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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Deuteronomy 1:19 - 1:46
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Kadesh-Barnea and the Spies. —
v. 19. And when we departed from Horeb, Num_10:11, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, during their journey to reach that country, as the Lord, our God, commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea, which may be considered as being located in the extreme southern boundary of the Amorite country.
v. 20. And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, the range which separated them from Canaan, and which here stands for the entire country, which the Lord, our God, doth give unto us. Moses represented the goal as even then attained.
v. 21. Behold, the Lord, thy God, hath set the land before thee, He had made them a present of the entire country in advance; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
v. 22. And ye came near unto me, every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. This account supplements that of Numbers 13, showing that Moses was in favor of going right ahead with the conquest of the country, and that the Lord had given command to send spies only after the people had suggested this course.
v. 23. And the saying pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe, Num_13:3-16.
v. 24. And they turned, set out, and went up into the mountain, the mountainous country of Canaan, and came unto the Valley of Eshcol, and searched it out, Num_13:22-24.
v. 25. And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the Lord, our God, doth give us. It was in this point, with regard to the fertility of the land, that the report of all the spies had agreed.
v. 26. Notwithstanding ye would not go up, being influenced by the terror which had taken hold upon the majority of the spies, Num_13:31, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, your God;
v. 27. and ye murmured in your tents, Num_14:1-4. for so the rebellion had begun, and said, Because the Lord hated us, He hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us. By addressing the present generation in the words of this accusation, Moses indicated that the same rebellious spirit that actuated their fathers lived also in them.
v. 28. Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and, moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there. Num_13:28-33.
v. 29. Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. Moses had seconded the efforts of Joshua and Caleb.
v. 30. The Lord, our God, which goeth before you, He shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;
v. 31. and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord, thy God, bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. Cf Exo_19:4. They had experienced the merciful kindness of God which took up the faint and perishing, the care which bore them upon His arm and brought them safely through every danger; and they should continue to trust in the almighty power of Jehovah as being able to bring them into the Land of Promise.
v. 32. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord, your God,
v. 33. who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. The entire behavior of the children of Israel at that time had been based upon lack of faith in the Lord, it flowed from unbelief.
v. 34. And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,
v. 35. Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land which I sware to give unto your fathers,
v. 36. save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord, Num_14:22-24.
v. 37. Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, namely, at Meribah, an incident which Moses includes at this point for the sake of cumulative effect, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither, Num_20:12. This is not inserted in chronological sequence, but in logical connection, and is very effective.
v. 38. But Joshua, the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither; encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. Cf Num_14:30; Num_27:18-19.
v. 39. Moreover, your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, having no part in that particular transgression of their parents, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it, Num_14:31.
v. 40. But as for you, turn you, away from the inviting richness of the Land of Promise, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, Num_14:25.
v. 41. Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the Lord, we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord, our God, commanded us, Num_14:40. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up in to the hill; in their presumptuousness they thought it an easy matter to storm the pass on their own account.
v. 42. And the Lord said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies; their defeat without His assistance was a foregone conclusion.
v. 43. So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously, with proud, defiant insolence, up in to the hill.
v. 44. And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, and had prepared for a possible invasion, came out against you, and chased you as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah, pursuing them far into Edomitish territory.
v. 45. And ye returned and wept before the Lord, before the Tabernacle; but the Lord would not hearken to your voice nor give ear unto you. That was Jehovah's attitude during the next years, for He refused to change His sentence which condemned all adult Israelites to death in the wilderness.
v. 46. So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there. The exact length of time during which the people remained at this station after the return of the spies is a matter of conjecture only. We believers of the New Testament should remember the many evidences of the goodness and mercy of the Lord, who leads us through the wilderness of this world with such tender love and holds out before us the certainty of the heavenly inheritance. The remembrance of our disobedience in the past should serve to keep us truly humble and cause us to cling to the Lord in the confidence of a firm faith.