Numbers 14:26-34 NLT “Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
27 “How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about Me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against Me.
28 Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say.
29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against Me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die.
30 You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun.
31 “‘You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised.
32 But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness.
33 And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness.
34 “‘Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.’”
As you can read, the term “drop dead” I did not make up or exaggerate. It is what God said HE would do to the rebellious Israelites. Therefore, be very careful of what complaints come from your mouths as God will honor it as a judgement.
Complaining is a serious matter, and God loathes it.
Additional Comments:
Their reward for faithlessness was to drop dead.
We think dropping dead is instant, so since none of us have dropped dead instantly, we think we must be safe.
But you must think in God’s space and time. Forty years is only a drop or instant to him.
Disclaimer: This is not to scare you, but to give you a happy day, for knowledge is power.
Senior Pastor Steve Kim