Many lessons may be learned from this chapter, but I am most struck by the sad words, " ... for they had disobeyed the Lord" (v. 6). The punishment for disobedience was severe - 40 years of desolation and despair wandering in the wilderness. The Israelites were being undeservedly preserved and, after all the men who had left Egypt and fought were dead, they were allowed to enter the Promised Land. Disobedience, not doing as we are told, always has consequences. There are times in life when all that is going on around us seems baffling and confusing. Following God's direction may be the most implausible of all paths open to us. This is when we are likely to go our own way, strike out to do what we think is right, ignoring the plain truth and will of God. But God will always preserve us through every valley and over every mountain of our own stubborn making - though we don't deserve it.

By faith obey our Father's will, although by grace he pardons us still.

Dr. Harold P. Hazen