Austin Bible Church
The first generation of the nation of Israel began with the Exodus from Egypt in 1441 BC. This first generation exhibited long-term negative volition to God who freed them from the slavery of Egypt. They rebelled against God’s instruction given through the leadership of Moses. They continued their negative volition even with the visible presence of God as the Shekinah Glory in the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. They remained negative even with the daily supernatural provision of manna and water. Exodus 13:21; Exodus 16:4; Exodus 17:6. See category on The Shekinah Glory.
“The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.” (Exodus 13:21, NASB)
“Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.” (Exodus 16:4, NASB)
“"Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.” (Exodus 17:6, NASB)
God provides His grace to believers as they grow spiritually. They may even receive something that they didn’t work for. Deut. 6:10-11.
""Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied," (Deuteronomy 6:10-11, NASB)
We may have a tendency to forget who provides our prosperity. All that we have is from Him. We need to remember that every day. We must live our lives as unto the Lord. Deut. 6:12-13.
"then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name." (Deuteronomy 6:12-13, NASB)
In Deuteronomy 6:13, “fear only the Lord” is יָרֵא (yare) and means to reverence, to respect, to recognize the absolute authority of. “Worship Him” is עבד (‛âbad) and means to work, to produce, it is what the Lord thinks. You take the Lord’s thoughts (Bible doctrine) more seriously than what you think. “Swear” is שׁבע (shâba‛) and means to complete, literally to “seven oneself,” to repeat a declaration seven times. That is absolute obedience to the dictates of Scripture. This is the believer’s way of learning Bible doctrine.
In Deuteronomy 6:14, “You shall not follow other gods” is a command. You must keep yourself to the Lord alone. You must separate from religion and from neighboring heathen. Today, this means to stay away from believers who do not attend Bible class and are negative to Bible doctrine.
""You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth." (Deuteronomy 6:14-15, NASB)
In Deuteronomy 6:15, “for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God” is an anthropopathism and means God is very possessive of those who are His, just as a father is possessive and protective of his children. An anthropopathism is language of accommodation or figures of speech that assign human emotions or attitudes to God that He does not possess so as to convey God's infinite attributes and policies to finite mankind. God’s justice administers divine discipline in love for us to turn us back to Bible doctrine. He intensifies the divine discipline the longer we stay negative.
If we stay negative to Him and His thinking (Bible doctrine) long enough, He may administer the Sin Unto Death which means the negative believer’s purpose on earth is done and God takes the reversionistic believer home to be with Him. There is never loss of salvation to those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, regardless of their behavior following faith belief.
You must never tempt or test God as the Jews did at Massah. In Deuteronomy 6:16, “test” is נסה (nâsâh) and means to put to the test, to attempt. In Numbers 14:1-2, the Kadesh-Barnea incident, they believed the ten fearful Jewish leaders sent into the Land to spy, but not the two positive confident leaders who recommended entering the Land and allowing the Lord to deliver it to them as He promised. The Jews were tempting or testing the Lord. They received severe divine discipline for this.
""You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah." (Deuteronomy 6:16, NASB)
In Numbers 14:1-2, when they cried, it was indicative of a mental attitude of spiritual immaturity or being negative to God's promises. “Grumbling” is לוּן (lun) and means to stop, to stay (in a bad sense), to be stubborn, to complain, to bitch. They grumbled against Moses and Aaron, their leaders. These were sins of the tongue.
"Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!" (Numbers 14:1-2, NASB)
In Deuteronomy 1:27, “you grumbled in your tents” is רגן (râgan) and means to rebel, to murmur, to grumble. Their grumbling became a group situation that grew from two or three families gathered together and finally a nation.
"and you grumbled in your tents and said, 'Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us." (Deuteronomy 1:27, NASB)
The overt activity at Meribah became a controversy with quarreling and striving to involve large numbers of people. Num. 20:13; Num. 20:24; Num. 27:14; Deut. 33:8; Psalms 81:7; Heb. 3:7ff.
"Those were the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel contended with the LORD, and He proved Himself holy among them." (Numbers 20:13, NASB)
""Aaron will be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah." (Numbers 20:24, NASB)
""You called in trouble and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place of thunder; I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah." (Psalms 81:7, NASB)
In Numbers 14:4, the grumbling became a conspiracy, a revolt, and an attempt to overthrow the leadership of Moses and Aaron. “A leader” is ראשׁ (rô'sh) and means a general, a usurper, a puppet. They wanted to appoint a new leader who would take them back to Egypt and leave Moses in the desert.
"So they said to one another, "Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt."" (Numbers 14:4, NASB)
Moses and Aaron called a public assembly. There were only four men who stood - Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua. Only four!! They saw the issue clearly and spoke from divine viewpoint.
"Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;" (Numbers 14:5-6, NASB)
In Numbers 14:10, “said to stone them with stones” is אמר ('âmar) and means to declare, to demand that they should all stone them.
"But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel." (Numbers 14:10, NASB)
The Lord’s response following Moses’ plea to the Lord to not destroy them was still a severe penalty – none would enter the Land save Joshua and Caleb. Num. 14:29-30.
"your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. 'Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun." (Numbers 14:29-30, NASB)