The History of the Old Testament Methodized, Chapter 4 · Section 58 – Section 61
SECT. LVIII.
THeſe Spyes after forty days return from ſearching the Land, and come to the Camp at Kadeſh, bringing with them one branch of a Vine with one Cluſter or Bunch of Grapes upon it (which was ſo big that they carried it between two of them upon a ſtaff) with ſome Pomegranates and Figgs of the Land. Ten of theſe twelve Spies that were ſent praiſed indeed the goodneſs of the Land, but magnified alſo the ſtrength of the Cities thereof, and the Giant-like ſtature of the Inhabitants, thereby diſheartning the people from marching any further towards it. At Hebron, a City in the South-parts of it, (which was one of the ancienteſt Cities in the World, being more ancient then Zoan, the chief City of Egypt, which vaunted it ſelf to be of very great Antiquity, ſee Iſa. 19.11.) they tell them they met with Giants, the Sons of Anak, men of mighty ſtature, in compariſon of whom they ſeemed but like Graſhoppers. They tell them, The Cities of the Canaanites were great, and walled up to Heaven, Deut. 1.28. They further tell them, That the Amalekites dwelt in the South Country, the Hittites, Jebuſites and Amorites in the Mountains nigh unto the Wilderneſs where the Iſraelites now lay; ſo that there would be no entring the Land on the South becauſe of thoſe mighty Nations that would be there ready to oppoſe them. And in caſe they ſhould think to fetch a compaſs about, and to enter in on the Eaſt-ſide, there they would be kept out by the River Jordan, which ran along on that ſide and the dead-Sea, and by the Canaanites who dwelt by the Sea, and by the Coaſt of Jordan; and they being a valiant and a ſtrong people would improve thoſe advantages for the beſt defence of their Country. Thus theſe ten Spies diſcouraged the people, bringing an evil Report upon the Land, telling them, It was a Land that eateth up the Inhabitants thereof, by reaſon of the Civil Wars, and frequent inteſtine Commotions that aroſe among them; and by reaſon of the Tyranny of the Gyants, who oppreſſed thoſe that were leſs powerful than themſelves. And if ſeveral of the Natives of the Land were expos'd to ſo much danger, how much more had they need to fear that were Strangers, and were held their Common Enemies, and what could they expect but to be eaten up with continual Wars?
The people at this Relation being greatly terrified, Caleb and Joſhua roſe up and contradicted this falſe Report, and encouraged the people, telling them they might eaſily by Gods aſſiſtance Conquer the Land, [ſee Ch. 14.6, 7.] They ſaid all that they could to ſtill and quiet them, and to hearten them to go on; but all in vain; For they now fall into an high rage and diſcontent, and murmur againſt Moſes and Aaron, and wiſh they had died in Egypt or the Wilderneſs.
Nay their diſcontent and impatience grew ſo high, that they ſaid, [Deut. 1.27.] Becauſe the Lord hated us, he hath brought us out of the Land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorite to deſtroy us, and that our ſelves, our Wives and Children ſhould be a prey to their Sword. And therefore like perſons almoſt diſtracted, they ſaid one to another, Come, let us choſe to our ſelves a Captain, and under him let us march back again into Egypt, ſee Nehem. 9.17. But they did not conſider the difficulties they muſt needs meet with, had they proceeded in ſuch a reſolution. They could not reaſonably expect to be fed with Manna from Heaven in their return (being in Rebellion againſt God) nor to have the Red-Sea divided for them again. And if they ſhould, though very unlikely, ever get back into Egypt, what ſcorn and cruel Bondage muſt they there expect? If the Egyptians oppreſs'd them before, how much more hardly and ſeverely would they deal with them now, remembring the death of their Firſt-born, and the drowning of Pharaoh and his Army in the Red-Sea. But men in paſſion uſually loſe all conſideration. Moſes and Aaron ſeeing them in ſuch a rage and mutiny, fell down on their faces before them, intreating them to deſiſt from ſuch a deſperate purpoſe. Moſes earneſtly perſwaded them not to dread the Canaanites, for God would go before them, and fight for them, Deut. 1.29, 30, 31. and Caleb and Joſhua rent their Clothes, teſtifying that their hearts were rent with Grief and Indignation at thoſe blaſphemous Speeches the people had uttered againſt God. They tell them the Land they went to ſearch was an exceeding good Land, and