Bro Rushmore, In my daily bible reading and reading what others have written regarding who went to the promised land, I have some questions. Who went to the promised land along with Joshua and Caleb and those under the age of 20? Did all the women 20 years old and above die? Deut 2:14-16 seems to indicate that the women did not die since verse 16 says, “So when all the men of war had died from among the people,” What about the tribe of Levi, were they exempt from this destruction? No one from the tribe of Levi was sent to spy out the land according to Numbers 14. According to Num. 1:45-54, the tribe of Levi was not numbered when the census was taken. This is also stated in Num. 34:16-29, Num. 26:63-65, and Josh. 14:1-5. Any help you can give me to clear up my cobwebs would be most appreciated! Because of Him, Marilyn
Whereas Numbers 14:29, 31; 26:2; Deuteronomy 2:16 refer to the men of war in the age group of 20 years and above, Deuteronomy 2:14 refers to “all the generation of the men of war”; Hebrews 3:10 also notes “that generation” was forbidden to enter Canaan. The punishment of God toward that generation was not exclusively toward “men of war,” but toward each person 20-years-old and older who “murmured” against God (Numbers 14:29); Jude 5 acknowledges God’s punishment was toward “them that believed not,” without specification of male, fighting men only.
Often in the Bible, families or other groups of people are referred to by citing the male representatives of the group. For instance, Eve sinned, after which Adam sinned, in the Garden of Eden. Yet, sin entering the world is attributed to Adam (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Likewise, women and priests in the 40 years of wilderness wandering (namely, upon the return of the spies) were neither exempt from the possibility of murmuring against God nor exempt from God’s corresponding punishment.
