Sad indeed is the history of unbelief in Numb. 14 The Lord had spoken to Moses saying, " Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel." " Which I give" surely should have been enough for faith. In chapter 8 we have the searching of the land. " And they returned from searching the land after forty days." The report they gave was that the land was good. " Surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it:" for they had brought a first ripe cluster of grapes, and of the pomegranates, and of the figs. But to unbelief there was the dreadful uncertainty of being able to take possession. There are immediately to unbelief insurmountable difficulties: walled cities, and children of giants. And this only leads to bringing an evil report of the land.
Very striking is the contrast of the faith of the two, and the unbelief of the ten. Unbelief reasons on what toe can do, and therefore says, “We be not able to go up against this people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land," &c. Faith, on the other hand, looked beyond all difficulties. Joshua and Caleb were delighted with the place, into which God had promised to bring them. They said, " Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." How sad! the unbelief of the ten took hold of the whole congregation. This uncertainty brings sore misery. If once it takes possession of the soul, you cannot stand still; at once in heart the effect is to go back to the world. Thus Israel reasoned in their sin, and misery, and wept all night. Rebellion then rises up in the heart against Moses and against Aaron: really it is against Jehovah. This is always the case, and hence Satan is ever seeking to rob the soul of the certainty of taking possession of the heavenlies. He whispers, You must not be too sure, there are many difficulties; you may never get there after all; you are not able to overcome and get possession. They are ready to give all up—redemption, everything. They reason that it is better to go back to Egypt, yea, to die there; or die in the wilderness. Thus Satan says, You had far better give up all profession of faith than be in this state. 'Yes,' they say, ' it is better to return into Egypt. Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.'
How different the language of faith that rests in God! " The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for their defense is departed from them; and the Lord is with us: fear them not." Every one is a precious word of faith. The natural heart of man hates this divine certainty of faith. " But all the congregation bade stone them with stones." All this is full of instruction to us, not merely as to our final departure to be with the Lord. But it is full of deep instruction to those who have not yet understood what it is to be in that new place across the Jordan, in possession, with our heavenly Joshua, though also in conflict there with those whom we find there before us.
To keep however to the simple lesson, unbelief says, ' We are not able to do it.' Faith looks solely to the Lord. " If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us." And again, "The Lord is with us; fear them not." He had been for them in deliverance from Egypt. He is now with them to bring them into the land. He delighteth in us: it is enough.
Deeply instructive would every verse be in this chapter. But we wish to call special attention to the end. Through unbelief and rebellion they had to wander forty years in the wilderness. How often this is the case; many a Christian has to wander for years in the wilderness, learning its painful lessons, instead of entering and enjoying the fruit of the land. It may be on his death-bed he practically crosses the Jordan and learns what it is to be in the new, and the old forever passed away. (2 Cor. 5:17, 1817Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; (2 Corinthians 5:17‑18).)
It is just the lesson of the words of God to Noah over again: " The end of all flesh is come before me.” Yes, let us not forget death must be written upon all flesh. " Even those men, that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord." But quite another kind of fruit of the flesh of man appears now. It is not at all now unbelief that says, ‘All is lost, we will give up and go back into Egypt.' Oh no! It is rather the religious determined activity of the flesh. It is like man in this day, whilst, refusing the goodness of God; refusing possession of eternal life in the wholly new creation in Christ, on the principle of pure unmerited grace or favor of God, because He delighteth in us; yet a determination to go up and take possession by early sacraments and ordinances.
" And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned." There is a strange combination of self-will and confession. It is the principle of seeking holiness in the flesh in whatever way. It is seeking to get possession by renewed effort at improvement of the flesh, though confessing failure hitherto. It is lip confession, for if it were heart confession, we should be afraid to take a step in self-will. Yes, man will rise early to climb this mountain. He tries hard to attain to death and resurrection by human effort, though he has refused it as the gift of grace. Is not this the state of Christendom, fast giving up the goodness of God? But more than this, is there a soul that has not to learn the lesson of Hormah? They had refused to go up and take possession because the Lord delighted in them; and now they are determined they will go up and take it. They are solemnly warned by Moses that it is transgression: they shall not prosper: " the Lord is not among you." They were about not only to meet the temptations of the wilderness, but also the power of the Canaanites who were in the land. And the Lord was not with them, because they were turned away from the Lord. Thus they placed themselves in the greatest danger.
