Manipulative Moses
Numbers 14
Mob mentality ensues. The defeatist dialogue dampened the Israelite's spirits- and they are ready to call it a day. In fact, they begin to weep and trash Moses and Aaron. They ask, why did God bring us here if we're just going to be killed anyhow? Our wives and children will become plunder for the enemy. Let's just choose a new leader and head back to Egypt.

So in a short span of time- they have rejected the Promised Land, rejected Moses and Aaron, and rejected God. Not a good long term plan. I don't understand the desire to trek back to captivity- but I do understand the fear they must have felt. It seems silly to think that they would doubt God's care after seeing what He'd taken them through- but I can imagine words of such negativity from leaders would strike fear deeply- especially regarding issues like death of myself and the potential capture, abuse, torture and death of my loved ones.

Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb speak up. Don't be so rash- if God's happy, He'll give us this land. As they tore their clothes they spoke of the greatness of the land- and God's providence. Their plea was to not rebel against God- and to be confident- with God, they could totally devour the inhabitants of the land.

Their reaction was to consider stoning the four- but God stepped in and He was none too pleased. In disbelief , He asked Moses, "What do I have to do to get these people to trust Me? They doubt Me even after all the signs? I'm done! I'm sending a plague down and I'll build a nation through you- a better nation than they are."

But Moses disapproves. "If You do this, it'll get back to the Egyptians and it will look like You couldn't do what said You could. Everyone knows about Your relationship with these people. If You reject them now- it'll just seem like things got too hard for You so You just slaughtered them. Instead- just do what You promised- let the world see Your strength. Forgive these idiots- just like You've been forgiving them from the beginning."

God seems to calm down a little and says, " I have forgiven them- but listen up, there's no way that any of them that saw My signs and tested me ten times will see the promised land. The people who treated Me with contempt will never see it. But Caleb is another story- he follows Me completely. His people will get the land. Tomorrow you need to turn back and head toward the Red Sea. Because of the grumbling- none of you 20 years or older will enter the land- except Caleb and Joshua. They were worried about their children being taken hostage? These same children will be the ones to get the land- in 40 years after the rest have died. They'll shepherd one year for each of the 40 days of the land exploration. Those 20 or older will die in the wilderness."

Moses reports back and the spies who offered skepticism are struck dead. Only Joshua and Caleb survived. The people all mourned but apparently thought they could change God's mind. The next morning they said, "What were we thinking? We can take this land with God's help."

Moses said, " You dummies! Weren't you listening? This won't work! God is NOT with you! You will fail!" But they went on- without Moses- without the ark of the covenant- and they were beaten by their enemies all the way to Hormah.

I'm struck again by the emotional capacity we see in God's personality. We think of God's love and anger and forgiveness- but here we see some of that emotion in action. God is irate! He plans on wiping out His people. It doesn't seem at this point like He's following the script of some predetrmined plan- He's letting His emotions make decisions for Him. And Moses is able to convince Him to change His mind. He seems to use flattery- and then logic. He uses logic to make God change His mind. Is this odd to anyone else? Had God not considered this viewpoint already?

Granted, once again Moses is painting himself as the hero- but there's something to this, right? God's plan has been altered- and then he is calmed down based on His interaction with His creation.

And the people- they try to change God's mind too- but in a more stupid way. They just act assuming God will relent. They assume everything will be ok if they only act now the way God wanted them to before. The window had closed. And it may be that our impulsive action does the same thing. When we bull our way through despite God's will we may end up with similar fate- and perhaps wondering where God was throughout it all.

Perhaps the lesson to learn here is timeliness. God adapts His will depending on context and circumstance. I would have done this- but now since We find Ourselves here, this is where I want things to go. I'm not suggesting that God changes his expectations for us, but that perhaps what we are expected to do may change depending on where we find ourselves. Sometimes action may be necessary- strong action trusting God is with us. Sometimes it may be important to recognize that the window for action has passed- and to act strongly may only cause harm to myself and others- and when this happens I can wait, and pray, and look for the next opportunity.