Yahweh
said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?
Numbers 14:11
Numbers 14 [6.] Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes. They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey. Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them.”
Numbers 14 [10.] But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones.
Yahweh’s glory appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the children of Israel. Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them? I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
Numbers 14 [13.] Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them. They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are in the middle of this people; for you Yahweh 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. Now if you killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’ Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying, ‘Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and according as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
Meaning:
Israel stood at the edge of the promised land. Twelve spies had explored Canaan, and ten of them reported that the people there were too strong. Only Caleb and Joshua urged the people to trust God (Numbers 13:30-33). The whole congregation wept, wanted to choose a leader to take them back to Egypt and even threatened to stone Caleb and Joshua. Then the glory of Yahweh appeared, and God spoke these words to Moses.
- “How long will this people despise me?”
To refuse God’s promise is to treat him with contempt. The people were not only afraid of giants; they were rejecting the God who had promised to give them the land. Unbelief is not a neutral feeling of doubt. When God has spoken clearly and proven himself faithful, refusing to trust him is a way of despising him.
- “How long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?”
Israel had seen the plagues in Egypt, the parting of the sea, water from the rock, manna every morning and the cloud and fire leading them. Yet after all these signs they still would not believe. The problem was not a lack of evidence but a hardness of heart. Psalm 95 later warns, “Today, oh that you would hear his voice! Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah” (Psalm 95:7-8), and adds, “Forty long years I was grieved with that generation.”
- God’s anger and Moses’ prayer
God threatened to destroy the people and make a new nation from Moses. Moses interceded, appealing to God’s reputation among the nations and to his own revealed character: “Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience” (Numbers 14:18; see Exodus 34:6-7). God pardoned the people, but that unbelieving generation did not enter the land. Only Joshua and Caleb, who could say “I wholly followed Yahweh my God,” lived to receive the promise (Joshua 14:7-9).
- An echo in the Gospels
Jesus used similar words when he came down from the mountain of transfiguration and found his disciples unable to help a tormented boy: “Unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?” (Mark 9:19). Like God in the wilderness, Jesus grieved over unbelief, yet like Moses’ prayer, his response led to mercy and help.
The Significance of Numbers 14:11
- Remembering what God has done
Believers today can also forget God’s past faithfulness when new difficulties appear. Remembering his works, in Scripture and in our own lives, strengthens faith to face the next challenge.
- The mercy of an interceding mediator
Moses stood between God and a rebellious people. He points ahead to Jesus, the greater mediator, who intercedes for his people and makes forgiveness possible for all who turn to God.
Cross-References:
Mark 9:19: "Unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me." Jesus echoes God’s lament over unbelief.
Psalm 95:8: "Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness," The wilderness generation became a warning for later believers.
Numbers 14:18: "Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience;" Moses appeals to God’s merciful character.
Joshua 14:8: "but I wholly followed Yahweh my God." Caleb’s faith stands in contrast to the unbelief of his generation.
Conclusion: When Israel refused to enter the promised land, God asked Moses, “How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?” Unbelief after so many proofs of God’s power was a form of contempt. Moses interceded and God forgave, yet the faithless generation did not enter the land. Jesus echoed these words over the unbelief of his own generation, and the passage still calls believers to trust the God who has shown himself faithful.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible