All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!
“When Most People Go Wrong”
Numbers 14:1-12
14 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”
The majority rules. That’s the basic principle of democracy. We know that there are many benefits to the rule of the majority. It prevents one or a few from dominating and dictating the power. It provides an equal opportunity for all citizens. But we also know that not a few ill-willed politicians utilized the system to promote and protect selfish ambitions. A good example of modern history will be Hitler. He brought about the great calamity to the whole world with the popular support of their own constituency. AS we see in Hitler’s case, our assumption that the majority is better failed us a big-time many times. We should not take the light of the opinion of the majority. But at the same time, we should have the courage to confront the majority when they go wrong. How do you know when the majority go wrong? What can be the basis of your judgment? We learn it from Joshua and Caleb that stand out in today’s passage. We all know this story pretty well. Moses sent out twelve men to scout the land that God has promised before they enter it. The twelve scouts came back. Ten of the scouts presented a bad report about the land. They stirred a great fear among Israelites saying, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” That was the majority report. That ‘s the background of today’s passage. At the majority report, people felt totally dismayed to the point of rebellion against their own leaders. They grumbled, criticized and started revolting. Moses and Aaron became speechless and fell facedown. At the moment, they could do nothing against these angry mobs. This is what we often see when the major goes awry. The majority becomes a lot more irrational than any individual or minority. And the impacts are much greater. It takes great courage to stand against them. Whoever stands against the angry majority can be easily swept by their anger. We see that the whole assembly was to stone Joshua and Caleb. But Joshua and Caleb had the courage to face the risk. They stood up and presented a good report about the land. Unlike the majority report, the report of Joshua and Caleb was not just about the land, it was more about God. The heart of their report was God’s promise, God’s will and God’s power. While the majority’s eyes were solely on land, people and debilitating view of themselves, eyes of Joshua and Caleb were more on God. This made the difference. If we really want to be on the side of the truth, it doesn’t really matter whether we are on the majority side of the minority side. What really matters is whether we are on God's side or not. If our eyes are firmly on God, we will not be afraid of the Big or the many or the strong. How are you behaving when most people go wrong and against God? Do you have the courage to stand alone with God? Be strong and courageous. That is the very attitude bound for the promised land. Amen!
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