Daily Devotion | Numbers 14:1–10 | 2026 May 05

Title: Daily Devotion | Numbers 14:1–10 | 2026 May 05

Scripture: Numbers 14:1–10 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 May 05

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

All right, dear brothers and sisters, peace to you. We thank God for His grace. We have come to a new day, to study Daily Devotion. The passage we are studying today is Numbers chapter 14, verses 1 through 10. Let us pray. God, we thank You, we thank You. Lord, please lead us mainly to continue becoming familiar with Your Word. Lord, how greatly You love us. You are always using Your Scriptures to remind us, renew us, and change us. What a great grace this is that You have given to us. Lord, we ask You, this morning, still to help us, so that we may come to understand Your will more deeply. In the name of Christ. Amen.

All right, let us look at Numbers chapter 14. This chapter is a turning point in the destiny of the whole people of Israel in the wilderness. So we will examine it a little more slowly. Today we will examine verses 1 through 10. All right, let us look at their reaction. After these spies who brought the bad report told the situation to the Israelites, they began to cry and wail here. In Numbers 14:1–10, we hear two kinds of voices. One is the voice of the Israelites, and the other is the voice of Joshua and Caleb. So let us compare these two voices, and let us see which voice we are actually going to follow, and how we should act before distress and affliction.

All right, let us look. The Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron. What did they say? They said, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!” That is, they thought, “It would have been better if we had simply been finished, right? You brought us to this place, so that we may fall by the sword. Why do this? Our wives and children will become plunder.” This was their judgment concerning the environment. So let us look at this. If we stand from a relatively—we say, of course, in this world there is no truly objective viewpoint—but if we stand from a relatively objective angle to look at the situation of the Israelites: they were slaves in Egypt, and God used the ten plagues in Egypt to save them out of Egypt, right?

When they had pursuing soldiers behind them, God divided the Red Sea and let them go through, and then used the Red Sea to drown Pharaoh’s army, the strongest and most elite troops at that time. When they had no water and no food in the wilderness, God gave them water and gave them manna. After they arrived at Mount Sinai, many things happened in between as well. Now they were arranged in orderly ranks. In the course of more than one year, the law had been given, the tabernacle had been established, God was dwelling with them, and they had come to the border.

How should you interpret all these things? There are two interpretations. One is the interpretation of the whole congregation of Israel. Their interpretation was: “We are going to die. Now Yahweh has led us here; if we go up, we will surely die.” This was their judgment. So at this time, if we say we look at the whole congregation of Israel objectively, their grumbling actually had no reason. Why? Because if God had not saved them, if God had given them over, if God had not remembered the covenant with Abraham, then in fact they would not have had all these previous experiences.

That is to say, God had done so many things and brought them to the land of Canaan. If we speak objectively about this matter, surely He intended to bring them in, right? Otherwise, why would God do so much? But where was the problem? Before this enormous affliction and distress, the Israelites completely forgot all the works God had done before. They had only sight before their eyes, and had no faith at all. We could even say, you do not even need faith, right? You do not even need to believe that you can win the battle ahead. You only need to look backward, and that would be enough. What was all the leading along this road before? How could you completely disregard the experiences before? How did it become, when you arrived at this place, that you were about to die?

I think there is a very deep reminder here for us. What is it? When we are in affliction, where should we look? Of course, most importantly, we should look upward, believing that the Lord Jesus Christ is reigning, and by faith we should move forward. When God speaks, we are to do what? But there is another method that can help us. What is it? If you cannot see clearly when you look forward, and you cannot see clearly when you look upward, then surely you can look backward, right? Think about it. Along this whole road of leading, how did God save you? At least you can think about this, right? But have you noticed? When people are weak, they cannot even look backward anymore.

