Moses’ Intercession for Israel at Kadesh-Barnea

One of the most fascinating, courageous, and instructive prayers in the Bible is that of Moses’ intercessory prayer for the children of Israel at Kadesh-Barnea (Num 14:17-20).

Now, in order to understand and gain a true appreciation of this wonderful prayer, we must be aware of the circumstances surrounding this prayer and the context in which it is offered.

The story picks up with the nation of Israel poised to enter the land of Canaan, which was promised to Abraham.

At the people’s requests, and with the approval of the Lord to test Israel’s faith in Him, Moses sent out the leaders of the tribe of Israel to perform a reconnaissance of the land of Canaan.

According to Numbers 12:16, the citizens of Israel left Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran but eventually, according to Deuteronomy 1:19, they camped in a place called Kadesh-Barnea.

Remember, the Lord promised Israel the land of Canaan as part of the Palestinian Covenant.

In Numbers 13, the Israelites were poised to enter the land of Canaan and attack it from the southern gateway, but still lacked the confidence in the Lord to receive the promise of the land, thus, she requested that Moses make a reconnaissance of the land, rather than accept the Lord’s promise.

Numbers 13:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying, 2 “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers' tribes, every one a leader among them.” (NASB95)

“Spy out” is the third person masculine plural qal imperfect form of the verb tur.

In Numbers 13:2, the verb tur does not mean, “to spy,” since they did not act as spies as is done today in modern international affairs but rather, tur refers to a “military reconnaissance” and inspection of the land.

According to Deuteronomy 1:22-23, the idea of making a reconnaissance of the land of Canaan did not originate with the Lord, but rather it stemmed from the unbelieving citizens of Israel.

It is clearly implied that the Lord ordered the reconnaissance as a testing, not that “He” might know the state of their hearts, but that “they” might know (John 6:5-6), thus, He agreed to the reconnaissance in order to reveal the unbelief of the people.

Numbers 13:17 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev [south]; then go up into the hill country. 18 “See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. 19 How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications? 20 How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.’ Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.” 21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath. 22 When they had gone up into the Negev, they came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there. 25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit 28 “Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it. 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.’ 32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ‘The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 33 There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (NASB95)

The Nephilim, in Numbers 13:33, are not related to the Nephilim mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4, the offspring of the fallen angels and woman, since the Nephilim of Genesis 6:4 were destroyed in the Noahic Flood by God.

Unlike the Nephilim of Genesis 6:4, the Nephilim in Numbers 13:33 are simply a race of giants whose ancestors were of Anak.

These men, in Numbers 13:31, that were sent to make reconnaissance of the land, were not operating according to faith and they were disobedient to the Lord’s command to enter a land that was promised to them.

Caleb and Joshua demonstrated their faith by obeying the Lord’s command to take possession of the land of Canaan.

Joshua and Caleb were not looking at the obstacles, but rather were concentrating on the Lord’s promise, in Exodus 23:27-30, that He would go ahead of Israel in battle to take possession of the land.

Numbers 14:1 reveals the consequences of not operating according to faith.

Numbers 14:1 Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 “Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. (NASB95)

By assuming this posture in prayer, Moses and Aaron were expressing humility in their worship and reverence towards the Lord.

This act of prostration before the Lord, by both Aaron and Moses, prefigures the mediatorial ministry of Christ (Matt. 26:39) and His pleading before God on our behalf (Heb 4:14-16; 7:25) and for us by the Spirit’s ministry (Rom 8:26).

Moses fell on his face, many times, in an attempt to intercede for the children of Israel when they rebelled against the Lord (Num 14:6-12; 16:3-4, 43-45; 20:6; Deut 9:18).

The Lord, provoked to anger by unbelieving Israel, presented Moses with two offers in Numbers 14:12.

First, He would destroy the idolatrous Israelites and, second, He would make out of Moses an entire new nation but Moses rejected both offers.

Numbers 14:15 “Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, 16 Because the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness. 17 But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, 18 the LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations. 19 Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” (NASB95)

In his integrity, Moses had no interest in using someone else’s failure to promote his own success, so he rejected both offers and, instead, asked the Lord to forgive His people and give them another chance.

While this offer was tempting, Moses was taught by the Lord to be merciful and compassionate.

Note that God did not intend to destroy Israel because His will was to show forgiveness and mercy to Israel, despite their rebellion.

Moses knew this and, thus, appealed to the will of God.

The graciousness of the Lord in forgiving sin demonstrates the glory of God (Exo 33:18-19; Exo 34:5-7).

This intercessory prayer by Moses was noble and presented him as a striking type of Christ, who is the mediator between God and man.

Moses, like Christ, wanted God to be glorified (Num 14:13-16), and like Christ, Moses appealed to God’s power, longsuffering, mercy, grace, and justice (Num 14:17-18), as the basis for forgiving His people (v.19).

Moses’ intercessory prayer, which appealed to God’s glory and His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prevented the total destruction of the nation of Israel.

Moses demonstrated his tremendous leadership skills in this intercessory prayer and he also demonstrated selflessness and love for his people, as well as deep humility and reverence for the Lord.

Numbers 14:20 So the LORD said, “I have pardoned them according to your word.” (NASB95)

Once again, we see the Lord demonstrating His mercy, compassion, and loyal love to His people.

The Lord was time and time again merciful to the rebellious Exodus generation (Neh 9:17, 31; Psa 78:38).

His mercy was, is, and will be expressed towards every believer, in every dispensation, who executes the Lord’s plan (Psa 103:11).

The Lord expressed His mercy towards the Exodus generation when they were slaves to Pharaoh and the Egyptians in Exodus 3:7.

His compassion will be expressed towards Israel when they re-gather from throughout the entire world and are restored during the Millennium (Deut. 30:3).

The Lord expressed His mercy towards Israel by sending prophets to warn them of the impending discipline they were treading so lightly on because of failure to confess sin and adhere to His Word.