The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion

Numbers 14:11-25

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? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”

Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. ... If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

“Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: ‘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.”

The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked.  Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, 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— 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. 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. 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.

Why?

Sometimes when we do something wrong the Lord may forgive us our sins, but sometimes the Lord doesn't forgive. It depends on the Lord. And the Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sins and rebellion. The Lord has forgiven Israelites in wildness ten times for their tested the Lord. So the Lord said they wouldn't enter the promised land. except for Caleb and Joshua.

How great is the faith and understanding pray to the Lord for Israelites! So we should pray to the Lord for those who do not know the Lord, may they have a chance to turn to the Lord and get this salvation.

How about my faith? Do I closely walk with the Lord and listen to God's word?

------------

摩西的禱告及神回應摩西的禱告。

神行這麼多神蹟，百姓還是不信神！批評神！為什麼百姓一件神蹟都沒有想到。這也是我們遇到關卡時我們是否也無法越過?我們也應該要記得神在我們身上行過的神蹟。

即使摩西的後代延續，並不與神對亞伯拉罕的應許違背。摩西非常清楚神的心意，神不是要降災的心意，神更在意神的榮耀，摩西按著神榮耀與慈愛的本性來禱告！神若擊殺以色列人也是公義，符合真理，但是神的榮耀是否得著?整本聖經中神都是如此，沒有因為神的公義擊殺一切背逆的人。或是說難道耶和華管不了這些人所以把他們殺了。神改用愛的能力勝過罪孽，這比毀滅的能力更大。神帶領他們回到曠野，讓他們承擔自己的罪，也是讓神的榮耀彰顯。

------------

How?

Trust in the Lord, God is my way and my strength. Dear Lord, please give me the faith to follow you!