• Israel's Behavior After the Exodus
• • A complaining people
  • • Israel complained about the lack of food in the wilderness - God met the need with manna (Exod. 16:2-36) and later with meat (Num. 11:4-35)
    • Israel complained about the lack of water - God provided water twice from a rock (Exod. 17:2-7, Num 20:2-13)
  • A rebellious people
  • • Against Moses
    • • Rebellion of Aaron and Miriam (Num. 12:1-15)
      • • Moses' marriage to a Cushite woman is mentioned as the cause of tension (Num. 12:1) but in reality Aaron and Miriam wondered why God did not speak through them since they were Moses' brother and sister respectively
        • God settled the dispute by confirming the special role of Moses and then punished Miriam with leprosy - Moses interceded for his sister and the leprosy was removed although she had to go through a period of cleansing - Aaron was not plagued with leprosy probably because as priest, Israel could not afford to have him unclean - in a sense he shared in Miriam's disgrace
      • Rebellion of the people after the spies' report (Num. 13:25-14:38)
      • • The 12 spies who returned from investigating Canaan all agreed it was a beautiful and rich place and that it was defended by seasoned, strong warriors
        • Two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, argued God would give Israel the land if Israel had faith - the other 10 spies disagreed not believing that Israel even with God's help could take the land
        • When Moses sided with Caleb and Joshua, the people wanted to elect a new leader and return to Egypt - they preferred "safe, known" slavery to "dangerous, facing the unknown" freedom
        • God punished the rebellion by allowing only Caleb and Joshua from that entire generation to enter Canaan - the others would die in the wilderness
        • Some interesting points
        • • The spy mission was commanded by God according to Num. 13:1-2 but was asked for by the people according to Deut. 1:22-23 - later Joshua would continue the practice of sending out spies (Josh. 2:1, 7:2) without being condemned by God for doing so
          • Moses was part of the generation that would die in the wilderness - the only question would be how close Moses would get to Canaan before he died
      • Rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Num. 16:1-40)
      • • Again the question was if all the people were chosen, why did Moses have such a special place - Korah in particular was a Levite who worked in the tabernacle and apparently wanted more authority
        • God again confirmed the special position of Moses and caused the earth to swallow up Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their entire families (cf. Josh 7:22-26)
    • Against God
    • • Any rebellion against Moses can also be considered a rebellion against God since Moses was God's chosen leader
      • Golden calf incident (Exod. 32:1-35)
      • • The problem was access to God
        • • God spoke through Moses - the trouble was that Moses was not always available - in this account, while the people were at the base of the mountain wondering what to do and if Moses was dead, Moses was at the top of the mountain talking with God - if Moses was the only one through whom God had chosen to speak but Moses was absent, how could the people communicate with God?
          • Other nations had images through which gods could speak and make themselves visible and their wills known - perhaps Israel should also have an image which would always be available as an access to God
        • Punishment
        • • Aaron provided one of the lamest excuses ever when he told Moses that the people had tossed gold into the fire and out came a golden calf (Exod. 32:24) - his comment was a lie since earlier the golden calf had been cast and engraved (Exod. 32:4) - perhaps his excuse intended to implicate God as approving of the image by magically creating it
          • The Levites ordained themselves for God's special service as His tribe by killing 3,000 people who favored using images (Exod. 32:29)
          • God sent a plague to further punish the people (Exod. 32:35)
    • Moses' rebellion (Num. 20:2-13)
    • • When the people complained of the lack of water, God instructed Moses to speak to a rock and water would come out
      • Moses instead struck the rock twice with his rod much like he had done earlier (Exod. 17:2-7)
      • Interestingly enough water still gushed forth - Moses' disobedience did not preclude God meeting the people's need
      • Moses' disobedience prevented him from entering Canaan - the punishment has always seemed extreme to many since Moses spent 40 years obeying God and leading and interceding for a recalcitrant people
      • The entire chapter speaks of death - Miriam' death is reported at the beginning (Num. 20:1) and Aaron's at the end (Num. 20:22-29) - Edom's refusal to allow Israel to pass through its territory meant the death of any hope that even distant relatives would rejoice in Israel's homecoming (Num. 20:14-21) - the announced death of Moses fits the morose nature of the chapter
• Portrayal of God
• • God of concern and patience
  • • Brought His people out of slavery in Egypt
    • Provided for their physical needs with manna, meat, and water
    • In at least one instance, He overlooked the people's sin and simply warned them again (Exod. 16:27-30)
    • Willing to give the people second chances - but it was Moses' intercession which accomplished this - Moses twice appealed to God's honor and name to prevent God from destroying the people (Exod. 32:11-14, Num. 14:13-19)
  • God of wrath and destruction
  • • Once when the people complained, God sent a fire to consume some of the people (Num. 11:1-3) - there is no clear indication in the text that the people who were killed by the fire were the ones who complained
    • When the people craved meat, God gave it to them - He said He would stuff the people with meat for a month so they would be sick of it - when He sent the quails, He changed His mind and sent a plague upon the people while the meat was still in their mouths
    • Another time when the people complained about the food, God sent fiery serpents which bit and killed the people - a bronze serpent was made and placed atop a pole so that those who were bit could look at the bronze serpent and not die (Num. 21:5-9) - the bronze serpent was not removed from the Temple until the reform of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4) so perhaps the people got their image anyway
    • Twice God declared that He would destroy Israel and begin again with Moses (Exod. 32:9-10, Num 14:12) - only Moses' intercession for the people spared them (also see Num. 16:20-24)
• Moses the Intercessor
• • As an intercessor Moses represented God to the people and the people to God - the best example of this role is Exodus 32 - in this account Moses pled with God for mercy upon His people but then angrily denounced Aaron and the people to show them how angry God was with their behavior and lack of faith
  • Moses was one of the few people in history who were willing to stand between God and the people and negotiate with both sides - the role of intercessor is a dangerous and thankless one which requires courage and genuine concern
• Balaam (Num. 22:1-24:25)
• • Balaam was a non-Israelite prophet hired by King Balak of Moab to curse the Israelites who were approaching Moab - Balaam refused to go unless God stated that would be acceptable - God finally agreed to let Balaam go but warned Balaam to say only what God told him
  • Balaam and his donkey (Num. 22:21-35)
  • • Chief problem is why God commanded Balaam to go and then tried to stop him (cf. Exod. 4:24-26) - perhaps God simply wanted to emphasize His power and Balaam's responsibility to obey completely
    • Text plays down the fact that the donkey talked - crucial point is that Balaam listened and heard God (as in the account of Moses and the burning bush - Exod. 3:1-4)
    • Perhaps to the Hebrews, Balaam's instruction by his donkey was a joke - "Who guides non-Israelite prophets? Donkeys. Who guides Israelite prophets? God of the Heavens and the Earth."
  • God used this non-Israelite prophet to demonstrate that His influence extended not only over Egypt and Israel but over the other nations as well
  • There is nothing in the account to suggest Balaam was an obstacle to Israel (cf. Micah 6:5) although later writers implied as much (e.g., Deut. 23:4-5, Josh. 24:9-10, Neh. 13:2, 2 Peter 2:15-16, Rev. 2:14)

Above artwork by Nicolas Poussin from the Bible Picture Library of Photo Art (c) Christian Computer Art, 1994-97

Artwork by Rembrandt from the Bible Picture Library of Photo Art (c) Christian Computer Art, 1994-97