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New American Standard Bible
Deuteronomy 1:1
These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab.
Deuteronomy 1:2
It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.
Deuteronomy 1:3
In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that the LORD had commanded him to give to them,
Deuteronomy 1:4
after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.
Deuteronomy 1:5
Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law, saying,
Deuteronomy 1:6
“The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.
Deuteronomy 1:7
Turn and set your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negev and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
Deuteronomy 1:8
See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them.’
Deuteronomy 1:9
“I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘I am not able to bear the burden of you alone.
Deuteronomy 1:10
The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number.
Deuteronomy 1:11
May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, just as He has promised you!
Deuteronomy 1:12
How can I alone bear the load and burden of you and your strife?
Deuteronomy 1:13
Choose wise and discerning and experienced men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’
Deuteronomy 1:14
You answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’
Deuteronomy 1:15
So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and appointed them heads over you, leaders of thousands and of hundreds, of fifties and of tens, and officers for your tribes.
Deuteronomy 1:16
“Then I charged your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your fellow countrymen, and judge righteously between a man and his fellow countryman, or the alien who is with him.
Deuteronomy 1:17
You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not fear man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’
Deuteronomy 1:18
I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.
Deuteronomy 1:19
“Then we set out from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the LORD our God had commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.
Deuteronomy 1:20
I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the LORD our God is about to give us.
Deuteronomy 1:21
See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
Deuteronomy 1:22
“Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter.’
Deuteronomy 1:23
The thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe.
Deuteronomy 1:24
They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out.
Deuteronomy 1:25
Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought us back a report and said, ‘It is a good land which the LORD our God is about to give us.’
Deuteronomy 1:26
“Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God;
Deuteronomy 1:27
and you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.
Deuteronomy 1:28
Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there.”’
Deuteronomy 1:29
Then I said to you, ‘Do not be shocked, nor fear them.
Deuteronomy 1:30
The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
Deuteronomy 1:31
and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.’
Deuteronomy 1:32
But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,
Deuteronomy 1:33
who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.
Deuteronomy 1:34
“Then the LORD heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and took an oath, saying,
Deuteronomy 1:35
‘Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers,
Deuteronomy 1:36
except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed the LORD fully.’
Deuteronomy 1:37
The LORD was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘Not even you shall enter there.
Deuteronomy 1:38
Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there; encourage him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it.
Deuteronomy 1:39
Moreover, your little ones who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it.
Deuteronomy 1:40
But as for you, turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.’
Deuteronomy 1:41
“Then you said to me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD; we will indeed go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And every man of you girded on his weapons of war, and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country.
Deuteronomy 1:42
And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be defeated before your enemies.”’
Deuteronomy 1:43
So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the LORD, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country.
Deuteronomy 1:44
The Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do, and crushed you from Seir to Hormah.
Deuteronomy 1:45
Then you returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD did not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.
Deuteronomy 1:46
So you remained in Kadesh many days, the days that you spent there.
Cross References
