19 "Then we set out from Horeb , and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites , just as the Lord our God had commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea . 20 "I said to you, 'You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the Lord our God is about to give us. 21 'See , the Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession , as the Lord , the God of your fathers , has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed .' 22 " Then all of you approached me and said , 'Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter .' 23 "The thing pleased e me and I took twelve e of your men , one man for each tribe . 24 " They turned and went up into the hill country , and came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 "Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought us back a report and said , 'It is a good land which the Lord our God is about to give us.' 26 " Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the [1]command of the Lord your God ; 27 and you grumbled in your tents and said , 'Because the Lord 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 made our hearts melt , saying , "The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven . And besides , we saw the sons of the Anakim there ."' 29 "Then I said to you, 'Do not be shocked , nor fear them. 30 'The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, [2]just e as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes , 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son , in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place .' 32 "But [3] for all this , you did not trust the Lord your God , 33 who goes before you on your way , to seek out a place for you to encamp , in fire by night and cloud by day , to show you the way in which you should go .
34 "Then the Lord heard the sound of your words , and He was angry and took an oath , saying , 35 ' Not one of these men , this evil generation , shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers , 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh ; he shall see it, and to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot , because e he has followed the Lord fully .' 37 " The Lord was angry with me also on your account , saying , ' Not even you shall enter there . 38 'Joshua the son of Nun , who stands before you, he shall enter there ; encourage him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it. 39 'Moreover, your little ones who you said would become a prey , and your sons , who this day have no knowledge of good or evil , shall enter there , and I will give it to them and they shall possess it. 40 'But as for you, turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way to the [4]Red e Sea .'
41 " Then you said to me, 'We have sinned against the Lord ; we will indeed go up and fight , just e as the Lord our God commanded us.' And every man of you girded on his weapons of war , and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country . 42 " And the Lord said to me, 'Say to them, "Do not go up nor fight , for I am not among you; otherwise you will be [5]defeated before your enemies ."' 43 "So I spoke to you, but you would not listen . Instead you rebelled against the [6]command of the Lord , and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country . 44 " The Amorites who [7]lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do , and crushed you from Seir to Hormah . 45 "Then you returned and wept before the Lord ; but the Lord did not listen to your voice nor give ear to you. 46 "So you remained in Kadesh many days , [8]the days that you spent there.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:19-46
Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:19-46
(Read Deuteronomy 1:19-46)
Moses reminds the Israelites of their march from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, through that great and terrible wilderness. He shows how near they were to a happy settlement in Canaan. It will aggravate the eternal ruin of hypocrites, that they were not far from the kingdom of God. As if it were not enough that they were sure of their God before them, they would send men before them. Never any looked into the Holy Land, but they must own it to be a good land. And was there any cause to distrust this God? An unbelieving heart was at the bottom of all this. All disobedience to God's laws, and distrust of his power and goodness, flow from disbelief of his word, as all true obedience springs from faith. It is profitable for us to divide our past lives into distinct periods; to give thanks to God for the mercies we have received in each, to confess and seek the forgiveness of all the sins we can remember; and thus to renew our acceptance of God's salvation, and our surrender of ourselves to his service. Our own plans seldom avail to good purpose; while courage in the exercise of faith, and in the path of duty, enables the believer to follow the Lord fully, to disregard all that opposes, to triumph over all opposition, and to take firm hold upon the promised blessings.