Is it not so with us in this day? If we refuse the gift of God in grace, and seek to get possession by the improvement of the old man, the flesh, whether by the sacramental system of men, or even by what are called evangelical doctrines, we have turned away from the Lord and He cannot be with us. In such case how can we meet the hour of sudden temptation? How can we meet the power or wiles of the enemy, the wicked spirits that inhabit as yet the heavenlies? (Eph. 6)
The fact is, in such a conflict we are sure to be discomfited. " But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp." How little do men think that their pious efforts to improve the flesh are but presumption! And what was the result? " Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in the hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah." If we compare chapter 21:3 and Judg. 1:1717And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. (Judges 1:17), we see the meaning of the word Hormah is " utter destruction/é Thus Israel were smitten, and discomfited even unto utter destruction. How complete then is the lesson of utter destruction to the flesh! Not only the sin, and unbelief and rebellion in refusing the land as the gift in grace; but when they rise early in the morning and presume to go up and take possession, they find they have no good in them, no power to overcome, nay, they are overcome, and that utterly; from the top of the mountain of presumption, they sink to the lowest possible state of discomfiture.
Have we learned this lesson, that every effort in the flesh to attain to that which the land typified -the new place of complete deliverance—ends only in deepest failure? Oh, the lesson of Hormah I utter destruction to all religious pretension! Can we not only confess our sins? for they did that; but have we learned the utter ruin and helplessness of the flesh? " For I know that in me [that is in my flesh] dwelleth no good thing." We may presume, we may determine; but in the moment of sudden attack, to be smitten, discomfited to utter destruction of all hope of amendment in the flesh. This is surely a most important lesson, as almost every one hopes for some improvement of the flesh, in one way or other.
Well, does God propose to improve the flesh? No, the scene closes upon it just here, as utter destruction, without a ray of hope in itself. And a new scene opens up, a new Person in whom is centered all the purposes of God. Just as in Rom. 7, when we have reached the bottom, " Ο wretched man that I am!" the scene there closes, and the new scene is Christ. So here in Numb. 15 What a change! What a contrast! how precious are God’s thoughts of Christ. It would lengthen out our little paper too long to enter on this bright display of grace. That we will reserve, if the Lord will, for our next. We will therefore close with a few remarks in review.
" So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." They did not believe the report of faith. They looked at themselves; and measured the walls and giants by themselves. They did not see the whole thing was, and must be, of God. Entering in was not the same as deliverance from Egypt. They did not take hold by faith, that it was God's delight to bring them in. It is not then simply the question of our redemption from sin, and all the claims of justice, but entering in and taking possession of the new creation as risen with Christ; oneness with Him in resurrection; dead with Him; risen with Him. (See Col. 2; 3)
Well, they had not faith, nay, they utterly refused this new place (the land) as the gift of God. Then their first impulse was to return back to Egypt, in open rebellion. One of those two places must attract us, either the new creation or the old. We cannot remain stationary. Then in the same fleshly unbelief they presume in self-will to go up and take possession, which ends in terrible breakdown. But mark, breakdown of the flesh there must be, and forty years' lessons of the wilderness after this. Various are the ways in which we have sought to improve, or take possession by the flesh. Have we really accepted the truth, " The end of all flesh is come before me"? Have we sought to climb that mountain only to reach Hormah? Have we reached Hormah? Have we arrived at the end of all hope for the old man; all hope of amendment or restoration of the first man? There could not be a more hopeless picture of Israel than Hormah. The redeemed people of the Lord smitten to destruction before their enemies! What a sight! Let us beware, unbelief and presumption must lead in every case to similar results. Oh, wondrous grace to shine out just at this lowest possible point in Israel's history, and in ours!