4 August 2021

And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying: How long shall this wicked congregation complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they complain against me. Say to them, ‘As I live’, says the Lord, ‘I will do to you the very things I heard you say…’

Numbers 13:1-2,25-14:1,26-29,34-35, NRSV

Just as they were on the brink of entering the Promised Land everything went badly wrong for the Israelites. Leaders of each tribe had been sent out to complete a reconnaissance and their initial reports were positive – this was a land that flowed with milk and honey. However, they also reported on the power of the inhabitants and of their strong fortresses. Caleb, one of the leaders, encouraged the people to march in and conquer the land they had been promised. He believed that this was possible but met with opposition from the other leaders who began to exaggerate the power of the Canaanites. They described the country as one that devoured its inhabitants and said that every man was the size of a giant. The Israelites hearing this cried aloud and wailed all night. Clearly the people and most of their leaders did not trust that God could help them to overcome their present difficulties despite the fact that they had been saved and supported through all of their previous challenges. Their inability to trust in God caused a forty year delay to the fulfilment of their destiny. They would not now enter the Promised Land until a long period of repentance in the desert had been undertaken and a new generation taken the place of those who did not trust.