THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL COME NEAR TO CANAAN, BUT WILL NOT GO INTO THE LAND. THEY ARE SENT BACK INTO THE WILDERNESS TO WANDER THERE FORTY YEARS. KORAH, DATHAN, AND ABIRAM REBEL AGAINST MOSES AND AARON. MOSES AND AARON SIN AT THE ROCK. AARON DIES AT MOUNT HOR. FIERY SERPENTS ARE SENT AMONG THE PEOPLE.
AND now the children of Israel had come near to Canaan, and Moses told them to go into that land, and take it for their own, as the Lord had said they should. But they asked him first to send men as spies, who should go and search the land, and bring them word of what they saw there. And Moses sent twelve men, one from each tribe, and told them to look at the land, and see whether it were a good or a bad land, and what sort of people lived there; whether they were few or many, weak or strong, and whether they lived in tents, or in cities with walls around them. Moses told them not to fear, but to go and bring back also some of the fruits of the land.
Then the spies went into Canaan, and walked through it from one end to the other, for the Lord kept the people who lived there from doing them any harm. At a place called Eshcol, where grapes were growing, they cut off from the vine a branch with a single cluster upon it. This cluster was so large that it took two men to carry it. They hung it upon a pole, or staff, and one man carried one end of the staff, and another the other end, so that the cluster was carried between them. They brought with them also, some pomegranates and figs.
They were forty days in going through the land, then they came back to Moses and Aaron, and to all the children of Israel, and showed them the fruits they had brought. They said that in the land where they had been, the grain and the vines grew well, and there was plenty to eat and drink; but that the cities had walls around them, and were very great, and the people were very strong. They said this, because they were afraid, and did not want the children of Israel to go there.
But two of the spies, named Caleb and Joshua, wanted them to go. They remembered that God had promised to give them the land, and they were sure that he would keep his promise, for they had faith in him. Caleb spoke to the children of Israel and begged them to go at once into Canaan, and said they were well able to take it for their own. But the other spies persuaded them not to go, and said that the people who lived there were giants, and so large that the men whom Moses had sent, seemed only like grasshoppers when they came near to them. So the children of Israel would not go. They all began to weep, and they cried that night, and murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, We wish that God had let us die in the land of Egypt, or as we came through this wilderness! And they asked, Why has the Lord brought us up to this land, so that we, our wives and our children should be killed by our enemies? Then they said to one another, Let us choose a captain instead of Moses, and go back into Egypt.
And Moses and Aaron were in great distress. Joshua and Caleb, the two good spies, were troubled also, and they spake to the people again, and told them that the land they had been through was a good land, and they begged them not to be afraid of the men who lived there; for the Lord would not help those men, they said, but he would help the children of Israel. But the people were angry at Caleb and Joshua for saying this, and wanted to stone them.
Then the Lord was greatly displeased with the children of Israel, and he told Moses that he would send a pestilence to destroy them, and would no longer have them for his people, but would make of Moses' descendants a greater nation than they were. But Moses spoke to the Lord, and said, that if he should destroy the people and not bring them unto the land he had promised to give them, all the heathen nations who heard of it would say, that it was because the Lord was unable to bring them in. And Moses prayed that the Lord would not destroy the children of Israel, but would keep them for his people.
And the Lord heard Moses' prayer and promised not to destroy them. Yet he said that because they had so often disobeyed him, and would not believe his promise after all the wonderful things he had done for them, they should not go into Canaan, but should turn back into the wilderness, and there they should wander forty years, until all the men who refused to go in, were dead. Then, after the forty years were ended, and all those men had died, God said he would bring their children into Canaan. And he promised that Caleb and Joshua, the two good spies, should live until that time and go in with them.
When the children of Israel heard this, they were sorry for what they had done; and they rose up early in the morning, and told Moses that now they were willing to go. But Moses told them not to go, for the Lord would not help them, and if they should go, they would be killed by their enemies. Yet they disobeyed him and went, and the people of the land came and fought against them, and chased them as bees chase persons who come near their hive. Then the children of Israel came back into their camp and stayed there many days. Afterward they all returned and went into the wilderness again.
