What does Moses’ account show about Israel’s refusal to enter the land and its later decision to attack?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Israel first refuses the command to enter despite the good land report and Moses’ reminders of the Lord’s care. After the Lord orders a return to the wilderness, the people decide to attack instead. They ignore his warning that he is not with them, are defeated, and remain at Cadesbarne a long time.

Chapter breakdown

Moses speaks to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the plain wilderness opposite the Red Sea, between Pharan, Thophel, Laban, and Haseroth, where there is much gold. The text notes an eleven-day journey from Horeb by way of mount Seir to Cadesbarne. His speech is dated to the fortieth year, the eleventh month, on its first day. He tells Israel all the Lord commanded him to say, after the defeat of Sehon king of the Amorrhites, who lived in Hesebon, and Og king of Basan, who lived in Astaroth and Edrai. Beyond the Jordan in Moab, Moses begins to explain the law. The eleven-day route is stated separately from the date; the chapter does not say this particular march took eleven days.

Moses recalls the Lord saying at Horeb that they had stayed long enough at the mountain. They were to turn toward the mountain of the Amorrhites and nearby places: plains, hills, valleys toward the south, the sea coast, the land of the Chanaanites, and Libanus as far as the great river Euphrates. The Lord said he had delivered the land to them and told them to enter and possess it. He had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give it to them and their descendants.

Moses recalls telling the people that he could not bear them alone. The Lord had increased their number until they were as numerous as the stars of heaven. Moses asks the God of their fathers to add many thousands to their number and bless them as promised. He cannot manage their business, care, and disputes alone. He asks for wise and understanding men whose conduct is approved among the tribes, so he can appoint them rulers. The people approve. Moses takes wise and honorable men from the tribes and appoints rulers, tribunes and centurions—officers—and men over fifties and tens who can teach them all things.

Moses commands these men to hear cases and judge justly, whether the person is from their own country or a stranger. They must hear the little and the great alike and show no preference for any person, because the judgment is God’s. A matter that seems hard is to be referred to Moses, who will hear it. Moses adds that he commanded the people everything they were to do.

Leaving Horeb, they pass through the terrible, vast wilderness the people saw, by the Amorrhite mountain route as the Lord commanded, and reach Cadesbarne. Moses tells them they have reached the mountain the Lord will give them: they are to go up and possess the land promised to their fathers, without fear or discouragement. All the people come to Moses and ask to send men to view the land and report the route to take and the cities to approach. Their proposal pleases Moses, so he sends twelve men, one from each tribe. They go into the mountains as far as the valley of the cluster, view the land, and bring back fruit to show its fertility. They report that the land the Lord will give them is good.

The people refuse to go up, disbelieving the Lord’s word. They complain in their tents that the Lord hates them and brought them out of Egypt to deliver them to the Amorrhites and destroy them. They ask where they can go, saying the messengers have frightened them with a report of a very great multitude taller than they are, great cities walled up to the sky, and the sons of the Enacims. Their accusation and fear are reported as their words, not as facts about the Lord’s intent. Challoner’s note explains that “Walled up to the sky” is figurative language for very high walls.

Moses recalls telling them not to fear. The Lord, their leader, would fight for them as he did in Egypt before everyone’s eyes. In the wilderness he carried them as a man carries his little son, all the way to that place. Yet they did not believe the Lord. He had gone before them, marking the places to camp, showing the way by fire at night and by the pillar of cloud in the day.

When the Lord hears their words, he is angry and swears that none of the men of that wicked generation will see the good land promised to their fathers. Caleb son of Jephone is the exception: he will see it, and he and his children will receive the land he walked on because he followed the Lord. Moses says the Lord was angry with him too on the people’s account and told him he would not enter. Josue son of Nun, Moses’ minister, will enter in his place; Moses is to encourage him, and Josue will divide the land by lot for Israel. The children whom the people said would be captives, and their sons who do not yet know good from evil, will enter and receive and possess the land. The others must turn back into the wilderness by the Red Sea route. The chapter gives no numbered duration for that return.

The people answer that they have sinned against the Lord and will go up to fight as he commanded. They go armed toward the mountain. The Lord tells Moses to warn them not to go up or fight, because he is not with them and they may fall before their enemies. Moses speaks, but they do not listen. Resisting the Lord’s command and swelling with pride, they go up. The Amorrhites living in the mountains come out, meet them, chase them like bees, and slaughter them from Seir to Horma. When the people return and weep before the Lord, he does not hear them or yield to their voice. They remain at Cadesbarne a long time.

The story inside

The final attack reverses the people’s earlier conduct without bringing it into line with the current command. At first Moses tells them to enter the good land, but they refuse and complain that the Lord means to destroy them. After the Lord’s oath excludes that generation and orders a return toward the wilderness, they confess sin and say they will fight. The Lord then explicitly forbids the attack and says he is not with them. Moses delivers that warning; the people still go up, resisting the command and swelling with pride. Their defeat by the Amorrhites, unanswered weeping, and long stay at Cadesbarne are the recorded results. The account supplies the contrast between the two refusals of the current command; it does not give an ark scene, an exact casualty count, or a thirty-eight-year sentence here.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Delegated judgment must remain impartial. Moses’ rulers must hear the little and the great, people of their own country and strangers, because judgment is God’s; hard cases go to Moses.
2
The good report does not lead to entry. The scouts bring fruit and call the land good, yet the people refuse. Moses reminds them of the Lord fighting in Egypt, carrying them in the wilderness, and marking their camps.
3
Confessing sin is followed here by another refusal to listen. The people say they will fight, but ignore the new warning not to attack. The chapter records defeat and a long stay, rather than a successful reversal of the Lord’s command.