if the Lord delighted in them, He would bring them into it. Therefore they ſhould take heed leſt by their Rebellion they provoked him to deprive them of it. As for the people of the Land, they tell them, They need not be afraid of them, for they were but as bread for them; that is, their Sword ſhould eaſily eat and devour them; for their defence was departed from them; that is, God who had hitherto preſerved them from being deſtroyed, becauſe their Iniquity was not then full, [Gen. 15.16.] had now upon their great Provocations withdrawn his defence from them, and would certainly give them up to deſtruction; And alas! (ſay they) what are ſtrong Cities or high Walls to defend a people whom God hath forſaken? Theſe Diſcourſes of Caleb and Joſhua, though very rational, nothing pacified the inraged multitude, but inſtead thereof, like mad men they cried out, Stone them, ſtone them, ſee Exod. 17.4. The Lord ſeeing what danger his faithful Servants and Witneſſes were in, ſuddenly cauſed the Cloud (the uſual ſign when He meant to ſpeak to Moſes concerning the people) to deſcend upon the Tabernacle, and poſſibly in a more glorious manner then ordinary, thereby to aſtoniſh the people, and to ſtop them in their furious attempt. And the Lord ſaid unto Moſes, How long will this people provoke me, and how long will it be ere they believe me, notwithſtanding all the ſigns and wonders I have ſhewed among them? I am even ready to ſmite them with the Peſtilence, and quite diſinherit them, and deprive them of this good Land I promiſed to their Fathers, and in their ſtead to make of thee a greater Nation than they. Moſes humbly intercedes for them, and makes uſe of ſeveral Arguments to prevail with the Lord for them. Firſt, He ſays, Lord if thou ſhouldeſt deſtroy all this people as if they were but one man, the Egyptians will hear of it, and will take occaſion thereupon to reproach thy Name: They will ſay, becauſe thou couldſt not bring them into the Land which thou ſwareſt to give them, therefore thou haſt ſlain them in the Wilderneſs, though they know thou broughteſt them by thine Almighty Power out from among them; however they will talk inſultingly thereof to the Nations who have heard the fame of thee, and know that thou art among this people, and haſt manifeſted thy preſence frequently and apparently among them, and that thy Cloud ſtandeth over them, and that thou goeſt before them in the day-time in a Pillar of a Cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. 2ly, He humbly deſires of the Lord, that the greatneſs of his Power and Mercy may be manifeſted in pardoning this people, who by ſo many and great ſins had ſo highly provoked him, according to what he himſelf had ſpoken, Exod. 34.6. ſaying, The Lord is long-ſuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving Iniquity and Tranſgreſſion, and by no means clearing the Guilty, viſiting the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation. By which words, whilſt Moſes ſues for mercy to many of them, he ſeems to intimate an aſſent to the juſtice of God, If He pleaſe to execute it upon ſome principal Offendors among them, which if cut off there would be more ſafety for the reſt. Only he deſires he would in the midſt of Judgment remember Mercy, and would manifeſt as great a willingneſs and readineſs to pardon them now, as He had done from Egypt until that time. The Lord was pleaſed to give a gracious Anſwer to Moſes's prayer, and accordingly ſaid to him, I have pardoned them according to thy word, I will not deſtroy them all as one man at this preſent, I will not cut off the whole Nation as at firſt I threatned. He further tells Moſes, That He intended to get unto his Name great Glory, by the miraculous things that he would do for his people in carrying them into the Land of Canaan; and yet withall He would magnifie his Juſtice and Severity in cutting off thoſe who having ſeen the Miracles He did for them in Egypt, and in the Wilderneſs, had yet tempted Him ten times, *1. At the Red-Sea, Exod. 14.11. 2. At Marah, Exod. 15.23. 3. In the Wilderneſs of Sin, Exod. 16.2. 4. When they kept Manna till it ſtank, Exod. 16.20. 5. When they went out to gather Manna on the Sabbath day, Exod. 16.27. 6. At Rephidim for want of water, Exod. 17.2. 7. When they made the golden Calf, Exod. 32.1. 8. At Taborah, Numb. 11.1. 9. At Kebroth-Hattaavah longing for Quails, Numb. 11.4. 