02.25.2016 Old Testament: Num 14.20–23

To read the Bible in a year, read Numbers 14–15 on February 25, In the year of our Lord 2016

By Don Ruhl

The children of Israel, led by ten of the 12 spies, did not believe that they could take the Land of Canaan, forgetting the mighty plagues from the Lord that they witnessed on Egypt and the wonderful ways in which the Lord provided for Israel in the wilderness. They angered the Lord,

Then the LORD said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD—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 14.20–23).

The influence that Moses had with the Lord staggers the mind, but Moses could only influence the Lord to forgive Israel, not to let them enter into the Land of Canaan, for they could not experience what they could so easily have taken, if only they believed in the power of the Lord.

Questions:

• Can we argue with the government that we should not suffer for crimes because we sought the Lord’s forgiveness and He gave it?
• Why did Moses have such influence with the Lord?
• Do you think you have any influence with the Lord?