Numbers 14:15
Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
Moses spoke these words in intercession after God threatened to strike rebellious Israel with pestilence, disinherit them, and raise a greater nation from Moses himself. He warned that if all the people were slain together at once, the Egyptians and Canaanites who had heard of God's mighty deliverance and abiding presence would say He lacked power to bring them into the promised land and had led them out only to kill them in the wilderness, to His dishonor and His enemies' triumph. Refusing honor for himself and unable to bear their destruction, Moses pleaded God's own promises, long-suffering, great mercy, and past forgiveness from Egypt until now, asking Him to show His power by pardoning. God pardoned according to his word and spared them from immediate destruction, yet the pardon did not cancel consequence for the unbelieving men who had tempted Him. They were turned back, barred from Canaan except Caleb and Joshua, and held in the wilderness forty years, for God could not do great things through transgressors without dishonoring His name, a warning that still applies.
Setting and Intercession
This verse belongs to Israel's rebellion after the spies' report, when unbelief and acceptance of a false report led the people to turn against God and His faithful witnesses. That rebellion led to a forty-year wilderness delay, with God and Moses preventing Israel from advancing into Canaan at that time.
It is spoken after God threatened to strike Israel with pestilence, disinherit them, and make a greater and mightier nation from Moses. Moses agonized over the people and was unable to endure the thought of their destruction. He refused that personal exaltation and honor for himself and pleaded for Israel instead. His pleading was for pardon for the sake of what might have been and the glory God would have revealed through an obedient people.
The nations who would hear are the Egyptians and the inhabitants of Canaan and the surrounding land, who had heard of God's fame. They had heard that He brought Israel up in might and is among them face to face, with His cloud standing over them and going before them by pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. They had heard of His presence and mighty acts among them and of His power and presence.
Moses warns that if God kills all this people as one man, all at once and together, the nations will speak. They will conclude that He was not able to bring them into the land He swore and promised to them and therefore slew them in the wilderness. It would be as if He had brought them out only to kill them there. Such talk would speak against His name, dishonor Him, and give His enemies reason to triumph.
The plea is therefore grounded in God's own promises and character. It claims the privilege of citing His words back to Him. It appeals to His past mercy and patience and asks for a display of His power through long-suffering, great mercy, and pardon as He had forgiven Israel from Egypt until now.
Pardon and Consequence
God pardoned Israel in answer to Moses' word and spared the people from immediate destruction. The threatened smiting with pestilence and disinheriting was turned aside, and the whole congregation was not cut off at once. Pardon came as the direct response to the plea for long-suffering, great mercy, and forgiveness as shown from Egypt until now.
Pardon did not remove consequence, for the unbelieving men who had seen His glory and miracles and tempted Him ten times were still turned back by the way of the Red Sea and were not to see the promised land. The generation from twenty years old and upward was barred from entering the land, except Caleb and Joshua. Israel was prevented from advancing into Canaan at that time, and the rebellion after the spies' report led to a forty-year delay in the wilderness.
He could not work through the transgressors as before, because to do great things for those who in spirit were no better than the heathen around them would dishonor His name. The history of the twelve spies, with its cowardly complaining and unwillingness to act despite faithful counsel, stands as a warning that applies to God's people today.