Holly Bible - KJV with Concise Commentaries by Z Selam - HTML preview
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9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of
the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.
10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones.
And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
11 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 showed among them?
Here is, the righteous sentence which God gave against Israel for their murmuring and unbelief, which, though afterwards mitigated, showed what was the desert of their sin and the demand of injured justice, and what would have been done if Moses had not interposed. When the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle we may suppose that Moses took it for a call to him immediately to come and attend there, as before the tabernacle was erected he went up to the mount in a similar case, Ex 32:30. Thus, while the people were studying to disgrace him, God publicly put honour upon him, as the man of his counsel. Now here we are told what God said to him there.
1. He showed him the great evil of the people's sin, Nu 14:11. What passed between God and Israel went through the hands of Moses: when they were displeased with God they told Moses of it (Nu 14:2); when God was displeased with them he told Moses too, revealing his secret to his servant the prophet, Am 3:7. Two things God justly complains of to Moses:--
(1.) Their sin. They provoke me, or (as the word signifies) they reject, reproach, despise me, for they will not believe me. This was the bitter root which bore the gall and wormwood. It was their unbelief that made this a day of provocation in the wilderness, Heb 3:8. Note, Distrust of God, of his power and promise, is itself a very great provocation, and at the bottom of many other provocations. Unbelief is a great sin (1Jo 5:10), and a root sin, Heb 3:12.