The Lord Punishes the Israelites

The Lord Punishes the Israelites

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 

“How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about Me? Yes, I have heard the complaints, that the Israelites are making against Me. 

Now, tell them this: 

‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 

You will all drop dead in this wilderness! 

Because you complained against Me, every one of you, who is twenty years old or older, and was included in the registration, will die. 

You will not enter and occupy the land, which I swore to give to your ancestors. The only exceptions will be Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun. 

“ ‘You said that your children would be carried off as plunder. 

Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. 

But, as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. 

And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness, for forty years. 

In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead, in the wilderness. 

“ ‘Because your men explored the land, for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness, for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. 

Then, you will discover, what it is like, to have Me …for an enemy.’ 

I, the Lord, have spoken! 

I will certainly do these things, to every member of the community, who has conspired against Me. 

They will be destroyed, here in this wilderness, and here they will die!” 

Then, at that moment, the ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the Lord, with their bad report—were struck dead, with a plague, before the Lord. 

Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive. 

When Moses reported the Lord’s words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief. 

Then, they got up early, the next morning, and went to the top, of the range of hills. 

“Let’s go,” they said. “We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land, which the Lord has promised us.” 

But Moses said, “Why are you, now, disobeying the Lord’s orders, to return to the wilderness? 

It won’t work. Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed, by your enemies, because the Lord is not with you. When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites, in battle, you will be slaughtered. The Lord will abandon you because you have abandoned the Lord.” 

But, the people, defiantly, pushed ahead, toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, left the camp. 

Then, the Amalekites and the Canaanites, who lived in those hills, came down and attacked them …and chased them back, as far as Hormah. 

Numbers 14:26–45 (NLT)

Praise be to God!


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