Yes, this is the difficulty, right? If we go forward, it means death. Then what should we do? Since I am going to die, then what is my answer? My answer is to return to Egypt. Appoint another leader and return to Egypt. Moses and Aaron must certainly have a problem. No, I want to go back to Egypt. Why did they want to return to Egypt? I do not know whether Teacher Jiang has mentioned this to you before. This was the deceitfulness of the Israelites. Why did they want to go back to Egypt? Because at that time the Egyptian army had already been destroyed, right? Think about it: the most elite troops had already been struck down by God in the Red Sea. At this time, if they returned to the land of Egypt, they could seize authority and become kings. This was their little scheme.

Why did they want to return to Egypt? Think about it: either move forward or retreat backward, right? Moving forward was impossible; this land of Canaan was too hard to fight. Moving backward was possible. First, I am familiar with the land of Egypt, this place. For generations, right? More than four hundred years—that is generation after generation. For more than four hundred years I lived there. Is the army still there? No. If we go back, we can directly plunder the wealth of Egypt. Would it not be good for us to be kings there? Right? At most, we just occupy a place. So do you see? At this time, the Israelites had completely forgotten God. Before their eyes there was only calculation, only a calculation of advantage and disadvantage. Fighting forward is difficult; fighting backward is easy. If I go back, I will be king. There was completely no more thought of God’s will, or of God’s past leading.

So all of this was completely forgotten. Therefore, I think this especially reminds us Christians not to fall into this kind of weakness, right? We live in this world to obey God’s Word. Our purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We should move forward by faith. This is what we do, and this is what we Christians should do. Since our God has saved us, since God has had mercy on us, we must come and follow God on this road. What if there are difficulties? Pray and ask God to help us move forward. This is the healthy mindset. But the Israelites at this time had completely forgotten all of these things. What instruction from God, what glorifying God—they utterly disregarded God’s command. In their eyes there was only one thing: I am the one who determines my own safety. I will evaluate my own safety environment. Now I cannot go forward, so I will return to Egypt, right? Appoint another leader. As for what happens to Moses, I do not care anymore. At this time, what calling of God, what past leading of God, what God loving us—none of it was there. It was completely gone. At this time there were only immediate interests.

So I think this is an excellent reminder for us. When God puts us in a trial, when it is a matter of life and death, that is when our faith can most clearly be tested. Are you going to follow God’s Word, or are you going to follow your own judgment? Right? Suppose there is a job, right? Now, if you do not falsify the accounts, if you do not give or take bribes, if you do not listen to your boss, then this job will immediately be gone, right? “If I am gone, then I have no job. If I have no job, I have no food to eat. If I have no food to eat, I will starve to death. So I do not care what God’s Word says. I do not care at all. Now I will just listen to whoever provides my meals.”

Right? “As a Christian, I cannot admit my identity, because in my workplace there is an established post, and they will dismiss me. Whatever the boss says, I must obey the boss. As for society, this matter—I have no way. I just have to listen to the boss. As for God’s—I do not care.” I think verses 1 through 4 are truly a very deep reminder for us Christians. When this environment comes, what exactly are we going to do? Are we going to act completely by sight? Can we look upward? Can we look backward? But this is human weakness. And I have discovered that many Christians, very often, fall into the condition of verses 1 through 4. May God have mercy on us. We have no faith at all, right? A child’s academic performance—that is placed first. What calling from God, Jesus Christ is Lord—all of this is completely forgotten. This is the place where we need to repent.

Next, let us look at another voice, that is, the voice of Joshua and Caleb. This is another voice. In verse 5, Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of Israel. Where exactly is this scene? I would guess it was at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Why at the entrance of the tent of meeting? Because that was the place where the Israelites discussed matters. This “whole assembly” probably does not mean that absolutely everyone was there; it was likely the seventy elders—this is my personal guess—representing Israel, together with the ten spies, gathered at the entrance of the tent of meeting to discuss this matter. Then Moses and Aaron fell down before them. What does it mean that they fell down? Of course, it means they bowed down before them, pleading with them to listen to God. Although it is not stated explicitly, that is the meaning. One should fall before God, right? But now they fall before the congregation—what does that mean? It means: quickly repent. You cannot speak like this. God’s wrath is about to come.

