After the people of Israel rebelled against the LORD their God, the God who went before them, who carried them as a father carries his son, and who fought for them, the LORD swore an oath through Moses that not 1 man from this evil generation (the generation that refused to enter the Promised Land) would see/inherit the good land that God had promised to the patriarchs. The exceptions that God made were for 2 men: Caleb the son of Jephunneh … because he wholly followed the LORD; and Joshua the son of Nun … who would actually lead Israel into the land and cause Israel to inherit it.
The rebel generation would not inherit the land, refused entrance by God, and consigned to eventual death in the wilderness. But, said God, the next generation, the young ones whom the rebels said would be destroyed by the Canaanites would be the ones to enter the land and possess it. And then God directed the Israelites to go back into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea. However, these rebels rebelled yet again, and they now determined to go into the Promised Land to fight, as God had originally commanded them. And they armed themselves, thinking they would take the hill country with ease.
But God through Moses told them that this was no longer an option for them. He commanded the Israelites not to go up and fight, for He would not be with them, and they would surely be defeated by their enemies. But again, they would not listen, disregarding the word of the LORD, and they presumptuously entered the hill country. Their presumption quickly turned to horror as the Amorites of that area chased them as an angry swarm of bees and struck down many Israelites in battle in Seir as far as Hormah. Then, the Israelites wept in grief over the death and calamity that came upon them … but these were not tears of true repentance, and thus the LORD did not regard them. Moses concludes this narrative by describing the people of Israel then remaining in Kadesh for quite some time.
You can listen to this teaching on Deuteronomy 1:34-46 by clicking on the following link: This Evil Generation
