Deuteronomy 1:1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. 3 Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that Yahweh had given him as commandments to them, 4 after he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei. 5 On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying, etc.
“‘These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness,’ The time was the last month of the fortieth year after the Exodus (Deuteronomy 1:3a), when the men of war of that generation had all perished (Deuteronomy 2:16); the conquest of Trans-Jordan was accomplished (Deuteronomy 1:4; Deuteronomy 2:24 ff.), and the time of Moses’ death was at hand. It was especially this last circumstance that occasioned the renewal of the covenant. God secured the continuity of the mediatorial dynasty by requiring of Israel a pledge of obedience to his new appointee, Joshua (cf. Deuteronomy 31:3; Deuteronomy 34:9), and a new vow of consecration to Himself." (Dr. Thomas B. Constable)—
'in the plain opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.’ These proper names “seem to belong to places where ‘words’ of remarkable importance were spoken. They are by the Jewish commentators referred to the spots which witnessed the more special sins of the people, and the mention of them here is construed as a pregnant rebuke. The Book of Deuteronomy is known among the Jews as ‘the book of reproofs.’” (Albert Barnes) The sense of this verse is this: Don’t be like the last generation. Emulate Caleb and Joshua only.
Obey Yahweh’s Commandments and enter the land by faith.
“In style similar to that of ancient treaty documents, Deuteronomy opens by recounting all that Yahweh, Israel's covenant God, has done for his people. It reminds them of his gracious acts on their behalf and calls from them a fitting response of covenant loyalty.“ (Bridgeway Bible Commentary) “He discourseth not to them concerning military affairs, but concerning their duty to God; for if they kept themselves in His fear and favour, He would secure to them the conquest of the land; their religion would be their best policy.” (Matthew Henry)
Only Caleb and Joshua had been found faithful of the tribes of Israel. After the recon mission to the land of Canaan, Caleb said,
"Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.’ But the rest had said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” See Numbers 13:30-33.
And all of Israel mutinied against Moses and Aaron wanting to kill them. But Joshua and Caleb shined forth from the ordeal as leaders. They tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ [Exodus 3:8] Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” (Numbers14:7-9)
Moses and Aaron interceded and Yahweh forgave he children of israel, and extended the probation for that generation saying, “I have pardoned, according to your word; but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Yahweh— because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.” (Num 14:20-23)
Moses as leader was “verily was faithful in all God’s house," (Heb 3:5a) but he was also reproved by the Lawgiver. When God used him to bring forth water out of the rock for the children of Israel, he struck with his rod in anger and Yahweh declared: “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (Num 20:12) He was allowed to see the earthly land from Mount Pisgah and surely he will obtain the Heavenly Canaan with the remanent of each generation.
“‘It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.’ where God had first told them to enter the land of Canaan but Israel refused (Numbers 13:26). “Thus this Scripture emphasizes that if Israel had been obedient to the Lord they might have entered the land only 11 days after leaving Mount Horeb, but because of disobedience the time was lengthened to about 40 years. Moses spoke to them here just one month before the forty years was complete (v.3). This tells believers today that our wilderness history does not necessarily have to be long, but because of our natural selfish propensities it is necessary for God to put us through the trial of hard circumstances in order to learn that obedience is the only way of blessing.” (L. M. Grant)
