Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible



Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?" read more.
So they said to one another, "Let's appoint a leader and return to Egypt." Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground before the whole assembled community of the Israelites.

You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. You complained among yourselves privately and said, "Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage by describing people who are more numerous and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven itself! Moreover, they said they saw Anakites there."

Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the desert until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the Lord, died off. For the Lord had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn on oath to give them, a land rich in milk and honey. Verse ConceptsFoodProperty, LandThe Number FortyDisobedience, To GodExclusionThe Promised Land40 To 50 YearsDeath As PunishmentMilk And Honeyconsequencesmovementwandering

You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. Verse ConceptsAttitudes Of RebellionRebellion, Of IsraelPeople UnwillingRebellion against GodSurrender

Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?" read more.
So they said to one another, "Let's appoint a leader and return to Egypt." Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground before the whole assembled community of the Israelites. And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of those who had investigated the land, tore their garments. They said to the whole community of the Israelites, "The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us -- a land that is flowing with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!" However, the whole community threatened to stone them. But the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.

They rejected the fruitful land; they did not believe his promise. They grumbled in their tents; they did not obey the Lord.

When they went out from Pharaoh, they encountered Moses and Aaron standing there to meet them, and they said to them, "May the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the opinion of Pharaoh and his servants, so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!"

But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the Lord's people!" Verse ConceptsDiscontentGrumbling At PeopleJudged As MurderersComplaining

You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. You complained among yourselves privately and said, "Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage by describing people who are more numerous and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven itself! Moreover, they said they saw Anakites there."

The entire company of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the desert. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this desert to kill this whole assembly with hunger!"

So the people contended with Moses, and they said, "Give us water to drink!" Moses said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you test the Lord?" But the people were very thirsty there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, "Why in the world did you bring us up out of Egypt -- to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?"


And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?" So they said to one another, "Let's appoint a leader and return to Egypt."

And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. The people contended with Moses, saying, "If only we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! Why have you brought up the Lord's community into this wilderness? So that we and our cattle should die here? read more.
Why have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!"

Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, but the people became impatient along the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we detest this worthless food." So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died.

But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife? Verse ConceptsHeavy BurdensNot Alonepressure

Now look, you are standing in your fathers' place, a brood of sinners, to increase still further the fierce wrath of the Lord against the Israelites. Verse ConceptsPrejudiceChildren Of Evil

Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?" Verse ConceptsImpatienceAbuse, Of Spiritual ThingsAnger, Sinful ExamplesAssembling Israel

But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife? Verse ConceptsHeavy BurdensNot Alonepressure

Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your murmurings against the Lord. As for us, what are we, that you should murmur against us?"

When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?" read more.
Aaron said, "Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; you know these people, that they tend to evil. They said to me, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, break it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out." Moses saw that the people were running wild, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies. So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me." All the Levites gathered around him, and he said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Each man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.'" The Levites did what Moses ordered, and that day about three thousand men of the people died. Moses said, "You have been consecrated today for the Lord, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today." The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a very serious sin, but now I will go up to the Lord -- perhaps I can make atonement on behalf of your sin."

But Moses said, "Why are you now transgressing the commandment of the Lord? It will not succeed! Verse ConceptsBreaking The Ten Commandments

You were not willing to go up, however, but instead rebelled against the Lord your God. You complained among yourselves privately and said, "Because the Lord hates us he brought us from Egypt to deliver us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us! What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage by describing people who are more numerous and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven itself! Moreover, they said they saw Anakites there." read more.
So I responded to you, "Do not be terrified of them! The Lord your God is about to go ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt and in the desert, where you saw him carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place." However, through all this you did not have confidence in the Lord your God, the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go. When the Lord heard you, he became angry and made this vow: "Not a single person of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors! The exception is Caleb son of Jephunneh; he will see it and I will give him and his descendants the territory on which he has walked, because he has wholeheartedly followed me." As for me, the Lord was also angry with me on your account. He said, "You also will not be able to go there. However, Joshua son of Nun, your assistant, will go. Encourage him, because he will enable Israel to inherit the land. Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way, and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad, will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it. But as for you, turn back and head for the desert by the way to the Red Sea." Then you responded to me and admitted, "We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight as the Lord our God has told us to do." So you each put on your battle gear and prepared to go up to the hill country. But the Lord told me: "Tell them this: 'Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.'" I spoke to you, but you did not listen. Instead you rebelled against the Lord and recklessly went up to the hill country.

When I looked, you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God and had cast for yourselves a metal calf; you had quickly turned aside from the way he had commanded you! I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down, and shattered them before your very eyes. Then I again fell down before the Lord for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the Lord as to enrage him. read more.
For I was terrified at the Lord's intense anger that threatened to destroy you. But he listened to me this time as well. The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him too. As for your sinful thing that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-Hattaavah. And when he sent you from Kadesh-Barnea and told you, "Go up and possess the land I have given you," you rebelled against the Lord your God and would neither believe nor obey him. You have been rebelling against him from the very first day I knew you!

Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: "You have seen all that the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land. Your eyes have seen the great judgments, those signs and mighty wonders. But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears!

for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the Lord; you will be even more rebellious after my death! Gather to me all your tribal elders and officials so I can speak to them directly about these things and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them. For I know that after I die you will totally corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly before the Lord, inciting him to anger because of your actions."

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But Jeshurun became fat and kicked, you got fat, thick, and stuffed! Then he deserted the God who made him, and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt. They made him jealous with other gods, they enraged him with abhorrent idols. They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known; to new gods who had recently come along, gods your ancestors had not known about. read more.
You have forgotten the Rock who fathered you, and put out of mind the God who gave you birth.