The Consequences for Doubting God -- a study of Numbers 14
- mww
- Sep 24
- 18 min read
Don't follow the example of the rebellious Israelites.
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for Numbers 14
By rebelling against God, the Israelites have openly declared that they do not think God is capable of fulfilling His promise. Of course, that demands judgment. But God had also declared that He would treat the people with mercy and faithfulness. Moses, as a good leader should, interceded for the people, setting up what would be 40 years of wandering.
Please pardon the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of your faithful love, (14:19)
Getting Started: Things to Think About
How Do Kids "Push Their Luck" These Days?
This study goes back a few years, and all of our educators are going to be pretty familiar with it. But I'll dust it off to help me set up my discussion idea:
This is a strange thing to say: when I was younger, my peers would "rebel" by smoking, doing drugs, staying out late, or whatnot; but that doesn't seem to be what kids do these days. Great! Right?
But kids haven't stopped "rebelling" -- what does that "rebellion" look like today?
In this week's passage, the Israelites have rebelled against God (in the most childish of ways), and they are taken to task. So the follow up to that first question is something like "what kind of consequences do kids today face for their rebellion?" That sounds like a fun group discussion (or not).
When You Lose Confidence in a Leader
I am extremely hesitant to promote this idea because there are major debates happening right now along these lines that are focused on specific leaders, such as Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Bob Iger, (Dabo Swinney,) Benjamin Netanyahu, and many more. If you're worried that your group will get sidetracked into politics, then don't use this topic.
It just happens to be what's going on in this week's passage.
If you want to stay out of politics, change the scope to something more personal -- how has it affected you when people have called your leadership into question?
The people have lost all confidence in Moses, which means that they have in truth lost all confidence in God. You shouldn't have to spell out why that's bad. Set aside whether or not you are specifically pro- or con- a certain leader -- what happens in an organization when there's a swirl of debate over whether or not they have the "right" leader? It can be rather distracting, right, to say the least?
And when you add the fact that the "leader" in question is the God of the universe, this becomes catastrophic. A good human leader listens to debate and criticism -- we understand that we're not perfect -- but often has the perspective to see if the criticism is valid or baseless. (I'm going to assume that an experienced university president gets tired of criticism from a spoiled 18-yr-old.) But God is perfect; there are no valid criticisms of His judgments or actions.
Thus, we're going to see an awful lot of grace in this week's passage.
Do You Believe That Everyone Has Sinned?
Barna released this dumbfounding survey last week:
Most Christians, 72 percent, also believe people are “basically good at heart” and “should not be pejoratively characterized as sinners,” Barna said, revealing confusion among Christians regarding the biblical concept of sin.
And here's the most alarming thing I read:
Among Protestants, 70 percent of mainline church attendees said they personally sin, followed by 69 percent of those attending independent or non-denominational Christian congregations, 61 percent of attendees of Evangelical churches, and 55 percent of adults attending charismatic or Pentecostal churches.
What??! Only 61% of people who attend an evangelical church believe that they sin?
Oh no. Barna rightly declares, “While most adults acknowledge that sin exists, many reject the truth that all have sinned and fall short before God. This misunderstanding strikes at the very heart of the Gospel message.”
Numbers like that suggest that people in your Bible study either don't believe (1) that people are sinners, or (2) that they have sinned. I think you need to find out. Do so nicely. Ask your group those two simple questions:
Do you believe that everybody has sinned?
Do you believe that you have sinned?
[and then a third] Do you believe those sins deserve punishment by God?
And then get into the Why or Why Not.
I wonder if some church attenders think that sins have to be of the "magnitude" of the kind of rebellion in this week's passage to "count", and that the little white lie or the off-putting joke aren't such a big deal. If your group has insight into why some church attenders don't think that they sin, please let me know.
If you think this topic might work for your group, start with a couple of statistics from that survey, follow it up with the questions I suggest, and then end with this:
In Romans 3:23, Paul said that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. What does that mean, and why does that matter?
Addition: The State of Theology
This week, Lifeway released their own survey,
It comes to the same conclusions from a different direction -- only 66% of Americans believe that "everyone sins a little" (!!!).
I'm flabbergasted.
This Week's Big Idea: Does God Change His Mind?
Well, no.
Then Why Does It Say, "I will change My mind"? (Jer 18)
Ah. This is about God saying, "I have pardoned them as you requested" in this week's passage -- would God have not pardoned them if Moses hadn't asked Him to?
Right.
So, this week's passage (and passages like Jeremiah 18) fall into the same category: God telling us how He will act in a given circumstance.
One of the challenges we have as modern readers is what to do with the doctrine of God's omniscience. "If God knows everything, why would He say something that would turn out not to be the case?" (Like in Num 14:12, 'I will strike them with a plague and destroy them.')
Here, we have to remember that God speaks to humans in a way that makes sense to us but also recognizes our "free agency" to choose. In this week's passage, for example, if God had said to Moses, "Let me tell you everything that's about to happen," what is Moses going to do next? Would Moses even have a choice?
Instead, God tells Moses what Moses needs to know -- what God is planning on doing under the existing circumstances. And then the circumstances change. Here's how my old Grudem theology textbook describes it:
The situations with Hezekiah [in Isaiah 38] and with the intercession of Moses are similar: God had said that he would send judgment, and that was a true declaration, provided that the situation remained the same. But then the situation changed: someone started to pray earnestly (Moses in one case and Hezekiah in the other). Here prayer itself was part of the new situation and was in fact what changed the situation. God responded to that changed situation by answering the prayer and withholding judgment. (165)
[Interestingly, Grudem was referring to Moses' intercession in Exodus 32, meaning our passage this week wasn't the first time (or the second, or third) this has happened.]
Does that make sense? God didn't change His mind; God responded to the changing circumstance. We should think of this as a kind of "if . . . then" (a conditional statement). "If the circumstance does not change, this is what I'm going to do. But if the circumstance does change, this is what I'm going to do." God does not always voice the alternate circumstance, like this week with Moses. Why? Could it be that God didn't want to draw the obvious action out of Moses, that He wanted Moses to take the right step of leadership without God's prompting?
It is actually of critical importance to us that God does not change His mind. This is called the doctrine of God's immutability. An even older definition of God's immutability (from Louis Berkhof) says that
God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and he acts and feels differently in response to different situations.
I really appreciate that definition. It reminds us that God is not a robot; He is a Person. He is a Person whom we can depend on to do what He says.
Billy Graham has tapped into why this is so important to Christians: if God could change His mind, then God could change His mind about our salvation in Jesus. Right? If God could change His mind about destroying the people of Israel, then He could change His mind about saving Christians.
But God does not change His mind. He is clear about how He will respond under every circumstance. Sometimes, the Bible spells that out for us --
No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well. (Luke 13:3)
God does not change His mind about us -- we "change our condition" when we repent of our sin and turn to Jesus for salvation.
And yes, God knows what the outcome will be -- He knows what's going to happen -- but that doesn't mean He's being disingenuous when He says something to the effect of "if you don't come to Jesus, you're going to hell".
Addition: "The State of Theology"
I mentioned this survey above; it also has findings related to this topic. According to the survey Lifeway just released, 68% of Americans believe that God doesn't change.
But there seems to be a lot of contradictory notions as to what that means. For example, 83% of Americans believe that God "loves all people the same way", and only 23% of Americans believe that all sins are worthy of hell.
In other words, it seems to be the age-old question, "How could a loving God send people to hell?" "Either God loves all people, or God condemns all people."
That's a basic misunderstanding of what it means that God is unchanging. And you should already see where this is going. God does love all people. God also punishes all sin. But Jesus willingly took our punishment upon Himself for anyone would who come to Him as Lord and Savior. Those are eternal, unchanging truths. The thing that "changes" is if we come to Jesus for salvation or not.
Where We Are in Numbers
To make sense of this passage, you have to remember what happened in last week's passage. God brought the people to the verge of the Promised Land, and He had the people send our spies/scouts to see how good the land was. The scouts returned, agreeing that the land was "flowing with milk and honey", but they also said that despite what God said, the people would be unable to conquer the land.
I ended last week's post with the observation that the people were so entrenched in their rebellion against God's very clear instruction that they created their own mythological opponents (the Nephilim) that God surely couldn't defeat.
Chapter 14 starts with the most childish of responses:
"If only we had died in the land of Egypt."
“Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”
This causes Moses and Joshua and Caleb (and also Aaron, I'll give him credit) to plead with the people not to persist in their terrible decision:
8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us. 9 Only don’t rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land.
Well, not only do the people reject that plea, they are ready to kill the four God-fearers and be done with it. And that's why this week's passage starts out with such strong language from God.
Briefly rehash your discussion from last week, including anything your group realized that Christians (or them in specific) do today to rebel against God. In particular, call attention to how Christians can fail to obey God because we are fearful of the opposition.
Aside: The Charlie Kirk Memorial
If your group wants to talk about this, this is a logical place to do so. I worry that Bible study groups (maybe not yours) might get distracted by the politic-speak that showed up, but if you can stay focused on the underlying message -- don't be afraid to obey the Great Commission -- then that becomes a modern illustration that somewhat parallels the commission that God gave the Israelites that they were rejecting out of fear.
Part 1: Judgment Cometh, and That Right Soon (Numbers 14:11-16)
11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people despise me? How long will they not trust in me despite all the signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are.”
13 But Moses replied to the Lord, “The Egyptians will hear about it, for by your strength you brought up this people from them. 14 They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among these people, how you, Lord, are seen face to face, how your cloud stands over them, and how you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you kill this people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will declare, 16 ‘Since the Lord wasn’t able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them, he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’
Church members I have known over the years have been confused by God's declaration. I don't think it's the declaration of judgment that bothers them. The people have "despised" God. That word has the basic meaning of "treat without respect", but in some contexts means "to denounce". It's a big-deal accusation. And just as bad (worse?), they have not believed what God has said. They don't trust God. This is serious, and it's obviously deserving of serious consequences.
[Aside: a possible discussion tangent -- How did the Israelites "despise" God? How did they not trust God? How might Christians today "despise" God or not trust Him? What affect does that have on the rest of the world?]
I think their confusion is, "Why would God tell Moses that He will start over with Moses, and then not do it? Doesn't that mean that God changed His mind?"
The answer is related to my too-brief section above "God Does Not Change His Mind". Under the given circumstances, that is what God would have done -- the people "earned" destruction, and so God was going to destroy them.
The New Testament says the same thing:
The wages of sin is death. (Rom 6:23)
Wait, you say there's more to that passage?
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Indeed there is.
That's what's so glorious about Numbers 14, and why we consider Moses a hero of our faith. Moses knew that there was more to God's declaration of destruction. He's growing as a leader right before our eyes.
Remember a few weeks ago when Moses said,
11 So Moses asked the Lord, “Why have you brought such trouble on your servant? Why are you angry with me, and why do you burden me with all these people? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth so you should tell me, ‘Carry them at your breast, as a nursing mother carries a baby,’ to the land that you swore to give their ancestors?
Look what Moses is doing in this week's passage! He is indeed bearing up the entire nation of Israel! But he's not doing it himself; he's immediately taking this burden to God.
This is where the confusion or argument usually arises -- someone will suggest, "If Moses hadn't made this intercession, God would have acted differently, therefore Moses changed God's mind." [Point of fact: this usually ends up in either "health and wealth theology" or "process theology". I just don't want to go into those today; if you have questions, please feel free to contact me at the church.]
