1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry; and the people wept that night.
The type of corruption that the Nephilim (greed and abuse of spiritual power) symbolize threatens to corrupt the entire psyche and world population. This is symbolized by the crying of the people.
2 And all the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
3 Why does YHVH bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?"
This way of thinking, being filled with doubt about the spiritual purification process comes from seeing the inner demons that lie within the individual. This can trigger an attitude of despair and doubt, symbolized here by the complaints of the people, and the suggestion that they go back to Egypt (Materialistic Consciousness).
4 And they said to one another, "Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt."
The suggestion of choosing another captain and returning to Egypt implies giving up on the Great Work and returning to selfish, materialistic consciousness.
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.
Moses and Aaron falling on their faces before the congregation symbolize the intellect and emotions being disturbed by the re-emergence of the consciousness of Materialism.
6 And Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, rent their clothes,
7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.
Nun means prolific and prosperity. It signifies the increase of spiritual Truth. Joshua means God is deliverer, savior and whom YHVH makes triumphant. It is the same as the Greek name, Jesus. Clearly it denotes a highly evolved spiritual level of consciousness. Jephunneh, translated from Hebrew, means appearing or which will be before his face. Metaphysically, it refers to thought of the true, higher consciousness. Caleb, a descendant of this thought, means bold and fearless. Metaphysically, this is the fearlessness which each of us must develop if we are to succeed in our spiritual quest.
8 If YHVH delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey.
The land which flows with milk and honey symbolizes spiritual Illumination, also called paradise.
9 Only, do not rebel against YHVH; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and YHVH is with us; do not fear them."
The people that the Israelites are told not to fear represent new ideas and new levels of consciousness. As long as the individual does not rebel against their inner, Spiritual Consciousness, there is no need for these ideas to be concealed, nor can they be.
10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of YHVH appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.
The people attempting to stone Moses symbolizes the resistance to change that most people have. All it takes to enter into higher consciousness, once the process is understood, is the courage to change. But most lack even this.
11 And YHVH said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs which I have wrought among them?
12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."
Rejecting this higher consciousness means that the individual loses some of the spiritual guidance and protection. Only those who live in this new consciousness will receive these things fully.
13 But Moses said to YHVH, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for thou didst bring up this people in thy might from among them,
14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that thou, YHVH, art in the midst of this people; for thou, YHVH, art seen face to face, and thy cloud stands over them and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if thou dost kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard thy fame will say,
16 'Because YHVH was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to give to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.'
However, the Spiritual Consciousness will not entirely abandon the individual, even in times of great confusion (symbolized by the wilderness). For to do so, would be against the nature of the energy of the Spiritual Consciousness itself. It is always at the center of all people, whether buried or on the surface of their consciousness…it is always present in varying degrees of manifestation.
17 And now, I pray thee, let the power of YHVH be great as thou hast promised, saying,
18 'YHVH is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.'
The effects of spiritual transgressions (error in thought, word, or deed) are not always immediate, but there is always a negative result in one form or another.
19 Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray thee, according to the greatness of thy steadfast love, and according as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now."
20 Then YHVH said, "I have pardoned, according to your word;
21 but truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of YHVH,
22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the proof these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice,
23 shall see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; and none of those who despised me shall see it.
Those who create an active, conscious connection with YHVH can, for the most part, not only correct their own transgressions, but also get the effects of others’ transgressions lessened. However, those who continuously reject the practices associated with finding this type of connection will not enter into the highest\purest state of Spiritual Consciousness.
24 But my servant, Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
Caleb means bold and fearless. His father's name, Jephummeh, means before his face and which holds attention. This consciousness is steadfast, loyal and uncompromising. He was not discouraged by the Caananites in the land. It is this type of consciousness, directed toward our inner divine nature, or God, and all those ideas that come directly from it that will enter into the purest state of consciousness, symbolized by the Promised Land.
25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea."
The individual must now direct his\her consciousness inward, toward the subconscious. This is the place where the Inner Desires and lusts and urges of the physical body exist. Sending the consciousness inward at this time leads to a state of confusion.
