Numbers 13 - 16: Israel Rebels Against the Lord
INTRODUCTION.
A. In the last lesson, Numbers: The Journey Begins, the Israelites had left Mount Sinai and was on their way to the promise land. Along the way, the Israelites complained about having Manna only to eat, Moses complained about the great burden that he alone bore, and Miriam and Aaron complained against Moses. The Lord answered their complaints by sending so much quail that they would grow sick of eating it and He struck Miriam with leprosy.
B. Needless to say, the children of Israel did not get off to a good start. Parents who have started journeys with their children complaining before pulling of the driveway may understand some of what Moses must have endured.
C. The book of Numbers covers a time frame of almost 39 years. The book of Numbers begins with the last 20 days at Mount Sinai and ends with Israel in the plains of Moab in the fortieth year of Israel’s wanderings.
D. The book of Numbers is a book of twos: two generations (1:1-10:10), two numberings (1, 26), two journeys (10-14, 21-27), and two sets of instructions (5-9, 28-36). This book shows the kindness and mercy of God as well as the severity of God.
E. With this lesson, we will examine chapters 13-25 to see what lessons we can learn from this history of God’s people.
I. THE COWARDICE OF THE PEOPLE. (13:1-14:45)
A. The Lord told Moses to send men to spy out or explore the land of Canaan. (13:1-13:25)
1. Moses was to send a leader from each of the tribes of Israel. (vs 1-16)
a. Tribe of Reuben - Shammua the son of Zaccur
b. Tribe of Simeon - Shaphat the son of Hori
c. Tribe of Judah - Caleb the son of Jephunneh
d. Tribe of Issachar - Igal the son of Joseph
e. Tribe of Ephraim - Hoshea the son of Nun (called Joshua) vs 16
(1) Hosea means “salvation”
(2) Joshua means “Jehovah is salvation”
f. Tribe of Benjamin - Palti the son of Raphu
g. Tribe of Zebulun - Gaddiel the son of Sodi
h. Tribe of Joseph (Manasseh) - Gaddi the son of Susi
i. Tribe of Dan - Ammiel the son of Gemalli
j. Tribe of Asher - Sethur the son of Michael
k. Tribe of Naphtali - Nahbi the son of Vophsi
l. Tribe of Gad - Geuel the son of Machi
2. Moses gave the men instructions on what information to gather while in the land of Canaan. The men went and explored the land and stayed for forty days. (vs 17-25)
B. The spies returned from exploring and gave a discouraging report to the Israelites. (vs 26-33)
1. The spies first told the people how great was the land. (vs 26-29)
2. Caleb was the first to tell the people, with confidence, that they could take the land. However, the other spies, except Joshua, told the people that they could not take the land. (vs 30-33)
C. After hearing the negative report from 10 of the spies, the children of Israel murmured and rebelled against the Lord Jehovah God. (14:1-10)
1. The children of Israel began to say that should not have left Egypt. They wanted to pick a leader to take them back to Egypt. (vs 1-5)
2. Joshua and Caleb tried again to tell the people that they Lord would give them victory. (vs 6-10)
D. The Lord decided to strike the Israelites with a pestilence or plague. Moses interceded for the people and the Lord relented. However, the Lord established a consequence for their rebellion. (14:11-38)
1. The Lord declared, “because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.” (Numbers 14:22-23, NKJV)
2. The Lord continues by explaining that all those who were twenty years old and above would die in the wilderness, with the exception of Caleb, Joshua, and the children. (vs 29-33)
3. The Israelites would roam in the wilderness one year for every one day the spies were in the land of Canaan. (vs 34-35)
4. The Lord struck dead with a plague the ten spies who brought back the bad report. (vs 36-38)
E. Once the children of Israel heard their punishment, they foolishly decided to try and take the land of Canaan. Neither Moses nor the Ark of the Covenant went with them on their doom military campaign. The Amalekites and the Canaanites attacked and drove the children of Israel as far back as Hormah. (14:39-45)
II. THE LORD REVIEWED THE RULES FOR OFFERINGS. (15:1-31)
A. Rules for the offerings. (15:1-21)
B. Offerings for the unintentional sin. (15:22-29)
C. There was no offerings for the person who sinned presumptuously. He was to be cut off from the people. (15:30-31)
D. The was no offerings for the man who worked on the Sabbath. He was to be stoned. (15:32-36)
E. The Lord orders a reminder to the people. Their garments were to be made with tassels on the corners of the garment. These tassels were to remind the Israelites of the commandments of the Lord so that they would remember and do all the commandments of the Lord. (15:37-41)
III. KORAH LED A REBELLION AGAINST MOSES. (16:1-50)
A. A Levi named Korah led a rebellion with Dathan, Abiram, and On along with 250 leaders of the children of Israel. These rebels accused Moses of taking too much upon himself and of exalting himself above the assembly of the Lord. (16:1-3)
B. Moses issued a challenge to Korah saying that the Lord would show who was holy and who would come near to Him. Moses also questioned those of the tribe of Levi who had rebelled saying that the Lord had chosen them to come near to Him and to do His work. (16:4-11)
