Deuteronomy 1:35

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.

Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land,.... The land of Canaan; not only not one of the spies that brought the ill report of that land, but of that body of people that gave credit to it, and murmured upon it: which I sware to give unto your fathers; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; see Deuteronomy 1:8.

Verses 35, 36. - They were all, the whole generation of them, evil, and therefore not a man of them should see the good land which God had promised to their fathers, with the exception of Caleb, who had wholly followed the Lord - had remained steadfast and faithful whilst the others fell away. Joshua also was exempted from this doom; but before mentioning him, Moses refers to himself as having also come under the Divine displeasure. Deuteronomy 1:35

The plan of sending the spies originated with the people; and, as in itself a reasonable one, it approved itself to Moses; it was submitted to God, sanctioned by Him, and carried out under special divine direction. The orator's purpose in this chapter is to bring before the people emphatically their own responsibilites and behavior. It is therefore important to remind them, that the sending of the spies, which led immediately to their complaining and rebellion, was their own suggestion. The following verses to the end of the chapter give a condensed account, the fuller one being in Numbers 13-14, of the occurrences which led to the banishment of the people for 40 years into the wilderness.

34-36. the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth—In consequence of this aggravated offense (unbelief followed by open rebellion), the Israelites were doomed, in the righteous judgment of God, to a life of wandering in that dreary wilderness till the whole adult generation had disappeared by death. The only exceptions mentioned are Caleb and Joshua, who was to be Moses' successor.

35 . of this evil generation ] Omit of ; the clause being in apposition to these men . It is not in the LXX and is generally taken as a later explanation that these men are not merely the spies but the whole adult generation (Dillm). Whether a gloss or not the explanation is correct. the good land ] JE, Numbers 14:23 ; Exodus 3:8 , a good land ; cp. Numbers 13:19 , whether good or bad ; P, Numbers 14:7 , a very, very good land . Contrast the frequency of the phrase in D and deuteronomic passages, Deuteronomy 3:25 , Deuteronomy 4:21 f., Deuteronomy 6:18 , Deuteronomy 8:7 ; Deuteronomy 8:10 , Deuteronomy 9:6 , Deuteronomy 11:17 ; Joshua 23:16 : a good soil , Joshua 23:13 ; Joshua 23:15 . to give ] Sam. and LXX omit.

34 . the voice of your words ] So Deuteronomy 1:28 and not elsewhere. 34. and was wroth ] Heb. wayyiḳṣoph , Deuteronomy 9:19 and twice in P, but not elsewhere of God in Pent. The causative form to provoke God only in Deuteronomy 9:7 f., Deu 9:32. and sware ] See on Deuteronomy 1:8 . 34–40. God’s Anger and Judgements Provoked by the people’s words ( Deuteronomy 1:34 ) God swore none should see the good land ( Deuteronomy 1:35 ) but Kaleb, son of Yephunneh; because he had fully followed Jehovah, to him and his children it should be given ( Deuteronomy 1:36 ). Even with Moses was God angry for the people’s sake, saying, Thou shalt not come in thither ( Deuteronomy 1:37 ); Joshua shall lead Israel to their heritage ( Deuteronomy 1:38 ); and the people’s children possess it ( Deuteronomy 1:39 ). Those addressed must turn back into the wilderness towards the Red Sea ( Deuteronomy 1:40 ).—The parallel account, Numbers 14:10 a – Numbers 14:39 , is divided (somewhat precariously) between JE and P. In Jeremiah , Deuteronomy 1:11-24 ; Deuteronomy 1:31 (?) Jehovah asks how long the people are to despise Him. He will smite and disinherit them, making of Moses himself a greater nation. Moses argues that other peoples will then say Jehovah is unable to carry Israel to the Land; and pleads His revealed mercy.

Jehovah was angry, therefore, when He heard these loud words, and swore that He would not let any one of those men, that evil generation, enter the promised land, with the exception of Caleb, because he had followed the Lord faithfully (cf. Numbers 14:21-24 ). The hod in זוּלתי is the antiquated connecting vowel of the construct state. But in order that he might impress upon the people the judgment of the holy God in all its stern severity, Moses added in Deuteronomy 1:37 : "also Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither;" and he did this before mentioning Joshua, who was excepted from the judgment as well as Caleb, because his ultimate intention was to impress also upon the minds of the people the fact, that even in wrath the Lord had been mindful of His covenant, and when pronouncing the sentence upon His servant Moses, had given the people a leader in the person of Joshua, who was to bring them into the promised inheritance. We are not to infer from the close connection in which this event, which did not take place according to Numbers 20:1-13 till the second arrival of the congregation at Kadesh, is placed with the earlier judgment of God at Kadesh, that the two were contemporaneous, and so supply, after "the Lord as angry with me," the words "on that occasion." For Moses did not intend to teach the people history and chronology, but to set before them the holiness of the judgments of the Lord.

By using the expression "for your sakes," Moses did not wish to free himself from guilt. Even in this book his sin at the water of strife is not passed over in silence (cf. Deuteronomy 32:51). But on the present occasion, if he had given prominence to his own fault, he would have weakened the object for which he referred to this event, viz., to stimulate the consciences of the people, and instil into them a wholesome dread of sin, by holding up before them the magnitude of their guilt. But in order that he might give no encouragement to false security respecting their own sin, on the ground that even highly gifted men of God fall into sin as well, Moses simply pointed out the fact, that the quarrelling of the people with him occasioned the wrath of God to fall upon him also.