The Command to Leave Horeb
(Exodus 33:1–6)
These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—in the Arabah opposite Suph—between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 1Sa 25:1Jos 22:7Deu 33:2Gen 21:21Jos 22:4Jos 9:1Jos 9:10Num 10:12
It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb 1to Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Seir. Num 13:26Num 32:8Deu 9:23Deu 1:44Deu 2:4Deu 2:8Exo 3:1Jos 14:6 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them. Num 33:38Deu 4:1-2Num 20:1 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. Num 21:21-35Deu 2:26Jos 12:2-6Jos 13:10-12Neh 9:22Psa 135:11Psa 136:19-20
On the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying: 2 Deu 17:18-19Deu 31:9Deu 32:46Deu 4:8
The LORD our God said to us at Horeb: “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. Exo 3:1Num 10:11-13Deu 5:2Exo 17:6Exo 19:1-2 Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, 3 in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates. Deu 11:24Jos 10:40Amo 2:91Ch 18:31Ch 5:92Sa 8:3Jos 24:15Deu 11:11
See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.” Gen 15:18Gen 12:7Gen 26:3-4Gen 13:14-15Gen 17:7-8Gen 28:13-14Gen 22:16-18Gen 15:16
Moses Appoints Leaders
(Exodus 18:13–27)
At that time I said to you, “I cannot carry the burden for you alone. Exo 18:18Num 11:17Num 11:11-14 The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky. Deu 10:22Exo 32:13Gen 15:5Gen 22:17Deu 28:62Exo 12:37Gen 28:14Neh 9:23 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised. Psa 115:14Gen 22:17Num 6:27Gen 26:42Sa 24:3Gen 15:5Gen 49:25Exo 32:13 But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes all by myself? 2Co 3:51Ki 3:7-92Co 2:16Deu 1:9Num 11:11-15Psa 89:19Exo 18:13-16 Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.” Exo 18:21Act 1:21-23Num 11:16-17Act 6:2-6
And you answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.”
So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes. Deu 16:18Exo 18:25-26Eph 4:111Sa 17:181Sa 22:71Sa 8:12Num 31:14
At that time I charged your judges: “Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident. Jhn 7:241Ti 5:212Ch 19:6-10Deu 16:18-19Exo 22:21Exo 23:2-3Exo 23:7-9Lev 24:22 Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.” Deu 16:19Exo 18:26Jas 2:92Ch 19:6Lev 19:15Pro 24:23Exo 18:221Pe 1:17
And at that time I commanded you all the things you were to do. Act 20:20Act 20:27Deu 12:28Deu 12:32Deu 4:40Deu 4:5Mat 28:20
Twelve Spies Sent Out
(Numbers 13:1–33)
And just as the LORD our God had commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites, through all the vast and terrifying wilderness you have seen. When we reached Kadesh-barnea, Deu 1:2Deu 8:15Jer 2:6Deu 32:10Num 13:26Num 10:12 I said: “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. Deu 1:7-8 See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.” Jos 1:9Heb 13:6Num 14:8-9Psa 46:1Num 13:30Deu 20:1Isa 41:10Isa 43:1-2
Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter.” Num 13:1-20
The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. Num 13:3-33 They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied out the land. Num 13:21-27Jos 2:1-2 They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.”
Israel’s Rebellion
(Numbers 14:1–12)
But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. Num 14:1-4Act 7:51Psa 106:24-25Isa 63:10 You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated. Deu 9:28Num 14:3Psa 106:25Exo 16:3Exo 16:8Luk 19:21Mat 25:24Num 21:5 Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’” Deu 9:1-2Num 13:28-332Sa 21:16-22Jdg 1:20Jos 11:22Jos 14:8Jos 15:14Deu 20:8
So I said to you: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them! The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt Exo 14:14Neh 4:20Rom 8:37Rom 8:31Deu 3:22Jos 10:421Sa 17:45-46Psa 46:11 and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.” Isa 46:3-4Act 13:18Deu 32:10-12Hos 11:3-4Isa 63:9Exo 19:4Isa 40:11Num 11:14
But in spite of all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, Psa 106:24Jud 1:5Heb 3:18-19Heb 3:12Psa 78:222Ch 20:20Isa 7:9 who went before you on the journey, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, to seek out a place for you to camp and to show you the road to travel. Num 10:33Psa 78:14Ezk 20:6Exo 13:21-22Neh 9:12Num 9:15-22Exo 14:19-20Isa 4:5-6
Israel’s Penalty
(Numbers 14:20–35)
When the LORD heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying, Heb 3:8-11Num 14:22-30Deu 2:14-15Ezk 20:15Num 32:8-13Psa 95:11 “Not one of the men of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your fathers, Psa 95:11 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.” Num 14:24Jos 14:6-14Num 32:12Num 13:30Num 13:6Num 26:65Jdg 1:12-15Num 34:19
The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land. Deu 4:21Num 20:12Deu 34:4Psa 106:32-33Num 27:13-14Deu 3:23-26 Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit the land. Deu 3:28Deu 31:7-8Num 14:301Sa 16:22Deu 31:23Deu 31:14Exo 24:13Exo 33:11 And the little ones you said would become captives—your children who on that day did not know good from evil—will enter the land that I will give them, and they will possess it. Isa 7:15-16Num 14:3Num 14:31Rom 9:11Jon 4:11Eph 2:3 But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea. 4” Num 14:25
The Defeat at Hormah
(Numbers 14:40–45)
“We have sinned against the LORD,” you replied. “We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God has commanded us.” Then each of you put on his weapons of war, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country. Num 14:39-45Num 22:34Pro 19:3
But the LORD said to me, “Tell them not to go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from defeat by your enemies.” Jos 7:8-13Num 14:41-431Sa 4:2Hos 9:12Isa 59:1-2Lev 26:171Sa 4:10Isa 30:17
So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country. Num 14:44Act 7:51Isa 63:10Rom 8:7-8
Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah. Psa 118:12Num 14:45Isa 7:18Num 21:3Deu 28:25Deu 32:30 And you returned and wept before the LORD, but He would not listen to your voice or give ear to you. Heb 12:17Psa 78:34
For this reason you stayed in Kadesh for a long time—a very long time. Num 20:1Num 20:22Jdg 11:16-17Num 14:25Num 14:34