Numbers 14:11-25 / Moses and Caleb
📖 Scripture
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 signs I have performed among them?
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.”
13 Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.
14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, Lord, are with these people and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
15 If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say,
16 ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’
17 “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared:
18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’
19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”
20 The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked.
21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth,
22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—
23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.
24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.
25 Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.”
✅ Scripture Summary
✅ Memory verse
✅ Reflection
Love and Forgiveness (14:11–19)
The Israelites deserve to be struck down because they have treated God with contempt. However, Moses appeals to God, suggesting how the Egyptians and other nations will react when they hear that His promises have not been fulfilled. Moses asks God to act according to His great love and forgive His people for their sin and rebellion. The people wanted a new leader, and Moses could have cut them off in his heart. Instead, he does not hesitate to intervene, going before God and asking Him to spare them. We are called to have that same heart toward those around us. Even when people sin against us, we can be forgiving and merciful and ask for God’s grace upon them.
Are there people in your life you struggle to forgive? Ask God for a heart of steadfast love and forgiveness toward them.
The Cost of Unbelief (14:20–25)
While God forgives the Israelites in accordance with Moses’ prayer, He judges them by declaring that those who did not believe will not enter the promised land. They should have known better because they had seen the signs God performed in Egypt, but they continued to disobey Him. It greatly dishonors God when we witness His faithfulness repeatedly, and yet persist in doubting Him. God has proven Himself faithful in our lives, and we honor Him when we put our trust in Him no matter the circumstance. We are to be more like Caleb, who did not doubt the Lord. As a result, he and his descendants would receive their full inheritance. May each of us possess a heart like Caleb’s, following God wholly.
How would you evaluate your trust in God’s goodness? Spend some time going through the reasons why you can trust Him to do what is good for you.
“What we are getting is something we desperately need, the uncomfortable grace of personal growth and change . . . God is showing you the delusions of your control so that you will take comfort in his rule.”
– Paul David Tripp
✅ Prayer
✅ Essay
Unexpected Sanctification
When I offer premarital counseling, I often talk about sanctification. Marriage can be a means of sanctifying both husband and wife. The trials and tensions of marriage can certainly function to make us more like Jesus. There are times when God sanctifies by having the spouse function like the Holy Spirit: he or she points out bad habits, leading to conviction and repentance. The other spouse listens and changes accordingly.
However, those who have been married for a while know that there is sometimes a different type of sanctification that takes place in marriage. For example, my wife knows that I can have a temper and overreact with anger. She helps me in my sanctification as she reminds me to be more patient and slow to anger, but she also undergoes a type of sanctification as she chooses to love me even in my weakness. She loves me as I am, independently of whether I change, and this is something I remind couples about in premarital counseling sessions.
This principle is not limited to marriage; it can apply to any relationship. We display spiritual maturity as we learn to love people unconditionally. We recognize that we can change with the help of the Holy Spirit and with the help of loving people around us. And just as God is patient with us and His loving kindness transforms us, we can change and grow in our sanctification as we display patience and love toward others.
Written by Bob Koo