Deuteronomy 1:1: Deuteronomy4:46; Deuteronomy 2:8; Deuteronomy 1:2: Exodus 3:1; 17:6; Genesis 32:3; Numbers 13:26; 32:8; Deuteronomy 9:23; Deuteronomy 1:3: Numbers 33:38; Deuteronomy 4:1, 2; Deuteronomy 1:4: Numbers 21:21-26; Deuteronomy 2:26-35; Josh 13:10; Nehemiah 9:22; Numbers 21:33-35; Josh 13:12; Josh 12:4; Deuteronomy 1:6: Numbers 10:11-13; Deuteronomy 1:7: Genesis 15:18; Deuteronomy 11:24; Josh 10:40; Genesis 12:9; Deuteronomy 1:8: Genesis 12:7; 26:3; 28:13; Exodus 33:1; Numbers 14:23; 32:11; Hebrews 6:13, 14; Deuteronomy 1:9: Exodus 18:18, 24; Numbers 11:14; Deuteronomy 1:10: Genesis 15:5; 22:17; Ex 32:13; Deuteronomy 7:7; 10:22; 26:5; 28:62; Deuteronomy 1:11: Deuteronomy 1:8, 10; Deuteronomy 1:13: Exodus 18:21; Deuteronomy 1:16: Deuteronomy 16:18; John 7:24; Deuteronomy 1:17: Deuteronomy 10:17; 16:19; 24:17; 2 Chronicles 19:5, 6; Proverbs 24:23-26; Acts 10:34; James 2:1, 9; Proverbs 29:25; Exodus 18:22, 26; Deuteronomy 1:18: Exodus 18:20; Deuteronomy 1:19: Deuteronomy 1:2; Deuteronomy 2:7; 8:15; 32:10; Jeremiah 2:6; Deuteronomy 1:7; Deuteronomy 1:2; Deuteronomy 1:21: Josh 1:6, 9; Deuteronomy 1:22: Numbers 13:1-3; Deuteronomy 1:24: Numbers 13:21-25; Deuteronomy 1:26: Numbers 14:1-4; Deuteronomy 9:23; Deuteronomy 1:27: Deuteronomy 9:28; Psalm 106:25; Deuteronomy 1:28: Numbers 13:28, 33; Deuteronomy 9:2; Deuteronomy 1:30: Exodus 14:14; Deuteronomy 3:22; 20:4; Nehemiah 4:20; Deuteronomy 1:31: Deuteronomy 32:10-12; Isaiah 46:3, 4; 63:9; Hosea 11:3; Acts 13:18; Deuteronomy 1:32: Numbers 14:11; Psalm 106:24; Hebrews 3:19; 4:2; Jude 1:5; Deuteronomy 1:33: Exodus 13:21; Numbers 9:15-23; Nehemiah 9:12; Psalm 78:14; Numbers 10:33; Deuteronomy 1:34: Numbers 14:28-30; Hebrews 3:18; Deuteronomy 1:35: Psalm 95:11; 106:26; Ezekiel 20:15; 1 Corinthians 10:5; Hebrews 3:14-19; Deuteronomy 1:36: Numbers 14:24; Joshua 14:9; Deuteronomy 1:37: Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 3:26; 4:21; Deuteronomy 1:37: Numbers 27:13, 18; Deuteronomy 1:38: Numbers 14:30; Numbers 34:17; Deuteronomy 3:28; 31:7; Joshua 11:23; Deuteronomy 1:39: Numbers 14:3, 31; Is 7:15, 16; Deuteronomy 1:40: Numbers 14:25; Deuteronomy 1:41: Numbers 14:40; Deuteronomy 1:42: Numbers 14:41-43; Deuteronomy 1:43: Numbers 14:40; Deuteronomy 1:44: Numbers 14:45; Psalm 118:12; Deuteronomy 1:45: Job 27:8, 9; Psalm 66:18; John 9:31; Deuteronomy 1:46: Numbers 20:1, 22; Deuteronomy 2:7, 14; Judges 11:17
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Amorites
Highlanders, or hill men, the name given to the descendants of one of the sons of Canaan, called Amurra or Amurri in the Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions. On the early Babylonian monuments all Syria, including Palestine, is known as the land of the Amorites.
The southern slopes of the mountains of Judea are called the mount of the Amorites. They seem to have originally occupied the land stretching from the heights west of the Dead Sea to Hebron, embracing all Gilead and all Bashan, with the Jordan valley on the east of the river, the land of the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og.
The five kings of the Amorites were defeated with great slaughter by Joshua. They were again defeated at the waters of Merom by Joshua, who smote them till there were none remaining. It is mentioned as a surprising circumstance that in the days of Samuel there was peace between them and the Israelites. The discrepancy supposed to exist is explained by the circumstance that the terms Amorites and Amalekites are used synonymously for the Canaanites.
In the same way we explain the fact that the Hivites are the Amorites. The Amorites were warlike mountaineers. They are represented on the Egyptian monuments with fair skins, light hair, blue eyes, aquiline noses, and pointed beards. They are supposed to have been men of great stature; their king, Og, is described by Moses as the last of the remnant of the giants. Both Sihon and Og were independent kings. Only one word of the Amorite language survives, Shenir, the name they gave to Mount Hermon.
Beyond
When used with reference to Jordan, signifies in the writings of Moses the west side of the river, as he wrote on the east bank; but in the writings of Joshua, after he had crossed the river, it means the east side.
Captain
Chief, prince, ruler; governor. This word denotes a military captain, the captain of the bodyguard, or, as the word may be rendered, chief of the executioners. The officers of the king's bodyguard frequently acted as executioners. Nebuzar-adan and Arioch held this office in Babylon.
The captain of the guard mentioned was the Praetorian prefect, the commander of the Praetorian troops. Another word so translated denotes sometimes a military; rulers; and sometimes a civil command, a judge, magistrate.
It is also the rendering of a Hebrew word meaning a third man, or one of three, soldiers fighting from chariots, so called because each war chariot contained three men, one of whom acted as charioteer while the other two fought.
This word is used also to denote the king's bodyguard. The captain of the temple mentioned in and was not a military officer, but superintendent of the guard of priests and Levites who kept watch in the temple by night, the ruler of the house of God.
The Captain of our salvation is a name given to our Lord, because he is the author and source of our salvation, the head of his people, whom he is conducting to glory. The captain of the Lord's host is the name given to that mysterious person who manifested himself to Abraham, and to Moses in the bush the Angel of the covenant.
Euphrates
Meaning sweet water. The Assyrian name means the stream, or the great stream. It is generally called in the Bible simply the river, or the great river. The Euphrates is first mentioned as one of the rivers of Paradise. It is next mentioned in connection with the covenant which God entered into with Abraham, when he promised to his descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates, a covenant promise afterwards fulfilled in the extended conquests of David.
It was then the boundary of the kingdom to the northeast. In the ancient history of Assyria, and Babylon, and Egypt many events are recorded in which mention is made of the great river. Just as the Nile represented in prophecy the power of Egypt, so the Euphrates represented the Assyrian power. It is by far the largest and most important of all the rivers of Western Asia. From its source in the Armenian mountains to the Persian Gulf, into which it empties itself, it has a course of about 1,700 miles.
