Numbers 14:36-37

This is a judgment that was made against tribal leaders because they gave an exaggerated report against the great promise and faithfulness of God. What just popped into my mind was Jesus telling Peter, “Get you behind Me, Satan!” Because the thought Peter spoke—though it was done in his mind because he did not like what Christ was saying about having to die—what actually came out of his mouth was anti-God’s purpose which was to bring about the death of Jesus Christ, and Peter was actually speaking against that. In that case it was against the great promise and faithfulness of God to provide a way for sins to be forgiven.

In this case the people said, “Boy, it’s a good-looking land all right, but the trials of overcoming the present residents and their fortified cities isn’t worth making. They’re too strong, and they’re too entrenched, and we will be overcome." So they had a very severe lack of faith.

All of those over twenty were held accountable and judged because they believed this evil report. Now was God unfair? The very fact that Joshua and Caleb were not judged the same way shows that God was judging each person individually. If He was judging everybody in the body with the same paintbrush, those two would have died as well, but He set them apart.

What is the lesson? It is obvious. God wants us to hold our faith regardless of the way the crowd is going, even in the midst of other church members. Those twenty and over who were condemned were people who were just going along with the church, in today’s lingo, but what we always have to think of and always take into consideration is personal responsibility. That is the lesson there. God holds us accountable personally.

Numbers 14:36-37

Here the judgment is against tribal leaders. As you see, as we progress here, God judges everybody—top to bottom. Everybody gets a fair judgment from Him. He judges without respect of persons.

So here we have tribal leaders who went into the land, gave an exaggerated report against the great promises and the faithfulness of God. What they said was, "Yeah, it's a good looking land all right, and it really does produce. But the trials of overcoming the present residents and their fortified cities is not worth making." They said, "Those people look too strong and entrenched." They were calling God into account! They were saying that He was lying. Think of yourself as we go along here.

Do you know what the sin was here? They believed the evil report. That is a sobering one.

The very fact that Joshua and Caleb were not judged in the same way shows that God was judging each person individually. Now, this one has very serious ramifications. How many people do you know who are going along with the church in today's trial, believing an evil report? Are they aware of what is written in this book of judgments about their personal responsibility?