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God did not inform the people of the nature of the land of Canaan—its attractions and challenges. Instead, he mandated Moses to send out twelve spies (one from each tribe) to explore the land and report back to the larger assembly. Their discoveries and the report of them were a mixed blessing: The land is fertile, but its occupants are terrifyingly large. Therefore, let us return to Egypt (my paraphrase). Only Caleb (and later, Joshua) dissented from the majority view. He granted the truth of all that his colleagues said about Canaan but then counseled an advance to the land for God had promised it to Israel.
The spies' lack of faith quickly spread to the entire assembly (ch. 14). Those who rejected God and his promises greatly outnumbered those who believed God and his promises. The consequences of that negative mindset were disastrous. The spies met immediate death (v.37). The remainder of the congregation would perish and not enter the Promised Land (vv.29-30). Their children, however, would be granted that privilege (v.31) but only because of the intercession of Moses (vv.13-20). Once again, Moses was not expected to bring Israel to repentance so that she might merit divine forgiveness; instead, he interceded for Israel so that God would annul his decree to wipe out Israel completely (see Ex 32:11-14, 31-32; 33:12-16; 34:9; Nu 11:2; 12:11-13).
So, then, God wrote off this first generation, vestiges of which continued through ch. 25. If the land was ever to be possessed, it would be due to the second generation (chs. 26-36). All of the promises made to the first generation are now shifted to the second. Even the first generation’s admission of guilt (14:40) did not negate their eventual demise. Only Caleb and Joshua would be holdovers, Noahlike, from their generation.