While they were in the wilderness, some of the people found a man who was at work, gathering sticks, on the sabbath day, and so disobeying the Lord's commandment. And they took him and put him in some place to keep him safe, until they should know what the Lord would have done to him for his sin. And the Lord said to Moses, The man shall surely be put to death. All the people shall take him out of the camp, and stone him with stones until he is dead. Then they took the man, and brought him out of the camp, and stoned him as the Lord commanded.
After these things three men, named Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, with two hundred and fifty more of the men of Israel, came to Moses and Aaron and spoke against them, saying, that Aaron had no right to be high priest, and that Moses ought not to be the ruler over the people. Now Korah was one of the Levites who waited on the priests at the tabernacle, but he was not satisfied with doing this—he wanted to be a priest himself. That was the reason he came, bringing these men with him, to speak against Aaron. And Moses heard what they said, and told them, that the next day, each of them should take a censer and burn incense in it, as the priests did, and Aaron should do so too. Then, Moses said, the Lord would show which was the man he chose for high priest.
The next day Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and the two hundred and fifty men, took censers and put fire in them, and sprinkled incense on the fire, as the priests did at the tabernacle. And all the rest of the children of Israel came out with them to rebel against, or refuse to obey, Moses and Aaron. But the Lord was greatly displeased with the people for coming. He commanded them to go away from Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. So the people went away from them. Then Moses said, that if the ground should open and swallow up these men, the children of Israel would know that they had offended the Lord. And as soon as Moses was done speaking, the ground opened and swallowed up Korah, Dathan and Abiram, with their tents, and all who were in them. And they cried out as they went down alive under the ground; and the earth closed over them. And all the people that were near them fled away, when they heard their cry, for they feared the earth would swallow up them also. At the same time that Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were swallowed up, the Lord sent fire that slew the two hundred and fifty men who had come out with them.
And on the morrow all the people murmured against Moses and Aaron, and said it was they who had killed Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and the two hundred and fifty men. The people said, also, that these men were good men. Then the Lord was very angry with the children of Israel; he said to Moses and Aaron, Go away from them, that I may destroy them in a moment. But Moses and Aaron fell on their faces and prayed for the children of Israel. Yet the Lord would not hear them, for even while they were praying, he sent a great pestilence among the people, and many were already dying in the camp.
As soon as Moses knew it, he said to Aaron, Take a censer and put fire in it from off the altar of burnt offering, and sprinkle incense on the fire, and go out quickly and offer up the incense to the Lord for the people, because the plague has begun. And Aaron did as Moses said; he ran out among the people and stood, with the burning incense, between those who had died and those who were still living, and the Lord caused the plague to cease. Yet there died of it fourteen thousand and seven hundred persons, beside Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and the two hundred and fifty men who were slain with them.
After this the Lord commanded each of the tribes of the children of Israel to send Moses a rod. And he commanded Moses to write the name of the man who brought it, upon every rod, so that the rods might be told from one another. Then Moses was to take them to the tabernacle, into the most holy place, and leave them there before the ark, all night. And one of them, God said, should grow in the night, and bear blossoms, as if it were still growing on the tree. And the man whose name was found written on that rod, would be the one whom God chose for his high priest. God did this because the people had come with Korah to complain against Aaron, saying that he ought not to be high priest.
So the people sent the rods to Moses. And after he had written the names on them, Moses took them into the tabernacle and left them before the ark all night. The next day he went and looked at them, and one of them had grown with blossoms and borne almonds; on this rod Aaron's name was written. Then Moses brought out the rods to all the people, and they saw that none had grown but Aaron's. And God commanded Moses to take that rod and put it in the tabernacle again, to be kept there, so that the children of Israel might always remember that God had chosen Aaron for his high priest.
When Aaron and his sons should die, their sons who lived after them, were to be priests; for all the men who should be descended from Aaron, were to be priests for the children of Israel. And God told the people again, that the men of the tribe of Levi should be with Aaron and his sons to help them and wait on them, and do the work at the tabernacle.