It has two sources, the Frat or Kara-su, which rises 25 miles northeast of Erzeroum; and the Muradchai, which rises near Ararat, on the northern slope of Ala-tagh. At Kebban Maden, 400 miles from the source of the former, and 270 from that of the latter, they meet and form the majestic stream, which is at length joined by the Tigris at Koornah, after which it is called Shat-el-Arab, which runs in a deep and broad stream for above 140 miles to the sea. It is estimated that the alluvium brought down by these rivers encroaches on the sea at the rate of about one mile in 30 years.
Father
A name applied to any ancestor; and as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder. The author or beginner of anything is also so called Jabal and Jubal. Applied to God. As denoting his covenant relation to the Jews. Believers are called God's sons. They also call him Father.
Galilee
Circuit. Solomon rewarded Hiram for certain services rendered him by the gift of an upland plain among the mountains of Naphtali. Hiram was dissatisfied with the gift, and called it the land of Cabul. The Jews called it Galil.
It continued long to be occupied by the original inhabitants, and hence came to be called Galilee of the Gentiles, and also Upper Galilee, to distinguish it from the extensive addition afterwards made to it toward the south, which was usually called Lower Galilee.
In the time of our Lord, Galilee embraced more than one third of Western Palestine, extending from Dan on the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, to the ridges of Carmel and Gilboa on the south, and from the Jordan valley on the east away across the splendid plains of Jezreel and Acre to the shores of the Mediterranean on the west.
Palestine was divided into three provinces, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, which comprehended the whole northern section of the country, and was the largest of the three. It was the scene of some of the most memorable events of Jewish history. Galilee also was the home of our Lord during at least 30 years of his life.
The first three Gospels are chiefly taken up with our Lord's public ministry in this province. The entire province is encircled with a halo of holy associations connected with the life, works, and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
It is noteworthy that of his 32 beautiful parables, no less than 19 were spoken in Galilee. And it is no less remarkable that of his entire 33 great miracles, twenty-five were wrought in this province. His first miracle was wrought at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, and his last, after his resurrection, on the shore of Galilee's sea.
In Galilee our Lord delivered the Sermon on The Mount, and the discourses on The Bread of Life, on Purity, on Forgiveness, and on Humility. In Galilee he called his first disciples; and there occurred the sublime scene of the Transfiguration. When the Sanhedrin were about to proceed with some plan for the condemnation of our Lord, Nicodemus interposed in his behalf. They replied, Art thou also of Galilee?
Out of Galilee rose no prophet. This saying of theirs was not historically true, for two prophets at least had arisen from Galilee, Jonah of Gath-hepher, and the greatest of all the prophets, Elijah of Thisbe, and perhaps also Nahum and Hosea. Their contempt for Galilee made them lose sight of historical accuracy. The Galilean accent differed from that of Jerusalem in being broader and more guttural.
Law of Moses
The whole body of the Mosaic. It is called by way of eminence simply the Law. As a written code it is called the book of the law of Moses, the book of the law of God. The great leading principle of the Mosaic law is that it is essentially theocratic; it refers at once to the commandment of God as the foundation of all human duty.
Lebanon
White, the white mountain of Syria, is the loftiest and most celebrated mountain range in Syria. It is a branch running southward from the Caucasus, and at its lower end forking into two parallel ranges, the eastern or Anti-Lebanon, and the western or Lebanon proper. They enclose a long valley of from five to eight miles in width, called by Roman writers Coele-Syria, now called el-Buka'a, the valley, a prolongation of the valley of the Jordan.
Lebanon proper, Jebel es-Sharki, commences at its southern extremity in the gorge of the Leontes, the ancient Litany, and extends northeast, parallel to the Mediterranean coast, as far as the river Eleutherus, at the plain of Emesa, the entering of Hamath, in all about 90 geographical miles in extent.
The average height of this range is from 6,000 to 8,000 feet; the peak of Jebel Mukhmel is about 10,200 feet, and the Sannin about 9,000. The highest peaks are covered with perpetual snow and ice. In the recesses of the range wild beasts as of old still abound.
The scenes of the Lebanon are remarkable for their grandeur and beauty, and supplied the sacred writers with many expressive similes. It is famous for its cedars, its wines, and its cool waters. The ancient inhabitants were Giblites and Hivites. It was part of the Phoenician kingdom.
The eastern range, or Anti-Lebanon, or Lebanon towards the sun-rising, runs nearly parallel with the western from the plain of Emesa till it connects with the hills of Galilee in the south. The height of this range is about 5,000 feet. Its highest peak is Hermon, from which a number of lesser ranges radiate.
Lebanon is first mentioned in the description of the boundary of Palestine. It was assigned to Israel, but was never conquered. The Lebanon range is now inhabited by a population of about 300,000 Christians, Maronites, and Druses, and is ruled by a Christian governor. The Anti-Lebanon is inhabited by Mohammedans, and is under a Turkish ruler.
Og
Gigantic, the king of Bashan, who was defeated by Moses in a pitched battle at Edrei, and was slain along with his sons, and whose kingdom was given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh. His bedstead was of iron, nine cubits in length and four cubits in breadth. His overthrow was afterwards celebrated in song.
Plain
A grassy plain or meadow. Instead of plains of the vineyards, more correctly oak, properly a valley, a broad plain between mountains, the circle, used only of the Ghor, or the low ground along the Jordan, the floor of the valley through which it flows.
