The results of the timid report made by the unbelieving explorers of Ca'naan were most distressing. The people of Is'ra-el were made fearful and angry, and expressed their dismay in a great tumult of shouting and lament. Rioting broke out in the camps of Is'ra-el, and the people were further distracted from peace and quiet by rumors and plots of every nature. In a fit of unjust murmuring against Mo'ses and Aa'ron, they cried that it would have been better to perish in E'gypt or in the wilderness than to die with their wives and children at the hands of the Ca'naan-ites.
The wild, unreasoning crowds even went so far as to blaspheme the name of God, and to accuse Him of deceit in bringing them out of the land of E'gypt. With daring impudence and base ingratitude they turnt against their great Benefactor and His servants.
Mo'ses and Aa'ron were much grieved by the disgraceful conduct of the Is'ra-el-ites, but remained calm and patient. They tried to urge the people to refrain from such foolish actions, and to obey the command of God; they finally threw themselves prostrate before the people in prayer to God.
Josh'u-a and Ca'leb sought again to calm the fears of the people, and for their faithfulness were threatened with death by stoning. These devoted leaders tried to convince the Is'ra-el-ites that in the following the directions of God they would be assured of His presence and power, and of certain victory over the inhabitants of the land of Ca'naan. All their efforts, however, were in vain.
In His righteous indignation over the blasphemy and lack of faith of Is'ra-el, and because they continued to be rebellious, the LORD declared to Mo'ses that He would destroy the whole nation by a plague, and would raise up another people for the occupation of Ca'naan from the family of Mo'ses alone. But Mo'ses thought more of Is'ra-el than of his own honor and glory, and pleaded with God to spare the people. He declared that the heathens back in E'gypt and those in Ca'naan would say in scorn that God was not able to establish His people in the land which He had promised to give them.
The earnest request of Mo'ses was granted by the LORD, but with certain conditions. The children of Is'ra-el were to wander in the wilderness for forty years before occupying the Promised Land, the 600,000 men over the age of twenty who had refused to enter Ca'naan when the LORD commanded should die without ever entering it, and the land would finally be given to the new generation to be born in the wilderness. Only Josh'u-a and Ca'leb were to be spared from this Divine Decree.
The people's sins of rebellion and blasphemy were pardoned in answer to the prayers of Mo'ses, but the privilege of occupying the Promised Land was denied for all time to those who had refused it after hearing the report of the spies. God's Covenant with Is'ra-el was preserved, but its blessings in respect to Ca'naan were reserved for a new generation. Is'ra-el was turnt away from the very doors of the Promised Land, and for forty years lived wandering life in the wilderness of the A-ra'bi-an Peninsula. We shall learn more about this in our next story.
