Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Killed for bringing a bad report

Numbers 14:36-37 So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it- these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD.

PERSONAL COMMENTARY


The bad report:

Number 13:26-29,31-33 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."

But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The problem...?

chris said...

well, bringing back the bad report wasn't what earned them death, it's that they spread it throughout the camp. and we can all imagine what would become of this bad report when left in the mouths of the clueless to propagate the news. and, thus, a negative energy was created by the majority of the camp, making victory that much more difficult. everything is mental, all is mind.

Anonymous said...

Actually, it was both. The bad report showed a complete lack of faith by the spies, and then a complete lack of faith by the people when they heard and believed the report. Considering Joshua and Caleb came back with a good report and they were among a handful who weren't killed off, it's apparent that faith was the deciding factor.

Considering the incredible events and miracles they had just witnessed during their flight from Egypt, it's no wonder God's anger was kindled...