Numbers 14:1-19
The people rebel.
Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Surely the Lord won't do this.
Then Moses and Aaron fell face down in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord.
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?
Moses said to the Lord, "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.’ 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.”
But the people listened to the ten prophets of doom, with their tales of giants and grasshoppers. God, and the good land, was forgotten. Within sight of the goal, a whole generation cut itself off from all that was promised.
Moses' prayer at this point is staggering Only God's intervention has saved him from death by stoning. Yet here he is, pleading for the life of the stubborn nation that caused him nothing but trouble! He calls on God to remember who he is, turning God's own words to good effect.
Why?
Moses is humble before his people and before the Lord so he and Aaron fell face down in front of the whole Israelite assembly.
Most people of Israelites assembly chose listened to the ten prophets, but refuse to listen to the two. They forgot the Lord who is Almighty God.
Moses has wisdom to save his people, he remember God's love and grace and he used God's word to remind God who he is, turning God's own words to good effect.
How?
Remember that the Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished
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