“‘Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month,’ In the first month of that memorable year Miriam had died (Numbers 20:1). His brother Aaron had died in the fifth month (Numbers 33:38). Moses was soon to follow him at the close of the fortieth year, at the ripe age of one hundred and twenty.—‘that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that Yahweh had given him as commandments to them,’… Before he went to the top of Pisgah to behold the land and to die, he pours out his heart in the presence of all Israel…Once more, therefore, he placed the words of the Lord before their hearts… Moses declared the law unto them (verse 5). The Hebrew word ‘declare’ means ‘to make plain.’ it is used in Habakkuk 2:2.” (Gaebelein)
“They had stayed at mount Sinai, or Horeb, almost a year, receiving the law, erecting the tabernacle, numbering the people, ranking them under their standards, etc.” (Joseph Benson) Moreover, adding to the case against that froward generation, “‘he’— Moses— ‘had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei.’ “By the destruction of these kings, who sought to bar the access of the Israelites to the Promised Land, God had given proof that He would indeed fulfill His promise to His people, and had at once laid them under obligations to obedience, and given them encouragement to go forward on the course to which He had called them.” (The Pulpit Commentaries) “And so, being fitted for an orderly march, they”— people of that first generation— “were commanded to depart thence, and proceed to the nearest borders of Canaan.” (Benson)
But they would not. And so now, Moses preached the Divine Revelation of Sinai to the next generation in the wilderness, even to His Church. “This book of the law it was that the king was to write out with his own hand, [Deuteronomy 17:18-19] that it might serve as his manual, and attend him in his running library. This was that happy book that good Josiah lighting upon, after it had long laid hid in the temple, melted at the menaces thereof, and obtained of God to die in peace, though he were slain in battle. This only book was that silver brook, that preciously purling current, out of which the Lord Christ, our Champion, chose all those three smooth stones, wherewith he prostrated the Goliath of hell in that sharp encounter.[Matthew 4:4; Matthew 4:7; Matthew 4:10].” (John Trapp)
Deuteronomy 1:6 “Yahweh our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Yahweh swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.”
“The first and introductory address of Moses to the people is here commenced. It extends to Deuteronomy 4:40.” (Albert Barnes)—>
“‘Yahweh our Elohim,’ As the epithet applied to God, it presupposes the reception of Israel into covenant with Him.” (Keil & Delitzsch)—“‘spoke to us’— Moses and the rest of the Israelites— ‘in Horeb’ on Mount Sinai, saying ‘You have dwelt long enough; that is, about a year, in Horeb.” (Joseph Sutcliffe) “This was the period of organization, in which the people received the Law and were organized as a church militant, an army encamped around the tabernacle of God.” (C. J. Ellicott) This implies “that the purpose for which Israel was taken to Horeb had been answered, i.e., that they had been furnished with the laws and ordinances requisite for the fulfilment of the covenant, and could now remove to Canaan to take possession of the promised land.” (Keil & Delitzsch)
“The English term ‘law’ has negative connotations, but the Hebrew torah, (lit. instruction) used here ( Deuteronomy 1:5), is positive. The Torah is more instruction than prohibition. Here the whole of Deuteronomy is in view. ‘What the man and woman lost in the Garden is now restored to them in the Torah, namely, God's plan for their good.’ [Note: John H. Sailhamer, The Pentateuch as Narrative]” (Dr Thomas B. Constable) But the law of Moses, nor even that of God, was a permanent resting place, for it only “points onward to something far better, as the Book of Hebrews shows (Hebrews 6:1-2; 10:1-10).” (L. M. Grantt)— the Promise.
“At Horeb, therefore, they received the charter of their inheritance, and might have gone on at once to take possession of the land.” (The Pulpit Commentary)— “‘Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites,’ to the mountain district occupied by the Amorites, reaching into the Negeb, and part of the territory assigned to the tribe of Judah.— 'to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates.'” ” (Barnes) Yahweh would allow them to enter, but would dispel if disobedient.
