We've been studying the reaction of many of the Israelites to the report of the twelve men who spied out the land of Canaan for forty days. Ten of the men came back believing the task was impossible, even though the Lord had assured them victory. These ten men incited the assembly into anger and rebellion---to the point that the people accused the Lord of leading them to their doom. They stated that the Lord intended their men to fall by the sword and their women and children to be taken captive by the tribes of Canaan. At this point a plot began to form in which they would stone Moses and Aaron to death, select a new leader, and head back to Egypt.
The Lord was angry with their faithlessness. He told Moses he could send a plague into the camp and destroy all but the family line of faithful Moses so that only Moses' descendants inherited the promised land. But Moses interceded on behalf of the people. Moses interceded also for the glory of the Lord, for he was concerned that neighboring nations and tribes would mock the name of the Lord and say, "He was unable to deliver to the promised land those He rescued from Egypt. The Lord's power was not great enough to do what He said He would do." The Lord heard the intercessory prayer of Moses and stated He would refrain from destroying the faithless. However, there will be a penalty for the unbelief and rebellion that took place in the camp.
In response to Moses' prayer we are told: "The Lord replied, 'I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of those who saw My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed Me and tested Me ten times---not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated Me with contempt will ever see it. But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.'" (Numbers 14:20-24) Caleb was one of the twelve spies sent to Canaan. Only he and Joshua, out of twelve men, came back saying, "We can do this! The Lord is with us!" The Lord doesn't mention Joshua here along with Caleb but later in our passage He will state that only Joshua and Caleb, from among the twelve spies and from among the men of fighting age in Israel, will enter the promised land. All the other men of fighting age (they had to be at least twenty years old to be counted for the army) will be prevented from entering the land they didn't believe the Lord was capable of giving to them.
Because of the faithlessness in the camp, the Lord is not going to allow Israel to enter the promised land at this time. This means if her soldiers tried to go up against any of the tribes of Canaan, they would be met with defeat because the Lord is not with them in battle. Due to their unbelief the Lord will not empower them with the strength to overcome the heathens of the promised land until the generation that rebelled against Him has died out, so He tells them to turn and go another direction. "Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea." (Numbers 14:25) Though this is a very sad moment, the Lord is still being merciful. Earlier in our chapter the majority of the people expressed a desire to go back to Egypt. If they go back to Egypt, they will have to submit themselves to slavery. The Lord has them turn around but He does not have them go back to Egypt. In their fear and doubt they seem to prefer slavery to freedom, but the Lord wants better things for them than slavery. He still intends to take Israel to the promised land. He will not, however, take all Israel to the promised land.
"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 'How long will this wicked community grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: In this wilderness your bodies will fall---every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against Me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.'" (Numbers 14:26-30) The Bible doesn't tell us how old Joshua and Caleb are here in Numbers 14 but we can safely conclude they were both at least twenty years old. If they had not been at least twenty they wouldn't have been sent to spy out Canaan. If they were not at least twenty then the Lord would not have to say that everyone who was twenty years old or more at the time of the census would die in the wilderness except Caleb and Joshua.
The people had accused the Lord of intending to allow their fighting men to fall by the sword. (Numbers 14:3a) Because they've accused the Lord of such unrighteousness, their fears will come true: their fighting men will die in the wilderness. They claimed the Lord had bad intentions toward their wives and children and that He would allow their wives and children to be taken captive by the enemy. (Numbers 14:3b) But nothing could be further from the truth. Their children will inherit the land that they themselves---through lack of faith---will never enter. "As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. For forty years---one year for each of the forty days you explored the land---you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have Me against you. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against Me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die." (Numbers 14:31-35)
The Lord never had anything but good intentions toward Israel. He wasn't going to let the army be defeated in the promised land. He wasn't going to allow the women and children to be captured by the tribes of Canaan. The only ones bringing suffering upon their wives and children are the men who don't believe in the goodness of the Lord. The entire community now must remain in the wilderness until every one of these men over the age of twenty (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb) passes away. These men's lack of faith has prevented them from enjoying the blessings of the promised land and it has brought about a forty-year delay in their families being able to enjoy the promised land.
I am sure we have all missed out on some blessings due to doubt and fear. It's bad enough when we disqualify ourselves from attaining some good thing. But our faithlessness often has the effect of causing "collateral damage" to those around us. If a husband or wife makes a poor decision based on a lack of faith in the Lord, that poor decision affects their spouse and children. If an adult displays a lack of faith in the Lord, their attitude affects those who live with them. We need to keep in mind that when we doubt the goodness of the Lord, we not only miss out on some blessings for ourselves, but we also deflect blessings from our households. When we don't stand firm in the faith, we are hurting our loved ones as well as hurting ourselves. Knowing that our actions and attitudes have an impact on those we love, how much more should we strive to believe the word of God? We are doing it not only for ourselves. We are doing it for those we love---those for whom we want only the best.
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