(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Numbers 14:1–4, “And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.”
These people had a tendency to complain, they had been doing since a few weeks after the first Passover (see Ex 14:10–12, “And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”) They had spent many years as slaves and were not emotionally prepared to face any hardship. They didn’t know how to make decisions on their own. As soon as they faced any hardship they immediately looked back to the relative security of Egypt where they didn’t have to make any decisions and everything was provided for them. Of course they forgot about the hardships of Egypt (compare Ex 3:7–8, “And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.”) These people grumbled again when they heard that the Land was defended and there were giants in the Land. They didn’t remember that the Lord had already defeated the Egyptian armies and all they had to do was stand still (Ex 14:13–14, “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”) They just wanted to go back to Egypt instead of trusting the Lord and doing what He told them to do.
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