Do you remember a few weeks ago when we studied the Psalms that King David gave this model for a prayer of lament (from God Has Always Blessed Those Who Grieve -- David's beautiful insight in Psalm 5):
Laments follow a basic pattern -- and this pattern can help us process our own griefs --
address God directly,
describe the complaint,
remember how God has delivered in the past,
make a specific request,
vow to praise God whatever the outcome.
This question came up in some of our Bible study groups: "Why do I have to remind God how He has delivered in the past?" The answer is, "You don't have to."
Do you remember why God wants us to include that information in our prayers? The oversimplified reason is that by doing so, we demonstrate (not to God but to ourselves) that we have thought enough about our prayer to know how it aligns with God's character. God knows what we are going to pray, right? God knows what He is going to do, right? So our prayer is not about changing God; it's about changing us.
Look at Moses' prayer! Is it not spot-on? He's going to quote the Ten Commandments in the next section, so I'll just mention the beginning of Exodus 20 here:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 3 Do not have other gods besides me.
And Moses has other divine declarations in mind, as well, such as Exodus 32:
13 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go up from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your offspring.
Moses knows that God's promise was not fulfilled with the exodus from Egypt. Only by bringing His people into the Promised Land can God be called a covenant-keeper. If God destroys the children of Israel, He will be breaking His promise to Abraham (the new nation would not be the children of Israel but the children of Moses) and besmirching His name among the nations.
God knows this too, of course, so why would God even suggest this in the first place?
Based on everything we've talked about to this point, you should have the answer already.
My favorite example of this situation is in Jonah chapter 3. (Interestingly, I just used Jonah last week as an example of someone who rebelled against God. Hm.) Jonah, hoping to see Nineveh punished, just preaches one line:
In forty days Nineveh will be demolished!
And what does the king say in his command for citywide repentance?
9 Who knows? God may turn and relent; he may turn from his burning anger so that we will not perish.
What an incredible insight by a pagan king. Why would we be surprised that Moses had the same insight? (Especially considering what God has already said to Moses.)
Part 2: Mercy Comes in the Morning (Numbers 14:17-19)
17 “So now, may my Lord’s power be magnified just as you have spoken: 18 The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, forgiving iniquity and rebellion. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generation. 19 Please pardon the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of your faithful love, just as you have forgiven them from Egypt until now.”
Indeed, God spoke this in His Third Commandment! But that's not the only time. Moses probably has in mind an even more profound experience he had with God. Read Exodus 32-34; those chapters give us incredible insight into why Moses says what he says here.
You remember the debacle of the golden calf, right? Like in this week's passage, Moses interceded on behalf of the people for God's mercy. God indeed showed mercy, and He said He would give Moses a new Ten Commandments Tablet Set to replace the one Moses broke. And what did God say?
34:4 Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. He got up early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hand, he climbed Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him.
5 The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed his name, “the Lord.” 6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: "The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation."
In other words, God's covenant relationship with His people is based on His unfailing mercy and faithful love. ("Faithful love" is the Hebrew word hesed, which we have talked about many, many times.)
Moses drew the proper conclusion that God's mercy exceeded the people's sin, therefore it would be appropriate for God to show mercy in this situation.
So that's part 1 of Moses' insight. Part 2 is his recognition that guilt must still be punished, and further that such guilt has generational repercussions. (And it certainly did -- their children had to spend 40 years in a wilderness.)
The Hebrew word for "forgive" in verse 18 (nose) means "to carry off"; the word for "pardon" in verse 19 (selah) means "to forgive or pardon". This is where we have to try to understand that "forgiveness" doesn't necessarily mean "remove all consequences". Who had Moses asked to be forgiven? The entire nation, which would have included hardened sinners and rebels. For the sake of the few (the younger generation), God would forgive the many; but because of the many (the older generation), there would still be consequences for all.
The best thing I can think to do here is shift gears to today, after Jesus. Let's think of this in terms of our relationship with God in Jesus. For the sake of this discussion, I have to assume that you are a Christian, that you have come to Jesus for salvation.
