Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

Numbers 14 Devotional

Forgiven Yet Turned Back

““I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied.”Numbers 14:20 (BSB)

The spies' report does its work. That night the people weep, wish they had died in Egypt, and talk of choosing a leader to take them back (14:1-4). Then the glory of the LORD appears, and God asks how long they will go on doubting him despite everything he has shown them (14:11).

Moses prays. He appeals to God's reputation among the nations, and to God's own description of himself: patient, full of faithful love, forgiving sin, and yet not clearing the guilty (14:13-18). God answers that he forgives them, as Moses asked (14:20). Yet that generation will not enter the land. They will wander forty years until they die in the wilderness, while the children they feared for go in (14:29-31). Hebrews says it was unbelief that kept them out (Hebrews 3:19). Forgiveness and consequences stand side by side in this chapter. God's pardon is real even when the road it leaves you on is long, and you can walk that road as someone truly forgiven.

To think about: Is there a forgiven sin whose consequences you are still living with, and how can you walk that road as someone pardoned?

About Numbers 14: Israel Refuses to Enter the Land

The people weep and want to return to Egypt, despite pleas from Joshua and Caleb. God threatens to destroy them, but Moses intercedes by appealing to God's glory and mercy, and God pardons them. Yet that generation will wander forty years and die, and their presumptuous attack fails.

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