The land was full of enemies of God. “Never imagine that the Canaan which you profess to seek will be your own without a warfare. Fight valiantly, pray fervently, trust implicitly, and you will be made more than conquerors. Neither doubt nor distrust the sure promise and inviolable covenant of an unchangeable God. Oh, how keenly should this Scripture rebuke all loiterers in the holy war! We profess to love and follow Jesus, but when He cries ‘Go up and possess the land,’ we willingly linger in the desert of our own coldness and worldly love.” (R. P. Buddicom)
“‘Behold, I have set the land before you,’— ‘before your faces’ (Hebrew)— “It was Jehovah's gift to them and its possession therefore should be certain and easy; ‘go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. Gen_22:16.’” (Paul E. Kretzmann)
“It was, at the time of which Moses speaks [to the former generation], accessible. If obedient, under Jehovah’s guidance the Israelites could have marched from Horeb into the Land of Promise, entering it at the south, and conquering it in the order of the divisions given in the preceding verse.” (Whedon's Commentary) “God was ready, but they were not…. So the high places were not taken away; for the people had not yet prepared their hearts for such a reformation: the work was ensnarled and retarded by their unfitness. See Isaiah 59:2.” (John Trapp)
“Reader! why should we shrink back when our GOD calls us, as he did Israel, to leave earth for heaven? Have we not dwelt long enough in this mount, which burned with fire, with sin, and sorrow, and evils in abundance? Shall our JESUS call and say, Come up hither, to the land which I have taken possession of in your name, and shall we feel reluctant, and wish to put off the merciful call?
Dearest LORD! do thou quicken our drowsy, earthly affections, and raise them to thyself, that we may be looking and longing for the day of thy coming. 2 Peter 3:12.” (Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary)
Deuteronomy 1: Magistrates of the Law Appointed
9 “And I spoke to you at that time, saying: ‘I alone am not able to bear you. 10 Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude. 11 May Yahweh God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you as He has promised you! 12 How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints? 13 Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.’ 14 And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have told us to do is good.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes. 16 Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him. 17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.
“It was after the rock in Horeb was smitten, and before they encamped at Mount Sinai, that Jethro gave the advice which Moses took, and proceeded on it, as here related; see Exodus 18:1.” (John Gill)
So we discover here that the actual appointments of magistrates over the children of Israel occurred after Sinai at the time that the command went forth to occupy the land. This is not the seventy elders, but rather judges or captains over various groups of the twelve tribes based on the abilities of the one appointed— over thousands, hundreds or fifties. By this time, the covenant of Sinai had been confirmed and sealed by blood and the people had responded with one voice, “Everything Yahweh has said we will do.” Then Moses then wrote down everything Yahweh had said. For this, see Exodus 24. Also note that Jethro had advised: “If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” (Exodus 18:23) So it was ratified on Sinai.
“‘And I spake unto you at that time,’ when they were first called to enter the land of promise, saying‘: ‘I alone am not able to bear you. Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude,' as the Lord had promised in the prophecy of the covenant, Gen_15:5 ff; Gen_12:2; Gen_18:18; Gen_22:17; Gen_26:4.” (Paul Kretzmann) “This is hardly to be regarded as the utterance of hyperbole. When God gave the promise to Abraham it was to the stars as seen by the patriarch, not as actually existing in the immensity of space, that reference was made; and as the number of stars which can be taken in with the naked eye does not exceed 3000, and as Israel at this time numbered more than 600,000, counting only the adult males (Numbers 2:32),—it might be literally said of them that they had been multiplied as the stars of heaven.” (The Pulpit Commentaries)
Sand is thought by some to be a scriptural reference to physical seed and stars to spiritual seed. So Moses spoke in hope that the people would respond rightly. And Moses here inserts his own devout wish and prayer: “May Yahweh God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you as He has promised you!” “The ‘blessing’ after ‘multiplying’ points back to Genesis 12:2. Consequently,… it is not to be restricted to ‘multiplying,’ but must be understood as including the spiritual blessing promised to Abraham.” (Keil & Delitzsch)
“‘How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?’ A prince’s temples are not so compassed with a crown, as his mind besieged with cares; nor is he so lifted up with the splendour of his train, as cast down with the multitude of his fears….
St Paul also had the ‘cumber of the churches.’” (John Trapp) How can single pastor bear the responsibility of a large flock?
“Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes,"- perhaps spiritual seed- "and I will make them heads over you.” “From the seventy elders, down to the people, there was a vast gradation of magistrates and officers… In this rehearsal he marks the divine appointment of rulers, among the leading blessings which God had accorded to the [Hebrew] nation.” (Sutcliffe) “Good laws were given to the Israelites, and good men were to see to the execution of them, which showed God's goodness to them, and the care of Moses.” (Henry)
“And you”— the people— “answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have told us to do is good.’ So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.” We ratified the appointments by agreement or oath, for a man’s word is firm for a true Israelite.
“Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him.’ The stranger — To such God would have justice equally administered as to his own people, partly for the honour of religion, and partly for the interest which every man hath in matters of common right.” (Benson)“‘You shall not show partiality in judgment,’ A judge must come into court with clean hands, and know the case only, and not the persons.” (Sutcliffe) “‘You shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence’— A faint hearted judge doth easily pervert justice.” (Trapp)—“’ for the judgment God’s.’ You are his Lieutenants.” (Geneva Study Bible) “No tribunal can enforce justice in the same absolute spirit of independence as that which existed under the Hebrew theocracy. The judges were represented as holy persons sitting in the place of God (cf. Deuteronomy 19:17); and this official elevation placed all the people of Israel, both small and great, on a lever of equality. ” (Jameson, Faussett. Brown)
And: “What a delightful view doth the increase of Israel afford! Compare this verse with the account of Jacob's first going down into Egypt. Genesis 46:27. But what a more glorious view doth the apostle give of the church of JESUS, the true Israel of GOD! Revelation 7:4-9.” (Hawker’s Poor Man’s Comm.) The 144,000 people of the text represent those converted during the Great Tribulation but still may be ”a definite is here put for an indefinite, but very large number, who had embraced the gospel and were made partakers of divine grace, and thus were sealed by the Holy Spirit to the day of redemption... None are secure from coming wrath, except those who are born of God, who manifest the fruits of His Spirit, and are thus distinguished as belonging to Him.” (Justin Edwards)
In these days, we best consider Paul's teachings, “If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?... Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?” (1 Corinthians 6:1-2; 7b) “Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:9b-11)
“‘The case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it. And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.' In the Church too brethren can decide many things, but if anything is too hard, these must be brought to the Lord in humble, dependent prayer.” (Grant)
Deuteronomy 1:19 “So we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God had commanded us. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God is giving us. 21 Look, Yahweh your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as Yahweh God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.’ 22 And every one of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’ 23 The plan pleased me well; so I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. 24 And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25 They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying,
‘It is a good land which Yahweh our God is giving us.’”
“‘So we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness’— The reference here is to that sterile and inhospitable region east of the Seir mountain range, on the border of which, where it blends with the desert of Arabia…” (Jamieson, Faussett, Brown)— ”’abounding with want of all necessities, [Jeremiah 2:6] and surrounded with many, mighty, and malicious enemies. Such is this present evil world to those that are bound for the heavenly Canaan. Many miseries and molestations, both Satanical and secular.“ (John Trapp)— “‘which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God has commanded us.” So, the present generation had just experienced it’s cruelties and were at that same place- the border- the Mount of the Amorites.
God said to the first generation: “Go up and possess it' —the earthly Canaan, ‘take possession’ (Hebrew)— God’s great desire for His people had been that they possess what He had promised them.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) This is a type of that Heavenly rest that God has for the people of God. “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them…” (Hebrews 4:2a) “the Israelites in the wilderness, in the ministry of Moses, and by types and sacrifices.” (John Gill) Jesus says to our generation of the Heavenly, “Take and eat;" — take possession— "this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matt 26:26-29)
“Everything had been done on the part of God and Moses to bring Israel speedily and safely to Canaan.” (Keil & Delitzsch) The law had been given and the judicial system was in place with comparatively spiritual men in key positions. Likewise, just before Jesus died, He said, “it is finished” and went to prepare a place for all who would trust in Him for salvation.
“Then we came to Kadesh Barnea. And I said to 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 Yahweh, our God, doth give unto us.’ Moses represented the goal as even then attained.” (Paul E. Kretzmann) Then he gave the march order.
