1. Numbers 13-15 “So Close And Yet So Far”

2. Numbers 13:1-3 1 YaHWeH now said to Moses, 2 “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes. 3 So Moses did as YaHWeH commanded him. He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran.

3. Deuteronomy 1:20–23 (NASB95) Do not fear or be dismayed.’ 20 “I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which YaHWeH our God is about to give us. 21 ‘See, YaHWeH your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as YaHWeH, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’

4. Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us 22 “Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter.’ 23 “The thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe.

5. Exodus 32:9 (NLT) “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. 9 Then the L ORD said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are…33:1 1 The L ORD said to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt… 3 Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way.”

6. Numbers 13:4-15 4 These were the tribes and the names of their leaders: Reuben… 6 Judah Caleb son of Jephunneh… 8 Ephraim Hoshea son of Nun… 16 These are the names of the men Moses sent out to explore the land. (Moses called Hoshea son of Nun by the name Joshua.)

7. Numbers 13:17-20 See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. 17 “Go north through the Negev into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps? 20 Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees?

9. The reason for the route Moses suggested was probably his intention to attack and penetrate Canaan from that direction. There certainly was no plan originally to enter the land from the east through Jericho (the most difficult city to conquer!). That was not only far off the main Egyptian access to Canaan but it involved the hazard of passing near the heavily fortified defensive positions at Jericho and Ai. Eugene H. Merrill, “Numbers,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary

10. Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see.” (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.) This was the time of the first harvest of the vineyards, hence late summer or early fall (late July to early September), several months after the departure from Mount Sinai in early spring. Dennis Cole, Numbers

11. Numbers 13:21-22 (The ancient town of Hebron was founded seven years before the Egyptian city of Zoan.) 21 So they went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22 Going north, they passed through the Negev and arrived at Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai—all descendants of Anak—lived. (The ancient town of Hebron was founded seven years before the Egyptian city of Zoan.)

13. Numbers 13:23-24 23 When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of the pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol (which means “cluster”), because of the cluster of grapes the Israelite men cut there.

15. Numbers 13:25-27 “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. 25 After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned…They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. 27 This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces.

16. Numbers 13:28 “But” … the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.”

17. Numbers 13:30-32 30 But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” 31 But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” 32 So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites:

18. Leviticus 20:24 (NLT) 24 But I have promised you, ‘You will possess their land because I will give it to you as your possession—a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am YaHWeH your God, who has set you apart from all other people.

19. Numbers 13:32-33 we felt “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 33 We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. (lit. “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim)”; Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

20. Psalm 118:8–9 (NASB95) 8 It is better to take refuge in YaHWeH Than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in YaHWeH Than to trust in princes. Genesis 6:4 Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

21. Numbers 14:1-3 weeping cried a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron“If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! 1 Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. 3 “Why is YaHWeH taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”

22. “Origin of the Species”

23. Exodus 1:11–14 (NLT) 11 So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor… 13 So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. 14 They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands…”

24. Exodus 15:1-18 (NLT) 1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to YaHWeH: “I will sing to YaHWeH, for he has triumphed gloriously; he has hurled both horse and rider into the sea… 14 The peoples hear and tremble; anguish grips those who live in Philistia. 15 The leaders of Edom are terrified; the nobles of Moab tremble. All who live in Canaan melt away; 16 terror and dread fall upon them. The power of your arm makes them lifeless as stone until your people pass by…”

25. Numbers 14:4-5 “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!” Moses and Aaron Joshua Caleb 4 Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel. 6 Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing.

26. Numbers 14:7-9 7 They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! 8 And if YaHWeH is pleased with us, He will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. 9 Do not rebel against YaHWeH, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but YaHWeH is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”

27. Numbers 14:10 10 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of YaHWeH appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle. “we felt like grasshoppers” "You cannot dissuade a person from a position with reason and facts, if reason and facts did not determine the position in the first place."

28. Numbers 14:11-12 11 And YaHWeH said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? 12 I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!”

29. Exodus 32:9–13 (NLT) 11 Then Moses pleaded with YaHWeH his God…” 9 Then YaHWeH said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. 10 Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” 11 Then Moses pleaded with YaHWeH his God…”

30. Numbers 14:13-16 13 But Moses objected. “What will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?” he asked YaHWeH. “They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing your people from Egypt… 15 Now if you slaughter all these people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16 ‘YaHWeH was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.’

31. Numbers 14:17-19 For You said In keeping with your magnificent, unfailing love, please pardon the sins of this people, For You said, 18 ‘YaHWeH is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But He does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.’ 19 In keeping with your magnificent, unfailing love, please pardon the sins of this people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”

32. Psalm 103:7 (NASB95) “He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.” Exodus 34:5–7 compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth “YaHWeH, YaHWeH God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished...”

33. Numbers 14:20-22 20 Then YaHWeH said, “I will pardon them as you have requested. 21 But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with YaHWeH’s glory, 22 not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice.

