"The decree that Israel was not to enter Canaan for forty years was a bitter disappointment to Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua; yet without a murmur they accepted the divine decision. But those who had been complaining of God's dealings with them, and declaring that they would return to Egypt, wept and mourned greatly when the blessings which they had despised were taken from them. They had complained at nothing, and now God gave them cause to weep. Had they mourned for their sin when it was faithfully laid before them, this sentence would not have been pronounced; but they mourned for the judgment; their sorrow was not repentance, and could not secure a reversing of their sentence.

"The night was spent in lamentation, but with the morning came a hope. They resolved to redeem their cowardice. When God had bidden them go up and take the land, they had refused; and now when He directed them to retreat they were equally rebellious. They determined to seize upon the land and possess it; it might be that God would accept their work and change His purpose toward them.

"God had made it their privilege and their duty to enter the land at the time of His appointment, but through their willful neglect that permission had been withdrawn. Satan had gained his object in preventing them from entering Canaan; and now he urged them on to do the very thing, in the face of the divine prohibition, which they had refused to do when God required it. Thus the great deceiver gained the victory by leading them to rebellion the second time" (PP 392).

Well let me give you my testimony...When we were deciding where to build our house, we prayed and felt God was leading us build in the agricultural area so we could set up the farm, but we had to find the right piece of land. Well something was put up in the listings one morning which instantly we thought was perfect, and I called my realtor to place a bid before others saw it on the listings, but he was on vacation. So I tried to find a way out of the contract to bid on my own, but could not. So finally he came back, but by then others had found it and I was outbid, and I felt that God had let me down. I could not believe God would not let me get that piece of land that I felt seem to fit our needs. Well my family told me not be discouraged and pray on it so I did and went back over the listings and checked another piece that we had seen but rejected as too expensive, and the owner would not budge on the price. Well long story short, I prayed and struggled with the decision but God opened the way to buy it at what the owner was asking, and when a major storm came we found out why we did not get the other property, it was flooded by water up to our knees and totally unsuitable, while the land God had 'forced on me' was on high ground and dry....

Amen! I love how God led in your choice of property. Thank you for sharing. God is good - all the time.