Support of City Missions
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prompted by Satan. Their unbelief casts a gloomy shadow over the
congregation, and the mighty power of God, so often manifested in
behalf of the chosen nation, is forgotten.
The people are desperate in their disappointment and despair. A
wail of agony arises and mingles with the confused murmur of voices.
Caleb comprehends the situation and, bold to stand in defense of the
word of God, does all in his power to counteract the evil influence of
his unfaithful associates. For an instant the people are stilled to listen
to his words of hope and courage respecting the goodly land. He does
not contradict what has already been said; the walls are high and the
Canaanites strong. “Let us go up at once, and possess it,” he urges;
“for we are well able to overcome it.” But the ten interrupt him and
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picture the obstacles in darker colors than at first. “We be not able
to go up against the people,” they declare, “for they are stronger than
we.” “All the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And
there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants:
and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their
sight.”
“And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the
people wept that night.” The men who have so long borne with the
perversity of Israel know too well what the next scene will be. Revolt
and open mutiny quickly follow; for Satan has had full sway, and the
people seem bereft of reason. They curse Moses and Aaron, forgetting
that God hears their wicked speeches, and that, enshrouded in the
cloudy pillar, the Angel of His presence is witnessing their terrible
outburst of wrath. In bitterness they cry out: “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.”
In humiliation and distress, Moses and Aaron fall on “their faces
before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel,”
not knowing what to do to turn them from their rash and passionate
purpose. Caleb and Joshua attempt to quiet the tumult. With their
garments rent in token of grief and indignation, they rush in among
the people, and their ringing voices are heard above the tempest of
lamentation and rebellious grief: “The land, which we passed through