34. Numbers 14:22 (NASB95) yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 22 “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice,

35. 1. At the Red Sea (Ex. 14:11–12) 2. At Marah (Ex. 15:23) 3. In the wilderness of Sin (Ex. 16:2) 4. In the wilderness of Sin (Ex. 16:20) 5. In the wilderness of Sin (Ex. 16:27) 6. At Rephidim (Ex. 17:1) 7. At Horeb (Ex. 32) 8. At Taberah (Num. 11:1) 9. At Kibroth-hattaavah (Num. 11:4) 10. At Kadesh (Num. 14:1–3) Tom Constable

36. Numbers 14:23 23 They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will ever see it. The pardon did not mean the nation would go unpunished, but that the deserved annihilation had been averted in response to Moses’ intercession. Criswell

37. Hebrews 3:12-19 Please Turn In Your Bibles 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

38. 1 Corinthians 10:11–12 (NLT) 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. 12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.

39. Numbers 14:24 24 But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land. Proverbs 3:5–6 (NASB95) 5 Trust in the L ORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

40. Numbers 14:25-27 25 Now turn around, and don’t go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.” 26 Then YaHWeH said to Moses and Aaron, 27 “How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me.

41. Numbers 14:28-30 29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness! 30 You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. 28 Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares YaHWeH, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 29 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. 30 You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

42. In His grace, God pardoned their sin; but in His government, He had to allow that sin to produce its bitter fruit. First, God gave the people their request, announcing that they would die in the wilderness. The people had fretted about their little ones, yet the children would be the very ones to live and enter into the land…

43. It cannot be emphasized too much that God honors faith and judges unbelief. Faith leads to obedience and glorifies God; unbelief leads to rebellion and death. We have the Word of God filled with His promises and assurances. There is no reason why any of us should wander in unbelief when we can be walking in victory and enjoying the spiritual riches we have in Christ. Warren Wiersbe

44. Numbers 14:31-33 33 And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. they will pay for your faithlessness 31 “‘You said 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. 32 But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. 33 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.

45. Numbers 14:33 (The Message) living with the fallout of your whoring unfaithfulness 33 These children of yours will live as shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, living with the fallout of your whoring unfaithfulness until the last of your generation lies a corpse in the wilderness.

46. there were approximately eighty-five funerals a dayseven per waking hour. Figuring that at least 1,200,000 people were to die in the next thirty-seven and a half years means that there were approximately eighty-five funerals a day, seven per waking hour. This would be a continuous reminder to Israel of God’s wrath and judgment on sin. Robert Hughes

47. Numbers 14:34-35 34 “‘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.’ 35 I, YaHWeH, 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!”

48. Numbers 14:36-38 were struck dead with a plague before YaHWeH. 36 The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against YaHWeH with their bad report— 37 were struck dead with a plague before YaHWeH. 38 Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.

49. Numbers 14:39-40 “We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land YaHWeH has promised us.” 39 When Moses reported YaHWeH’s words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief. 40 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 YaHWeH has promised us.”

50. How fickle is human nature! One day the nation was mourning because of their plight, and the next day they were recklessly trying to accomplish God’s work apart from God’s will and God’s blessing. They thought that because they had confessed their sin, God would change His mind and give them victory. Warren Wiersbe

51. Numbers 14:41-43 41 But Moses said, “Why are you now disobeying YaHWeH’s orders to return to the wilderness? It won’t work. 42 Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because YaHWeH is not with you. 43 When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. YaHWeH will abandon you because you have abandoned YaHWeH.”

52. Numbers 14:44-45 44 But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country 44 But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of YaHWeH’s Covenant left the camp… “They are like children who had broken a valuable vase and decided to ‘make it better’ by gluing it back together. The result of such action looks nothing like the original.” Tom Constable

53. Numbers 15:1-3 “When you finally settle in the land I am giving you, 1 Then YaHWeH told Moses, 2 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. “When you finally settle in the land I am giving you, 3 you will offer special gifts as a pleasing aroma to YaHWeH.

54. Numbers 15:22-26 22 “But suppose you unintentionally fail to carry out all these commands that YaHWeH has given you through Moses. 23 And suppose your descendants in the future fail to do everything YaHWeH has commanded through Moses. 24 If the mistake was made unintentionally…an unintentional sin, and they have corrected it with their offerings to YaHWeH… 26 The whole community of Israel will be forgiven.

55. Numbers 15:30-31 “But those who brazenly violate YaHWeH’s will, whether native-born Israelites or foreigners, have blasphemed YaHWeH, and they must be cut off from the community. deliberately disobeyed His command 30 “But those who brazenly violate YaHWeH’s will, whether native-born Israelites or foreigners, have blasphemed YaHWeH, and they must be cut off from the community. 31 Since they have treated YaHWeH’s word with contempt and deliberately disobeyed His command, they must be completely cut off and suffer the punishment for their guilt.”

56. Numbers 15:32-35 34 They held him in custody because they did not know what to do with him. 32 One day while the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they discovered a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 The people who found him doing this took him before Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the community. 34 They held him in custody because they did not know what to do with him. 35 Then YaHWeH said to Moses, “The man must be put to death!

57. Exodus 31:14–17 (NLT) 14 You must keep the Sabbath day, for it is a holy day for you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. 15 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the L ORD. Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.

58. Numbers 15:37-40 Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord.you will remember and obey all the commands of YaHWeH instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves The tassels will help you remember 38 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord. 39 When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of YaHWeH instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do. 40 The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God.

59. Numbers 15:41 I am YaHWeH your God I am YaHWeH your God 41 I am YaHWeH your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am YaHWeH your God!” Proverbs 9:10–11 (NASB95) 10 The fear of YaHWeH is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11 For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.