This name is applied to the Jordan valley as far north as Succoth, level ground, smooth, grassy table land, an expanse of rolling downs without rock or stone. In these passages, with the article prefixed, it denotes the plain in the tribe of Reuben.
The plain of Judah is meant. Jerusalem is called the rock of the plain, because the hills on which it is built rise high above the plain, the valley from the Sea of Galilee southward to the Dead Sea the sea of the plain, a distance of about 70 miles.
It is called by the modern Arabs the Ghor. Down through the centre of this plain is a ravine, from 200 to 300 yards wide, and from 50 to 100 feet deep, through which the Jordan flows in a winding course.
This ravine is called the lower plain. The name Arabah is also applied to the whole Jordan valley from Mount Hermon to the eastern branch of the Red Sea, a distance of about 200 miles, as well as to that portion of the valley which stretches from the Sea of Galilee to the same branch of the Red Sea, low ground, low hill land, vale or valley. Low country, plain. Low land. When it is preceded by the article, the shephelah, it denotes the plain along the Mediterranean from Joppa to Gaza, the plain of the Philistines.
River
Properly the channel or ravine that holds water, translated brook, river, stream, but not necessarily a perennial stream. In winter a torrent, in summer a valley. These winter torrents sometimes come down with great suddenness and with desolating force.
I was encamped in the water course, when a tremendous thunderstorm burst upon us. After little more than an hour's rain, the water rose so rapidly in the previously dry water course that I had to run for my life, and with great difficulty succeeded in saving my tent and goods; my boots, which I had not time to pick up, were washed away.
In less than two hours a dry desert upwards of 300 yards broad was turned into a foaming torrent from eight to 10 feet deep, roaring and tearing down and bearing everything upon it, tangled masses of tamarisks, hundreds of beautiful palm trees, scores of sheep and goats, camels and donkeys, and even men, women, and children, for a whole encampment of Arabs was washed away a few miles above me.
The storm commenced at five in the evening; at half past nine the waters were rapidly subsiding, and it was evident that the flood had spent its force. A river continuous and full, a perennial stream, as the Jordan, the Euphrates. A conduit or water course. Properly waters divided, streams divided, throughout the land; the rivers of waters, great river. A full flowing stream. A river.
Valley
A cleft of the mountains; also a low plain bounded by mountains, as the plain of Lebanon at the foot of Hermon around the sources of the Jordan, and the valley of Megiddo. Deep; a long, low plain, such as the plain; the valley of giants, usually translated valley of Rephaim; the king's dale.
A bursting, a flowing together, a narrow glen or ravine, such as the valley of the children. The valley of vision is usually regarded as denoting Jerusalem, which may be so called, because there were several valleys within the city and adjacent to it, as the vale between Mount Zion and Moriah, the vale between Mount Moriah and Mount Ophel, between these and Mount Bezetha, and the valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of the brook without the walls of the city; or more probably it was called the valley in reference to its being compassed with hills rising to a considerable elevation above the city. A water course.
Wilderness
Denoting not a barren desert but a district or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle; an uncultivated place. This word is used of the wilderness of Beersheba, on the southern border of Palestine; the wilderness of the Red Sea, a portion of the Sinaitic peninsula. The wilderness of the sea.
A mysterious name, which must be meant to describe Babylon, perhaps because it became the place of discipline to God's people, as the wilderness of the Red Sea had been. Otherwise it is in contrast with the symbolic title.
Jerusalem is the valley of vision, rich in spiritual husbandry; whereas Babylon, the rival centre of influence, is spiritually barren and as restless as the sea. A desert waste. The name given to the valley from the Dead Sea to the eastern branch of the Red Sea. A dry place.
A desolate place, a place waste or unoccupied. The wilderness region in the Sinaitic peninsula through which for 40 years the Hebrews wandered is generally styled the wilderness of the wanderings. This entire region is in the form of a triangle, having its base toward the north and its apex toward the south.
Its extent from north to south is about 250 miles, and at its widest point it is about 150 miles broad. Throughout this vast region of some 1,500 square miles there is not a single river. The northern part of this triangular peninsula is properly the wilderness of the wanderings. The western portion of it is called the wilderness of Shur, and the eastern the wilderness of Paran. The wilderness of Judea is a wild, barren region, lying between the Dead Sea and the Hebron Mountains. .
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
The words Moses spoke to Israel in the plains of Moab, The promise of Canaan. Moses spoke to the people all the Lord had given him in commandment. Horeb was but eleven days distant from Kadesh-barnea. This was to remind them that their own bad conduct had occasioned their tedious wanderings; that they might the more readily understand the advantages of obedience.
They must now go forward. Though God brings his people into trouble and affliction, he knows when they have been tried long enough. When God commands us to go forward in our Christian course, he sets the heavenly Canaan before us for our encouragement.
Judges provided for the people. Moses reminds the people of the happy constitution of their government, which might make them all safe and easy, if it was not their own fault. He owns the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, and prays for the further accomplishment of it.
We are not straitened in the power and goodness of God; why should we be straitened in our own faith and hope? Good laws were given to the Israelites, and good men were to see to the execution of them, which showed God's goodness to them, and the care of Moses.
Of the sending the spies God's anger for their unbelief and disobedience. 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.
