The Kadesh Barnea event is recorded in Numbers 14, and the New Testament commentary is in Hebrews 3–4. God warns against “an evil heart of unbelief” (Heb. 3:12). An evil heart!
民数记第14章记载了加低斯巴尼亚事件，而对此的新约注释就在希伯来书第3-4章。神警告我们不得“存着不信的恶心”（来3:12）。这是一个邪恶的心！
Why is the sin of unbelief so evil?
不信之罪为何如此邪恶呢？
To begin with, unbelief makes God a liar and questions the dependability of His Word. Our responsibility is not to question God but to believe God and do what He commands.
首先，不信相等于控告神是骗子，也质疑了神话语的可靠性。我们的责任不是怀疑神，而是要信靠神并遵从祂的命令。
Unbelief wastes time. An eleven-day journey turned into forty years of wandering and death! Unbelief robs us of God’s best blessings. God cared for His people those forty years, but how much more He would have done had they claimed their inheritance.
不信即是浪费时间。原本11天的行程却演变成40多年的流浪与死亡！不信剥夺了神对我们佳美的祝福。在这40年间，神不断地看顾祂的子民，但以色列若肯领受神已为他们预备的基业，神必能为他们行更大的事。
When you come to those Kadesh Barnea places in your pilgrimage, don’t look around at the problems and dangers. Look up to the God who is leading you, and walk by faith.
当你在自己的天国历程中来到加低斯巴尼亚这样的地方时，切记不要把焦点放在眼前的问题和危险上。要仰望那位带领你的耶和华，要凭信心而行。
Praying the Scripture 用经文祷告
- God was giving His people a second chance and Moses didn’t want the new generation to fail as their fathers had failed before them. Israel should have entered Canaan thirty-eight years before (2:14), but in their unbelief they rebelled against God. The Lord condemned them to wander in the wilderness until the older generation had died, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb (Num. 13–14). Philosopher George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” so the first thing Moses did in his farewell discourse was to review Israel’s past and remind the new generation who they were and how they got where they were (Deut. 1–5). Knowing their past, the new generation in Israel could avoid repeating the sins of their fathers. Do you know your past?
神时在给予以色列第二次机会，而摩西不希望这新的一代会像上一代一样失败。以色列早该在38年前踏入迦南地（2:14），但他们因着不信背弃了神。主惩罚他们，使他们持续在旷野里飘流，直至上一代的人（除了约书亚和迦勒）都陆续离世（民13-14）。哲学家乔治·桑塔亚那写道：“那忘记过去的必重蹈覆辙”，因此摩西在临别前所做的第一件事就是回顾以色列的过去，提醒这新一代的以色列人他们属谁，并是如何走到今日的（申1-5）。通过了解自己的过去，新一代的以色列人就可以避免犯下他们先父的过犯。你了解自己的过去吗？
- Kadesh-Barnea was the gateway into the Promised Land, but Israel failed to enter the land because of fear and unbelief. They walked by sight and not by faith in God’s promises. “See, the Lord your God has given you the land,” Moses told them. “Go up and take possession of it.… Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deut. 1:21). It has well been said that faith is not believing in spite of evidence—that’s superstition—but obeying in spite of circumstances and consequences. How much more evidence did the people need that their God was able to defeat the enemy and give them their land? Hadn’t He defeated and disgraced all the false gods of Egypt, protected Israel, and provided for them on their pilgrim journey? Pray that we believe and obey.
加低斯巴尼亚是踏入应许之地的通道，但以色列人因恐惧和不信不得进入。他们不按神的应许凭信心行事，乃凭肉眼而行。摩西告诉他们:“看哪，耶和华你的神已将那地摆在你面前……上去得那地为业；不要惧怕，也不要惊惶。”（第21节）这句话说得好：信心不是在没有凭据的情况下而信，这乃叫迷信；信心则是不论处境和后果，坚持顺服于神。以色列还需要多少证据，才肯相信神必击败敌人，把土地赐给他们呢？神不是已经击败并羞辱埃及的所有假神，保护以色列人，并在他们漂泊的旅途中看顾他们了吗？请祷告，叫我们能信靠并顺服主。
