Rebellion Against Moses

(Book of Numbers 14:1 - 14:45)
Throughout the entire community there was an outcry; the people were weeping and wailing all through the night.  The Israelites brought their complaints to Moses and Aaron, telling them, "If only we had died in Egypt, or perished in the desert!  Why is Jehovah leading us into this land only to be slaughtered in battle?  Our wives and children will be carried off as captives of war.  Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?"  And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and journey back to Egypt."

Moses and Aaron then fell on their faces before the gathered assembly of the people of Israel.  Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two who were among the party that had scouted out the land, rent their garments and addressed the entire congregation.  "The land we traveled through and explored was an exceeding fine land.  If Jehovah is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.  But do not rebel against Jehovah.  And have no fear of the inhabitants of that land, for we will devour them.  Their defenses will crumble, with Jehovah on our side.  We need not fear them."

But the congregation were all bent on stoning them.  At that point the magnificence of Jehovah appeared before all the Israelites at the entrance to the Sanctum.  Jehovah complained to Moses, "How long are these people going to treat me with such contempt?  How long will they refuse to believe in me, despite all the miracles I have performed in their presence?  I will disown them.  I will strike them with plague and pestilence.  I will then create from your descendants a nation far greater and stronger than they."

Moses voiced his objection to Jehovah.  "But the Egyptians will hear about it!  You used your power to liberate the people and bring them out of Egypt.  The Egyptians will tell the inhabitants of this land about it.  They are well aware that you, Jehovah, are among your people, personally appearing before them, hovering above them in your airship, leading them by day in a cylindrical object that is lit up at night.  If you obliterate your people in one fell swoop, then the nations that hear this report about you will say, 'Jehovah was incapable of settling his people in the land he promised to give them, so he killed them all in the desert.'  Please, Jehovah, manifest your power as when you proclaimed, 'Jehovah is slow to anger, filled with unfailing loyalty, forgiving of sin and rebellion -- yet by no means excusing the guilty, laying punishment for the sins of the fathers not only upon their children, but upon their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.'  In keeping with the depth of your loving mercy, please pardon the sins of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time we set out from Egypt till now."

Jehovah responded, "I will pardon them as you have requested.  Even so, as I live, as the magnificence of Jehovah will spread across the face of entire earth, the people who witnessed my power and the miracles I performed in Egypt and in the desert, but who have doubted me time and time again and refused to do what I have told them, not one of them will be permitted to see the land I promised their ancestors I would give them: none who have shown their contempt for me will ever see it.  But because my servant Caleb is of a different mind and follows me with unswerving fidelity, I will settle him in the land that he scouted, and his descendants will occupy it. 

"Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites control the valleys, you should turn back tomorrow and follow the route to the desert along the Red Sea." 

Jehovah also told Moses and Aaron, "How long is this wicked community going to rail against me?   I have heard the complaints these Israelites make against me.  Well then, you can tell them this, 'As surely as I live, proclaims Jehovah, I will do to you exactly what I heard you say would happen to you.  You will drop dead in this very desert -- every one of you 20 years old or more and registered in the census who has spoken out against me.  I can assure you that none of you will enter the land I swore to give to you -- except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.  The children that you said will become captives of war I will bring in to the land that you objected to and introduce them to it.  As for you, you will all drop dead in the desert.  Your children will remain wanderers in the desert for 40 years and will suffer the penalty for your faithlessness until the last of your carcasses is entirely swallowed up by the desert.   Because the scouts explored the land for 40 days, you must wander for 40 years, a day for each year, as punishment for your sins.  You will then find out what it's like to have me as an enemy.  I, Jehovah, have spoken.  I will do these things without fail to every member of the community who conspired against me.  They will come to their end here in the desert and here they will die.'"

Thus the men whom Moses had dispatched as scouts and who had returned to incite the community against Moses with a false report about the land -- the men who were responsible for spreading that false report -- were struck down and died in front of the Inner Sanctum.  Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were the only members of the party sent out to scout the land that were still alive. 

When Moses conveyed Jehovah's words to the Israelites, they were moved to grief.  And so early the next morning they journeyed to the ridge overlooking the hill country and announced, " To be sure we have sinned, but now we are ready to go into the land promised to us by Jehovah."

