The following commentary covers Chapters 13 and 14.
Miriam
and Aaron speak against Moses
Next, the pleasant land is
despised. I shall here call the attention of the reader
to some points mentioned on this subject in other parts
of the Bible. [1]
Jehovah has brought the
people to the borders of the land; Moses tells them to go
up. The people propose sending spies; Moses consents. It
seems that they had God's sanction, for they went
according to the word of the Lord. But this request was
prompted by the weakness and unbelief of the people.
There are many things commanded of God, and which we are
bound to do as soon as they are the object of a command
from Him, in the result of which His ways are displayed,
which, however, are only owing to our lack of faith. The
consequence of it is, that the result abundantly confirms
the faith of the faithful, of the remnant; but unbelief
reaps what it has sown. So it is in this case. First, the
report brought to Moses is in a right spirit; but the
difficulties immediately present themselves, and unbelief
measures them with man, instead of with God. Then the
witnesses draw their words from the people's feelings,
and express a judgment founded on their unbelief.
Having thus entirely
departed in heart from the Lord, and fallen into the
current of the unbelief of the people, through their own,
they belie the convictions they had formed when enjoying
the sight of the goodness of Jehovah, and come to declare
that the land even is bad, and end with justifying
themselves by complaining of God. For now it is no longer
Moses who has brought them here, it is God Himself; they
accuse Him of it. Moreover, they cannot contain their
rage against those whose faithful testimony condemns
their unbelief.
The consequences
of the unbelief of the mass
How often is this the
case, that the difficulties which draw out the unbelief
of the heart lead to speak evil of the position to which
we have been divinely called, and of which once we had
tasted the blessedness! All flowed from forgetfulness of
God: Was He a grasshopper, in comparison with the sons of
Anak? What matter if walls were high, if they fell down
at the blowing of a ram's horn? But now God Himself
interferes. They will be dealt with according to their
faith; they shall perish in the wilderness, according to
their wish. The faithful ones and the children will alone
be brought into the land; but not without undergoing, in
their march, the consequences of the unbelief of the
mass. However, other hopes and other consolations will be
their portion.
Moses'
intercession and its effect
The effect of the
intercession of Moses is to obtain from God that the
people should be spared; but this is His
declaration—He will be glorified in judgment over a
rebellious people who despise the promises, and the
earth shall thus be filled with His glory. Moses
here appeals to the revelation of the name of Jehovah, on
which footing He governs the people, and not to the
promises made to the fathers; and the answer he receives
is in keeping with that name. Caleb prefigures the
faithful remnant; Joshua is not named (ver. 24), for he
represents Christ introducing the people into the land of
promise.
Unbelief gives no
escape from difficulties
At the end of the forty
years Caleb was obliged to subdue, name for name, the
same persons who had filled the souls of the spies with
terror. Unbelief, when in spite of it we are to enjoy the
effects of the promise, does not make us escape the
difficulties. In fine, when we have judged the folly of
unbelief, and we see the consequences of it, it is of no
avail, because of these last, to undertake a work. God is
not with us; and, if we persist in going up, we shall
find the enemy such as our unbelief has pictured him to
us.
Numbers 13 Bible Commentary
John Darby’s Synopsis
Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses
Next, the pleasant land is despised. I shall here call the attention of the reader to some points mentioned on this subject in other parts of the Bible. [1]
Jehovah has brought the people to the borders of the land; Moses tells them to go up. The people propose sending spies; Moses consents. It seems that they had God's sanction, for they went according to the word of the Lord. But this request was prompted by the weakness and unbelief of the people. There are many things commanded of God, and which we are bound to do as soon as they are the object of a command from Him, in the result of which His ways are displayed, which, however, are only owing to our lack of faith. The consequence of it is, that the result abundantly confirms the faith of the faithful, of the remnant; but unbelief reaps what it has sown. So it is in this case. First, the report brought to Moses is in a right spirit; but the difficulties immediately present themselves, and unbelief measures them with man, instead of with God. Then the witnesses draw their words from the people's feelings, and express a judgment founded on their unbelief.
Having thus entirely departed in heart from the Lord, and fallen into the current of the unbelief of the people, through their own, they belie the convictions they had formed when enjoying the sight of the goodness of Jehovah, and come to declare that the land even is bad, and end with justifying themselves by complaining of God. For now it is no longer Moses who has brought them here, it is God Himself; they accuse Him of it. Moreover, they cannot contain their rage against those whose faithful testimony condemns their unbelief.
The consequences of the unbelief of the mass
How often is this the case, that the difficulties which draw out the unbelief of the heart lead to speak evil of the position to which we have been divinely called, and of which once we had tasted the blessedness! All flowed from forgetfulness of God: Was He a grasshopper, in comparison with the sons of Anak? What matter if walls were high, if they fell down at the blowing of a ram's horn? But now God Himself interferes. They will be dealt with according to their faith; they shall perish in the wilderness, according to their wish. The faithful ones and the children will alone be brought into the land; but not without undergoing, in their march, the consequences of the unbelief of the mass. However, other hopes and other consolations will be their portion.
Moses' intercession and its effect
The effect of the intercession of Moses is to obtain from God that the people should be spared; but this is His declaration—He will be glorified in judgment over a rebellious people who despise the promises, and the earth shall thus be filled with His glory. Moses here appeals to the revelation of the name of Jehovah, on which footing He governs the people, and not to the promises made to the fathers; and the answer he receives is in keeping with that name. Caleb prefigures the faithful remnant; Joshua is not named (ver. 24), for he represents Christ introducing the people into the land of promise.
Unbelief gives no escape from difficulties
At the end of the forty years Caleb was obliged to subdue, name for name, the same persons who had filled the souls of the spies with terror. Unbelief, when in spite of it we are to enjoy the effects of the promise, does not make us escape the difficulties. In fine, when we have judged the folly of unbelief, and we see the consequences of it, it is of no avail, because of these last, to undertake a work. God is not with us; and, if we persist in going up, we shall find the enemy such as our unbelief has pictured him to us.
[1] See Deuteronomy 1: 20-23.