Test your recall

Why was the mountain attack contrary to the Lord’s command even though the people said they were ready to fight as he had commanded?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 18545–18566
Deuteronomy Chapter 1 A repetition of what passed at Sinai and Cadesbarne: and of the people’s murmuring and their punishment. 1:1. These are the words, which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan, in the plain wilderness, over against the Red Sea, between Pharan and Thophel and Laban and Haseroth, where there is very much gold. 1:2. Eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to Cadesbarne. 1:3. In the fortieth year, the eleventh month, the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel all that the Lord had commanded him to say to them: 1:4. After that he had slain Sehon king of the Amorrhites, who dwelt in Hesebon: and Og king of Basan who abode in Astaroth, and in Edrai, 1:5. Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab. And Moses began to expound the law, and to say:
Lines 18568–18578
1:6. The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: You have stayed long enough in this mountain: 1:7. Turn you, and come to the mountain of the Amorrhites, and to the other places that are next to it, the plains and the hills and the vales towards the south, and by the sea shore, the land of the Chanaanites, and of Libanus, as far as the great river Euphrates. 1:8. Behold, said he, I have delivered it to you: go in and possess it, concerning which the Lord swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give it to them, and to their seed after them.
Lines 18580–18600
1:9. And I said to you at that time: 1:10. I alone am not able to bear you: for the Lord your God hath multiplied you, and you are this day as the stars of heaven, for multitude. 1:11. (The Lord God of your fathers add to this number many thousands, and bless you as he hath spoken.) 1:12. I alone am not able to bear your business, and the charge of you and your differences. 1:13. Let me have from among you wise and understanding men, and such whose conversation is approved among your tribes, that I may appoint them your rulers. 1:14. Then you answered me: The thing is good which thou meanest to do. 1:15. And I took out of your tribes men wise and honourable, and appointed them rulers, tribunes, and centurions, and officers over fifties, and over tens, who might teach you all things.
Lines 18602–18610
1:16. And I commanded them, saying: Hear them, and judge that which is just: whether he be one of your country, or a stranger. 1:17. There shall be no difference of persons, you shall hear the little as well as the great: neither shall you respect any man’s person, because it is the judgment of God. And if any thing seem hard to you, refer it to me, and I will hear it. 1:18. And I commanded you all things that you were to do.
Lines 18612–18636
1:19. And departing from Horeb, we passed through the terrible and vast wilderness, which you saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorrhite, as the Lord our God had commanded us. And when we were come into Cadesbarne, 1:20. I said to you: You are come to the mountain of the Amorrhite, which the Lord our God will give to us. 1:21. See the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord our God hath spoken to thy fathers: fear not, nor be any way discouraged. 1:22. And you came all to me, and said: Let us send men who may view the land, and bring us word what way we shall go up, and to what cities we shall go. 1:23. And because the saying pleased me, I sent of you twelve men, one of every tribe: 1:24. Who, when they had set forward and had gone up to the mountains, came as far as the valley of the cluster: and having viewed the land, 1:25. Taking of the fruits thereof, to shew its fertility, they brought them to us, and said: The land is good, which the Lord our God will give us.
Lines 18638–18651
1:26. And you would not go up, but being incredulous to the word of the Lord our God, 1:27. You murmured in your tents, and said: The Lord hateth us, and therefore he hath brought us out of the land of Egypt, that he might deliver us into the hand of the Amorrhite, and destroy us. 1:28. Whither shall we go up? the messengers have terrified our hearts, saying: The multitude is very great, and taller than we: the cities are great, and walled up to the sky, we have seen the sons of the Enacims there. Walled up to the sky.... A figurative expression, signifying the walls to be very high.
Lines 18653–18666
1:29. And I said to you: Fear not, neither be ye afraid of them: 1:30. The Lord God, who is your leader, himself will fight for you, as he did in Egypt in the sight of all. 1:31. And in the wilderness (as thou hast seen) the Lord thy God hath carried thee, as a man is wont to carry his little son, all the way that you have come, until you came to this place. 1:32. And yet for all this you did not believe the Lord your God, 1:33. Who went before you in the way, and marked out the place, wherein you should pitch your tents, in the night shewing you the way by fire, and in the day by the pillar of a cloud.
Lines 18668–18692
1:34. And when the Lord had heard the voice of your words, he was angry and swore, and said: 1:35. Not one of the men of this wicked generation shall see the good land, which I promised with an oath to your fathers: 1:36. Except Caleb the son of Jephone: for he shall see it, and to him I will give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath followed the Lord. 1:37. Neither is his indignation against the people to be wondered at, since the Lord was angry with me also on your account, and said: Neither shalt thou go in thither. 1:38. But Josue the son of Nun, thy minister, he shall go in for thee: exhort and encourage him, and he shall divide the land by lot to Israel. 1:39. Your children, of whom you said that they should be led away captives, and your sons who know not this day the difference of good and evil, they shall go in: and to them I will give the land, and they shall possess it. 1:40. But return you and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.
Lines 18694–18713
1:41. And you answered me: We have sinned against the Lord: we will go up and fight, as the Lord our God hath commanded. And when you went ready armed unto the mountain, 1:42. The Lord said to me: Say to them: Go not up, and fight not, for I am not with you: lest you fall before your enemies. 1:43. I spoke, and you hearkened not: but resisting the commandment of the Lord, and swelling with pride, you went up into the mountain. 1:44. And the Amorrhite that dwelt in the mountains coming out, and meeting you, chased you, as bees do: and made slaughter of you from Seir as far as Horma. 1:45. And when you returned and wept before the Lord, he heard you not, neither would he yield to your voice. 1:46. So you abode in Cadesbarne a long time.