NUMBERS 14:26-38 Even Joshua and Caleb, who dared to believe God, had to return to the wilderness with the others. Joshua and Caleb had to suffer along with them for 38 more years. This is an example of the way decisions affect other people. But the faith of Joshua and...

NUMBERS 13:1-3,25-33 In addition to being characterized by unbelief, the Israelites were also characterized by self-will. Concerning the Israelites, the psalmist said, “They quickly forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but craved intensely in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. So He gave them...

NUMBERS 12:1-16 Miriam and Aaron were Moses’ older sister and brother. But even they took issue with Moses’ leadership, although at first their complaints concerned his wife. Numbers 12 does not specifically say what Miriam and Aaron found objectionable about Moses’ wife, but jealousy must have been the main problem....

NUMBERS 11:1-15 The mixed multitude (Num. 11:4) was probably a group of Gentiles who left Egypt with the Israelites. Although the complaining was started by the mixed multitude, the Israelites were also guilty of complaining. This indicates how infectious a complaining attitude can be. Because every person has a sin...

NUMBERS 10:1-13 The 11 months at Sinai had brought about many changes in the life of Israel. The people had arrived at Sinai a fugitive and unorganized people; they left a well-organized nation, molded into a commonwealth of 12 tribes. All was beautifully ordered. Moses had spent the first 40...

EXODUS 34:1-4,26-35 Moses was changed when he came down from the mountain. Earlier, he had asked to see the glory of the Lord, but when he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of stone, he did not know “that the skin of his face shone while he...

EXODUS 33:12-23 Having succeeded in receiving several answers to his prayers, Moses then evidenced his greatest boldness in what he requested of God. Moses said, “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory” (Ex. 33:18). Moses had been so encouraged by God’s answers to his prayers that he sought for the...

EXODUS 32:19-35 The people were terror-stricken and awed by the irrefutable power exercised by Moses. He stood, one man against more than 600,000 soldiers (Num. 1:46), and commanded that those who were guilty of this sin be put to death. Moses had just been in the very presence of God,...

EXODUS 32:1-18 Aaron and Hur had been left to look after the affairs of Israel while Moses was absent. Joshua, Moses’ servant, had gone partway up the mountain with Moses, so he was not with the people at the time of this sin. But while Moses was on the mountaintop...

EXODUS 20:1-17 The Mosaic Law was not given to produce salvation. The purpose of the Law was to help people see how far short they had fallen of God’s righteous demands so they would cast themselves on the grace of God. Even during the time of the Law, grace was...