Then in verse 6, Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes to express grief. What was their voice like? They said this: “The land which we passed through to spy it out is an exceedingly good land.” First, they affirm that the land is good. Of course, those evil spies also acknowledged that it was a good land. But what is the expression of faith? “If the LORD delights in us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us.” That land is a land flowing with milk and honey; it is good. If God delights in us, we will surely obtain this land. “Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” One side is fear; the other side is not fearing. One side is sight; the other side is faith. So I think here, for us, especially when such extreme circumstances come upon us, we must overcome by relying on the Lord. Brothers and sisters, do not be weak.

Although when we spoke about church history, we also said that if you truly are weak, God will still have mercy on you and give you an opportunity to repent. But remember, repentance is necessary. That is to say, next time you may face an even worse situation, to manifest your faith. God’s tests become more and more difficult each time. If you pass the first test, then the later ones may be a little easier. But if you fail the first test, the environments will become more and more difficult, because in the end, you must display your faith in Christ. This is certain.

You say, “I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is Lord.” But how do you believe? How do you believe? We must have actions to prove our faith. In fact, what God did was to bring the Israelites into this very situation to test their faith. Only two people overcame: Joshua and Caleb. Only they were victorious. When they were victorious, what did they see? They saw that the land was good. What did they believe? They believed in God’s promise. By faith they saw that the LORD was with them. So this is the key for us to overcome in suffering and in trials—by faith, believing in God’s promises.

God is not specifically speaking something extra to someone in a special way. Suppose there is a situation: if you falsify the accounts, you can gain ten million. Your whole life would be settled, right? What should you do at that time? “Let me first take the ten million, and then shout, ‘Brothers and sisters, this is my sin, God loves you’”—this is deceiving people. God will not be deceived by you. At that moment, you should say, “I will not take this money. Even if I am dismissed by my leaders, even if I lose my position, I will still believe in God.” This is the expression of faith.

In fact, as we mentioned last time, God will sometimes place us in extremely, extremely extreme situations—situations where it is a matter of life and death. We mentioned this in the past few days as well, right? When you say “Caesar is lord,” it means a peaceful and stable life, quiet and comfortable days. When you say “Jesus is Lord,” it means the arena—the colosseum—and in a few days you may be tortured to death. The contrast is extremely clear, right? So which one will you listen to? Which voice will you follow? “I believe in Jesus in order to gain benefits.” But now believing in Jesus does not bring benefits, so I no longer want it.

“This job position is important. This income is important. This job is important. Do not be impulsive. Do not be overly zealous in faith.” Then your parents come to persuade you, your brothers and sisters persuade you, and people say, “You cannot keep saying you believe in Jesus. I finally got this position. My daughter finally got into graduate school. It was so hard to enter this system. Now if you believe in Jesus, you will be dismissed. How can you believe like this? Are you not harming people? It is fine if you believe by yourself, but you cannot harm others.” Then at that moment you become very weak and say, “What should I do? If I just simply say ‘Caesar is lord,’ or that the government is lord, would I not pass through this situation? Let me get through this first, and then we can talk later.”

But brothers and sisters, this deeply offends God. At that moment, God is testing you. At that very moment, should you not think that if, truly, three days later you are tortured to death, that would be wonderful? Then you only have three days left on earth, and on the fourth day you will see Jesus. What could be better than that? If I confess, “I believe in Jesus,” and I am beaten, whipped, and even killed, what a good thing that is. So I think here, brothers and sisters, I truly think about the weakness of the church—this is the weakness of the church in China. It is truly shameful. This position is not that important. This job is not that important. This income is not that important. God’s Word is important. God’s glory is important. Which one is truly important? It is your worldview.

