21 but indeed , as I live , all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord . 22 "Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness , yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice , 23 shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers , nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. 24 "But My servant Caleb , because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully , I will bring into the land which he entered , and his descendants shall take possession of it. 25 " Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys ; turn tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the Red e Sea ." 26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron , saying , 27 "How long e shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel , which they are making against Me. 28 "Say to them, ' As I live ,' says the Lord , 'just as you have spoken in My hearing , so I will surely do to you; 29 your corpses will fall in this wilderness , even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward , who have grumbled against Me.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 14:21-29
Commentary on Numbers 14:20-35
(Read Numbers 14:20-35)
The Lord granted the prayer of Moses so far as not at once to destroy the congregation. But disbelief of the promise forbids the benefit. Those who despise the pleasant land shall be shut out of it. The promise of God should be fulfilled to their children. They wished to die in the wilderness; God made their sin their ruin, took them at their word, and their carcases fell in the wilderness. They were made to groan under the burden of their own sin, which was too heavy for them to bear. Ye shall know my breach of promise, both the causes of it, that it is procured by your sin, for God never leaves any till they first leave him; and the consequences of it, that will produce your ruin. But your little ones, now under twenty years old, which ye, in your unbelief, said should be a prey, them will I bring in. God will let them know that he can put a difference between the guilty and the innocent, and cut them off without touching their children. Thus God would not utterly take away his loving kindness.