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Answer
When the Israelites refused to enter the Promised Land after hearing the report of the ten faithless spies in Numbers 13:31–33, they wanted to choose new leaders to take them back to Egypt (Numbers 14:1-4). During this rebellion, God was prepared to strike down the entire nation and start a new nation through Moses (Numbers 14:5-12). It was only through Moses’ pleading with the LORD for mercy that the Israelites were spared from destruction (Numbers 14:13-20).
While Moses’ entreaty saved the Israelites from complete destruction, it did not exempt them from judgment. In Numbers 14:21–23, the LORD declares, “But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it” (ESV, emphasis added).
No adult Israelites who left Egypt in the exodus would be permitted to enter the Promised Land. Initially, this may appear as a severe punishment. However, the LORD was not solely judging the Israelites for their lack of faith to enter the Promised Land. The Israelites had previously “tested” the LORD on ten separate occasions. It was the cumulative effect of all those incidents that led the LORD to pronounce this judgment on the Israelites.
What were the ten instances when the Israelites tested the LORD?
(1) Lacking faith before the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:11-12)
(2) ComplainingOver the bitter water at Marah «And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? », (Exodus 15:24)
(3) Complaining in the Desert of Sin «and the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. », (Exodus 16:3)
(4) Collecting more manna than they were supposed to «Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. », (Exodus 16:20)
(5) Attempting to collect manna on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:27-29)
(6) Complaining over the lack of water at Rephidim (Exodus 17:2-3)
(7) Engaging in idolatry in the golden calf incident (Exodus 32:7-10)
(8) Complaining at Taberah (Numbers 11:1-2)
(9) Complaining over the lack of food «And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? », (Numbers 11:4)
(10) Failing to trust God and enter the Promised Land (Numbers 14:1-4)
Truly the LORD is “slow to anger andAbounding in steadfast love and forgiving iniquity and transgression,” just as Moses said, «The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. », (Numbers 14:18). If it were not for the LORD’s patience and mercy, judgment would have occurred earlier. God’s mercy toward Israel is a powerful illustration of 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is . . . patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
