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| 1 And all the company lifteth up and give forth their voice, and the people weep during that night; |
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| 2 and all the sons of Israel murmur against Moses, and against Aaron, and all the company say unto them, 'O that we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness, O that we had died! |
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| 3 and why is Jehovah bringing us in unto this land to fall by the sword our wives and our infants are become a prey; is it not good for us to turn back to Egypt ' |
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| 4 And they say one unto another, 'Let us appoint a head, and turn back to Egypt.' |
Return into Egypt – To the world. R1842:6
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| 5 And Moses falleth Aaron also on their faces, before all the assembly of the company of the sons of Israel. |
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| 6 And Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, of those spying the land, have rent their garments, |
And Joshua – Meaning "Deliverer of his people"; type of Jesus. A79; R3064:5
And Caleb – Meaning "Dog"; type of the Church, chiefly composed of the poor of this world. R3064:5
Searched the land – Joshua toured the entire country, some 300 miles; while Caleb's group only went as far as Hebron. R4045:3
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| 7 and they speak unto all the company of the sons of Israel, saying, 'The land into which we have passed over to spy it, [is] a very very good land; |
The land – Canaan, type of the rest of faith. R5345:4; T25
Canaan represents the conflict conditions of the trial-state. F130
"We who believe do enter into rest" in proportion to our exercise of faith. (Heb. 4:3) R5345:5
It is proper to speak of an earthly and a heavenly Canaan. R3945:2
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| 8 if Jehovah hath delighted in us, then He hath brought us in unto this land, and hath given it to us, a land which is flowing with milk and honey; |
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| 9 only, against Jehovah rebel not ye: and ye, fear not ye the people of the land, for our bread they [are]; their defence hath turned aside from off them, and Jehovah [is] with us; fear them not.' |
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| 10 And all the company say to stone them with stones, and the honour of Jehovah hath appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the sons of Israel. |
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| 11 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Until when doth this people despise Me and until when do they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have done in its midst |
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| 12 I smite it with pestilence, and dispossess it, and make thee become a nation greater and mightier than it.' |
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| 13 And Moses saith unto Jehovah, 'Then have the Egyptians heard! for Thou hast brought up with Thy power this people out of their midst, |
And Moses – Being more mindful of the Lord's honor than his own. R1842:3
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| 14 and they have said [it] unto the inhabitant of this land, they have heard that Thou, Jehovah, [art] in the midst of this people, that eye to eye Thou art seen O Jehovah, and Thy cloud is standing over them, and in a pillar of cloud Thou art going before them by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. |
Thy cloud – Manifestation of divine power and presence. They stopped with the cloud and journeyed when it moved. R5387:5
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| 15 'And Thou hast put to death this people as one man, and the nations who have heard Thy fame have spoken, saying, |
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| 16 From Jehovah's want of ability to bring in this people unto the land which He hath sworn to them He doth slaughter them in the wilderness. |
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| 17 'And now, let, I pray Thee, the power of my Lord be great, as Thou hast spoken, saying: |
The power of my Lord – Pray, pleading God's glory. R5380:6*
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| 18 Jehovah [is] slow to anger, and of great kindness; bearing away iniquity and transgression, and not entirely acquitting, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on a third [generation], and on a fourth; |
By no means – He has, however, provided a way by which he can be just and yet justify and release justly condemned sinners. This one just way is through Christ. HG308:5
Clearing the guilty – Moses did not ask the Lord to clear persistently willful sinners. R1842:4
The demands of justice must be satisfied. R2328:2; Q'05/10/20
Unto the third – Deviations from the prototype are corrected in the course of three generations. R4859:6*
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| 19 forgive, I pray Thee, the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Thy kindness, and as Thou hast borne with this people from Egypt, even until now.' |
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| 20 And Jehovah saith, 'I have forgiven, according to thy word; |
To thy word – This mercy could be extended to the young, but not to the adults (willful sinners), an illustration of the value of intercessory prayer. R1842:5
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| 21 and yet, I live and it is filled the whole earth [with] the honour of Jehovah; |
All the earth – "He shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth." (Psa. 72:8) R1415:1