Moses challenged them, "Why are you disobeying the orders of Jehovah?  This will not be successful.  Don’t go!  Jehovah will not be on your side.  You will be routed by your enemies, for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there.  Because you have turned away from Jehovah, he will not fight for you and you will fall in battle."

But the people defiantly went the ridge overlooking the hill country, (although neither Moses nor the Chest of Sacred Records left the camp).  The Amalekites and Cannaanites who inhabited the hill country came down and attacked them, driving them all the way back to Hormah.

Notes
1. Moses, who, despite the aid of Jehovah, has consistently had trouble cementing his position as national as well as religious leader, is faced again with a rebellion.  The yearnings of the people to return to Egypt might be understandable were it not for the presence of Jehovah.  Have they not witnessed the demonstrations of his power and his willingness to afflict death and destruction on an epic scale?  Yet, they still seem to have no fear of him, even as they have lost confidence in Moses.  The Israelties may be described not only as rebellious and disloyal, but stupid as well.

2. Jehovah is beside himself with exasperation.  His Chosen People just won't respect or obey him, no matter how many miracles he performs or how much he puts the fear of God in them.  And so he's pretty much decided to wipe them off the face of the earth and start again, creating a new nation from the descendants of Moses (and apparently not minding to wait 400 years for that to happen).  Of course, we have seen before Jehovah's recourse to mass murder and so his threats are to be taken seriously.  Moses, recognizing that his god has lapsed again into his psycho mode, mollifies him and shames him into relenting.  He appeals to his honor: he must keep his word, fulfill his promises.  But he first appeals to his vanity: his reputation would suffer if the Egyptians and other peoples found out about his failure.  (It is odd that the guideline for divine behavior is, "What would the Egyptians think?"!)

3.  Moses refers to Jehovah's forgiving nature.  We've seen little of that, and this seems no more than flattery on Moses’ part.  But he also mentions how he punishes the guilty person --  and the guilty person's children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  The concepts of ancestral and familial guilt, which civilized people today deplore and regard as grossly unfair, is a mainstay of Jehovan justice.  Vindictiveness is thus deemed a great virtue: apparently the longer you can harbor grievances and punish wrongs, the nobler your character.

4.  Moses declares that it is well known that Jehovah is with the Israelites on their journeys.  (Moses keeps abreast of all the international news.)  One may conclude that when Jehovah appears in the Inner Sanctum, he comes down not from Heaven, but from the heavens, that the ever-present cloud/pillar of fire is a cylindrical airship in which Jehovah rides.  Otherwise, Jehovah could not personally accompany the Israelites.

5.  Although Jehovah decides not to kill off his people, he is determined that none of them (save the loyal Joshua and Caleb) be allowed to enter the Promised Land, but must die in the desert, with their children wandering for 40 years.  Jehovah seems to take delight in inflicting punishment and is very pleased with himself when he kills, by some means, the 10 scouts who circulated the false report that turned the people against Jehovah.

6.  The Israelites, against Jehovah's order, enter the Promised Land, but, being taught another lesson and punished for defying Jehovah, they are defeated by the native inhabitants and driven back.  The bottom line is: the Israelites must not take action on their own.  Jehovah must make all the decisions, do all the thinking for them.  They can't win in battle, travel, or even eat without Jehovah's help.  They can't choose their own leader.  They can't decide where they want to emigrate.  And they certainly can't choose their own religion or manner of worship.  Instead of being slaves to the Egyptians, the Israelites find they have even less freedom as slaves of Jehovah. 

7. The Amalekites, the archenemies of the Israelites, were nomadic inhabitants of Edom, supposedly descended from Amalek, a grandson of Esau, the elder son of Isaac.  The Canaanites, supposed descended from a son of Ham, lived in the area west of the River Jordan, north of Edom.  Their number included the Phoenicians, who lived to the north in what is now Lebanon.  From 1550 to 1200 BC, which probably embraces the period of the Exodus, Canaan was controlled to various degrees by the Egyptians, although this fact does not seem to be part of the biblical narrative.  Hormah’s location is not known.  It was likely a city situated in northwestern Negev.