“And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried; and the people wept that night.” Need we wonder? What else could be expected from a people who had nothing before their eyes but mighty giants, lofty walls, and great cities? What but tears and sighs could emanate from a congregation who saw themselves as grasshoppers in the presence of such insuperable difficulties, and having no sense of the divine power that could carry them victoriously through all? The whole assembly was abandoned to the absolute dominion of infidelity. They were surrounded by the dark and chilling clouds of unbelief. God was shut out. There was not so much as a single ray of light to illumine the darkness with which they had surrounded themselves. They were occupied with themselves and their difficulties, instead of with God and His resources. What else, therefore, could they do but lift up the voice of weeping and lamentation?
What a contrast between this and the opening of Exodus xv.! In this latter, their eyes were only upon Jehovah, and therefore they could sing the song of victory. “Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed; Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation. _The people shall hear and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina._” Instead of this, it was Israel that was afraid, and sorrow took hold upon them. “Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, _trembling shall take hold upon them_: all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. _Fear and dread shall fall upon them._” In short, it is the most complete reversing of the picture. The sorrow, the trembling, and the fear take hold upon Israel instead of their enemies. And why? Because the One who filled their vision in Exodus xv. is completely shut out in Numbers xiv. This makes all the difference. In the one case, faith is in the ascendant; in the other, infidelity. “By the greatness of _Thine arm_ they shall be as still as a stone; till Thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over which Thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which Thou hast made for Thee to dwell in; in the sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established. The Lord shall reign forever and ever.”
Oh, how do these triumphal accents contrast with the infidel cries and lamentations of Numbers xiv.! Not a syllable about sons of Anak, lofty walls, and grasshoppers in Exodus xv. No, no; it is all Jehovah. It is His right hand, His mighty arm, His power, His inheritance, His habitation, His actings on behalf of His ransomed people. And then if the inhabitants of Canaan are referred to, they are only thought of as sorrowing, terror-stricken, trembling, and melting away.
But on the other hand, when we come to Numbers xiv. all is most sadly reversed. The sons of Anak rise into prominence; the towering walls, the giant cities with frowning bulwarks, fill the vision of the people, and we hear not a word about the almighty Deliverer. There are the difficulties on the one side and grasshoppers on the other, and one is constrained to cry out, Can it be possible that the triumphal singers by the Red Sea have become the infidel weepers at Kadesh?
Alas! it is so; and here we learn a deep and holy lesson. We must continually recur, as we pass along through these wilderness scenes, to those words which tell us that “all these things happened unto Israel for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are met.” (1 Cor. x. 11.—_See Greek._) Are not we, too, like Israel, prone to look at the difficulties which surround us, rather than at that blessed One who has undertaken to carry us right through them all and bring us safely into His own everlasting kingdom? Why is it we are sometimes cast down? Why go we mourning? Wherefore are the accents of discontent and impatience heard in our midst, rather than the songs of praise and thanksgiving? Simply because we allow circumstances to shut out God, instead of having God as a perfect covering for our eyes and a perfect object for our hearts.
And further, let us inquire, wherefore is it that we so sadly fail to make good our position as heavenly men?—to take possession of that which belongs to us as Christians?—to plant the foot upon that spiritual and heavenly inheritance which Christ has purchased for us, and on which He has entered as our forerunner? What answer must be given to these inquiries? Just one word,—_Unbelief_!