God let the Israelites gain faith by showing the power of God to Israelites through Moses when they were faced with hardship. This is because not only Moses' faith but also the faith of all sons of Israel was necessary to enter the Land of Canaan, the 'land flowing with milk and honey'.




◆ It was a year after the Exodus that they reached the Kadesh-barnea

In the Exodus, the sons of Israel crossed the Red Sea with Moses, their leader before them. They arrived at Mount Sinai, made a covenant with God, received the Law of God, and set up the tabernacle. (Exodus chapters 12-40) As written in the Book of Numbers, the Israelites left Mount Sinai for the land flowing with milk and honey. Then, they took a census of Israelites and organized the twelve tribes. Moses kept the Passover with the sons of Israel the way God commanded them. When the cloud over the tabernacle was taken up, they departed from the Mount Sinai. (Numbers chapters 1-10)

Before long, the Israelites grumbled against Moses with evil words. They complained that they had nothing but manna to eat. As Moses prayed for it, God sent quail for them to eat. He also appointed 70 elders to help bear Moses' burden. By that time, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses for he had married a Cushite woman. But God guaranteed Moses saying the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth. One year after they exited Egypt and going through such things, Moses and the Israelites reached the Kadesh-barnea which is on the threshold to the land of Canaan.


◆ Twelve Spies Scouting the Canaan Land and the Israelites Grumbling

Numbers chapter 13 talks about the twelve spies. Moses selected the twelve spies according to the will of God and had them scout the land of Canaan for 40 days. Canaan was truly the land flowing with milk and honey in the eyes of the twelve spies. But, the Canaanites looked great and strong such that they looked like the sons of Anak who are part of the Nephilim which in Greek means 'the giant man'.

Ten of the twelve spies looked at the reality of the situation and felt frustrated. In the end, they spoke negatively in their reports. They argued that chances were very slim that they could defeat the Canaanites because the people looked so strong. But only Joshua and Caleb, the other two spies, spoke positively in their confessions of faith.

As recorded in the chapter 14 of Numbers, after hearing the reports of the ten spies, the sons of Israel fell into despair and all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. Joshua and Caleb said, "God is with us; do not fear them." But all the congregation said to stone them with stones.

God spoke to the Israelites saying that excepting Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, their complete number from twenty years old and upward who had grumbled against God should not enter into the land in which He had sworn to allow them to settle. God commanded them to live in the wilderness for 40 years. It was the training process of the second generation as well as the punishment delivered as spoken upon the first generation.


◆ After the twelve spies scouted the land, the Israelites stayed in the Kadesh-barnea for 38 years

Since the people of the first generation grumbled against God, they couldn't enter into the land of Canaan. Even with the suffering and the punishment, they couldn't get rid of their evil. Some of them who felt weary about the life in the wilderness caused another incident. Korah stood against Moses with Dathan and Abiram who were sons of Reuben. It was in opposition to Aaron's having the priesthood. As a result the ground that was under them split open and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up. It swallowed up their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. The 250 leaders who also stood against Moses with them were also consumed by fire. (Numbers chapter 16)

The Israelites, however, couldn't realize the will of God even after witnessing Korah and his company dying. They rather grumbled against Moses saying, "You are the ones who have caused the death of the LORD's people." It indicates that they didn't repent of their evil hearts from the bottom of the hearts even after the punishment of wandering in the wilderness. In the end, they didn't cast away evil, but stood against God so a plague broke out among them. At that time, those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number.

In addition to such an incident, God proved that He was with Moses and Aaron through the occurrence of the rod of Aaron sprouting as recorded in Numbers chapter 17. The first generation of the Exodus grumbled and complained whenever they were faced with the difficulties and hardship. They couldn't fulfill their duties to conquer the land of Canaan. They wandered in Kadesh-barnea for 38 years and they died. (Deuteronomy 2:14)


◆ The Israelites Arrived at the Plains of Moab

As written in Numbers chapter 21, Moses finally left the Kadesh-barnea for the plains of Moab. But the king of Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him and went around the land of Edom. The people of Israel became impatient because of the journey. They spoke against God and Moses. Fiery serpents appeared and bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. As many Israelites were about to die, they repented and asked Moses to intercede for them with God. Then, God had Moses make a fiery serpent with bronze and set it on a standard. When the people looked at the bronze serpent, they lived. Those who doubted and refused to look at it died.

With Moses as their leader the Israelites defeated Sihon, the king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan who lived on the east side of Jordan and they eventually conquered the Canaan land. Balak, the king of Moab was in great fear of the sons of Israel. He asked Balaam, who was living at Pethor, to curse them. Balaam fell into the temptation because of the repeated requests and money from Balak and made the king of Moab aware of an evil scheme. The Israelites stumbled as a result of the scheme. They bowed down before idols and ate food sacrificed to idols. This led to the outbreak of plague and those who died by the plague numbered 24, 000.

This Balaam Incident happened at the end of the 40-year-long life in the wilderness. Even though the Israelites listened to the Word of God unceasingly and saw the power of God, they bowed down before idols. In similar ways, even if we appear to have faith and appear to lead lives as Christians for a long time, we too might be tempted by the world before we become completely sanctified. Therefore, we should remain spiritually awake all the time to keep from being overcome.


◆ The Last Sermon Preached by Moses in Front of the Canaan

As written in Numbers chapters 26 and 27, Moses took the second consensus and Joshua succeeded to him when the 40 years had passed and the time for entering the land of Canaan was just ahead of them. By that time, Moses gave his final advice to the second generation of Exodus who would conquer the land of Canaan. He kept putting emphasis on the fact that the first generation couldn't enter the land of Canaan because of their disobedience and he taught them that obedience is the way of blessing and the duty of men.

All his final words are recorded in the Book of Numbers. Finally, Moses drew the last breath of his 120 year-old life.