All right, yesterday in class I also mentioned worldview, values, and outlook on life—you must adjust all of these. If you do not adjust these things, when such situations come, you will immediately become weak. And I remind you: you must continually imagine extreme situations. This is my own experience. Usually, we imagine things very optimistically, but when circumstances suddenly come, we panic. I suggest that each time we imagine the worst possible scenario—that it is immediately a matter of life and death, that I am about to die. Only when you keep training yourself in such thinking can you truly have the faith that even death does not frighten you. Then the battle ahead will be easier to fight.

If you imagine things in a good way—“It’s fine, God is love, God will not let such things happen to me, everything God does is good”—if you think like this, then when the situation becomes even slightly serious, when it involves your job, your position, you will immediately collapse. So we must be careful. This is in terms of persecution.

There is also the aspect of temptation. The world is very appealing, right? Some people indulge in corruption in the world—drinking and such things—and feel very comfortable in the world. “Will God really care about this? Let me first enjoy the flesh.” That is the temptation of the flesh. So in both aspects we must stand firm. On one side, there are situations that threaten your life, forcing you: if you believe in Jesus, you lose everything. On the other side, there are favorable environments, all kinds of corruption and temptations before your eyes. What will you do? Will you listen to God, or will you listen to the flesh? All of this is continually testing our faith.

So sometimes God does not visibly appear to us. He places His Word before us, and places real temptations and real persecutions before us. Whom will you listen to? Whom will you follow? This is the test. This is the trial. There are two voices. One voice says, “I have my own judgment. I will return to Egypt. I will follow Egypt. As for the future, we will talk about it later. At least life is peaceful now, right? The sun is shining.” The other voice says, “At any time I may enter into death, but I believe this world is real, Jesus reigns, this world is not worth clinging to, this world will pass away, and what I long for is the new heaven and the new earth.”

So brothers and sisters, what exactly are you afraid of? Whom are you afraid of? Are you afraid of losing your job, losing your position, losing your income? How long will this fear continue? Are you not afraid of the LORD? Did not Jesus Himself warn that you should not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell? Even our fear is misplaced—we are fearing the wrong object. The Israelites experienced all of these things as God’s grace. Although there was some discipline, it was still grace. Yet in this grace, they lost themselves. “It’s fine, God is love.” They completely forgot God’s power and forgot the God who dwelt among them in the tabernacle between the cherubim. In the end, they picked up stones to kill them.

So these unbelieving voices should not be listened to. They wanted to stone those who spoke faithful words. All these things are warnings. When you express your faith, you may be rejected by your family, rejected by your parents, rejected by your children. “Stone them to death”—such people will say, “Their minds are completely gone, right? How can someone believe in Jesus to this extent? They even give up their job—how is that possible?” What should be done? “Stone them.” But thanks be to the Lord, suddenly the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. God will manifest Himself in His own way. But sometimes it may not be so immediate. In this special historical period, God suddenly appeared. But what if, in that moment, you were beaten to death? What if you were humiliated, dismissed, and others thought something was wrong with you? Can you still truly believe that God is with you? This is the expression of your faith.

So this matter of faith, from beginning to end, is a matter of faith—by faith, not by sight. This is God’s teaching to us. But I cannot force you. I can only place this Word here: do not follow the voice of Satan anymore. Today this passage is before us. Which one will you follow? In fact, this is testing every one of us. We value our jobs too much, we value our income too much, we value our status in this world too much, yet we completely disregard how God views us, so that we do not even know whom we should truly fear. In the grace of Jesus Christ, we act recklessly, indulge the flesh, completely disregard God’s statutes and commandments, so that we have not become light, we have not become salt, and God’s name has not been glorified through us but instead has been brought into reproach.

So I think, as we study chapter 14, we will examine it slowly, little by little, and see whether we love the world or love God. This question is asked of us every day. Every day it requires us to make a choice. May God lead us so that each time we can overcome by relying on the Lord. All right, today’s sharing ends here. Thank you, everyone.