Numbers 17

Numbers 17:2

Reaction of the People to the Report

All the people revolt against Moses and Aaron. They cry loudly. However, it is not a crying because they repent. It is a manifestation of rebellion and rejection of God. They weep “that night”, indicating not only the darkness around them, but symbolically also the darkness of their unbelief. In their unbelief they accuse God of causing their wives and children to die by the sword. This is a wicked claim, which stems from a rebellious heart.

They speak out clearly that they want to return to Egypt. Later Nehemiah is still ashamed of this folly. This is what we hear in his prayer to God: “They refused to listen, and did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; so they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt” (Nehemiah 9:17a). What they want here, the LORD will announce as a punishment for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:68a). They even indicate that they would rather die in the wilderness than enter the land God has chosen for them. They want another leader and thus reject Moses, the God-given leader. Prophetically, this anticipates the rejection of the Lord Jesus and the choice of the people for the antichrist (John 5:43).

Numbers 17:3

Reaction of the People to the Report

All the people revolt against Moses and Aaron. They cry loudly. However, it is not a crying because they repent. It is a manifestation of rebellion and rejection of God. They weep “that night”, indicating not only the darkness around them, but symbolically also the darkness of their unbelief. In their unbelief they accuse God of causing their wives and children to die by the sword. This is a wicked claim, which stems from a rebellious heart.

They speak out clearly that they want to return to Egypt. Later Nehemiah is still ashamed of this folly. This is what we hear in his prayer to God: “They refused to listen, and did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; so they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt” (Nehemiah 9:17a). What they want here, the LORD will announce as a punishment for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:68a). They even indicate that they would rather die in the wilderness than enter the land God has chosen for them. They want another leader and thus reject Moses, the God-given leader. Prophetically, this anticipates the rejection of the Lord Jesus and the choice of the people for the antichrist (John 5:43).

Numbers 17:4

Reaction of the People to the Report

All the people revolt against Moses and Aaron. They cry loudly. However, it is not a crying because they repent. It is a manifestation of rebellion and rejection of God. They weep “that night”, indicating not only the darkness around them, but symbolically also the darkness of their unbelief. In their unbelief they accuse God of causing their wives and children to die by the sword. This is a wicked claim, which stems from a rebellious heart.

They speak out clearly that they want to return to Egypt. Later Nehemiah is still ashamed of this folly. This is what we hear in his prayer to God: “They refused to listen, and did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; so they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt” (Nehemiah 9:17a). What they want here, the LORD will announce as a punishment for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:68a). They even indicate that they would rather die in the wilderness than enter the land God has chosen for them. They want another leader and thus reject Moses, the God-given leader. Prophetically, this anticipates the rejection of the Lord Jesus and the choice of the people for the antichrist (John 5:43).

Numbers 17:5

Reaction of the People to the Report

All the people revolt against Moses and Aaron. They cry loudly. However, it is not a crying because they repent. It is a manifestation of rebellion and rejection of God. They weep “that night”, indicating not only the darkness around them, but symbolically also the darkness of their unbelief. In their unbelief they accuse God of causing their wives and children to die by the sword. This is a wicked claim, which stems from a rebellious heart.

They speak out clearly that they want to return to Egypt. Later Nehemiah is still ashamed of this folly. This is what we hear in his prayer to God: “They refused to listen, and did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; so they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt” (Nehemiah 9:17a). What they want here, the LORD will announce as a punishment for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:68a). They even indicate that they would rather die in the wilderness than enter the land God has chosen for them. They want another leader and thus reject Moses, the God-given leader. Prophetically, this anticipates the rejection of the Lord Jesus and the choice of the people for the antichrist (John 5:43).

Numbers 17:6

Reaction of Moses and Aaron

With this new revelation of rebellion and unbelief, Moses and Aaron fall on their faces to the ground in dejection. They do this before the people, not so much before the LORD. In this way they show that they are, as it were, broken by the mind of the people. The attitude of Moses and Aaron expresses their humility. It seems like a plea to the people to finally continue in faith. But their attitude does not impress the people.

