Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Deuteronomy 1:19-25
Israel Journey to Kadesh With A View To Entering The Land And Withdraw Because of Unbelief (Deuteronomy 1:19 to Deuteronomy 2:1).
This next section of the speech follows a chiastic pattern bringing out contrasts in order to emphasise the unbelief of the people and the judgment that came on them. It does raise the question as to whether such a lengthy and detailed chiasmus could have been composed without it being written down. In my view it is very unlikely.
a They journeyed from Horeb and went through the great and terrible wilderness (Deuteronomy 1:19).
b They came to Kadesh-barnea (Deuteronomy 1:19).
c They came to the hill country of the Amorites which Yahweh is giving them (Deuteronomy 1:20).
d They were commanded to go up and take possession of the land (Deuteronomy 1:21).
e They came near and said they would send up scouts to search out the land (Deuteronomy 1:22).
f Moses was pleased and took twelve men, one per tribe (Deuteronomy 1:23).
g They ‘turned' and went into the hill country and found it fruitful (Deuteronomy 1:24).
h Moses says ‘You would not go up but rebelled against Yahweh's commandment' (Deuteronomy 1:26).
i They murmured that Yahweh had brought them out to deliver them into the hands of the Amorites because He hated them (Deuteronomy 1:27).
j Their hearts melted and they were afraid to go in and they complained about the size of the opposition, and Moses said, ‘Do not be afraid Yahweh will fight for you as He did in Egypt' (Deuteronomy 1:28).
k They have seen how Yahweh bore them as a man does his son in all the way that they go (Deuteronomy 1:31).
l In this thing they did not believe Yahweh their God (Deuteronomy 1:32).
k Yahweh went before them to seek out their camping places and to show them the way (Deuteronomy 1:33).
j Yahweh was angry at their complaints and said that they would not go in, but Caleb will see it because he wholly followed Yahweh (and thus did not complain about the opposition and was not afraid) (34-36).
i Yahweh was angry and said that they would not go in. Joshua will go in and cause Israel (of the next generation) to inherit it (Deuteronomy 1:37).
h Your little ones will go in there and possess it (Deuteronomy 1:39).
g They are told to ‘turn' and go into the wilderness (Deuteronomy 1:40).
f They said we have sinned we will go up and fight as commanded (Deuteronomy 1:41 a).
e They girded on every man his weapons of war (Deuteronomy 1:41 b).
d Commanded not to go up but they went up presumptuously (Deuteronomy 1:42).
c The Amorites dwelt in the hill country and chased them out (Deuteronomy 1:44).
b They abode in Kadesh many days (Deuteronomy 1:46).
a They took their journey into the wilderness by the way of the Reed Sea (Deuteronomy 2:1).
Note how in ‘a' they journeyed through the terrible wilderness and in the parallel they had to return to the wilderness. In ‘b' and parallel they were at Kadesh (thus what went between represented failure because they lingered and did not move on). In ‘c' they were to be given the hill country of the Amorites, in the parallel they were driven out of it. In ‘d' they were commanded to go up (and in unbelief did not - Deuteronomy 1:32), in the parallel they were not to go up and did so presumptuously. In ‘e' they sent out scouts (preparation for war) and in the parallel girded on their armour. In ‘f' Moses was pleased and took twelve men, one per tribe representing all the tribes, and in the parallel they say that they have sinned and will go and fight In ‘g' they ‘turn' and go into the fruitful hill country and in the parallel they ‘turn' and go into the wilderness. In ‘h' they would not go up to possess it, and in the parallel it is their children who will enter and possess it.
In ‘i' they murmur that Yahweh had brought them out to deliver them into the hands of the Amorites because He hates them and in the parallel He is angry and says that because of their attitude they will not go in. Only Joshua will cause the next generation of Israel to inherit it. In ‘j' their hearts melted and they were afraid to go in and they complained about the size of the opposition, while in the parallel Yahweh was angry at their words and said that they would not go in, but Caleb will see it because he wholly followed Yahweh (his heart did not melt). In ‘k' Yahweh bears them as a man does his son in all they way that they go and in the parallel he seeks out campsites for them and shows them the way. And central to all is the message that lies behind the whole chiasmus, in this thing they did not believe Yahweh their God.
So They Had Journeyed Safely To The Edge Of The Land With God's Help And Had Sent Out Spies To Assess The Land Who Had Reported That It Was A Good Land (Deuteronomy 1:19).
‘ And we journeyed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.'
The result was that they had been able safely and successfully to negotiate that great and terrible wilderness that lay before them, with its scorching heat and shortage of water, and its many hazards and the hardness of the way, following the ‘highway to the hill country of the Amorites' that led to the hill-country of the Amorites in Canaan, just as ‘Yahweh their God' had commanded them. And thus they had come to Kadesh-barnea, an oasis (or group of oases) in the Negeb immediately to the south of Canaan, a place where water was comparatively plentiful.
So everything had appeared successful. They were numerous and plentiful, they were wisely governed, and they had experienced God's mercies on the way. They should have been ready for anything. The worst was surely behind them, and they had survived.
