Gods Sabbath

S UCCESS AND F AILURES

121

As the sojourners once more drew near to Canaan, the situa tion looked far from promising. Before they could proceed, God provided them with a test, to ascertain the extent to which liv ing faith was present. But they failed this test miserably, lead ing Moses to the conclusion that the children were no better than their parents. When the same unthankful spirit revealed itself, Moses concluded that even this generation had not learned from its parents’ mistake. “Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, ‘If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the L ORD ! Why did you bring the L ORD ’ S community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no wa ter to drink!’” Numbers 20:2–5. “Before God permitted them to enter Canaan, they must show that they believed His promise. The water ceased before they had reached Edom. Here was an opportunity for them, for a lit tle time, to walk by faith instead of sight. But the first trial de veloped the same turbulent, unthankful spirit that had been manifested by their fathers. No sooner was the cry for water heard in the encampment than they forgot the hand that had for so many years supplied their wants, and instead of turning to God for help, they murmured against Him, in their desperation exclaiming, ‘Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!’ (Numbers 20:1–13); that is, they wished they had been of the number who were destroyed in the rebel lion of Korah.” Patriarchs and Prophets , 414.1. Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb viewed this development with the deepest concern, for it offered them the frightening prospect of further delay to their entrance into the promised land. They had patiently endured the punishment unjustly im posed on them by the people, ever buoyed by the hope that when the forty years were ended, they would then enter in. But, to their dismay, they saw the children exhibiting the same unbelief and rebellious, complaining spirit which had kept their fathers out of Canaan. Every visible evidence proclaimed that there was no more hope of this generation entering than the one before.