Word of Encouragement (10/18/2022)

Pastor James
October 18, 2022

But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, 16 ‘It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” (Num. 14:13-19)

We have been here before—God threatening to wipe out the Israelites and Moses pleading for God’s mercy. Last time, it was because they made a golden calf right after accepting God’s covenant with them. This time, it was because the Israelites accused God of bringing them out only to kill them by the sword of the Canaanites, complained that it would have been better for them to have died in the wilderness, and refused to enter the promised land.

Why did God do this, fully knowing what would happen—that Moses would plead, appealing to God’s patience and mercy, reminding God of what would happen to His reputation if He destroyed His own people, and He would relent, again? Do you remember what we said last time? It was to show the gravity of their sin—that it deserved nothing less than annihilation. When forgiveness is readily and freely given, the one being forgiven may not recognize how serious his offense was and how much grace is being extended to him for forgiveness. This had to be done to show how heinous their sin was not only to the Israelites but also to all those who would read about it.

But why go through this again? This served as a double witness against Israel’s sinfulness. Their idolatry at Mount Sinai was not just a slip, just an accident. They were a sinful people, who rebelled against God whenever an opportunity presented itself. And these instances of their sins were recorded as evidence of their rebelliousness. So, should God decide to judge them, they would have no excuse.

And we realize that this was not just a repeat of the previous incident at Mount Sinai. Even though God relented this time, too, He did not simply forgive and forget. He would not destroy them at that very moment but those, who were twenty or older at the time of the Sinaic Covenant (except for Joshua and Caleb), would die in the wilderness before the next generation could enter the promised land.

This shows that, while God is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.” God is patient but His patience doesn’t last forever. We know that Israel would eventually be cast out of the promised land someday as the ultimate form of God’s judgment on them as a nation. This was what happened to the Canaanites when their iniquity reached its full measure (Gen. 15:16). This is true even for Christians—not that they will be judged by God but, if they persist in sin, they will be disciplined by God as rebellious children are disciplined by their loving father.

So, let us not presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). Let us be slow to sin but quick to confess our sins and repent of them as God deals with us in His patience and steadfast love, being slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.