July 19, 2024

Numbers 14:39-45  (HCSB)
Israel Routed
39 When Moses reported these words to all the Israelites, the people were overcome with grief. 40 They got up early the next morning and went up the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Let’s go to the place the Lord promised, for we were wrong.” 41 But Moses responded, “Why are you going against the Lord’s command? It won’t succeed. 42 Don’t go, because the Lord is not among you and you will be defeated by your enemies. 43 The Amalekites and Canaanites are right in front of you, and you will fall by the sword. The Lord won’t be with you, since you have turned from following Him.” 44 But they dared to go up the ridge of the hill country, even though the ark of the Lord’s covenant and Moses did not leave the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them as far as Hormah.

Jenny Morton
Again the Israelites let their fears guide them. They were disobedient to God, got caught, were sentenced and then decided "Hey, let's go do that thing we were supposed to do in the first place and maybe God will spare us”. When Moses tells them not to go because the Lord isn't with them, they go anyway. We try to escape our consequences for disobedience and end up more in a mess than we were in before. We think we can fix things in our own power. And sometimes we do, but was it what God wanted or what we wanted? Do we doubt God's ability to take care of the big and little things in our lives? Is your hope in Him or do you let fear blind your faith?