“The Amorites.” This is a description which can have different meanings which must be decided in context. Sometimes it is used to describe all the inhabitants of Canaan (e.g. Genesis 15:16). Sometimes, as here, it is used to describe the dwellers in the hill country in contrast with ‘the Canaanites' who dwelt in the plain. At others it describes particular groups such as the Amorites over whom Sihon was king (compare Judges 1:34). Descriptions in those days were often general rather than specific, and could be applied loosely. The ‘Amorites' were in fact mentioned in what are called the Egyptian Execration Texts, small pottery and figurines on which were written the names of Egypt's enemies so that they could be smashed to release a curse (c 1900 BC).
‘ And I said to you, You are come unto the hill-country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us. “Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you, go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed.” '
Then Moses had turned to them and informed them of their whereabouts. He had told them that they were just south of the hill-country of the Amorites, the mountain ranges that formed the backbone of Canaan. And that it was that land that Yahweh had given them. He had set it before them and all they had now had to do was go forward trusting in Him, and He would give them possession. He would be with them, but He would not do it all Himself. It was their responsibility therefore to have confidence in Him and take possession of it. For as it was at the command of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they would not need to be afraid. He Who had proved Himself faithful would be so again. It was Yahweh's gift. (But they had refused it. Let the present generation therefore not make the same mistake).
Note the three alternative ways of describing Yahweh; ‘Yahweh our God', ‘Yahweh your God', ‘Yahweh the God of your fathers'. The titles all draw attention to the fact that He is their unique and distinct covenant God, and the threeness stresses His divine completeness. ‘Yahweh our God' is the God of the covenant (see verse 6 above). ‘Yahweh your God' is the God in Whom they can trust. ‘Yahweh the God of your fathers' is the God Who is bringing them into His continuing covenant and purposes, Who had promised this land to their forefathers. The change from ‘our' to ‘your' is made with the intention of boosting their sense of dependence on Him. Thus they were not to be afraid or dismayed (compare Joshua 1:9), even though they were again facing the hill-country of the Amorites (compare verses 43-44), because Yahweh was their God.
In our own case God has many things which He wishes to give us, but sadly we often also refuse them because we will not respond. If we refuse He will not force them on us but will pass them to others.
Note that in verse 21 we find the first use of the singular ‘thou' throughout. ‘Behold Yahweh thy God has set the land before thee. Take possession as Yahweh, the God of thy fathers has spoken to thee. Fear not nor be dismayed'. The purpose of ‘thy, thee' here would seem to be because of the reference to the relationship with the fathers and it is in the form of a declaration to Israel as a nation as a whole. The idea is to bring out the oneness of Israel as a whole, trueborn and adopted person alike, within the covenant. It is because those who have been adopted have become one with Israel that they can look back to their ‘fathers'.
‘ And you came near to me every one of you, and said, “Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.” '
The response of their fathers had been good. They had suggested sending scouts in order to spy out the land so that they would know which way to take and what point to attack from. In Numbers 13:1 it is emphasised that it was Yahweh Who commanded the scouts to go forth, but this is simply a reminder that God's side of things and ours must go hand in hand. It may be that the Israelites in fact first approached Moses with the idea, which he then put to God in order to obtain His commands on the subject. Or it may have been the other way round. But Moses is here summarising the situation and looking at it from their point of view, seeking to give as good a picture of the failure as possible. He does not want to shame their fathers unnecessarily. Indeed, possibly the plan had first come from Yahweh, and when it had been put to them they had concurred, and even come to him pressing him to carry it out. But considering what had happened in Numbers, and the behaviour of the people, we must see this account as being deliberately very tactful. Moses was wooing his listeners. He was trying to win them over to becoming believing and successful.
Very often we find that when God speaks to someone about doing something that person discovers when he goes forward that others have already been coming to the conclusion that it is what they too must do, for God often prompts different men's minds in this way when He has a purpose to carry out. Thus it is no surprise that they had suggested what God had intended, even possibly in their eagerness interrupting Moses before he had finished. After all, the sending out of scouts was normal military strategy, and they would know it had to be done. They would have had some experience of it in the wilderness. Scouts would have moved in all directions, and especially ahead, so that they were aware of what was happening around them, and what lay before them. Thus they would have expected it in this situation.
“Let us send men before us.” Perhaps this is intended to be a little ironic. It was Yahweh Who should have gone before them. Had Yahweh gone ahead success would have been guaranteed. But they sent only men.
‘ And the thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe, and they turned and went up into the hill-country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which Yahweh our God gives to us.'
Moses describes how he had been pleased that the inclinations of their fathers had tied in with God's demands, and explains how he had taken twelve men, one from each tribe, to act as scouts, and that they went up into the hill-country and came to the valley of Eshcol (possibly in the region of Hebron). Quite incidentally we have confirmation that all twelve tribes were present. Numbers tells us that their expedition was in fact somewhat more involved than this (Numbers 13:21), but Moses is not trying pedantically to cover the whole story. Rather he is concentrating on the essentials. (Nothing is worse than a speaker who feels that he must leave no detail out when telling a story. A speaker regularly has to decide when to abbreviate in order to stress his point). He reminds them of the wonderful fruit that had been brought back, which had been collected from Eshcol, and had demonstrated what a good land it was. Indeed all had admitted that it was indeed a good land which Yahweh was giving them. Here was the fruit of the land before them.
All had seemed bright. They were at the border of the land. The land had been scouted and had proved good. All that was now required was to advance with faith in God and begin to take possession of it.