10. At this time after the return of the Spies.and therefore they ſhould not enter into the Land, but all of them that were twenty years old and upward ſhould die in the Wilderneſs, excepting only Joſhua and Caleb who were acted by a better ſpirit, and had followed him fully, and done what he required of them, ſee Numb. 32.12. Theſe two ſhould enter into the Land, and their Seed ſhould poſſeſs it, but as for the reſt of the Murmurers and Mutineers their Carkaſſes ſhould fall in the Wilderneſs, and their Children that they ſaid would be a prey to the Amorites, theſe He would bring in, and they ſhould know and enjoy the good Land which their Fathers had ſo reproachfully rejected. Yet he tells them, Their Children ſhould wander in that Wilderneſs forty years; that is, till they have made up the years of their wandering in the Wilderneſs, from their coming out of Egypt, full forty years; and he tells them that during this time, Theſe Children ſhould bear their Fathers Whoredoms; that is, their Fathers Ʋnfaithfulneſs, Diſloyalty and Diſobedience to God ſhould bring this puniſhment of forty years continuance in the Wilderneſs upon their Children. And He ſays, They ſhall know to their Coſt, what a dangerous thing it is to withdraw themſelves, or break off (r)V. 34. Scietis abruptionem meam] i. e. abruptionem à me, Piſc.their Obedience to Him: They ſhall find that it was their own Infidelity and Diſobedience to him, and not his breach of Promiſe with them, that kept them out of that good Land, to the borders of which he had now brought them. They ought to have conſidered that his Promiſe was Conditional, and the performance of it was to be expected only by thoſe that performed the condition of it, and towards them it ſhall never fail.
Numb. 13. from 23. to the end.
Numb. 14. from 1. to 36.
Joſhua 5.6. Numb. 32. from 8. to 14.
Deut. 1. from 26. to 40.
Deut. 9.23, 24.
Pſal. 95. from 8. to the end.
Pſal. 106. from 23. to 27.
SECT. LIX.
THe ten Spies who had cauſed this meeting among the people were ſmitten by God with an extraordinary Plague, and died preſently, (ſee 1 Cor. 10.10.) With this Judgment the people were grievouſly terrified, and mourned exceedingly; And in remembrance thereof the Jews keep a Feaſt upon the ſeventh day of the ſixth month call'd Ebul.
Numb. 14. from 36. to 40.
SECT. LX.
THe people being much terrified with this Judgment, and more eſpecially with Gods Decree againſt them, which Moſes had acquainted them with, and being very ſenſible that they had greatly provoked the Lord, they would needs now in all haſt gird on their Swords, and go forward to take poſſeſſion of the Land God had promiſed them, reſolving to fight all Enemies in the way. But Moſes charges them from the Lord that they ſhould not ſtir, ſee Deut. 1.42. He tells them that the Amalekites and Canaanites had pitched in the Valley beyond the Mountain, (at the foot whereof they were now encamped) and lay there with their Forces to hinder their paſſage. He tells them, If they went up, the Lord would not be with them, but they would be ſmitten before their Enemies. However ſome of them preſumptuouſly would march up to the top of the hill (though Moſes and the Ark (s)The Ark removed not, but at the removal of the Cloud, Numb. 9.15. which God not taking up, now ſhewed thereby his diſlike of their Enterprize.ſtaid behind.) And the Amalekites and Canaanites, as had been foretold them, came out againſt them, and chaſed them as Bees (which being angred, uſe to come out in great Swarms, and to fight with great eagerneſs and fury, ſee Pſal. 118.12.) and killing many of them, purſued the reſt even unto Hormah, a place ſo called afterwards upon another occaſion, ſee Numb. 21.3. And ſuch of them as eſcaped cried and wept before the Lord, but he regarded not their prayers, and had as little reſpect to their tears as they had before to his Preceps. And ſo they abode in the large Wilderneſs of Kadeſh many days, as the days they ſtayed there did ſufficiently manifeſt. For they were made to wander about 38 years longer in the Wilderneſs.
Numb. 14. from 40. to the end.
Deut. 1. from 40. to the end.
SECT. LXI.
UPon this Calamity, and the continual dropping away of the Iſraelites in the Wilderneſs, God having ſentenced to death all above twenty years old, but Joſhua and Caleb (as is before related.) Moſes compoſed the 90th Pſalm, in which he ſheweth that the ordinary age of man was reduc'd to 70 or 80 at the utmoſt. Therefore the age of man was now a third time contracted, and cut ſhort a third part of what it was before.