Moses here merely spoke the Word of God: ”Look, Yahweh your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it,’ as Yahweh God of your fathers has spoken to you;" —Let us likewise keep the Commandments of Jesus, a big order.— "'do not fear or be discouraged.’ The last clause of this verse reappears in St. John 14:27, ‘Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’” (C. J. Ellicott) But Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going... All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:1-3; 25-27)
“And everyone of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’— They spoke in faith here. The question was not whether to go or not, but rather which way to go. And Moses said: “The plan pleased me well; “— why not for it pleased Yahweh!— "so I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe.” “The sending of the spies was the people’s idea… Moses agreed to it, as did the Lord (Numbers 13:1-2), because it was not wrong in itself. It had the potential of being helpful to the Israelites,” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) The recon party went into the land to spy it out and brought back some of the fruit of the land “with the report that the Lord's word concerning it was true: it was a good land (vs.24-25).” (L. M. Grant) “Never any looked into the Holy Land, but they must own it to be a good land. “ (Matthew Henry) How much more that Land of Promise—the New Jerusalem, of which this land is but a type!
Surely Yahweh can be trusted. All they needed to do was take possession of it. John, our recon man, gave us this report by vision of God, so that we too could taste and see that the Land and it’s Lord are good. As the fruits of Eden, except of the forbidden tree in the midst thereof— “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1-2)
“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His resting place will be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:6-10)
Deuteronomy 1:26 “Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God; 27 and you complained in your tents, and said, ‘Because Yahweh hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, 'The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.' 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, or afraid of them. 30 Yahweh your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how Yahweh your God carried you, as a man carried his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet, for all that, you did not believe Yahweh your God, 33 who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day.
“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.” (Paul E. Kretzmann)
“These discourses abound in reproofs and warnings to the generations then existing and the generations to come, based on the sins of those who left their bones in the wilderness.” (Daniel Whedon)
God told Israel through Moses to take possession of the promise land and to not be afraid or discouraged: “‘Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God.’ The reason for their being compelled to remain in the desert for forty years was to be found exclusively in their resistance to the commandments of God...” (Keil & Delitzsch)—“and you complained in your tents, and said: ‘Because Yahweh hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.’ A most astounding commentary on the events of the exodus up to that date.” (C. J. Elliott) Their theology started in the hearts, then crept into their tents by speech.
“What ingratitude and blindness! The Lord, who had so graciously delivered them out of Egypt, who had overthrown the hosts of Egypt, who had given them the bread from heaven and water out of the rock, Him they accused of hatred.” (Arno Gabelein) “”In covenant terminology to love means to choose, and to hate means to reject (cf. Genesis 25:23; Malachi 1:2-3; Romans 9:10-13). [Note: Merrill, Deuteronomy , p77; Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans , pg. 388-89.] The Israelites doubted God’s goodness, denied His Word, and disobeyed His will (cf. Genesis 3).” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) This was a self fulfilling prophecy.
“‘Our brethren,’ the spies, gave us brotherly counsel which—‘discouraged,’ [literally] melted— our hearts [revealing the reality of the situation], saying, ‘The people are greater’ in number, ‘and taller’ in size, and thus stronger. ‘The cities are great’ in extent, ‘and fortified’— walled up— ‘to heaven.” (Lange)— ’Where can we go up? — “‘moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there,” which seem as giants compared to us. There are obstacles all over. “The eyes of weak faith or unbelief saw the towns really towering up to heaven. Nor did the height appear less, even to the eyes of faith, in relation, that is to say, to its own power. Faith does not hide the difficulties from itself, that it may not rob the Lord, who helps it over them, of any of the praise that is justly His due” (Schultz)
“Moses, and all the subsequent prophets, in reviewing this calamity, lay the emphasis on unbelief. It fermented in their hearts, it paralyzed exertion, and occasioned all their other sins; and its consequences still are equally dreadful. In the gospel age it has driven the Jews from Jerusalem, and made them a reproach among all nations.” (Sutcliffe)
Moses tries to convince them by reminders the works of Yahweh in Deuteronomy 1:29-33, but their decision was made and for all that, they did not believe him.
