Day 34: October 13, 2025 – Numbers 11-15 and I Corinthians 1-2

It makes sense to combine these verses in Numbers and Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. So here in Numbers we have the narrative of when God decides to punish the Israelites who complained against him so that they would not enter into the promised land. Moses sent spies out into the land, one from every tribe, and they all came back complaining about the land that the people there were giants and so would consume them if they tried to overtake them. The only two who did not complain were Joshua and Caleb. As a result of the other 10 no one in that generation who complained would enter the promised land. This is where they are getting their wish to wander in the wilderness rather than having to face the giants of the land. They actually said that, they would rather either go back to Egypt or wander in the wilderness. So God gave them this wish for 40 years and he commands that they take up their tent stakes and start heading back toward the Red Sea, from whence they came, to begin to wander.

Paul’s letters to the church in Corinth, which he founded and which he loved, is a letter of castigation and warning to a congregation who heard the Gospel and yet was not obeying the Gospel as they should have. Paul reminds them that God has chosen the weak and the foolish of the world to confound that which is considered wise and strong of the world through the preaching of the Gospel. He states that he was not called to baptize, but rather to bring the Gospel. He castigates the church because they are taking sides based upon those who were baptizing them within the church.

I always had thought that the banishment to the wilderness for 40 years took place when Moses struck the rock, but no, it is here in where the people refuse to listen to the promise of the Lord that they are going to be able to enter the promised land. I guess in theory Moses is still allowed to enter the promised land until he isn’t when he strikes the rock for water. That is coming up a bit later, we will see.