These Are Those Who Were Numbered By Moses and Eleazar But Among Them Was No One Previously Numbered At Sinai (i.e. of those who came forth from the land of Egypt) (26:62-65a).
‘These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.'
In Numbers 26:3-4 Moses and Eleazar commanded the numbering of all who were twenty years old and upwards ‘in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho' (Numbers 26:3). Now we learn that their task was completed ‘in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho', ready for crossing the Jordan when the command came from Yahweh.
‘But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.'
But while the original numbering had been commanded concerning ‘ the children of Israel who came forth from the land of Egypt' (Numbers 26:4), among those who were numbered this time there was not a man present of those who had been previously numbered. Apart from Moses, Caleb and Joshua no one was left who had been in Egypt or who had been numbered at Sinai. Yahweh's judgment had been complete.
‘For Yahweh had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.'
For they had all died in the wilderness as Yahweh had threatened. Yahweh's word of judgment had been fulfilled. For it is not only God's promises which are fulfilled, but also His warnings.
No Male Of The Previous Generation Was Left Except Caleb and Joshua (26:65b).
‘And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.”
The suggestion may well be that the plague mentioned in Numbers 26:1 had finally resulted in the death of all who had remained alive of those who had been previously numbered. Now none was left alive apart from Caleb and Joshua.
It is a sad thought that those who were at Sinai had been numbered with such hopes. But sin and unbelief had found them out, and they never attained the promised rest. That was not a question of their eternal destiny, but of what could have been theirs in this life. Instead of enjoying forty years in the land of milk and honey they had endured forty years in the barren wilderness. We too need to beware, lest having been numbered by the Lord, we fail to achieve what He desires for us or to enter His true rest (see Hebrews 3:7 to Hebrews 4:11) by being unresponsive to Him. What fools we are if we forfeit both our present and future rewards for the passing pleasures of this life.