Then all shall see the glorious brightness of God's wisdom, justice, love and power. R5210:5
Shall be filled – By the end of the Millennium. D656
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| 22 for all the men who are seeing My honour, and My signs, which I have done in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and try Me these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice |
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| 23 they see not the land which I have sworn to their fathers, yea, none of those despising Me see it; |
They – Type of a class of willful sinners of this Gospel age who come under condemnation to the Second Death. R1842:5
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| 24 and My servant Caleb, because there hath been another spirit with him, and he is fully after Me I have brought him in unto the land whither he hath entered, and his seed doth possess it. |
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| 25 'And the Amalekite and the Canaanite are dwelling in the valley; to-morrow turn ye and journey for yourselves into the wilderness the way of the Red Sea.' |
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| 26 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying, |
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| 27 'Until when hath this evil company that which they are murmuring against Me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against Me, I have heard; |
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| 28 say unto them, I live an affirmation of Jehovah if, as ye have spoken in Mine ears so I do not to you; |
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| 29 in this wilderness do your carcases fall, even all your numbered ones, to all your number, from a son of twenty years and upward, who have murmured against Me; |
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| 30 ye ye come not in unto the land which I have lifted up My hand to cause you to tabernacle in it, except Caleb son of Jephunneh, and Joshua son of Nun. |
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| 31 'As to your infants of whom ye have said, A spoil they are become I have even brought them in, and they have known the land which ye have kicked against; |
They shall know – Showing the value of intercessory prayer on behalf of those who sin not unto death. R1842:5
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| 32 as to you your carcases do fall in this wilderness, |
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| 33 and your sons are evil in the wilderness forty years, and have borne your whoredoms till your carcases are consumed in the wilderness; |
Children shall wander – Illustrates that fidelity to the truth will in due time be rewarded, though for a time the faithful may suffer on account of the unfaithful. R1842:1
Because of their lack of faith and their rebellion. R5387:6
Forty years – The remainder of 40 years. R4046:2
Typifying the period of Jewish disfavor. R3064:4
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| 34 by the number of the days [in] which ye spied the land, forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year ye do bear your iniquities, forty years, and ye have known my breaking off; |
Day for a year – A key by which nearly all time prophecies can be unlocked. B91
The six creative days were not 24-hour days. The word "day" stands for epoch, or period. F19
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| 35 I [am] Jehovah, I have spoken; if I do not this to all this evil company who are meeting against me; in this wilderness they are consumed, and there they die.' |
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| 36 And the men whom Moses hath sent to spy the land, and they turn back and cause all the company to murmur against him, by bringing out an evil account concerning the land, |
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| 37 even the men bringing out an evil account of the land die by the plague before Jehovah; |
The evil report – The false statement that they saw giants, or Nephilim, whom the flood had destroyed, was part of it. E104
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| 38 and Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, have lived of those men who go to spy out the land. |
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| 39 And Moses speaketh these words unto all the sons of Israel, and the people mourn exceedingly, |
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| 40 and they rise early in the morning, and go up unto the top of the mountain, saying, 'Here we [are], and we have come up unto the place which Jehovah hath spoken of, for we have sinned.' |
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| 41 And Moses saith, 'Why [is] this ye are transgressing the command of Jehovah, and it doth not prosper; |
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| 42 go not up, for Jehovah is not in your midst, and ye are not smitten before your enemies; |
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| 43 for the Amalekite and the Canaanite [are] there before you, and ye have fallen by the sword, because that ye have turned back from after Jehovah, and Jehovah is not with you.' |
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| 44 And they presume to go up unto the top of the mountain, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and Moses have not departed out of the midst of the camp. |
Departed not – We should never attempt any undertaking, temporal or spiritual, without seeking to know the will of the Lord concerning it. R3062:1
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| 45 And the Amalekite and the Canaanite who are dwelling in that mountain come down and smite them, and beat them down unto Hormah. |
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