And the Lord said that all the other tribes of the children of Israel must give to the priests and the Levites a part of their grain, of their fruit, and of their cattle. For when they should come into the land of Canaan, the priests and the Levites would not have fields given them, where they could sow seed and plant vineyards, like the rest of the people. They would not have time to attend to these things—they were to stay at the tabernacle, attending to the worship of God. Therefore the other tribes were commanded to give them a tenth part of their grain, of their fruit, of their cattle, and of everything they should get.
And the children of Israel journeyed and came into the desert of Zin. And Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, died and was buried there. And there was no water for the people. Then they spoke wickedly again to Moses and Aaron, saying, Why have ye brought us up into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die? No figs grow here, or vines, or pomegranates, and there is no water for us.
And the Lord told Moses to call the people together at a rock which was near that place, and to take the rod in his hand, and go with Aaron and speak to the rock: then, the Lord said, water should come out of it. Now Moses and Aaron were very angry because the people had spoken against them. And when they came to the rock, Moses said to them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And he lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod, and water came out, a great deal of it, enough for all the children of Israel and their cattle to drink.
But Moses sinned when he spoke in anger to the people. He should not have said to them, Must we fetch you water out of this rock? as if he and Aaron were doing it. It was the Lord who made the water come out for the children of Israel, and Moses and Aaron should have taught them to thank him for it. But they did not; they took the honor to themselves. And the Lord was displeased with them for what they had done, and he said that because they had not honored him before the people, they should not bring them into the land of Canaan. The children of Israel should go into that land, when the forty years were ended which they must pass in the wilderness, but Moses and Aaron should not go in with them. They must both die before that time.
And the people came near to Edom, the country where Esau went to live. As we have read in the book of Genesis, Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, and all that he had in Canaan, and went to live in another country called Edom. It had been more than two hundred years since Esau went there, and no doubt he was long since dead, but his descendants were living there still; it was their land. And now the children of Israel wanted to pass through it on their journey to Canaan; therefore Moses asked permission of the king.
Moses sent word to him, saying, Thou knowest how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have lived there for a long time; and the Egyptians treated us, and our fathers, very cruelly. But when we cried to the Lord, he heard us, and he has brought us out of that land. And now, we pray thee, let us pass through thy country; we will not go through the fields to tread down the grain, neither will we drink the water out of the wells. We will go only by the king's highway, the road on which every one may go, until we have passed through thy land. But the king of Edom said they should not pass through, and he came out with his army to fight against them. So the children of Israel turned and went by a different way.
And they came to mount Hor. There the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and said that Aaron should be gathered to his fathers; this meant, that he should die and be buried in the grave, as his fathers had been. And the Lord said to Moses, Take Aaron and his son Eleazar, and bring them up on mount Hor; and take off the high priest's garments from Aaron, and put them upon Eleazar, and Aaron shall die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded. He and Aaron and Eleazar, Aaron's oldest son, went up on mount Hor, and all the people saw them going up. And Moses took the high priest's garments off of Aaron, and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron died there on the top of the mount. So Eleazar was made high priest in the place of his father. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. When all the people saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for him thirty days.
But the children of Israel had yet a long way to go, and they grew weary of the journey, and sinned again, by speaking against God and against Moses. They said, There is no bread here for us, or water, and we loathe this manna. And the Lord was angry, and sent fiery serpents into the camp, which bit the people, so that many of them died. Then they came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee; and they begged Moses to pray that the serpents might be taken from them. And Moses prayed for them; and the Lord commanded him to make a serpent of brass, like those which bit the people, and to set it up on a pole. And whoever was bitten, the Lord said, if he would look at that serpent of brass, should be made well.
And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole, and when any one who had been bitten looked at it, he was made well. Yet the serpent of brass could not make him well. It was the Lord who did it, because that serpent, lifted up on the pole, meant, or represented, the Saviour who was to be lifted up on the cross. And it was intended to teach us, who read of it now, how we should look up to the Saviour, so that he may save us from being punished for our sins.