Deuteronomy 1:1
These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab.
Deuteronomy 1:2
It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.
Deuteronomy 1:3
In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that the LORD had commanded him to give to them,
Deuteronomy 1:4
after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.
Deuteronomy 1:5
Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law, saying,
Deuteronomy 1:6
“The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.
Deuteronomy 1:7
Turn and set your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negev and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
Deuteronomy 1:8
See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them.’
Deuteronomy 1:9
“I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘I am not able to bear the burden of you alone.
Deuteronomy 1:10
The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number.
Deuteronomy 1:11
May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, just as He has promised you!
Deuteronomy 1:12
How can I alone bear the load and burden of you and your strife?
Deuteronomy 1:13
Choose wise and discerning and experienced men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’
Deuteronomy 1:14
You answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’
Deuteronomy 1:15
So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and appointed them heads over you, leaders of thousands and of hundreds, of fifties and of tens, and officers for your tribes.
Deuteronomy 1:16
“Then I charged your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your fellow countrymen, and judge righteously between a man and his fellow countryman, or the alien who is with him.
Deuteronomy 1:17
You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not fear man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’
Deuteronomy 1:18
I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.
Deuteronomy 1:19
“Then we set out from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the LORD our God had commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.
Deuteronomy 1:20
I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the LORD our God is about to give us.
Deuteronomy 1:21
See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
Deuteronomy 1:22
“Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter.’
Deuteronomy 1:23
The thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe.
Deuteronomy 1:24
They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out.
Deuteronomy 1:25
Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought us back a report and said, ‘It is a good land which the LORD our God is about to give us.’
Deuteronomy 1:26
“Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God;
Deuteronomy 1:27
and you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.
Deuteronomy 1:28
Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there.”’
Deuteronomy 1:29
Then I said to you, ‘Do not be shocked, nor fear them.
Deuteronomy 1:30
The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
Deuteronomy 1:31
and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.’
Deuteronomy 1:32
But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,
Deuteronomy 1:33
who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.
Deuteronomy 1:34
“Then the LORD heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and took an oath, saying,
Deuteronomy 1:35
‘Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers,
Deuteronomy 1:36
except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed the LORD fully.’
Deuteronomy 1:37
The LORD was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘Not even you shall enter there.
Deuteronomy 1:38
Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there; encourage him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it.
Deuteronomy 1:39
Moreover, your little ones who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it.
Deuteronomy 1:40
But as for you, turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.’
Deuteronomy 1:41
“Then you said to me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD; we will indeed go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And every man of you girded on his weapons of war, and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country.
Deuteronomy 1:42
And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be defeated before your enemies.”’
Deuteronomy 1:43
So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the LORD, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country.
Deuteronomy 1:44
The Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do, and crushed you from Seir to Hormah.
Deuteronomy 1:45
Then you returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD did not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.
Deuteronomy 1:46
So you remained in Kadesh many days, the days that you spent there.
Cross References
