Here is a  link to The Emperor’s New Clothes, in case you are not familiar with that story.

The story ends, so we never know….

Did all the King’s Men get tired of the emperor spending  kingdom money for nothing?  for spending it on knaves and thieves?

Did all the King’s Men do anything about it?  Or were they paid off amply enough that they decided not to be whistleblowers, even if they had to humiliate themselves by associating with such a king?

Did the little boy grow up and decide it was time for new management in the kingdom?  Did the little boy decide enough resources had been stolen from his generation, enough opportunity had been stolen from his generation, enough of the future had been stolen from his generation, that it was time to do something?

Did anyone else finally confess to seeing the true state of the emperor?  Or did they continue to see what they were told to see and the deny the reality of what they actually saw?   Because no one else spoke up, did they kept silent?

The story ends.  We don’t know.

We do have the example of the children of Israel.  They escaped Egypt through the deliverance of God and the leadership of Moses, and then wandered in the desert 40 years, missing the promised land.  After 40 years of wandering, the kids were tired of it.   When Moses died and Joshua, the appointed successor of Moses, took over, the kids were ready to move on from a failed past.

Here’s some of the historical background. You can read the rest in the Old Testament.

Numbers 14:20 (KJV) And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word:

21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.

22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

26 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

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.

Moses died and Joshua became the leader.

Joshua 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,

2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

Notice that in verse 18 the kids were determined to move on from the failed past.   If necessary, they were ready for their own version of Nuremberg II.

Joshua 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it.

12 And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying,

13 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.

14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them;

15 Until the Lord have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the Lord your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord’s servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising.

16 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.

17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.

18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.