The People Rebel – Numbers 14
- The people raise a great cry and grumble against Moses and Aaron, asking why God has brought them out of Egypt and the wilderness to die at the hands of those who inhabit the Promised Land. They question whether it would be better to return to Egypt, and plot to choose a new leader.
- Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before the people. Joshua and Caleb tear their clothing and claim that the Promised Land is an exceedingly good land, and that if the Lord delights in His people, He will bring them into it. They claim that the land's inhabitants will have their protection removed from them, and that the Hebrew people shouldn't fear them because God will be with them. The Israelites want to stone them.
- God asks Moses how long the people will despise Him and not trust Him, then says He will strike them with a pestilence, disinherit them, and make of Moses a nation much more mighty than they are.
Moses Intercedes for the People
- Moses points out that if God wipes out the Hebrew people, their enemies will hear of it and claim that the people died because the Lord could not bring His people into the land He swore to them. Moses asks God to remember His claim that He is slow to anger. abounding in steadfast love, and forgiving of iniquity, and he begs God to pardon the people's iniquities.
God Promises Judgment
- God agrees to pardon the Israelite's behavior, but warns that none of the people who have seen His signs yet have put Him to the test will be able to enter the land God promised to their forefathers. God will bring Caleb into the land, and his descendants will possess it. He tells Moses that since the Amalekites and Canaanites dwell in the valleys, the Israelites are to set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.
- God tells Moses and Aaron to instruct the people that all of them who have grumbled against the Lord will not be permitted to enter the Promised Land. The only ones allowed to enter the land will be Joshua and Caleb and the Israelite children. The rest will die in the wilderness, and their children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years due to their parents' faithlessness.
- The ten spies who grumbled against the Lord die of a plague sent by God.
Israel Defeated in Battle
- The people mourn greatly. They get up early in the morning and go into the hill country, saying they will now go to the land the Lord promised them.
- Moses instructs them not to disobey the Lord (as God has said they will not enter the Promised Land) because if they do, God will allow them to be destroyed by their enemies. The people ignore Moses' words, and the Amalekites and Canaanites defeat them and pursue them to Hormah.
Laws about Sacrifices – Numbers 15
- God tells Moses to again tell the people about how they are to make their sacrifices when they come into the Promised Land. In addition to the various offerings (see Leviticus 1–7), these now must be accompanied by appropriate quantities of meal, oil, and wine. When they reach the land, they are also to bake a loaf of bread and present it to the Lord.
Laws about Unintentional Sins
- God tells Moses to again tell the people how they are to atone for sins done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation (see Leviticus 4).
A Sabbathbreaker Executed
- While in the wilderness, the Hebrew people find a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath. He is brought to Moses and Aaron, and God tells them that the man is to be put to death. He is stoned to death outside the camp.
Tassels on Garments
- God tells Moses to instruct the people to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. The tassel is to remind them of the commandments of the Lord.
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