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I n t e r n a t i o n a l Se r ies of Sunday School Les sons EXPOSITION OF THE LESSON, - Frederic W. Farr DEVOTIONAL COMMENT, - - John A. Hubbard COMMENTS FROM THE COMMENTARIES, V. V. Morgan ELEMENTARY, - I ~ ~ - Mabel L. Merrill
lief. L et us th erefo re fear, le st a prom ise being, le ft u s of en tering in to his rest, any of you should seem to come sh o rt of it.” Kadesh-barnea was only a few days’ march from Canaan. How sad it was to come to th e very threshold of th e prom ised land and have unbelief drive them back into th e w ilder ness! The g reater p a rt of fo rty years was thu s consumed. This period is reckoned from th e exodus. The numbering, of ch. 26, took place a fte r the death of Aaron. This oc- cured on the first day of th e fifth month of th e fiftieth year afte r th e exodus. Therefore th e year and a h alf since the exodus should be included in th e fo rty years of w ilderness wandering. This would make thirty -eigh t years and a half of w ilderness life. Their carcasses fell in th e wilderness. Caleb am i Joshua were the only ones th a t survived of all the host over twenty- one years of age. When Moses, standing upon th e lofty heights of Nebo, looked down upon the ten ts of Israel and composed th e ninetieth Psalm , it carries additional signifi cance to remember th a t he had seen upon th e average five hundred funerals a day fo r th e space of forty years. To us the Gospel of Canaan is preached even as unto them. Shall we like Israel, disbelieve and disobey? Or shall we, resting on His Word and tru stin g in his power, go in and possess th e land? “O th a t I m ight a t once go up, No more on th is side Jo rd an stop, B u t now th e land possess; This moment end my legal years, Sorrows and sins and doubts and fears, A howling w ilderness.” 13 :28 "Unbelief never gets beyond the difficulties— the cities, the walls, th e giants. It is always p referring them , dwelling on them , pu tting them against its own resources. F aith , on th e o th er hand, though it never minimizes the (1-8) The sending of the spies was an act of unbelief. God had told them th e character of-the land, and they sent spies to see if God told them th e tru th about it (cf. Num. 13:9; Ex. 18 :5 ; Deut. 8:7, 9). He had promised His guidance step by step and yet they w anted to find out by what way we must go up (Deut. 1:21 -23 ), Jehovah bade Moses send men to spy out the land, bu t it was only afte r th e people suggested it. This act of unbelief led to others th a t cost Israel forty years outside of Canaan wandering in th e wilderness. Jehovah did let them have th e way of unbelief (cf. 1 Sam. 8 : 6 , 7, 22; Matt. 1 9 :8 ). F aith goes ou t a t God’s command w ithout asking w hither it is going (Heb. 1 1 :8 ).—Torrey. (V. 4 ) It was d istru st of th e ir God and His promises, such d istru st as led them to refuse to obey His order to go up and conquer. They forgot what God had done for them . They forgot th a t “ one, w ith God, is a m ajority.” W ithout God they would have u tte rly failed, as they would have failed in escaping from Egypt. W ith God they could have “ done all th ing s.” The tim id spies were like E lisha’s servan t (2 K ings 6:16, 17) who saw th e enemy, b u t did COMMENTS FROM THE COMMENTARIES V. V. Morgan difficulties, looks them steadily in th e face, tu rn s from them and looks up into th e face of God, and counts on Him. This is w hat th e people failed to do, and for th is they lost Canaan." F . B. Meyer.
F E B R U A R Y 10, 19 24. The Failure a t Kadesh Golden Text: ‘‘The Lord is w ith us; fear them no t.” Numbers 14:9. Lesson Text: “Numbers 13:17 to 14:45; Deut. 1:26-40. Devotional Reading, Romans 8:31-39. Unbelief was th e crowning sin th a t kept Israel out of the promised land. Everything had been done to create and develop faith. Nevertheless when they were b rough t up to th e threshold of Canaan, they refused to go in. “Let us make a captain and retu rn to Egypt.” LESSON (1 6 :4 ). The appeals of Caleb and Joshua EXPOSITION were of no avail. “All the congregation Dr. F . W. F a rr bade stone them w ith stones,” They were afraid of the giants and th e walled cities, bu t they were not afraid to displease and disobey God. They had contracted a hab it of m urm uring and complain ing. They murmured against Moses and Aaron, and they murmured against God. F aith can not be summoned or manufactured a t a moment’s notice. It is a p lan t of slow growth. It rests no t only on outward evidence bu t on in ward discipline. When we th ink of all th a t God has done for Israel, we suppose th e ir faith ought to be very strong. It is not faith to tru s t God afte r deliverance. They seem never to have learned to tru st God before th e deliverance came. Therefore instead of th e ir faith growing stronger, it actually grew w eaker and when th e crisis came, th e ir cour age failed because it h a d 'n o faith behind it. They were weighed in th e balance and found wanting. This was th eir last chance. They never had another. Suddenly the glory of th e Lord appeared, not to lead them into Canaan, b u t to check th e ir outbreak against Joshua and Caleb and to pass sentence upon th é congre gation. Through th e intercession of Moses th e lives of the people are saved b u t they lose th e ir testim ony and posi tion as th e hosts of th e Lord. “Because all these m en which have seen my glory and my m iracles which I did in Egypt and in th e w ilderness and have tem pted m e now these ten tim es and have not. h ea rk ened to my voice, surely they shall n o t see th e land.” vs. 2 2 . “Tomorrow tu rn you and get you into the w ilderness." vs. 25. They changed th e ir m inds when it was too late. “Lo, we will go up into th e place which the Lord h ath promised, for we have sinned.” vs. 40. They would no t go tru stin g m God. They are w illing to go tru stin g in them selves. Moses warned them of certain disaster, b u t they persisted.- “Then th e Amalekites came down and th e Can- aanites which dwelt in th a t hill and smote them and dis- comfitted them even unto Horm ah.” vs. 45. D ispensations do not change human hearts. There are many who refuse to live up to full Gospel privilege. They wander in th e desert land in sp iritual leanness and desti tution. Bunyan ' quaintly designates th e hosts .of unbelief as “Ten thousand doubters and fifteen thousand bloodmen; and old Incredulity was again made general of the arm y.’ “So we see th a t they could n o t en ter in because of unbe
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