13 But Moses said to the Lord , "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst , 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land . They have heard that You, O Lord , are in the midst of this people , for You, O Lord , are seen eye to eye , while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night . 15 "Now if You slay this people as one man , then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say , 16 'Because the Lord could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath , therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness .' 17 "But now , I pray , let the power of the Lord be great , just as You have declared e , 18 ' The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness , forgiving iniquity and transgression ; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.' 19 " Pardon , I pray , the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness , just as You also have forgiven this people , from Egypt even until now ."
20 So the Lord said , " I have pardoned them according to your word ;
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 14:13-20
Commentary on Numbers 14:11-19
(Read Numbers 14:11-19)
Moses made humble intercession for Israel. Herein he was a type of Christ, who prayed for those that despitefully used him. The pardon of a nation's sin, is the turning away the nation's punishment; and for that Moses is here so earnest. Moses argued that, consistently with God's character, in his abundant mercies, he could forgive them.
Commentary on Numbers 14:20-35
(Read Numbers 14:20-35)
The Lord granted the prayer of Moses so far as not at once to destroy the congregation. But disbelief of the promise forbids the benefit. Those who despise the pleasant land shall be shut out of it. The promise of God should be fulfilled to their children. They wished to die in the wilderness; God made their sin their ruin, took them at their word, and their carcases fell in the wilderness. They were made to groan under the burden of their own sin, which was too heavy for them to bear. Ye shall know my breach of promise, both the causes of it, that it is procured by your sin, for God never leaves any till they first leave him; and the consequences of it, that will produce your ruin. But your little ones, now under twenty years old, which ye, in your unbelief, said should be a prey, them will I bring in. God will let them know that he can put a difference between the guilty and the innocent, and cut them off without touching their children. Thus God would not utterly take away his loving kindness.