A study in the NT book of Hebrews:
“‘But the Word which they heard did not profit them;’ It was of none effect (Mark 7:13)- they were not evangelized by it, or cast into a Gospel mould, or brought into a Gospel spirit..” (John Gill)- “‘because it’— the word— ‘was not mixed with faith in those who heard it.’ (Hebrews 4:2)- because of “anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.”(Exodus 6:9)
"’For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,’ [Psalm 95:11] The apostle speaks of believers of all ages as a body, to which he and those to whom he was writing belonged, and says, ‘It is we who believe, and we alone, who under any dispensation can enter into the rest of God’” (Dr. J. Brown)— ‘although the works were finished from the foundation of the world’ (Hebrews 4:3) — even though God had planned rest for His people when He created the world. God's purpose and provision did not guarantee that His people would experience it." (Dr. Thomas B Constable)
“‘Let us labour,’ or as the greek, 'let us study' [our Bibles], and warmly espouse the cause of religion, to enter into that rest…" (Sutcliffe)—'lest we fall as the Israelites of old did. For the Word of God is…’ The Word of God is to be understood as the Bible, God's revelation of His truth to people, especially in the sense of His Commandments… — ‘living’ or active,... [which] corroborated by other New Testament writers such as Luke (Acts 7:38), Peter (1 Peter 1:23), and others. The word ‘active’ shows that the Word does not lie inert and dead but at all times carries within itself the mighty power of its Divine Author.— ‘dividing soul and spirit’— Rather than trying to find subtle differences in the meaning of such words as ‘soul’ and ‘spirit,’ it is perhaps just as well to view this verse as a heaping together of powerful terms for the purpose of showing the utmost ability of the Word of God to penetrate the complex inward nature of man, to convict him of sin, to expose his hidden motives, and to judge the very nature of life itself. Davidson, as quoted by Bruce, said that this verse is a ‘rhetorical accumulation of terms to express the whole mental nature of man on all sides.’ The passage presents God's Word as totally different from the word of men [especially here that of the Hebrew spies], making it infinite in power, all-seeing in discernment, and able to pierce or penetrate any human subterfuge.” (Burton Coffman)It is the Word made flesh who saves us from the wilderness of sin.
“We do not work to enter into His rest, for that is the very theme of this section, but rather believe with confidence in His Word and His work. This faith will result in good works [i.e. taking possession when told] (Eph 2:10) as evidence of the reality of our faith (Jam 2:18), but it is not the works that save us.” (The New Defender's Study Bible) It is the One who ignites those works by faith. “Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)
Deuteronomy 1:34 “And Yahweh heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying, 35 ‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed Yahweh.’ 37 Yahweh was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 ‘Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it."
Yahweh heard the sound of the words of the children of israel, “of their murmurings against Moses and Aaron, and of their threatenings to them, Joshua and Caleb, and of their impious charge of hatred of them to God for bringing them out of Egypt, and of their rash wishes that they had died there or in the wilderness, and of their wicked scheme and proposal to make them a [new] captain, and return to Egypt…: ‘and was angry, and took an oath’; by His life, Himself; see Numbers 14:28, saying; as follows.” (John Gill)—> “‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it; and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed,’ literally ‘fulfilled to go after’— ‘Yahweh.’ The perfect following is that which holds on when the other falls away. Deuteronomy 1:37.” (Lange’s Commentary)
He “was also angry with me”— Moses— “for your sakes,’ upon occasion of your wickedness and perverseness, by which you provoked me to speak unadvisedly.” (Joseph Benson) and to strike the rock. For this, Yahweh declared, “Even you shall not go in there.” “The reason was the same—unbelief. ‘Because ye believed me not’ was the reason given to Moses in Numbers 20:12.” (C.J. Ellicott) Moses “feels himself to be included under the wrath of Jehovah in a general sense; this genuine Mosaic classing of himself with the people still beloved by him, although in the rejection, can only be intimated. The incident alluded to, Numbers 20:12, falls historically during the second coming of Israel to the borders of the promised land, and with the new generation.“ (Lange’s Comm.)
