“And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word. But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice, surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went, and his seed shall possess it.” (4aSG 25.1) MC VC

The Lord bade the Hebrews to return, and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. They were very near the good land, but by their wicked rebellion they forfeited the protection of God. Had they received the report of Caleb and Joshua, and gone immediately up, God would have given them the land of Canaan. But they were unbelieving, and showed such an insolent spirit against God, that they brought upon themselves the denunciation, that they should never enter the promised land. It was in pity and mercy that God sent them back by the Red Sea, for the Amalekites and Canaanites, while they were delaying and murmuring, heard of the spies, and prepared themselves to make war with the children of Israel. (4aSG 25.2) MC VC

“And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying. How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.” The Lord told Moses and Aaron to say to the people that he would do to them as they had spoken. They had said, “Would God we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness.” Now God will take them at their word. He tells his servants to say to them, that they should fall in the wilderness, from twenty years old and upward, because of their rebellion and murmurings against the Lord. Only Caleb and Joshua should go unto the land of Canaan. “But your little ones which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.” (4aSG 25.3) MC VC