Numbers 14 Summary

Following the discouraging report of the spies, the entire congregation weeps and murmurs against Moses and Aaron, wishing they had died in Egypt or the wilderness, and they propose appointing a new leader to return to Egypt. Joshua and Caleb urge the people not to rebel, declaring the land good and the LORD able to give it to them, but the congregation seeks to stone them until the glory of the LORD appears at the tabernacle. The LORD threatens to destroy Israel and make a new nation from Moses, but Moses intercedes by appealing to God's mercy and reputation among the nations; God pardons the people yet decrees that all men twenty years and older who murmured shall die in the wilderness over forty years—one year for each day of the scouting mission—with only Caleb and Joshua exempted, while their children will inherit the land. The ten spies who brought the evil report die immediately by plague, and when the people presumptuously attempt to advance into Canaan without the LORD's presence or Moses, the Amalekites and Canaanites defeat and pursue them to Hormah.