Commentary - Numbers 14:11-19

Bird's-eye view

In this passage we come to one of the great hinge points in the Old Testament. Israel, having received the cowardly and faithless report of the ten spies, has collapsed into a puddle of weeping, rebellion, and unbelief. God's response is one of holy and righteous wrath. He declares His intention to wipe the slate clean and start over with Moses, promising to make of him a nation greater than the one He is about to destroy. This is not a fit of pique; it is a just sentence. But Moses, in a magnificent display of covenantal leadership, steps into the breach. He intercedes for the people, and his argument is a master class in true prayer. He does not appeal to the people's worthiness, for they have none. Rather, he appeals to the one thing that is unshakeable: the character and reputation of God Himself. Moses argues that God's glory is at stake, and on that basis, pleads for pardon.

This dialogue reveals the very heart of God. He is a God of fearsome justice, who does not treat high-handed sin lightly. But He is also a God of astonishing mercy, who has revealed Himself as one who is slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. Moses' intercession is a profound type of the greater intercession of Christ, who did not merely stand in the gap, but filled it with His own body on the cross. This is not just a historical event; it is a revelation of how God deals with His covenant people, then and now.

Outline

Context In Numbers

This passage is the climax of the Kadesh Barnea incident. For thirteen chapters, God has delivered Israel from Egypt, constituted them as a nation at Sinai, given them His law, organized their camp, and led them to the very border of the Promised Land. The mission of the twelve spies was supposed to be the final reconnaissance before the conquest. But the unbelief of the ten spies, and the subsequent rebellion of the entire congregation, represents the catastrophic failure of that entire generation. Their refusal to enter the land is not a minor misstep; it is a fundamental rejection of God's promise and His power. What happens here determines the fate of Israel for the next forty years. Their sin at this moment is the direct cause of the wilderness wanderings, a judgment designed to let that generation of slaves die off, so that a new generation, born in freedom, could inherit the land.

Key Issues

Commentary

11 Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have done in their midst?

God begins with two rhetorical questions that cut to the very heart of the matter. The issue is not military strategy or the strength of the Canaanites. The issue is Israel's relationship to Yahweh. First, He asks how long they will spurn Him. This is a strong word. It means to treat with contempt, to despise, to reject. This is not simple doubt; it is an active, insolent defiance. Second, He asks how long they will not believe in Him. This unbelief is particularly egregious because it persists in the face of overwhelming evidence. God points to "all the signs" He has done in their midst. The plagues, the Red Sea crossing, the manna, the water from the rock, the pillar of cloud and fire. Their unbelief is not an intellectual problem; it is a moral and spiritual rebellion. They have seen God's power and provision firsthand, and they still refuse to trust Him. This is high treason against the King of Heaven.

12 I will strike them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

The proposed judgment is entirely just and fits the crime. To strike them with pestilence is a swift and total judgment. To dispossess them means He will revoke their inheritance. They refused to take possession of the land, so God will take the land from them. They are disinherited. Then comes the staggering offer to Moses, an echo of what God offered after the golden calf incident (Ex. 32:10). God offers to scrap the whole project and start over with Moses as the new Abraham. This is a genuine offer, and it serves as a profound test of Moses' character. Where does his ultimate loyalty lie? With his own legacy, or with the glory of God's name bound up with this rebellious people?

13 But Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your power You brought up this people from their midst, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O Yahweh, are in the midst of this people, for You, O Yahweh, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

Moses passes the test magnificently. His first thought is not for the people's welfare, and certainly not for his own reputation. His first and consuming thought is for the reputation of God among the heathen. "Then the Egyptians will hear of it." This is the linchpin of his entire argument. God has put His glory on public display. The exodus was not done in a corner. All of Egypt witnessed God's power. And news travels. The inhabitants of Canaan have heard the reports. And what have they heard? They have heard of a God who is uniquely, tangibly, and powerfully present with His people. He is not a distant deity. He is seen "eye to eye." His presence is marked by the cloud and the pillar of fire. God has invested His public relations capital, so to speak, in this deliverance. Moses' argument is that God cannot afford to squander that investment.

15 Now if You put this people to death as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, 16 ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

Here Moses drives the point home. He spells out the precise, blasphemous conclusion the pagans will draw. If God annihilates Israel in the desert, the world will not say, "My, what a just and holy God who punishes sin." No, they will say, "Yahweh's power ran out at the border." They will conclude that the God of Israel was mighty enough to handle Egypt, but not mighty enough to take on the Anakim. His reach exceeded His grasp. They will chalk it up to divine incompetence or weakness. This, Moses argues, would be an intolerable stain on the name of God. He is pleading with God to vindicate His own power and faithfulness. He is jealous for the glory of God's name.

17 So now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, 18 ‘Yahweh is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’

Having appealed to God's reputation, Moses now appeals to God's revelation. He asks that the Lord's power would be shown to be great, and then he defines what that greatness looks like by quoting God's own self-description from Exodus 34. This is prayer at its most potent, taking God's own promises and character and holding them up before Him. Notice the balance. Moses doesn't just quote the sentimental parts. He asks God to be who He said He is: slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, yes. But also, the one who by no means clears the guilty. Moses is not asking God to compromise His justice. He is asking God to act in accordance with the fullness of His character, in which His steadfast love and forgiveness are just as essential as His justice. The greatness of God's power is shown not just in wrath, but preeminently in His capacity to forgive.

19 Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

Finally, the request. Pardon, I pray. On what basis? Not on their repentance, for they have not repented. Not on their promise to do better, for their promises are worthless. The basis is twofold. First, according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness. He is appealing to the infinite resources of God's covenant mercy. Their sin is great, but God's lovingkindness is greater. Second, he appeals to precedent. Just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. This is a brilliant stroke. He turns their history of constant failure into an argument for grace. "Lord, you have a long history of forgiving this stiff-necked people. Don't stop now. Your forgiving character has been on display since the beginning. Be consistent with Yourself."

Application

This passage is a rich mine for Christian application. First, we must take unbelief with the seriousness God does. To refuse to trust God's promises in the face of His mighty acts is to "spurn" Him. It is an insult of the highest order, and it kindles His righteous anger. We who have seen the ultimate sign, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, must guard our hearts against the kind of grumbling, fearful unbelief that characterized Israel.

Second, we learn how to pray. True intercession is radically God-centered. Like Moses, our chief concern in prayer should be the hallowing of God's name. We should learn to argue our case from Scripture, appealing to God's character and His promises. Our prayers become powerful when they are less about our wants and more about His glory.

Finally, we see in Moses a shadow of our Lord Jesus Christ. Moses stood in the gap, willing to be blotted out for the sake of the people. But Jesus is the greater Moses. He did not just offer to take their place; He actually took it. He absorbed the full force of God's wrath against our sin, so that God could pardon our iniquity according to the greatness of His lovingkindness, without compromising His justice. Our forgiveness is secured not because God overlooks our sin, but because Christ has paid for it. Therefore, we can come boldly to the throne of grace, knowing that our great Intercessor ever lives to make intercession for us.