All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”     Numbers 14:2-3 HCSB

The Israelites had spent two years in the wilderness. They had grumbled and complained. They had disobeyed the Lord. They had fallen into idolatry, and there were times the Lord wanted to destroy them. Moses, however, would intervene, and the Lord would decide not to destroy them, but they would still pay a price for their disobedience.

The journey from Egypt to Canaan was about a two-week trip. Moses had spent 40 days on Mt. Sinai speaking with the Lord. You may recall that he was so angered by their building that golden calf that he broke the tablets. He went back up there for another 40 days and met with God to redo them and also to get specific instructions on the tabernacle and the priesthood. They built the tabernacle and established the priesthood.

Finally, in Numbers 13, they are about to enter the Promised Land. They sent 12 scouts in, and 10 of these men said entering would be too dangerous. Only two men, Caleb and Joshua, said the Lord would be with them and they could go in and take this land.

In our Scripture passage, they complain against Moses and Aaron, God’s chosen leaders. They grumble about being taken from Egypt, where they were slaves under very difficult taskmasters. They go so far as to say they should have stayed in Egypt and died there. Their second choice was to die in the wilderness. God granted this to them.

They had spent 40 days scouting out the land, and God sentenced them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years and die there. All people over 20 would die in the wilderness, except Caleb and Joshua.

Romans 1:24 says, “Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.” I encourage you to read this passage in the context of vv. 18-25. It talks about how there will come a time when God will give us over to our desires, whatever they may be. He will tire of our constant rejection and will simply give us our way.

Now, we are told in Isaiah 55:9 that His ways are higher than our ways. God knows our future, and He knows what is best for us. Our pastor puts it this way, “When God says ‘Thou shalt not, ‘ what He is really saying is ‘Don’t hurt yourself'”. Our heavenly Father knows and wants what is best for us. When we continue to reject Him and His plan for our lives, we forfeit the best plan.

When we grumble and complain and ask God to change things to suit us, be very careful. He just might do that, and you might find that is not what you wanted at all.

Sadly, the Israelites realized their mistake too late. They tried to go into the Promised Land but were defeated and pushed back into the wilderness because God was not with them.

Is God with you today? Are you surrendering yourself to His plan? Or are you grumbling and complaining and asking Him to get on board with your plan? Be very careful with that.

Have a great day!