11The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? - P116
18‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’
19In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."
20The Lord replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked.
21Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth,
22not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—
23not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.
- P117
24But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.
- P117
25Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea." - P117
The Israelites deserve to be struck down because they have treated God with contempt. However, Moses appeals to God, suggesting how the Egyptians and other nations will react when they hear that His promises have not been fulfilled. - P118
Moses asks God to act according to His great love and forgive His people for their sin and rebellion. The people wanted a new leader, and Moses could have cut them off in his heart. Instead, he does not hesitate to intervene, going before God and asking Him to spare them. - P118
We are called to have that same heart toward those around us. Even when people sin against us, we can be forgiving and merciful and ask for God’s grace upon them. - P118
While God forgives the Israelites in accordance with Moses’ prayer, He judges them by declaring that those who did not believe will not enter the promised land. They should have known better because they had seen the signs God performed in Egypt, but they continued to disobey Him. - P118
It greatly dishonors God when we witness His faithfulness repeatedly, and yet persist in doubting Him. - P118
God has proven Himself faithful in our lives, and we honor Him when we put our trust in Him no matter the circumstance. - P118
We are to be more like Caleb, who did not doubt the Lord. As a result, he and his descendants would receive their full inheritance. May each of us possess a heart like Caleb’s, following God wholly. - P118
Dear Lord, thank you for Your steadfast love and forgiveness. - P119
Help me know Your heart, and empower me to trust in You rather than disobey You like the Israelites did in their unbelief. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen. - P119
God declares that no one who was counted in the census will enter the prom-ised land apart from Joshua and Caleb. - P121
The adults will die in the wilderness,
but God promises to bring their children into the land. The Israelites are towander in the wilderness for forty years. The ten spies who brought a badreport die of a plague. - P121
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