Moses is no stranger to hearing complaints from the Israelites. He’s dealt with them since before he even left Egypt. On at least three different occasions, the Text claims that they whined about how they had it better back in Egypt (Exodus 14:12; 16:3; 17:3).
Man, those rose colored glasses must be THICK.
But Numbers 14:4 is the first time that their threats turned into action. Aghast at the negative report back from the spies and feeling betrayed that God would lead them right into certain death or capture, they make a plan to appoint a different leader and return back to Egypt.
Moses’ and Aaron immediately prostrate themselves before God, while Joshua and Caleb try desperately to reassure the people of success. The situation eventually gets so dire that God appears above the tent of meeting and threatens to annihilate his people and rebuild them as a people unto Moses.
Take a second to think that. Instead of an Abrahamic covenant or a lineage of Abraham, if Moses had taken God up on this offer to destroy the people and start over, we would be talking about a Mosaic Covenant instead. Moses would be the beginning of the great nation, not Abraham.
From an earthly perspective, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. You have the ability to be at the end of the greatest nation the earth will ever know, and rule as the first in a dynasty stretching for hundreds of years (or longer). You would have to be a fool to turn it down.
Technically speaking, all of the promises would remain the same (Genesis 12). Abraham’s descendants would still be blessed through the Messiah, they would still be a great nation, and they would still inherit the land.
The primary difference is that Moses would be the bottleneck. Every part of that promise would go through him.
Ironically, it was the very character of Moses that made him the perfect candidate for the job that forced him to decline God’s offer. He begs God to punish the wicked but preserve the innocent. He acknowledges God’s reputation among the nations.
Moses gives little to no concern to his own reputation. All he asks is that God deal with the situation, and continue on with the current plan. Which is exactly what he does.
Per Moses’ request, they will be pardoned from this sin. The earth will know of the glory of God. But because of their rebellion, they’ll wander in the desert for forty years. If this generation refused to go into Canaan, God would wait for a generation that would.
