In this passage, Moses speaks of a previous generation, one that wasted in the wilderness, but he speaks to this next generation as if they were complicit actors in the previous drama of 38 years prior. Moses recounts how at that time, the Israelites departed from Horeb, traveling through the great and terrifying wilderness of Paran, intent on reaching the hill country of the Amorites, according to God’s command to pick up and leave.
At Kadesh-barnea, Moses addressed the people, encouraging them with God’s Word. He gave them a series of divine commands that they were to obey with urgency: see, go up, take possession, do not fear, do not be dismayed. The covenantal assurance that their God was the God of their fathers should have further propelled them with courage to obey. The people’s response was to ask for an exploratory party that would first search out the land.
Moses permitted such a request and appointed 12 men (1 from each tribe) who spied out the land. Their report declared that this was “a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.” However, there were also parts of their report that caused the people to quake in fear, leading them to rebel against God’s will for them. They accused God of being evil to them, leading them here to die. And their fear came from the report of greater/taller people to fight against, heavily fortified cities, and a tribe of giants (the sons of the Anakim).
Moses urged the people to not be afraid of the Canaanites because of proven presence and power of God the Warrior on their behalf. He had fought for them before, and He would do so again. And He would continue to carry them along, just as a father carries his young son. But Moses’ words had no compelling effect: they were not “secure in the Lord.” They did not remember all that God had done for them, including the guiding divine presence of God manifest in the fire by night and the cloud by day, to show them which way they should go.
That generation was a wasted generation, having their rebellious eyes sealed in unbelief, eyes that would never see or taste of the goodness of the Promised Land. But Moses’ words were to this generation, exhorting them not to walk in the footsteps of their parents, for God had given them (and us!) Every Reason To Believe!
You can listen to this teaching on Deuteronomy 1:19-33 by clicking on the following link: Every Reason To Believe
