Nu 14 Yikes! Enough is enough.
The
weeping, moaning, faithless congregation has finally provoked the LORD enough
to incur a final judgment against them.
·
1-4: the congregation complains
·
5-9: Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb urge the
people to get a grip
·
10: The people want to stone them and the
LORD appears
·
11-19: the LORD tells Moses He’ll wipe them
out and make a mighty nation of Moses; Moses talks the LORD out of it
·
20-38: only Caleb and Joshua will see the
promised land; they will wander 40 years and all the people over 20 years old
will die in the wilderness
·
39-40: the people think they can make right
and go to fight the Amalekites; the Amalekites and Canaanites soundly beat them
back.
Desperate
for the people to understand, Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before the
congregation. Joshua and Caleb tear their clothes.
It’s
an exceedingly good [bwj towb] land. Towb
is a good Hebrew word to know. It means “good.” It’s used 559 times.
Joshua
and Caleb say to the people:
8 If the LORD delight
[Upx chaphets] in us, then he will bring [awb bow'] us into this land, and give [Ntn nathan] it us; a
land which floweth with milk and honey.
o
Chaphets = to delight in, take pleasure
in, desire, be pleased with, favor
o
Bow ’= lead in, carry in, bring in,
bring to pass
o
Nathan = give, put, set, cause (a
primitive root, used 2008 times); multiple layers of meaning.
9
Only rebel [drm marad] not ye against the LORD, neither fear [ary yare'] ye the
people of the land; for they are
bread [Mxl lechem] for us: their defence [lu tsel] is departed [rwo cuwr] from them,
and the LORD is with us: fear [ary yare'] them not.
o
Marad = rebel, revolt, be rebellious
o
Yare’ = fear, revere, be afraid
o
Lechem = bread, food, grain
o
Tsel = shadow, shade, defense
o
Cuwr = depart, turn aside (primitive
root used 301 times
[Yare’ and cuwr appeared in chapter 12. Then, the LORD asked why Miriam and
Aaron weren’t yare’ to speak against
Moses. It is good to yare’ speaking
against God’s man. It is not good to yare’
God’s enemies. As the cloud cuwr-d
from the tabernacle, so the defense of the people of the land has cuwr-d.]
Joshua
and Caleb’s words of faith didn’t help. The congregation wants to stone (kill!)
them. The dwbk kabowd, the glory
of the LORD, appears before all the children of Israel.
If
this is all happening in rapid succession, Moses and Aaron are either still on
their faces, or perhaps the mob has grabbed all four of them.
When
the kabod appears, did everyone
stand motionless? Did they run away? Maybe they let go of the four men and
Moses enters the tabernacle. In verse 39, it says Moses tells the children of
Israel what the LORD said.
I
muse about this moment because it seems that the children of Israel have no
clue what Moses has just done for them. He saves their skins, he declines an amazing
offer for his own life and reminds the LORD of His character, all the while
talking the LORD into preserving His own reputation.
In
a way, it really doesn’t matter if they heard what Moses just did for them,
since even witnessing miracles didn’t change their hearts. It’s mighty hard to
shake some sense into someone who won’t change. That does little for my urge to
grab someone and holler, “Don’t you see what he has just done? Don’t you get it?”
There’s
a William Wyler film (besides Ben Hur),
called The Big Country. It’s a little
violent and harsh although the violence pales in comparison to today’s films.
James McKay (Gregory Peck) quietly proves his manhood while his fiancée
Patricia Terrill (Carroll Baker) wants him to show it. In one scene, Patricia
argues with Julie Maragon (Jean Simmons), saying if he loved her, he’d prove
himself. Julie says if she loved him, he shouldn’t have to. Sadly, Patricia
never gets it.
Shameless
promo: Atticus Finch on horseback. Can't go wrong with that. Oh yeah, Charlton Heston is in it too. Watch
it on your next “oldies” night.
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