Deuteronomy 1:19 - Meaning and Application

Moses here gives a full account of the fatal turn their own sin and God’s anger brought on their nation. From the very edge of Canaan, they lost the honor of conquering it and the joy of owning it, and the whole generation was sent back into the wilderness to die there. It was a well-known story, recorded in Numbers 13 and 14, but Moses adds details here that are not given there.

He first reminds them of their journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea (Deuteronomy 1:19), through that great and terrible wilderness. He does this to show how good God had been in guiding and guarding them through such a dangerous place. Remembering our dangers should make us thankful for our rescues. He also uses it to shame those who, in their discontent, wanted to go back to Egypt through that same wilderness, even though they had already lost any right to expect God’s guidance in such a backward move.

Then he shows how close they were to Canaan at that time (Deuteronomy 1:20-21). Moses had told them with confidence, “The land is before you, go up and possess it.” He wants them to see how near they were to a happy settlement when they blocked their own way, so their sin would appear even more sinful. It will make the final ruin of hypocrites heavier that they were not far from the kingdom of God, yet still missed it (Mark 12:34).

Moses also places the blame for sending the spies on the people, which does not appear so clearly in Numbers. There it is said that the Lord directed the sending of them (Numbers 13:1-2), but here we learn that the people first asked for it, and God, by allowing it, gave them over to their own plans: “You said, Let us send men before us” (Deuteronomy 1:22). Moses had already given them God’s word (Deuteronomy 1:20-21), but they could not trust it. Human planning seemed more convincing to them than divine wisdom. They wanted to light a candle to the sun, as if it were not enough to have God going before them, they also needed men to go ahead.

He then repeats the spies’ report about the goodness of the land they had explored (Deuteronomy 1:24-25). Even unbelievers had to admit that God’s promised blessings are truly valuable and desirable. No one ever looked into the promised land without admitting that it was a good land. Yet the spies treated the difficulties of taking it as impossible (Deuteronomy 1:28). They spoke as if battle were hopeless, because “the people are taller than we are,” and as if siege were impossible, because “the cities are walled up to heaven.” That is a deliberate exaggeration used to frighten the people, and perhaps also to insult the God of heaven, as if they could defy him like the builders of Babel, whose tower was meant to reach heaven (Genesis 11:4). Only places truly “walled up to heaven” are those guarded by God’s favor like a shield.

Moses also tells them how hard he worked to encourage them when their brothers were trying to discourage them (Deuteronomy 1:29). “Do not be afraid,” he said. His words were enough to quiet the uproar and keep them facing Canaan. He told them that God was with them, among them, and would fight for them (Deuteronomy 1:30). To prove God’s power over their enemies, he pointed them back to Egypt, where their enemies had every advantage and still had been brought low and forced to yield. To prove God’s kindness and purpose toward them, he pointed them to the wilderness (Deuteronomy 1:31, 33), where God had led them by the wisdom of the cloud and fire, which guided both their movement and their rest, and had carried them with the care and tenderness of a father carrying his child. Was there any reason left to distrust such a God? Were they not the most ungrateful people in the world, to harden their hearts after such clear signs of his goodness? Moses had once complained that God had told him to carry this people like a nursing father carries a baby (Numbers 11:12), but here he says plainly that God himself had been carrying them. This may also be what is meant in Acts 13:18, where God is said to bear with them, or to endure their ways.

Next, Moses charges them with the sin they were guilty of on that occasion. Even though he was speaking to a new generation, he lays the blame on them: “You rebelled, and you murmured.” Many of those people were still alive, though under twenty years old, and may have joined in the uproar. The rest had inherited their fathers’ sins and were now suffering for them. He points out their disobedience and rebellion against God’s law: “You would not go up, but rebelled” (Deuteronomy 1:26). Refusing God’s favor is really rebelling against his authority. He also exposes their ugly thoughts about God’s goodness. They cruelly said, “Because the Lord hated us, he brought us out of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 1:27). Nothing could be more foolish, dishonest, or insulting to God.

At the root of it all was unbelief: “You did not believe the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 1:32). All disobedience to God’s law and all distrust of his power and goodness come from not believing his word. It is a sad condition when the God of eternal truth is not trusted.

Moses then repeats the sentence passed on them for this sin, which they had already seen carried out. All of them were condemned to die in the wilderness, and none of them would enter Canaan except Caleb and Joshua (Deuteronomy 1:34-38). They would wander so long that most would die naturally, and the younger ones would be cut off before entering the land. So they could not enter because of unbelief. It was not the breaking of any single law that shut them out, not even the golden calf, but their refusal to believe the promise, which pointed ahead to gospel grace. This teaches that no sin ruins us like unbelief, because unbelief sins against the very cure.

Moses himself later came under God’s displeasure for a hasty word the people provoked him to speak: “The Lord was angry with me for your sakes” (Deuteronomy 1:37). Since the whole older generation had to pass away, Moses himself was not allowed to remain. Their unbelief brought death into the camp, and once it had entered, even Moses came under its judgment.

Still, mercy is mixed with wrath. Though Moses was not allowed to bring them into Canaan, Joshua would do it (Deuteronomy 1:38). Moses tells the people to encourage Joshua, because he would likely feel discouraged at taking up a task that had brought Moses himself under such weight. But he should be assured that he would complete the work for which God had raised him up: he would make Israel inherit the land.

So, what the law could not do, because it was weak, Jesus, our Joshua, does by bringing in the better hope. Joshua’s name points forward to Jesus, the one who truly leads God’s people into rest. Even though that generation would not enter Canaan, the next one would, as Deuteronomy 1:39 says. They had been chosen for their fathers’ sake, and so their children could rightly have been rejected for their sake too. Yet mercy wins over judgment.

Moses also reminds them of their foolish and useless attempt to change the sentence when it was already too late. They tried to fix things by changing their behavior in this one matter. After refusing to go up against the Canaanites, they now said they would go at once, and they put on their weapons of war for the task (Deuteronomy 1:41). But when the door is shut and the time of grace is over, people may still stand outside and knock.

What looked like a change for the better was really another act of rebellion. God, through Moses, told them not to go up (Deuteronomy 1:42), but they went anyway in stubborn pride up to the hill country (Deuteronomy 1:43). Before, they had ignored God’s promise. Now they ignored his warning. It was as if they were always resisting whatever God said. The result was just as Moses had said: they were chased and destroyed (Deuteronomy 1:44). Their defeat, after they forced God’s hand, showed them what success they might have had if they had stayed in his love and obeyed him.

They also tried to undo the sentence with prayers and tears. They turned back and wept before the Lord (Deuteronomy 1:45). Earlier, while they were angry and complaining, they wept in rebellion (Numbers 14:1). These later tears looked more like repentance and humility before God. Tears of selfish frustration need to be wept over, because worldly sorrow leads to death and must itself be repented of. Godly sorrow is different, because it leads toward joy.

Still, their crying did no good. The Lord would not listen to their voice, because they had refused to listen to his. The judgment had already been declared, and, like Esau, they found no place for repentance, even though they sought it carefully with tears.