Can a generation repent?

I have mentioned that I am reading Numbers. In chapter 13 Moses sent out the 12 spies and they return with an evil report. Then, in chapter 14:1-12 the people attempt to kill Joshua and Caleb and the glory of the Lord appears, and He is determined to smite them and disinherit them.

In 13-19 Moses intercedes for them. And what a lesson in intercession! His prayer climaxes with his request:
Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

And in 20-38, the Lord responds almost immediately to Moses’ prayer. He answers his prayer but… well, read it for yourself:
20  And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
21  But as truly as I live…
23  Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
28  Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
29  Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,
30  Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
31  But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
32  But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.
33  And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

I was impressed by the faith of Caleb and Joshua, amazed by Moses’ prayer, and awed by God’s forgiveness. But then I began to wonder, God forgave them but did not let that generation into the promised land. In fact, He was so set against it that He swears they will not enter – as truly as I live and surely. And as we know, they did not - that entire generation perished in the wilderness. So I began to wonder: What was the benefit of being pardoned?

Then I read on. At the end of 14, even though God told them to turn back toward the wilderness, they made an attempt to conquer Canaan. A little further on (chapter 16) we read about the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Their complaint is summed up in 16:13-14

Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey...

What? Now it’s Moses’ fault they are not in the land? This is all the fruit of the unbelief in ch 14. Unbelief causes discontent, rebellion, and, it would seem, spiritual stupidity. Through this section (chapters 14 & 16) we see the amazing power of intercessory prayer and we also read of some mighty acts of God. How do the people respond to the presence and power of God?

But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.

This is followed by more prayer and manifest power of God. Then in chapter 17 is the miracle of the rod of Aaron that budded. How do they respond to this display of God’s power?

And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

Wow. What utter unbelief! Psalm 95 and Hebrews 3 & 4 speak of this and tell us they hardened their hearts, they sinned, and they did not believe. And unbelief is the root of it all.

So, the pardon that God granted them in ch 14 appears to be a special grace given to them for Moses’ sake and for God’s purposes. In other words, he pardoned them so as to not destroy them. Could this be because the plan of redemption was in full swing?

God says they did not repent. Or believe. And this cost them dearly. This was the whole generation. But, can a generation repent? It must be possible because as a generation they disbelieved. However, in the midst of this nation-wide failure, we find Caleb and Joshua, who did believe, and who did enter the land. Therefore, when a generation believes or hardens their hearts, it is still the individuals who do this. That generation hardened their hearts, but Caleb and Joshua chose to believe the Lord. Of course, the saddest aspect of this is that this was a covenant generation.

We know the world does not believe and that we are called out from the world. How hard it is to live for Jesus surrounded by unbelievers. That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, this requires great grace – the Blood, the Spirit, the Church. But O how difficult to follow the Lord when the entire generation of covenant people around you is not! Just writing that makes me shudder. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Not only does sin harden my heart so that I don’t welcome exhortation, but imagine there being no one to exhort you! Caleb and Joshua are even more impressive now – everyone, literally everyone, was against them, yet they believed.

An entire generation that did not believe and lost the blessing. How sad. How scary. I don’t want to be like them. I want to be like Caleb and Joshua. What can I do? If I accurately read Hebrews it would be: listen to the Spirit, don’t let my heart get hard, watch out for unbelief, and allow myself to be exhorted by other believers (is this not the most difficult one?). We would do well to focus on Caleb and Joshua and their faith, Moses and his intercession, and God’s grace and power, but, if Psalm 95 and Hebrews 3-4 have any relevance, I need to beware:

as the Holy Spirit says, To day if ye will hear his voice, 

harden not your hearts, as in the provocation