TO CHEW ON: "Not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it." Numbers 14:23
When the twelve spies came back from Canaan, only two thought they could conquer the people and move in. The ten others saw only walled cities and fierce, tall people. They were afraid and refused to trust God and Moses.
When the people in the camp heard their report, they started to grumble and cried, “We don’t want to die in a war. We want to go back to Egypt. We want a new leader.”
Joshua and Caleb tried to change the peoples’ minds. “The land is wonderful,” they said. “God isn’t afraid of those people. If He is with us, those people should be afraid.”
But the people wouldn’t change their minds. Instead they ganged up on Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua. “Let’s kill them!” they shouted, and began picking up stones.
Then God’s glory came to the tabernacle and God said to Moses, “I'm going to destroy these people!”
“Please don’t kill them,” Moses begged. “Forgive them instead.”
God answered Moses’s prayer. He did forgive the people that day. But there were consequences. What were they? Pick the right answer (Numbers 14:20-23).
1. Manna stopped appearing each morning
2. None of the rebellious people would see or go into the land God had promised them.
3. An earthquake split the ground and swallowed up every rebellious person.
Rebellion against God is still wrong and still dangerous. Like the Israelites, if we don’t change rebellious ways, there will be consequences to us too.
PRAYER: Dear God, please teach me the danger of being stubborn and rebellious toward You. Amen.
MORE: Choices and Consequences
God is patient with us. He will forgive us for wrong things we’ve done if we ask Him.
Even then we will sometimes have to suffer consequences for bad choices we’ve made. Match the choice a person could make (left) with a possible consequence (right).
Answers
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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