Theological Commentary: Click Here
This chapter
abounds with human instinct. The
congregation has a choice to make. Do
they listen to Joshua and Caleb and believe that God can bring them into
Canaan? Or do they believe the report of
the other 10 and doubt that they could ever be successful in battle against the
Canaanites? Naturally, they choose the
easier path. They choose to doubt their
ability and especially God’s ability.
Next, God
and Moses have a little conversation. In
an incredible twist, God desires to smite the people (again) and Moses pleads
for forgiveness (again). When the people
rebel and run with their human nature, it is Moses who stands in the gap and
advocates for their forgiveness. Moses
has what it takes to rise above the human instinct. Moses could have accepted God’s offer to
start over with him. But he doesn’t do
that. Moses rises above human nature and
advocates for a sinful people.
Then we
return to the human nature of the Hebrew people. In one respect, the should get some credit
for being inspired by Moses. They begin
to believe in God’s power, albeit a bit too late. However, in their inspiration they swing too
far to the other side. The rise up to
take the land as God at one point desired them to do. However, they still aren’t listening. God is no longer with them. God is now focused upon their punishment and
planning to bring the next generation of Hebrew people into the Promised
Land. When the people go up to Canaan,
the fail because God is not with them.
Although they do get a little credit for being inspired into faith, they
don’t get great marks because they are still refusing to live obediently to
God.
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