NUMBERS 14:4 : So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”
After the news leaked out that George Bush banned broccoli aboard Air Force One, a group of
broccoli growers sent 10 tons of the vegetable free to Washington, D.C. With rebellion dripping from
his words, the president reiterated his distaste with gusto:
“I do not like broccoli and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And
I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.”
The nation of Israel, however, was rebelling against something far more serious than a vegetable—
they were rebelling against God. When 10 of the 12 spies returned with a negative report concerning
the land of Canaan, the people rose up in arms. Joshua and Caleb, the two spies who brought back a
positive report, begged the people, “Do not rebel against the Lord” (Num. 14:9).
Their plea, however, fell on deaf ears and God’s wrath burned against the people. He told Moses, “I
will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and
mightier than they” (v. 12).
Through Moses’ intercession, the people were spared, but every adult over the age of 20 was
condemned to wander in the wilderness until all that generation died except for Joshua and Caleb.
The Bible says, “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft” (1 Sam 15:23). Since witchcraft was one of the
crimes punishable by death in those days, it’s obvious that the Lord does not regard rebellion lightly.
God still sees rebellion as a serious sin.
Is there some rebellion in your heart against God? Are you rebelling against some difficult
circumstance that He has allowed to come into your life? Perhaps it’s sickness, financial problems or
family difficulties.
No matter what the problem is, the consequences of rebellion are far too dreadful to nurture such an
attitude. Instead, submit your life to the Lord. Go on with what you know is His will for you, and trust
Him to work out all of the other challenges in your life.
FEAR MAKES A REBEL; TRUST MAKES A SAINT