"It was the same dreadful malignity of mind, which in the gospel is threatened with everlasting exclusion from the heavenly Canaan. For ‘he that believeth not the record which God hath given of his Son, maketh God a liar;’ and we are awfully told, that the wrath of God abideth upon him.’ See John 3:36. Oh! for the grace of faith to give due credit to a most faithful covenant God in Christ.” (Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary)
Perhaps in the time of the wanderings some would repent of their disbelief. “Behold, Yahweh’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.” (Isaiah 59:1) Eleazar and his sons represent this group. He was the third son of Aaron. His name means "God has helped.” He “was consecrated as a priest with his brothers and Aaron in the Sinai (Ex 28:1; Lv 8:2, 13). When his brothers Nadab and Abihu were killed by God as they offered 'unholy fire' to the Lord (Lv 10:1-7), Eleazar and Ithamar took leading positions as Aaron's sons (Nm 3:1-4). Eleazar is described as ‘chief of the leaders of the Levites’ (Nm 3:32). Under his supervision were the sanctuary and its vessels (4:16; 16:37-39; 19:3-4). Eleazar was installed as high priest by Moses when Aaron died on Mt Hor (Nm 20:25-28; Dt 10:6). He was then considered Moses' assistant (Nm 26:1-3, 63; 27:2, 21). Joshua was commissioned by Moses in the presence of Eleazar (27:18-23). In the conquest of Canaan, Joshua and Eleazar served together as leaders. It was Eleazar's function as Joshua's counselor to inquire of the Lord (v. 21). He also had his share in the census taking at Shittim. He took part in the partitioning of Canaan, the east bank (34:17), and the west bank (Jos 14:1; 17:4; 19:51; 21:1).” (Tyndale Bible Dictionary)
“‘Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there’ — into the good land. ‘Encourage him,’ with the promise of the divine Presence with him, and of success in subduing the Canaanites, and settling the people of Israel in their land; and so we read that Moses did encourage him, Deuteronomy 31:7.— ‘for he shall cause Israel to inherit it’; he shall go before them as their captain, and lead them into it; fight their battles for them, conquer their enemies, and divide the land by lot for an inheritance unto them; so the heavenly inheritance is not by the law of Moses, and the works of it, but by Joshua,” as our inheritance is not by any good deed but rather by our Joshua— the same name as Jesus, “the Saviour, by His achievements, victories, and conquests.” (Albert Barnes)
40 But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.’”
Israel had used an objection to the first command to occupy the land— the sake or sufferings that would be put on their children, who were not of the age of accountabiliy. They had no “no knowledge of good and evil.” They would be innocent victims in their sure defeat. These "were the very persons Moses was directing his speech unto, and relating this history, it being thirty eight years ago when this affair was, so that now they were grown up to years of discretion— ‘they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.” (Albert Barnes) Their deeds should have cursed them but Yahweh determined to bless them. “But as for you”— those accountable— “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.” (Paul E. Kretzmann) Possess the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 1:41 “Then you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against Yahweh; we will go up and fight, just as Yahweh our God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain. 42 And Yahweh said to me, ‘Tell them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.” ’ 43 So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of Yahweh, and presumptuously went up into the mountain.
