson 10
Point to this visual as you ask, “What are some ways to make this idea a reality?”
It may seem incredible to us, but Moses rejects this offer from the Lord. The rest of Numbers 14 relates that Moses asks God to forgive the people, and God agrees. Yet God does impose a punishment: this generation of the nation of Israel will not be allowed to enter Canaan. They will spend 40 years in the wilderness before the promised land becomes available again to their descendants (Numbers 14:22, 23).
Conclusion
A. Do We Repeat the Problem?
I recently watched a basketball game in which a talented team suffered a devastating loss. This losing team actually led most of the game, sometimes by double digits. It was clear to anyone watching that the losing team had superior players when it came to basketball skills.
Prayer
Holy Father, we believe that you have prepared a place for us, a marvelous land of promise flowing with milk and honey. Yet our vision of these blessings is dimmed by the daily challenges that test our faith. May our doubts never progress to rebellion. May we always rest with assurance in your promises and your love for us. We pray this in the name of your greatest blessing, Jesus Christ, your only Son. Amen.
Victory seemed to be within their grasp. But in the end, when they needed to trust each other and their coach, they crumbled. They began to bicker. They quit listening. The result was a humiliating, embarrassing, and avoidable defeat.
Today’s lesson relates a similar defeat for the nation of Israel. The Lord had used Moses and Aaron to lead them to the edge of the land of Canaan, the territory that had been promised to them through their ancestor, Abraham. Yet when they were on the cusp of a mighty victory, they gave in to fear and doubt and suffered a national defeat that took 40 years to overcome.
B. Will We Recognize the Promised Land?
John Steinbeck’s gritty novel Of Mice and Men tells the story of two transient farm workers in the 1920s. Their dream is to be able to buy a little farm of their own and then “live off the fatta the lan’.” To live off the fat of the land means having a life where there is rich abundance with very little effort. Such an existence is the goal of many people today. To win the lottery, to find out that the painting in the garage is worth $4 million, scoring the big jackpot on Deal or No Deal—these would bring us into the promised land of the easy life.
The story of Israel in this lesson shows us another side of the promised land quest. Is it possible that we, like Israel, won’t recognize the promised land even when it stares us in the face? Are we forever trapped in a cycle of distrust and despair, leading to a desire to denounce God and the church and go our own way? Or is it possible that we are in the promised land right now but it doesn’t seem like it because life is not as easy as we thought it would be?
Truly trusting God is very difficult at times. There is a central human desire to be in control of our situation, to call our own shots. Israel, in the bleak wilderness and facing strong adversaries, yielded to this desire and proposed moving away from God and making its own way. Israel had lost sight of the biblical principle that trust in God brings blessing.
All of us have experienced periods of doubt in our lives. We know firsthand the dilemmas of uncertainty, the perils of a lack of confidence. The Bible teaches that doubt is the enemy of faith (see John 20:27). The sorry history of Israel in today’s lesson shows how doubt led to a direct challenge of God, with disastrous results.
Being a faithful follower of Jesus allows us to claim his promises. It does not allow us to expect that our lives will be devoid of hardship or frustration. The book of Joshua shows that Israel had to wage war in order to claim the promised land of Canaan. But they waged that war with God on their side, and eventually the land was theirs. Our lives may seem to be battlegrounds, but God fights for us too. We, the church, are heirs to the promise (Galatians 3:29). May we not despise the promised land that God has given us today (Psalm 106:24).
Thought to Remember
Never rebel against God. Always trust him.