Deuteronomy 1:1: Deuteronomy4:46; Deuteronomy 2:8; Deuteronomy 1:2: Exodus 3:1; 17:6; Genesis 32:3; Numbers 13:26; 32:8; Deuteronomy 9:23; Deuteronomy 1:3: Numbers 33:38; Deuteronomy 4:1, 2; Deuteronomy 1:4: Numbers 21:21-26; Deuteronomy 2:26-35; Josh 13:10; Nehemiah 9:22; Numbers 21:33-35; Josh 13:12; Josh 12:4; Deuteronomy 1:6: Numbers 10:11-13; Deuteronomy 1:7: Genesis 15:18; Deuteronomy 11:24; Josh 10:40; Genesis 12:9; Deuteronomy 1:8: Genesis 12:7; 26:3; 28:13; Exodus 33:1; Numbers 14:23; 32:11; Hebrews 6:13, 14; Deuteronomy 1:9: Exodus 18:18, 24; Numbers 11:14; Deuteronomy 1:10: Genesis 15:5; 22:17; Ex 32:13; Deuteronomy 7:7; 10:22; 26:5; 28:62; Deuteronomy 1:11: Deuteronomy 1:8, 10; Deuteronomy 1:13: Exodus 18:21; Deuteronomy 1:16: Deuteronomy 16:18; John 7:24; Deuteronomy 1:17: Deuteronomy 10:17; 16:19; 24:17; 2 Chronicles 19:5, 6; Proverbs 24:23-26; Acts 10:34; James 2:1, 9; Proverbs 29:25; Exodus 18:22, 26; Deuteronomy 1:18: Exodus 18:20; Deuteronomy 1:19: Deuteronomy 1:2; Deuteronomy 2:7; 8:15; 32:10; Jeremiah 2:6; Deuteronomy 1:7; Deuteronomy 1:2; Deuteronomy 1:21: Josh 1:6, 9; Deuteronomy 1:22: Numbers 13:1-3; Deuteronomy 1:24: Numbers 13:21-25; Deuteronomy 1:26: Numbers 14:1-4; Deuteronomy 9:23; Deuteronomy 1:27: Deuteronomy 9:28; Psalm 106:25; Deuteronomy 1:28: Numbers 13:28, 33; Deuteronomy 9:2; Deuteronomy 1:30: Exodus 14:14; Deuteronomy 3:22; 20:4; Nehemiah 4:20; Deuteronomy 1:31: Deuteronomy 32:10-12; Isaiah 46:3, 4; 63:9; Hosea 11:3; Acts 13:18; Deuteronomy 1:32: Numbers 14:11; Psalm 106:24; Hebrews 3:19; 4:2; Jude 1:5; Deuteronomy 1:33: Exodus 13:21; Numbers 9:15-23; Nehemiah 9:12; Psalm 78:14; Numbers 10:33; Deuteronomy 1:34: Numbers 14:28-30; Hebrews 3:18; Deuteronomy 1:35: Psalm 95:11; 106:26; Ezekiel 20:15; 1 Corinthians 10:5; Hebrews 3:14-19; Deuteronomy 1:36: Numbers 14:24; Joshua 14:9; Deuteronomy 1:37: Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 3:26; 4:21; Deuteronomy 1:37: Numbers 27:13, 18; Deuteronomy 1:38: Numbers 14:30; Numbers 34:17; Deuteronomy 3:28; 31:7; Joshua 11:23; Deuteronomy 1:39: Numbers 14:3, 31; Is 7:15, 16; Deuteronomy 1:40: Numbers 14:25; Deuteronomy 1:41: Numbers 14:40; Deuteronomy 1:42: Numbers 14:41-43; Deuteronomy 1:43: Numbers 14:40; Deuteronomy 1:44: Numbers 14:45; Psalm 118:12; Deuteronomy 1:45: Job 27:8, 9; Psalm 66:18; John 9:31; Deuteronomy 1:46: Numbers 20:1, 22; Deuteronomy 2:7, 14; Judges 11:17
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Amorites
Highlanders, or hill men, the name given to the descendants of one of the sons of Canaan, called Amurra or Amurri in the Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions. On the early Babylonian monuments all Syria, including Palestine, is known as the land of the Amorites.
The southern slopes of the mountains of Judea are called the mount of the Amorites. They seem to have originally occupied the land stretching from the heights west of the Dead Sea to Hebron, embracing all Gilead and all Bashan, with the Jordan valley on the east of the river, the land of the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og.
The five kings of the Amorites were defeated with great slaughter by Joshua. They were again defeated at the waters of Merom by Joshua, who smote them till there were none remaining. It is mentioned as a surprising circumstance that in the days of Samuel there was peace between them and the Israelites. The discrepancy supposed to exist is explained by the circumstance that the terms Amorites and Amalekites are used synonymously for the Canaanites.
In the same way we explain the fact that the Hivites are the Amorites. The Amorites were warlike mountaineers. They are represented on the Egyptian monuments with fair skins, light hair, blue eyes, aquiline noses, and pointed beards. They are supposed to have been men of great stature; their king, Og, is described by Moses as the last of the remnant of the giants. Both Sihon and Og were independent kings. Only one word of the Amorite language survives, Shenir, the name they gave to Mount Hermon.
Beyond
When used with reference to Jordan, signifies in the writings of Moses the west side of the river, as he wrote on the east bank; but in the writings of Joshua, after he had crossed the river, it means the east side.
Captain
Chief, prince, ruler; governor. This word denotes a military captain, the captain of the bodyguard, or, as the word may be rendered, chief of the executioners. The officers of the king's bodyguard frequently acted as executioners. Nebuzar-adan and Arioch held this office in Babylon.
The captain of the guard mentioned was the Praetorian prefect, the commander of the Praetorian troops. Another word so translated denotes sometimes a military; rulers; and sometimes a civil command, a judge, magistrate.
It is also the rendering of a Hebrew word meaning a third man, or one of three, soldiers fighting from chariots, so called because each war chariot contained three men, one of whom acted as charioteer while the other two fought.
This word is used also to denote the king's bodyguard. The captain of the temple mentioned in and was not a military officer, but superintendent of the guard of priests and Levites who kept watch in the temple by night, the ruler of the house of God.
The Captain of our salvation is a name given to our Lord, because he is the author and source of our salvation, the head of his people, whom he is conducting to glory. The captain of the Lord's host is the name given to that mysterious person who manifested himself to Abraham, and to Moses in the bush the Angel of the covenant.
Euphrates
Meaning sweet water. The Assyrian name means the stream, or the great stream. It is generally called in the Bible simply the river, or the great river. The Euphrates is first mentioned as one of the rivers of Paradise. It is next mentioned in connection with the covenant which God entered into with Abraham, when he promised to his descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates, a covenant promise afterwards fulfilled in the extended conquests of David.
It was then the boundary of the kingdom to the northeast. In the ancient history of Assyria, and Babylon, and Egypt many events are recorded in which mention is made of the great river. Just as the Nile represented in prophecy the power of Egypt, so the Euphrates represented the Assyrian power. It is by far the largest and most important of all the rivers of Western Asia. From its source in the Armenian mountains to the Persian Gulf, into which it empties itself, it has a course of about 1,700 miles.
