Deuteronomy 1:40

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.

But as for you, turn ye,.... From the mountain of the Amorites, the border of the land of Canaan: and take your journey into the wilderness, by the way of the Red sea: see Numbers 14:25. Jarchi says this wilderness was by the side of the Red sea, to the south of Mount Seir, and divided between the Red sea and the mount; so that now they drew to the side of the sea, and compassed Mount Seir, all the south of it, from west to east.

The sentence on Moses was not passed when the people rebelled during their first encampment at Kadesh, but some 37 years later, when they had re-assembled in the same neighborhood at Meribah (see the Numbers 20:13 note). He alludes to it here as having happened not many months previously, bearing on the facts which were for his purpose in pricking the conscience of the people.

40-45. turn you, and take your journey into the … Red Sea—This command they disregarded, and, determined to force an onward passage in spite of the earnest remonstrances of Moses, they attempted to cross the heights then occupied by the combined forces of the Amorites and Amalekites (compare Nu 14:43), but were repulsed with great loss. People often experience distress even while in the way of duty. But how different their condition who suffer in situations where God is with them from the feelings of those who are conscious that they are in a position directly opposed to the divine will! The Israelites were grieved when they found themselves involved in difficulties and perils; but their sorrow arose not from a sense of the guilt so much as the sad effects of their perverse conduct; and "though they wept," they were not true penitents. So the Lord would not hearken to their voice, nor give ear unto them.

1 . Then we turned , etc.] See on Deuteronomy 1:7 . by the way to the Red Sea ] Rather, in the direction of the Red Sea . as the Lord spake unto me ] Deuteronomy 1:40 . and we compassed mount Seir ] The range E. of the ‘Arabah: see on Deuteronomy 1:2 ; Deuteronomy 1:44 JE, Numbers 21:4 b , by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom . many days ] As in Deuteronomy 1:46 , indefinite; that a long time is intended is clear from Deuteronomy 2:14 , which states that Israel spent 38 years between Ḳadesh and the Zered; while Deuteronomy 2:7 , whether from the same hand or not, implies that the 40 years from Egypt had practically all passed when the people turned N.

"Who standeth before thee," equivalent to "in thy service" ( Exodus 24:13 ; Exodus 33:11 : for this meaning, see Deuteronomy 10:8 ; Deuteronomy 18:7 ; 1 Kings 1:28 ). "Strengthen him:" comp. Deuteronomy 31:7 ; and with regard to the installation of Joshua as the leader of Israel, see Numbers 27:18-19 . The suffix in ינחילנּה points back to הארץ in Deuteronomy 1:35 . Joshua would divide the land among the Israelites for an inheritance, viz., (v. 39) among the young Israelites, the children of the condemned generation, whom Moses, when making a further communication of the judicial sentence of God ( Numbers 14:31 ), had described as having no share in the sins of their parents, by adding, "who know not to-day what is good and evil." This expression is used to denote a condition of spiritual infancy and moral responsibility ( Isaiah 7:15-16 ). It is different in 2 Samuel 19:36 . - In Deuteronomy 1:40-45 he proceeds to describe still further, according to Numbers 14:39-45 , how the people, by resisting the command of God to go back into the desert ( Deuteronomy 1:41 , compared with Numbers 14:25 ), had simply brought still greater calamities upon themselves, and had had to atone for the presumptuous attempt to force a way into Canaan, in opposition to the express will of the Lord, by enduring a miserable defeat.

Instead of "they acted presumptuously to go up" ( Numbers 14:44 ), Moses says here, in Deuteronomy 1:41 , "ye acted frivolously to go up;" and in Deuteronomy 1:43 , "ye acted rashly, and went up." הזיד from זוּד, to boil, or boil over ( Genesis 25:29 ), signifies to act thoughtlessly, haughtily, or rashly. On the particular fact mentioned in Deuteronomy 1:44 , see at Numbers 14:45 .