26 And YHVH said to Moses and to Aaron,
27 "How long shall this wicked congregation murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel, which they murmur against me.
Errors in thought, word, or deed have a direct effect upon us at all times, whether or not we are aware of it.
28 Say to them, 'As I live,' says YHVH, 'what you have said in my hearing I will do to you:
29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and of all your number, numbered from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me,
30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh and Joshua, the son of Nun.
Nun means prolific and prosperous. It signifies the increase of spiritual Truth. Joshua means God is deliverer, savior and whom YHVH makes triumphant. It is the same as the Greek name, Jesus. Clearly it denotes a highly evolved spiritual level of consciousness.
Jephunneh, translated from Hebrew, means appearing or which will be before his face. Metaphysically, it means thought of the true, higher consciousness. Caleb, a descendant of this thought, means bold and fearless. Metaphysically, this is the fearlessness which each of us must develop if we are to succeed in our spiritual quest.
Only Truth and the consciousness that accepts, or is part of, it may enter this higher state. These are symbolized by Caleb and Joshua.
31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.
We look into the unconscious, see the demons and dragons waiting for us there, and we hesitate or hold back. We are not yet prepared. Until we are ready, we must go through another period of preparation; indicated by the forty years. And these ideas must change, or develop further, for they are not yet elevated sufficiently to enter the Promised Land. It will be their children, the next higher stage of consciousness which will enter, after the preparation is completed.
32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.
The people that are condemned to die in the wilderness symbolize those ideas in us that resist change, even when that change is for the betterment of the entire psyche. Thus, they have become stagnant and will eventually die, giving way to the changes in thinking that are necessary for Enlightenment. On a Macrocosmic level, these are people that resist change, even when that change would make them better or stronger people. These people will eventually die, leaving only those that are working toward enlightenment alive on this planet.
33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.
The children being shepherds in the wilderness symbolize the ideas that come from rejection of Spiritual Truth and Consciousness. These cause the consciousness to remain in a state of confusion until these ideas are changed into a more spiritual and truthful way of thinking.
34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.'
Until we are ready, we must go through another period of preparation; indicated by the forty years. Forty is Four times Ten. Thus, the forty years spent lost in the wilderness represent the formation of a new spiritual foundation for the developing higher consciousness.
35 I, YHVH, have spoken; surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die."
The end of the old way of thinking is symbolized by the death of the wicked congregation in the wilderness. This is the end of doubt concerning matters of Spirit.
36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up an evil report against the land,
37 the men who brought up an evil report of the land, died by plague before YHVH.
Believing that the higher consciousness is evil creates sickness until that error in thinking is corrected. The death of that way of thinking is represented by the death of the people that died here by plague.
38 But Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of those men who went to spy out the land.
Only Truth and the consciousness that accepts\is part of it may enter this higher state of Consciousness. These are symbolized by Caleb and Joshua.
39 And Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.
The ideas that come from rejecting Spirit or God cannot enter into the coming higher state of consciousness that is found by the pure, spiritual way of thinking, and so they only being about suffering for as long as they remain in the consciousness of the individual.
40 And they rose early in the morning, and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, "See, we are here, we will go up to the place which YHVH has promised; for we have sinned."
41 But Moses said, "Why now are you transgressing the command of YHVH, for that will not succeed?
42 Do not go up lest you be struck down before your enemies, for YHVH is not among you.
43 For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following YHVH, YHVH will not be with you."
44 But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of YHVH, nor Moses, departed out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country came down, and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.
Trying to enter the higher state of consciousness before having been sufficiently prepared will lead to spiritual and mental corruption. The word Hormah, in Hebrew, means devoted, destroyed or devoted to destruction. It symbolizes the destruction of erroneous beliefs and thoughts (symbolized here by people). The lusts of the body and the thoughts that come from rejecting YHVH will continue to torment the consciousness of the individual until these things are destroyed. This destruction is what is symbolized by Hormah.