Numbers 17:7

Testimony of Joshua and Caleb

Caleb and Joshua also show how sad they are about the reaction of the people. They tear their clothes, which is always a sign of mourning and dejection. Then they repeat what they said the day before. Their vision of the land and what God is capable of has not changed. They speak the language of faith and point out what God is capable of. In the midst of so much unbelief, the faith of the few radiates all the brighter.

By saying “they will be our prey” Joshua and Caleb suggest that the people will feed more on the enemies than they will have to fight with them. To subject the enemy will be easy and beneficial. So they don’t have to worry about it. Their enemies are without protection because God removed it from them. Add to this the fact that the LORD is with His people. What is there still to fear?

Numbers 17:8

Testimony of Joshua and Caleb

Caleb and Joshua also show how sad they are about the reaction of the people. They tear their clothes, which is always a sign of mourning and dejection. Then they repeat what they said the day before. Their vision of the land and what God is capable of has not changed. They speak the language of faith and point out what God is capable of. In the midst of so much unbelief, the faith of the few radiates all the brighter.

By saying “they will be our prey” Joshua and Caleb suggest that the people will feed more on the enemies than they will have to fight with them. To subject the enemy will be easy and beneficial. So they don’t have to worry about it. Their enemies are without protection because God removed it from them. Add to this the fact that the LORD is with His people. What is there still to fear?

Numbers 17:9

Testimony of Joshua and Caleb

Caleb and Joshua also show how sad they are about the reaction of the people. They tear their clothes, which is always a sign of mourning and dejection. Then they repeat what they said the day before. Their vision of the land and what God is capable of has not changed. They speak the language of faith and point out what God is capable of. In the midst of so much unbelief, the faith of the few radiates all the brighter.

By saying “they will be our prey” Joshua and Caleb suggest that the people will feed more on the enemies than they will have to fight with them. To subject the enemy will be easy and beneficial. So they don’t have to worry about it. Their enemies are without protection because God removed it from them. Add to this the fact that the LORD is with His people. What is there still to fear?

Numbers 17:10

Testimony of Joshua and Caleb

Caleb and Joshua also show how sad they are about the reaction of the people. They tear their clothes, which is always a sign of mourning and dejection. Then they repeat what they said the day before. Their vision of the land and what God is capable of has not changed. They speak the language of faith and point out what God is capable of. In the midst of so much unbelief, the faith of the few radiates all the brighter.

By saying “they will be our prey” Joshua and Caleb suggest that the people will feed more on the enemies than they will have to fight with them. To subject the enemy will be easy and beneficial. So they don’t have to worry about it. Their enemies are without protection because God removed it from them. Add to this the fact that the LORD is with His people. What is there still to fear?

Numbers 17:11

The People and the LORD React

The rebellion of the people against the LORD is the only reason they will not enter the land. No one is excluded from Canaan except those who exclude themselves from it, those who do not want to go in. The language of the faith of Caleb and Joshua isn’t catching on. A people who do not want to believe is not convinced by the most powerful arguments.

The language of the faith of Caleb and Joshua puts the unbelief of the people in the true light. The people even talk about stoning the faithful witnesses. This has always been the reaction of the unbelieving people to the witnesses of God (Matthew 23:37; Acts 7:51; 59; Revelation 11:7; 10).

Then the glory of the LORD appears. This happens four times in this book (Numbers 14:10; Numbers 16:19; 42; Numbers 20:6) and always in, humanly speaking, hopeless situations. In these cases, God confirms His absolute rights.

Numbers 17:12

The Proposal of the LORD

God does not intend to consume the people. He wants people to pray to Him. To this end He challenges Moses, as it were. He knows the heart of Moses. For Him it is not necessary to reveal what is in it, but He wants us to learn from it. He proposes Moses to make him a new people. He already proposed this in Exodus 32 in response to the events concerning the golden calf (Exodus 32:10).

Numbers 17:13

The Proposal of the LORD

God does not intend to consume the people. He wants people to pray to Him. To this end He challenges Moses, as it were. He knows the heart of Moses. For Him it is not necessary to reveal what is in it, but He wants us to learn from it. He proposes Moses to make him a new people. He already proposed this in Exodus 32 in response to the events concerning the golden calf (Exodus 32:10).