(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Numbers 14:36–45, “And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still. And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.”
The men who discouraged Israel from going to take possession of the Promised Land, at that time, died in a plague. The Lord dealt with them because they tried to lead Israel astray and they refused to accept that the Lord was the only true God. These men persuaded Israel that there were other gods that they should fear. However, both Caleb and Joshua refused to recognise that these other gods were real or that they should be afraid of these gods so they were not punished. The people were still struggling with accepting that the Lord was their God in every sense of the word. When they realised that they had chosen to reject the Lord and refused to go into the Promised Land they Lord gave them what they chose and condemned them to remain in the desert until all that generation had died and their children would be able to go into the Land. They decided that they wouldn’t accept the Lord’s verdict and go to take the Promised Land instead. Moses warned them against taking this course of action. Never the less, they went towards the Promised Land. They didn’t take the ark because the Lord’s Presence didn’t go with them. Moses remained behind as well so they were not led by the godly man whom the Lord had chosen. When they approached the Promised Land the inhabitants came and defeated these people in a battle. They made a choice and the Lord gave them what they had chosen.
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