“‘Then you answered”— not in repentance, but rather in the flesh with a natural abhorrence of the wilderness— “and said to me,’ —>
“We have sinned against Yahweh by refusing to go; we will go up AND FIGHT, just as Yahweh our God commanded us.’ which is more than they were bid to do; they were only ordered to go up and possess the land...” (John Gill)— according to His promise: “And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.” (Exodus 23:28-30)
“In the Bible the hornet is used as a metaphor for God's use of military forces (Ex 23:28; Dt 7:20; Jos 24:12)” (Tyndale); but perhaps Yahweh would use other foreign powers to unwittingly do His will... or other strategic moves directed by the Captain of His host. "The furious attack of a swarm of hornets drives cattle and horses to madness, and has even caused the death of the animals." (Easton's Bible Dictionary)
“‘Little by little’ does the work of God proceed through the individual soul. 'Little by little' do the conquests of the Cross win over the world. 'Little by little' is the unfolding purpose of Redemption made manifest to men and angels." ( F. B. Meyer) "In real kindness to the church, its enemies are subdued by little and little; thus we are kept on our guard, and in continual dependence on God.” (Matthew Henry)
Yes, they confessed sin against Yahweh but there was no repentance as they “were ready to go up into the mountain” of the Amorites for war.
Moses said “‘Ye made light of going up;’ i. e. ‘ye were ready to attempt it as a trifling undertaking.’ Deuteronomy 1:43 shows the issue of this spirit in action.” (Albert Barnes) The last word from Yahweh was to possess the wilderness, but now they strove in the flesh to possess Canaan. “The emphatic ‘we’ of this verse may be compared with the ‘we’ of Deuteronomy 1:28— ‘Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, ‘The people are bigger and taller than we; etc.;’ In both instances it was we, without Jehovah. It was a change from cowardice to presumption, not from unbelief to faith.” (C. J. Ellicott)
“And when everyone of you had [erroneously decided to fulfill the missed opportunity and] girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain’ to fight. “And Yahweh said to me: Tell them, ‘Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of Yahweh, and presumptuously went up into the mountain. “Presumptuous comes from the Latin verb ‘praesumere’ which means to take for granted. It means taking for granted your access to someone or power to do something.” They “‘acted rashly’ הזיד from זוּד , to boil, or boil over (Genesis 25:29- as Esau selling his birthright), 'and went up' signifies to act thoughtlessly, haughtily, or rashly.” (Keil and Delitzsch)
There was no seeking of the will of God for the situation. Sin must be dealt with. "This declares man's nature, who will do that which God forbids, and will not do that which he commands.” (Geneva Study Bible)
44 And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before Yahweh, but Yahweh would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you. 46 So you remained in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you spent there.
“‘And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do,’ which, being provoked, come out of their hives in great numbers, and with great fury pursue their adversary and disturber.” (Joseph Benson)--"and drove you back from Seir to Hormah." “This should be observed as illustrating what is said of the hornet in Exodus 23:28-30...” (C. J. Ellicott) God planned to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan out little by little, but rather in a battle of natural strength, the occupants drove back the Israelites all at once, revealing the enemies natural “vivacity, courage, and numbers.” (George Leo Haydock)
Bees “are especially noted for their ferocity in attack. Only the female ‘worker’ bees sting people and animals, the virulence of their venom increasing in warm weather. A number of biblical passages allude to the irritable, vindictive nature of bees and to the painful stings they inflict (Dt 1:44; Ps 118:12; Is 7:18).” (Tyndale Bible Dictionary)
“‘And you returned and wept before Yahweh;’ i.e., before the sanctuary; “but Yahweh would not listen to your voice, nor give ear to you.’ —
Because your burnt offering offered at the door thereof had not been offered in faith in the power of the blood. You “rather showed your hypocrisy, than true repentance; rather lamenting the loss of your brethren, than repenting for your sins.” (Geneva Study Bible)
“‘So you remained in Kadesh many days,’ not being now permitted to make any further progress toward Canaan.” (Joseph Benson)—
“‘according to the days that you spent there,’ All the time that they spent in the wilderness, "they remained at Kadesh-Barnea.” (George Haydock) It then served as “home of the wandering Israelites for nearly 38 years.
In the vast area of the Sinai there are two main oases: in the south is Wadi Feiran, near the mountain of Moses (Mt Sinai or Horeb); in the north is Kadesh, or Kadesh-barnea. The former was the place where the law was given; the latter, the main campsite of the 12 tribes during their exodus from Egypt (Dt 1:46).” (Tyndale Bible Dictionary)