Defeat Without Moses

This life of the Hebrews in the wilderness was so unpleasant and hard, and they were so restless under it, that although God had forbidden them to meddle with the Canaanites, they could not be persuaded to obey Moses’ words and keep quiet. Supposing they could beat their enemies even without his approval, they accused him, suspecting that he made it his business to keep them in distress so that they would always need his help. So they resolved to fight the Canaanites. God gave them his help, they said, not out of regard for Moses’ intercessions, but because he cared for their whole nation for the sake of their forefathers, whose affairs he had taken under his own guidance; and it was on account of their own virtue that he had earlier won them their liberty, and he would help them now that they were willing to work for it. They also said they had strength enough to conquer their enemies even if Moses wanted to turn God against them. It was to their advantage, they said, to be their own masters. They should not be so pleased at escaping the insults they had borne under the Egyptians that they would put up with Moses’ tyranny over them, let themselves be deceived, and live as he pleased — as though God foretold to him alone what concerned them, out of kindness to him, as if they were not all the descendants of Abraham; as though God had made him alone the channel of these things, so that he knew everything that was to come by learning it from God. It would be prudent, they said, to oppose his arrogant claims, to put their trust in God, and to resolve to take possession of the land God had promised them, without listening to the man who forbade them to do it on this pretext and under the pretense of divine authority. So, considering their present distress, and that in those deserts they could expect things to grow still worse, they resolved to fight the Canaanites, submitting only to God as their supreme commander and not waiting for any help from their lawgiver. [a]

Having come to this resolution as the best course for them, they went against their enemies. But the enemy were not dismayed either by the attack itself or by the great numbers who made it, and met them with great courage. Many of the Hebrews were killed; the rest of the army, once their ranks were thrown into disorder, were pursued and fled shamefully back to their camp. This unexpected disaster made them lose heart entirely. They hoped for nothing good, concluding that the blow had come from the wrath of God, because they had rashly gone out to war without his approval. [c]

But when Moses saw how deeply this defeat had shaken them, he was afraid the enemy would grow bold after their victory, want still greater glory, and attack them. He decided it was right to withdraw the army into the wilderness, farther away from the Canaanites. The people put themselves under his guidance again, for they realized that without his care for them their affairs could not go well. So he moved the camp and went farther into the wilderness, intending to let them rest there, and not to let them fight the Canaanites until God gave them a better opportunity.