(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Numbers 14:11–19, “And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
The Lord was angry with the people because they were unfaithful. He brought them out of Egypt to bring them in to the Promised Land (Deut 6: 23, “And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.”) but now they had been brought out of the land of slavery they were unwilling to go into the Promised Land. They deserved to be punished and the Lord explained that to Moses. He said that He would destroy these people and make a new nation from Moses’ descendants. However, Moses was concerned for the Lord’s reputation and pointed out the Lord that everyone would despise Him, saying that He was unable to bring them into the Land. The Lord put Moses in a position where he would have to decide where his own loyalties lay. The Lord didn’t change His mind, at that stage, but gave Moses a chance to express his opinion and his loyalty to the Lord. Moses asked the Lord to save the people because He is longsuffering and and merciful.
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