It has two sources, the Frat or Kara-su, which rises 25 miles northeast of Erzeroum; and the Muradchai, which rises near Ararat, on the northern slope of Ala-tagh. At Kebban Maden, 400 miles from the source of the former, and 270 from that of the latter, they meet and form the majestic stream, which is at length joined by the Tigris at Koornah, after which it is called Shat-el-Arab, which runs in a deep and broad stream for above 140 miles to the sea. It is estimated that the alluvium brought down by these rivers encroaches on the sea at the rate of about one mile in 30 years.
Father
A name applied to any ancestor; and as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder. The author or beginner of anything is also so called Jabal and Jubal. Applied to God. As denoting his covenant relation to the Jews. Believers are called God's sons. They also call him Father.
Galilee
Circuit. Solomon rewarded Hiram for certain services rendered him by the gift of an upland plain among the mountains of Naphtali. Hiram was dissatisfied with the gift, and called it the land of Cabul. The Jews called it Galil.
It continued long to be occupied by the original inhabitants, and hence came to be called Galilee of the Gentiles, and also Upper Galilee, to distinguish it from the extensive addition afterwards made to it toward the south, which was usually called Lower Galilee.
In the time of our Lord, Galilee embraced more than one third of Western Palestine, extending from Dan on the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, to the ridges of Carmel and Gilboa on the south, and from the Jordan valley on the east away across the splendid plains of Jezreel and Acre to the shores of the Mediterranean on the west.
Palestine was divided into three provinces, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, which comprehended the whole northern section of the country, and was the largest of the three. It was the scene of some of the most memorable events of Jewish history. Galilee also was the home of our Lord during at least 30 years of his life.
The first three Gospels are chiefly taken up with our Lord's public ministry in this province. The entire province is encircled with a halo of holy associations connected with the life, works, and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
It is noteworthy that of his 32 beautiful parables, no less than 19 were spoken in Galilee. And it is no less remarkable that of his entire 33 great miracles, twenty-five were wrought in this province. His first miracle was wrought at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, and his last, after his resurrection, on the shore of Galilee's sea.
In Galilee our Lord delivered the Sermon on The Mount, and the discourses on The Bread of Life, on Purity, on Forgiveness, and on Humility. In Galilee he called his first disciples; and there occurred the sublime scene of the Transfiguration. When the Sanhedrin were about to proceed with some plan for the condemnation of our Lord, Nicodemus interposed in his behalf. They replied, Art thou also of Galilee?
Out of Galilee rose no prophet. This saying of theirs was not historically true, for two prophets at least had arisen from Galilee, Jonah of Gath-hepher, and the greatest of all the prophets, Elijah of Thisbe, and perhaps also Nahum and Hosea. Their contempt for Galilee made them lose sight of historical accuracy. The Galilean accent differed from that of Jerusalem in being broader and more guttural.
Law of Moses
The whole body of the Mosaic. It is called by way of eminence simply the Law. As a written code it is called the book of the law of Moses, the book of the law of God. The great leading principle of the Mosaic law is that it is essentially theocratic; it refers at once to the commandment of God as the foundation of all human duty.
Lebanon
White, the white mountain of Syria, is the loftiest and most celebrated mountain range in Syria. It is a branch running southward from the Caucasus, and at its lower end forking into two parallel ranges, the eastern or Anti-Lebanon, and the western or Lebanon proper. They enclose a long valley of from five to eight miles in width, called by Roman writers Coele-Syria, now called el-Buka'a, the valley, a prolongation of the valley of the Jordan.
Lebanon proper, Jebel es-Sharki, commences at its southern extremity in the gorge of the Leontes, the ancient Litany, and extends northeast, parallel to the Mediterranean coast, as far as the river Eleutherus, at the plain of Emesa, the entering of Hamath, in all about 90 geographical miles in extent.
The average height of this range is from 6,000 to 8,000 feet; the peak of Jebel Mukhmel is about 10,200 feet, and the Sannin about 9,000. The highest peaks are covered with perpetual snow and ice. In the recesses of the range wild beasts as of old still abound.
The scenes of the Lebanon are remarkable for their grandeur and beauty, and supplied the sacred writers with many expressive similes. It is famous for its cedars, its wines, and its cool waters. The ancient inhabitants were Giblites and Hivites. It was part of the Phoenician kingdom.
The eastern range, or Anti-Lebanon, or Lebanon towards the sun-rising, runs nearly parallel with the western from the plain of Emesa till it connects with the hills of Galilee in the south. The height of this range is about 5,000 feet. Its highest peak is Hermon, from which a number of lesser ranges radiate.
Lebanon is first mentioned in the description of the boundary of Palestine. It was assigned to Israel, but was never conquered. The Lebanon range is now inhabited by a population of about 300,000 Christians, Maronites, and Druses, and is ruled by a Christian governor. The Anti-Lebanon is inhabited by Mohammedans, and is under a Turkish ruler.
Og
Gigantic, the king of Bashan, who was defeated by Moses in a pitched battle at Edrei, and was slain along with his sons, and whose kingdom was given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh. His bedstead was of iron, nine cubits in length and four cubits in breadth. His overthrow was afterwards celebrated in song.
Plain
A grassy plain or meadow. Instead of plains of the vineyards, more correctly oak, properly a valley, a broad plain between mountains, the circle, used only of the Ghor, or the low ground along the Jordan, the floor of the valley through which it flows.
