Rebellion at Kadesh
1 ① Then all the community broke out in loud cries and wept during the night. 2All the people grumbled against Aaron and Moses; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in Egypt or died in the wilderness. 3Why is Yahweh bringing us to this country where we shall fall under the sword, and our women and little children become part of the plunder? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and return to Egypt.”
5Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the Israelite community. 6Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh from those who had explored the country, tore their clothes 7and then spoke to the whole community of Israel, saying, “The land we went through to explore is, indeed, a very good land. 8If Yahweh is pleased with us, he will lead us to this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 9Only do not rebel against Yahweh, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land for they will be bread for us: their protection is withdrawn and Yahweh is with us. Have no fear of them!”
10All the community spoke of stoning them when the Glory of Yahweh appeared before all the people of Israel in the Tent of Meeting.
11Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn me? How long will they refuse to believe me, in spite of the signs I performed among them? 12I will strike them with a plague and destroy them, and then I will make of you a greater and more powerful nation than they are.”
13And Moses said to Yahweh, “The Egyptians know that you have brought out this people from their midst by your power, 14and they told it to the inhabitants of the land. They know that you, Yahweh, are in the midst of your people, and that they have seen you face to face. They know that your cloud stands with your people and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15And now you would destroy this people at one stroke!
Then the nations that have heard of you will say: 16Yahweh was not able to bring this people to the land he had promised them in oath, so he slaughtered them in the desert. 17Now let your power be seen, my Lord. For, according to your words, 18you are slow to anger and rich in steadfast love: you forgive sin and rebellion, yet you do not declare innocent those who are guilty, but you punish children to the third and fourth generation for the wickedness of their fathers. 19Pardon then, I pray you, the sin of this people according to the greatness of your mercy just as you have pardoned them from Egypt even until now.”
20Then Yahweh said, “I pardon them as you have pleaded, 21but as truly as I live and the Glory of Yahweh fills the earth, 22I swear that they will not see the land I promised to their fathers. For all these have seen my Glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert, and yet have put me to the test ten times and have not heeded my voice. 23Only my servant Caleb will enter it, 24because he has a different spirit and because he has followed me faithfully. I will bring him to the land where he has already been and his descendants shall possess it, 25while the Amalekites and the Canaanites will remain in the valley.
So you shall turn tomorrow and leave for the desert by way of the Red Sea.”
26Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, 27“How long will this wicked community grumble against me?” I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel against me. 28Say to them: As truly as I live, it is Yahweh who speaks, I will do to you what you have said in my hearing. 29All of you of twenty years or more, numbered in the census, who grumbled against me, your corpses will fall in the desert. 30You will not enter the land where I swore to settle you, except Caleb, son of Je phun neh and Joshua, son of Nun. 31But your children, whom you said would be part of the plunder, them I will bring and they will know the land that you have rejected. 32Your corpses will fall in the desert 33and your sons will wander with their flocks for forty years in the desert, bearing the guilt of your faithlessness till the last of you lies dead in the desert.
34According to the number of days spent in exploring the land — forty days, for every day a year — for forty years you shall bear the guilt of your sins and you shall know what it is to oppose me. 35I, Yahweh, have spoken. Surely this is what I will do to this wicked community that has conspired against me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed and this is where they shall die.”
36The men sent by Moses to explore the land and who on their return had made the community grumble against him, 37those men who wickedly spread a bad report on the land, died of a plague before Yahweh. 38Only Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, survived out of those who went to explore the land.
39When Moses related this to the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly. 40They rose early in the morning and went up to the mountain saying, “Here we are! We have sinned but now we are ready to go to the place that Yahweh spoke of.” 41But Moses said, “Why are you going to disobey Yahweh’s command? You will not succeed. 42Do not go up lest you be struck down by your enemies for Yahweh is not with you. 43The Amalekites and the Canaanites are there ahead of you and you will fall by the sword, for you turned away from following Yahweh and he will not be with you.”
44They insisted on going up to the top of the mountain but neither the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh nor Moses moved from inside the camp. 45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in the hill country came down and defeated them, beating them back as far as Hormah.
- Num 14,1 We can recall experiences very similar to this rebellion. Fear is a bad adviser; it turns cowards into violent people. Mediocre people kill the prophets either to preserve their peace, or to return to the slavery of Egypt. Yet, God comes to the rescue of the person who confronts the crowds for the sake of God. How long will this people spurn me? The fear of acting is an insult to God. These words are also addressed to all those who today, faced with the wounds of our society, say: nothing can be done. Pardon then, I pray you, the sin of this people. Once again Moses appears in his role as intercessor. Moses has learned from God himself that God is rich in kindness and mercy. God forgives, but this does not exempt people from having to pay the price of their errors. The rebellion of Kadesh and the following defeat are given as the reason for the long time spent by the Hebrews in the desert. They did, in fact, spend a fairly long time, forty years, not far from Kadesh as if prevented from entering the land of Canaan. The word is harsh: all who have refused to take part in the conquest will die at the gate of the Promised Land.
