Numbers 14:39-45--Israel Defeated in Battle

Numbers 14:39-45
English Standard Version
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Israel Defeated in Battle
39 When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly. 40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” 41 But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed? 42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. 43 For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” 44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.

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The people try to rebel against the judgment that God just pronounced and against Moses' leadership again.  This time, instead of turning around and following Moses back towards the Red Sea where God told them to go, they decide to change their tune and try to force God into giving them the land now--the land that He just told them that this generation did not deserve and would never posses.  Even in their "repentance" here they are rebelling as they are still trying to do the opposite of what God commanded and they are unwilling to accept the punishment that the Lord had given to them.

​Moses asked a question that really goes to the heart of the issue, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed?."  We should not expect to succeed when we are being disobedient to God, even when that disobedience is in a form that appears to be righteous.  God has told this generation that the blessings are for the next generation, and they should be putting all their efforts into training up their children in the way they should go so that when they are old they will not depart from it.  (Proverbs 22:6)  They should also be focused on making sure they are producing a new generation for the command to "be fruitful and multiply" still exists from Adam and Noah.  However these people are too self-centered to hear that God has a mission for them to be parents and grandparents that will raise their children "in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."  (see Ephesians 6:4 posted below).


Ephesians 6:1-4
English Standard Version

​Children and Parents
6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Then God tells Moses to tell the people not to go up and for those that would listen not to go up with them who were in rebellion and trying to make their own path and win their own victory for their own blessings and glory that they had secured for themselves, because they are going to fail and He is going to let them fall in battle.  It's unfortunate to say, but this is the only voice that we see the people of Israel willing to pay attention to sometimes.  They don't listen when God speaks until they begin to lose the blessings of peace, safety and freedom that He has given them--for they assume even if He sends them prophets to tell them to repent that He doesn't REALLY mean that or that they don't really need to worry about it until they are personally affected because the judgment starts to fall on them.  Otherwise, there is just more time for them to continue in sin and rebellion and to say "I must be okay if God isn't punishing me yet."  Are we any different today?  Isn't this the same kind of taunt that the Atheists and heathens make today as well as the "backslidden" Christians and those who are apostate?  They don't worry about God's judgment or correction in the future so it has to land at their doorstep and affect them personally in some way for God's voice to get through to them.  For this reason, I often try to not pray for God's judgment to be taken away (I used to), but instead that God's voice would be heard so that His judgment wouldn't be necessary and that if it is necessary that it would bring about the true repentance that He seeks--that it would accomplish the work it was set out to do and that the process would not get short-circuited.

They did not listen and it is clear that they had not truly repented and that they were not concerned about God's instructions and God's glory and the victory that God alone would provide because they did not go into battle in the way that God had commanded.  They did not have the priests in front with The Ark of the Covenant leading them (I don't really think that would have made a difference here, because even if they did so, it would have been them following an idol--a god of their own making who permitted them to do whatever they wanted and who they made out to have to bless whatever they did).  This is just a sign to us that they did not care about the Lord and letting Him lead nor about giving Him any of the glory.  Moses also stayed at the camp at the Lord's instruction, which should have also been a sign to the people not to depart, but they insisted on making their own way.  Like a petulant toddler that says "I do it myself" and "I do it my way," these children insist that they can do it without God and can do something that God has told them is impossible for them to do alone and that is unsafe for them to do.  Even though God has just pronounced His judgment on them and knows how it's going to turn out, He doesn't want them to die and is trying to warn them.

No surprise to us, but I'm sure of great surprise to them, they failed exactly the way that God said they would.  The Amalekites and Canaanites were victorious.  How could God let their enemies win?  Weren't the Amalekites and the Canaanites the "bad guys?"  How could God do this to His own children?  Short answer is that these people were proving themselves to not be His children--He would continue to bless them for the sake of the covenant that He made with Abraham that would be fulfilled through Jesus, but multiple times God is going to tell them that they are not His children and not His people and it is only for the sake of Abraham (for the sake of the gospel) that He is going to continue to preserve them.  That is not to say that God doesn't love the Israelites very, very much and He does have a plan for them that before the end times Israel will repent and turn to the true Messiah and say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." (Psalm 118:26, Ezekiel 34:23-31, Ezekiel 36:22-27, Ezekiel 37:5-10, Romans 11:7-12 and more).  God has a plan for the nation of physical nation of Israel to repent and believe and turn to Him, but just like in this story there was a generation that was so rebellious that that particular blessing was taken from them, but would be given to other--the believing Gentile nations and to future believing generations of ethnic Israel.  We must love God's people like He loves them and that includes loving the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--the ones in whom God chose for the covenant of redemption to be fulfilled, not because of their greatness or goodness, but because of His greatness and goodness.  That is the story of all of us--none of us deserve to be chosen by God or used for any of His purposes.  If we believe that God will simply write-off Israel then He should just as easily write-off you and me, especially if the Jews come back to repentance.  Paul seems to make this argument in Romans 11.

So then, do not read this account with pride or arrogance.  Don't even read it with the attitude of "Yeah, get 'em, God!"  Instead, our hearts should break and weep and we should really ask ourselves, "Is this me?"  "Am I so rebellious as to make my own way and to try to take what God told me doesn't belong to me?  Am I trying to make my own way and secure my own victory without following God or the leaders that God has put in authority over me?  Do I even fake obedience to try and force God to bless me and make Him out to be an idol that serves me instead of me being a servant of the living God?  There's lots to think about here even this is historical narrative as if we know anything about history, it's that people aren't really that different now than thousands of years ago--we've just come up with new technologies and inventions to help us be even better sinners.  Therefore the patterns of history often repeat themselves but with God having to take more drastic measure to get people's attention as history progresses.  There is coming a day when the Lord will shout the gospel at the top of His lungs as angles will go throughout the earth to speak it because there will no longer be men left to proclaim it--though it will be the "good news" of God's coming judgment on the unrighteous and that God will be vindicated in doing so.  Heaven itself will speak and no one on Earth will listen and even those caught in judgment will know that they are under the wrath of the Lamb who sits on the Throne, and yet they will refuse to repent and would rather try to escape judgment in any way they can think of--even praying to the mountains to ask the mountains to fall on them to crush them, imagining this would end their punishment and the wrath they were experiencing, yet hell is a much worse judgment than wandering in the wilderness of forty years and worse than any of the plagues of the Tribulation.  What if God wants to use any means necessary to call any and all who belong to Him to repentance?  Yet there will come a day when there are no more who belong to Him to repent--all of the true children of Abraham and true Israel will have been saved, and then the end and final judgment will come.  So then this story is not just about an ancient people in an ancient place, but it is very much the story of our people today.  Do not put God to the test as these Israelites did as   Let us hear what the Spirit has to say to us as we finish by examining ourselves and letting God's Word examine us as we look at Hebrews 3:7-4:13.  Not all who call themselves Christians and say they have had "Red Sea experiences" are truly saved--only those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and know Him not only as Redeemer and Savior but also who call Him "Lord"--which is something that your actions will fall in line with if that is true.  These people thought they were invincible because God had seen and experienced the power, protection and provision of the LORD, but it didn't translate to changed hearts and changed lives.  Let us take heed lest we also fall and perish in our unbelief and incur an even greater judgment.


Hebrews 2:1-4
English Standard Version

Warning Against Neglecting Salvation
2 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

There's much more to be said on this topic, but I'll save it for another day and another time.

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Hebrews 3:7-4:13
English Standard Version

A Rest for the People of God
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
    on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test
    and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
    they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath,
    ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.