The Battle That Lasted 40 Years.Num. 14:1-45 Camped at Sinai for 12 months, the fledgling nation of Israel received God’s Law, constructed His Tabernacle, and established the Levitical priesthood. It had great dreams and high expectations of entering a land that flowed “with milk and honey” as it set out from Sinai to the triumphant sound of silver trumpets.Yet the Israelites of that generation experienced an average of 90 funerals a day (270 a month)—a far cry from what they had anticipated. The book of Numbers records their journey and the failure and demise of the Exodus generation as it wandered in the wilderness en route to the Promised Land.The Stupidity of Spiritual Stubbornness.They did not trust God. When a person walks by sight and not by faith, they do not have sense enough to know who their true friends are. They tend to turn against those who can help them the most, including their parents, pastor, and Christian friends.

An 11-day journey turned into 40 years of wilderness camping and high death tolls. The inspiring story of God’s grace and power, displayed when He delivered the Jewish people from Egypt, became a story of disappointment and discouragement. What went wrong?