C. Moses called for Dathan and Abiram. The refused accusing Moses of leading from a land of milk and honey to die in the wilderness. Moses asked the Lord not to respect the offerings of Dathan and Abiram. Moses then told Korah to bring all his men on the next day and be present before the Lord. They were also to each bring their censer with incense. On the next day, Moses and the faithful met Korah and his men at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. At this point, the glory of the Lord appeared before those who had assembled together. (16:12-19)
D. The Lord was ready to consume the whole of the congregation, but Moses interceded. The Lord decided to bring destruction upon the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. The Lord caused the earth to split open and all of Korah’s, Dathan’s and Abiram’s households were swallowed up. The 250 followers of Korah were consumed by fire from the Lord. (16:20-35)
E. The Lord told Moses to instructed Eleazar, the son of Aaron to take the censers of those men who had sin and hammer the censers into plates to be used for covering to the altar. This covering would be a sign that only the descendants of Aaron would be able to come near to offer incense. (16:36-40)
F. Despite the example set with the deaths of Korah, Abiram, and Dathan and their families, the children of Israel still complained against Moses. As a result, the Lord struck the people with a great plague. That day 14,700 people died. More would have lost their life but Aaron was quick to burn incense and make atonement for the people. Aaron stood between the living and the dead until the plague stopped. (16:41-50)
IV. LESSONS TO BE LEARNED.
A. The spies had returned from the land of Canaan saying how great was the land. However, in their next statement, the spies said that they could not conquer the land.
1. The Lord has told us that the field is white unto harvest. (John 4:34-38)
2. We must not doubt the Lord as did the children of Israel. We must not make excuses for not going into the world to teach. We can conquer the world if we will let God and Christ lead us through the Word. Remember the words of Paul when he wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13, NKJV)
3. This also applies to overcoming sin. We can be successful in overcoming sin if we are children of God. (I John 5:1-5)
B. The children of Israel should have listened to the 2 spies, not the 10. The 10 spies being in the majority did not make their position the correct position.
1. We should listen to the Bible, not to the majority. When the majority takes a position which is contrary to the doctrine of Christ, then let the majority be counted as liars. This was Paul’s attitude. Paul wrote:
“For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.” (Romans 3:3-4)
2. Paul also taught that if God is for us, then no one can be against us. (Romans 8:31-39) Some people may oppose us, but they can never stand against us and prevent us from doing the work of our Lord.
3. We should be more like Caleb and Joshua was boldly told the Israelites that the Lord would give the victory. Let us be willing to speak out for the Lord and about the Lord even when the majority turns against Him. Let us speak out like Peter and John who said:
“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20, NKJV)
C. Korah and his followers sought after prestige and honor, forgetting that they already had been set apart by the Lord.
1. Christians must not seek after the praises of men. This was a problem with some of the Jews who believed on Jesus. (John 12:43)
2. Christian should seek the praises of God, not the vain glory of men.
a. Paul wrote, “Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:26, KJV)
b. The phrase “desirous of vain glory” is translated from the Greek word kenodoxos {ken-od’-ox-os} which means glorying without reason, conceited, vain glorious, eager for empty glory. (Enhanced Strong Lexicon’s)
D. Korah and his men rebelled against the Lord.
1. We rebel against the Lord when we do not accept His Word.
2. We rebel against the Lord when we willfully do that which we know to be wrong.
3. We rebel against the Lord every time we choose not to do that which He has commanded us to do.
4. Let us learn from the Israelites’ rebellion that we must avoid rebelling against the Lord. (Hebrews 3:7-19)
CONCLUSION.
A. The children of Israel had only to trust in the Lord and they would have entered the promise land. They only had to say, “Yes Lord, we will obey” and the promise land would have been given to them. Sadly, this stubborn nation of people listened, not to God and Moses, but to their fellow companions. As a result, the promise land would have to wait 40 more years.
B. We must remember to trust in the Lord and follow Him unconditionally. Obedience to the Word of the Lord will take on a journey which will lead us to Heaven. Just as the Lord lead the Israelites to the promise land, so too will He lead us to our promise land if we will simply trust and obey.
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Old Testament Series: Numbers 13-16: Israel Rebels Against the Lord -- February 27, 2000 -- File # 669
by John M. Duvall – Lawton, OK