This name is applied to the Jordan valley as far north as Succoth, level ground, smooth, grassy table land, an expanse of rolling downs without rock or stone. In these passages, with the article prefixed, it denotes the plain in the tribe of Reuben.
The plain of Judah is meant. Jerusalem is called the rock of the plain, because the hills on which it is built rise high above the plain, the valley from the Sea of Galilee southward to the Dead Sea the sea of the plain, a distance of about 70 miles.
It is called by the modern Arabs the Ghor. Down through the centre of this plain is a ravine, from 200 to 300 yards wide, and from 50 to 100 feet deep, through which the Jordan flows in a winding course.
This ravine is called the lower plain. The name Arabah is also applied to the whole Jordan valley from Mount Hermon to the eastern branch of the Red Sea, a distance of about 200 miles, as well as to that portion of the valley which stretches from the Sea of Galilee to the same branch of the Red Sea, low ground, low hill land, vale or valley. Low country, plain. Low land. When it is preceded by the article, the shephelah, it denotes the plain along the Mediterranean from Joppa to Gaza, the plain of the Philistines.
River
Properly the channel or ravine that holds water, translated brook, river, stream, but not necessarily a perennial stream. In winter a torrent, in summer a valley. These winter torrents sometimes come down with great suddenness and with desolating force.
I was encamped in the water course, when a tremendous thunderstorm burst upon us. After little more than an hour's rain, the water rose so rapidly in the previously dry water course that I had to run for my life, and with great difficulty succeeded in saving my tent and goods; my boots, which I had not time to pick up, were washed away.
In less than two hours a dry desert upwards of 300 yards broad was turned into a foaming torrent from eight to 10 feet deep, roaring and tearing down and bearing everything upon it, tangled masses of tamarisks, hundreds of beautiful palm trees, scores of sheep and goats, camels and donkeys, and even men, women, and children, for a whole encampment of Arabs was washed away a few miles above me.
The storm commenced at five in the evening; at half past nine the waters were rapidly subsiding, and it was evident that the flood had spent its force. A river continuous and full, a perennial stream, as the Jordan, the Euphrates. A conduit or water course. Properly waters divided, streams divided, throughout the land; the rivers of waters, great river. A full flowing stream. A river.
Valley
A cleft of the mountains; also a low plain bounded by mountains, as the plain of Lebanon at the foot of Hermon around the sources of the Jordan, and the valley of Megiddo. Deep; a long, low plain, such as the plain; the valley of giants, usually translated valley of Rephaim; the king's dale.
A bursting, a flowing together, a narrow glen or ravine, such as the valley of the children. The valley of vision is usually regarded as denoting Jerusalem, which may be so called, because there were several valleys within the city and adjacent to it, as the vale between Mount Zion and Moriah, the vale between Mount Moriah and Mount Ophel, between these and Mount Bezetha, and the valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of the brook without the walls of the city; or more probably it was called the valley in reference to its being compassed with hills rising to a considerable elevation above the city. A water course.
Wilderness
Denoting not a barren desert but a district or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle; an uncultivated place. This word is used of the wilderness of Beersheba, on the southern border of Palestine; the wilderness of the Red Sea, a portion of the Sinaitic peninsula. The wilderness of the sea.
A mysterious name, which must be meant to describe Babylon, perhaps because it became the place of discipline to God's people, as the wilderness of the Red Sea had been. Otherwise it is in contrast with the symbolic title.
Jerusalem is the valley of vision, rich in spiritual husbandry; whereas Babylon, the rival centre of influence, is spiritually barren and as restless as the sea. A desert waste. The name given to the valley from the Dead Sea to the eastern branch of the Red Sea. A dry place.
A desolate place, a place waste or unoccupied. The wilderness region in the Sinaitic peninsula through which for 40 years the Hebrews wandered is generally styled the wilderness of the wanderings. This entire region is in the form of a triangle, having its base toward the north and its apex toward the south.
Its extent from north to south is about 250 miles, and at its widest point it is about 150 miles broad. Throughout this vast region of some 1,500 square miles there is not a single river. The northern part of this triangular peninsula is properly the wilderness of the wanderings. The western portion of it is called the wilderness of Shur, and the eastern the wilderness of Paran. The wilderness of Judea is a wild, barren region, lying between the Dead Sea and the Hebron Mountains. .
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
The words Moses spoke to Israel in the plains of Moab, The promise of Canaan. Moses spoke to the people all the Lord had given him in commandment. Horeb was but eleven days distant from Kadesh-barnea. This was to remind them that their own bad conduct had occasioned their tedious wanderings; that they might the more readily understand the advantages of obedience.
They must now go forward. Though God brings his people into trouble and affliction, he knows when they have been tried long enough. When God commands us to go forward in our Christian course, he sets the heavenly Canaan before us for our encouragement.
Judges provided for the people. Moses reminds the people of the happy constitution of their government, which might make them all safe and easy, if it was not their own fault. He owns the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, and prays for the further accomplishment of it.
We are not straitened in the power and goodness of God; why should we be straitened in our own faith and hope? Good laws were given to the Israelites, and good men were to see to the execution of them, which showed God's goodness to them, and the care of Moses.
Of the sending the spies God's anger for their unbelief and disobedience. 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.
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