36

Murmuring of the Israelites.

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;

23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it :

24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

WE have here the mournful account of the faithless terror of the Israelites at the report of the spies concerning the contest that was before them on taking possession of the promised land. 'They think scorn of that pleasant land, and give no credence to God's Word.' They are for choosing a captain and returning to Egypt. Notwithstanding the grief of Moses and Aaron, who fell on their faces before the whole assembly in shame and sorrow for their cowardice and unbelief; and notwithstanding the earnest persuasions of Caleb and Joshua, who speak nobly and faithfully, not only of the goodness of the land, but of the sure and certain hope of God's sufficient help, their hearts quail at the thought of the warfare which was before them; and they declare that sooner than encounter it they wish that they had died in the wilderness. Instead of listening to Caleb and Joshua they would have stoned them; and, indeed, they seem to have been on the point of doing so, 1 Ps. cvi. 24.

when the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle before all the people. So their posterity would have stoned the true Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ, and did stone St. Stephen,1 and others who preached of Him, with the same obstinate refusal to believe in the words of persuasion; and the same childish, or rather frantic abandonment of themselves to the passion of the moment.

They are a picture of those to whom the offer of the heavenly Canaan is made, and who are at the same time assured that if they will only 'quit themselves like men,' in contending against those enemies who oppose their entrance, God's grace shall be sufficient for them, and He will make them more than conquerors in the warfare to which He calls them. But they cannot bring themselves to contend against the passions of their fallen nature, and the love of sin in their hearts. Or they shrink from renouncing the pomps and vanities of this evil world, and the devil and his works. They cannot bear the thought of being singular, and being laughed at, and seeming fools in the eyes of such as are themselves the slaves of folly, inasmuch as they are choosing the mess of pottage instead of the heavenly birthright. And so they turn back to Egypt, or to the wilderness of this world, instead of going up to take possession of their bright 1 Acts, vii. 58.

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Joshua and Caleb.

1

inheritance. How many are there who thus shrink from the duties of religion! May we be wholly of another mind, and another spirit, and 'serve God fully,' even like Caleb and Joshua, who dared to oppose, not only the other spies, but the whole infuriated people. Joshua was the great type of Jesus, who is the great example of 'enduring the contradiction of sinners;' and the name 'Caleb' signifies 'all heart,' a constant remembrance to us of the duty of serving God with all the heart. This was one of the two occasions on which God, in His anger against the people, proposed to destroy them, and raise up unto Himself a people from Moses. And we see both the modesty and the disinterestedness of this great and faithful servant of God. We see his disinterestedness, because in his love for the Jewish nation he pleads with God to recall His threatened judgment, and renew His covenant of mercy with them. And we see his modesty, because, while he repeatedly mentions the sin which excluded him from Canaan, he afterwards mentions only once the Divine offer so honourable to himself. And we should regard his intercession for the people as an instance in which he foreshadowed the true and prevailing intercession. The prayer of Moses was successful in a degree-but only in a degree. The nation, as a nation, was spared; but the generation which had 1 Heb. xii. 3.

Intercession of Jesus.

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sinned so faithlessly and so ungratefully, was to fall in the wilderness, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. May our Lord's intercession on our behalf at the throne of grace be perfectly successful, and not fail through our obstinate love of sin and unbelief. May He obtain for us the full forgiveness of our manifold sins' and shortcomings, and our complete restoration to our Heavenly Father's favour and acceptance. And may He obtain for us such help as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations.

NUMBERS, xiv. 26-45.

26 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,

30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.

32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.

33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

35 I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: