The vast crowd of Israelites was moving along fairly well. They had been around the mountain where God lived and received His commandments. They were feasting on manna and when they complained, they feasted on quail. Now they are going to move out into the land that was promised to their ancestor Abraham. But not so fast, the land is not what they imagined. It is flowing with milk and honey but there are others in the land. Others that are bigger than they are. What god do these people worship that makes them so big and fearful?
Thus begins an ongoing period of rebellion and once again, Moses has to intervene on their behalf before God wipes them off the map. As it was, the family of Korath is swallowed alive, the two hundred and fifty 'well-known community leaders' who complained about Moses' leadership were destroyed by fire, and a plague destroyed 14,700 more the next day, when the entire community complained. Only Moses' and Aaron's intervention prevented the entire population from being destroyed.
Then finally, as a last effort to demonstrate who God has chosen to lead this rebellious people, they were directed to put a staff inscribed with the name of the leader of each tribe in front of the Lord. The next day when Moses brought out the twelve staffs from the Lord's presence, only Aaron's staff had budded. 'The LORD said to Moses, "Put back Aaron's staff in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die." Moses did just as the LORD commanded him. The Israelites said to Moses, "We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?"
Numbers 17:10-13 NIV
Perhaps now, after much loss of time and life, they finally get it. They are lost without God.
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