Is there a sin you will commit that God will not forgive?
Does God's forgiveness mean that you won't face consequences for that sin?
How do those two things co-exist?
Think through those. As a group, you should be able to work that out.
Part 3: Forgiveness and Consequences (Numbers 14:20-24)
20 The Lord responded, “I have pardoned them as you requested. 21 Yet as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested me these ten times and did not obey me, 23 will ever see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have despised me will see it. 24 But since my servant Caleb has a different spirit and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land where he has gone, and his descendants will inherit it.
This is where some modern self-proclaimed Christians want to get off the boat. They want God's forgiveness to be without consequence, to get off "scot-free". (Actually, they would probably rather God affirm all of their choices and actions so they can say that they haven't sinned in the first place. I don't know how else to interpret those statistics I gave at the top.)
But no, sin always has consequences. What did your group work out above -- how God can forgive sin yet sin still have consequences?
Whatever you said, I hope you acknowledged the crucifixion. Forgiveness itself came at the terrible cost of the death of the perfect Son of God.
Now to the consequence. What does the rebellion of that older generation have to do with "God's glory" in the world? Remember that God chose to reveal Himself to the world through Abraham's descendants.
Does the punishment for that rebellious generation then seem too harsh or too light? Perhaps it's more merciful than you at first realized?
After all, that generation "tested" God. When that word is used of God testing a person/group, it's always in the sense of building or affirming their faith. When that word is used of people testing God, it's always sinful -- a challenge. (The exception would be Gideon and his fleece, who was bewildered and terrified and was searching for faith.) The "ten times" is probably a round number indicating "more than enough". Those rebels would live out their days, but they would not enter the Promised Land.
But then there's Caleb, who believed and trusted and encouraged the people to do the same. God affirmed and rewarded him and wanted the people to know it. When the next generation saw Caleb (and Joshua) survive and enter the Promised Land, it would be a testimony to God's faithfulness and also to God's judgment.
Your Lifeway material recommends reading Hebrews 3-4, which you should because it's about this week's passage. There, the author of Hebrews cites Psalm 95:
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 ancestors tested me, tried me, and saw my works 10 for forty years. Therefore I was provoked to anger with that generation and said, “They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways.” 11 So I swore in my anger, “They will not enter my rest.”
And the author then explains to us why this week's event matters to Christians today. The Promised Land was a symbol of salvation, of being able to rest from your work and be in the presence of God and God's blessings.
The people's rebellion was the equivalent of what Jesus calls "the unforgiveable sin". Those people did not believe that God could save them. Likewise, people today reject the message of salvation because they don't believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation, or they don't believe they need to be saved. Either way, that's rejecting Jesus' offer of salvation, and to God that is unforgiveable.
In chapter 4, the author of Hebrews splits his readers into two camps. One camp is those who profess to be Christian but continue to test God; persisting down that sinful path would be a dire warning that they are not a Christian at all. The other camp is those who desire to follow Jesus faithfully; they are to see this warning as a reminder to check their own hearts regularly to make sure they do not stumble down the wrong path. (Note: some people worry that this passage teaches that you can lose your salvation. No, the author is using these examples as a warning, an "if you could..." argument. We are never to become complacent in our faith or flippant with God's forgiveness.)
It's so interesting that the author of Hebrews immediately follows that section with two very well-known passages -- the "word of God is living and active" and "let us approach the throne of grace with confidence". In context, it tells us
God knows if we're being rebellious in our hearts or not, and
we can trust God's grace and salvation in Jesus.
In other words, you can't fake salvation. God knows where your heart is. But you can also trust salvation. God does not change His mind. Salvation is available to all those who come to faith in Jesus Christ. That will not change. Just as God was faithful to His covenant with the Israelites, God will be faithful to His covenant with Jesus to save all those who come to Jesus.
Don't harden your heart to that offer of salvation. That is our modern parallel to the people of Israel refusing to enter the Promised Land.