Numbers 11:1-35

B. The rebellion and judgment of the unbelieving generation chs. 11-25

These chapters explain why Israel failed to enter the Promised Land immediately and had to spend the next 38 years in the wilderness.

1. The cycle of rebellion, atonement, and death chs. 11-20

The end of chapter 10 is the high point of the Book of Numbers spiritually. The beginning of chapter 11 records the beginning of the spiritual decline of Israel that resulted in God judging the nation. He postponed the fulfillment of His promise to bring her into the Promised Land.

"Chapters 11-20 present a dismal record of their acts of ingratitude and of God’s consequent judgments on his ungrateful people. Within these chapters are innumerable instances of his continuing grace. The reader of these texts goes astray if he or she focuses solely on God’s wrath or on the constant provocations to his anger by his meandering people. The more impressive feature in this text is God’s continuing mercy against continuing, obdurate rebellion. . . .

"These ten chapters now balance and contrast with the ten chapters that present the record of Israel’s preparation." [Note: Allen, p. 785.]

Further events on the way to Kadesh Barnea chs. 11-12

These chapters are similar to Exodus 13:17 to Exodus 19:2 in that they record Israel’s experiences in transit from one location to another.