Sometimes a project doesn’t work. It would be easier to scrap it and start something different.
In Numbers 14, the Lord plaintively asks, “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me…?” (Num 14:11). Israel had more than enough evidence that God could be trusted. Deliverance from Egypt. The Red Sea crossing. Water from the Rock. Manna from heaven. Yet for all that, they not only rejected God’s leadership, but thought it a good idea to stone His spokesman to death, pick another leader, and cancel the whole thing by going back to Egypt (vv 2-4). At that point, “the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel” (v 10). Enough! God said, then suggested an alternative. Why not cancel Israel instead, and start a new project with Moses? “I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they” (v 12). If this sounds familiar, it should. The Lord made this same offer to Moses on Mount Sinai when the people were dancing around the golden calf. Moses preaches almost the same message. It’s all about Your character and reputation, says the man of God. You know what the Egyptians will say? “Because the Lord was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness” (v 16). But let’s be careful here. God wanted Moses to feel the way He did about His wayward children. He was looking for a shepherd heart who would intercede for these silly sheep! After all, He had promised and would never go back on His covenant—even when later they murdered His Son! But this generation would return to the desert, missing out on the Land, getting what they wanted. You see, it’s never a good idea to think you know better than the Lord.