John Calvin Commentary Numbers 14:41

"And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of Jehovah, seeing it shall not prosper?" — Numbers 14:41 (ASV)

And Moses said, Wherefore do ye now transgress? He rejects this feigned penitence, by which the sinner tries all sorts of evasions,⁷⁸ so as not to submit himself to God. If thou wilt return, O Israel, return unto me, says the Lord by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 4:1). The first thing, therefore, which we must consider is what God requires of us, so that it may plainly appear that we truly submit ourselves to His power.

In order to restrain their rashness, Moses reminds them that they will seek in vain for success when they depart from God’s command. And this is a very useful piece of instruction, that His grace will never be lacking for us if we simply obey His word; but when, in contempt and neglect of His precepts, we are carried away by our own feelings, the outcome will never be prosperous.

If any should object that the wretched people had no other remedy, I have already stated that they should have been contented with this consolation, namely, that banishment from the land of Canaan was not disinheritance from the hope of eternal life. Indeed, if they had humbled themselves before God, they might expect that their punishment would have been a profitable help to them.

By their misdirected activity, they double the evil. After pointing out their danger, Moses again impresses upon them that God is not with them because they had deserted Him, and also that His blessing was withheld because they had refused to follow Him at the proper time.

⁷⁸ “En laquelle les pecheurs tournent a l’entour du pot;” whereby sinners twist round the pot. — Fr.