1:34-36 - When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: "Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly."

GenA's resolute refusal to trust Yahweh is now countered by an equally determined oath from Yahweh (though NIV adds an adjective—"solemnly"—here that is not in the Hebrew text). "What you said" in v34 may refer to GenA's obscene accusation recalled in vv27-28, or it may assume a reply from the people to Moses' encouragement of vv29--31 that is not otherwise recorded.

However theologians may feel the need to hedge their definition of God's wrath, it did not worry Moses to assert that Yahweh was "angry." Of the many parallel terms for anger, qatsap , used here, is among the strongest. Yahweh's anger is never a hysterical explosion of frayed emotions but a measured decision'"not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land" (lit., "if any man of these men of this evil generation"). J. A. Thompson thinks that the expression is suggestive of an oath formula, something with the effect of "may such happen if any of these men should see the good land."1 Yahweh's disdain for these people is emphasized in the Hebrew by the use of five consecutive words containing the letter aleph (')—'im-yir'eh 'is ba'^anashim ha'elleh, "if any man of these men," followed by three short words each beginning with the definite article ha: haddor hara' hazzeh "of this evil generation."2

The gravity of this decision cannot be overstated. Implicit in this declaration is the assumption that they would die before they even set eyes on the Promised Land. They had accused Yahweh of bringing them out of Egypt to deliver them into the hands of the Amorites. Yahweh's decision simply fulfils the substance of their own accusation. As Paul so clearly reminds us in his letter to the Romans, God needs only to give us over to our own inventions and we are done (1:24, 26, 28).

"Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers," in v 35 stands in sharp contrast to the call to faith in v8 that began this address, "See, I have given you this land . . .that the Lord swore he would give to your fathers." Additionally, GenA is described as an "evil generation." This juxtaposition of "evil generation" with "good land" in the verse also brings the story of GA (and the chain of the adjective "good") to a climax: they were bright enough to decide that Moses's proposal was good (v14)—there were even wise and perceptive men in their midst who could be trusted to weigh the judgments that belongs to God (v17), and they were capable of good ideas (v23). Now, having spied the land, they were able to conclude from the evidence that the land was good (v25). But at that crucial moment of decision (v26 & 32), when promises would become reality, they demonstrated by their rebellion that they were, in fact, "evil," an adjective diametrical to the definition of the covenant people as "holy." The adjective, "evil," which is almost always defined in moral or ethical terms, is here thus redefined theologically: it is the refusal to do what is right within the covenant relationship in which the participants stand.

But divine wrath, because it is so considered, makes distinctions, and Caleb is singled out for exemption, and Yahweh's decision concerning him is just as emphatic as his decision concerning GenA: "he, he will see it, I will give it to him" (v36). By using the same verb, "see," on Caleb as that used of the "evil generation," Israel's lack of faith is set in contrast to Caleb's faithfulness. In this way, says J. G. Millar, Caleb "is held out as the man who made the right decision, and therefore becomes an appropriate role model for the new generation in its attempts to redress the failures of the past."3 Caleb will receive his blessing because "he followed Yahweh wholeheartedly." The Hebrew puts it more graphic and arresting, mille' 'achare YHWH, he "was full after Yahweh."4 Those three Hebrew words are the best thing we have read since the beginning of the book. And if they are not the best definition of discipleship, nothing would suffice. Are we full of following Jesus!

Previous Next