Why did Israel reject the promised land at Kadesh Barnea?
Israel rejected the promised land at Kadesh Barnea because of unbelief and fear. They said they could not take the land, viewed themselves as grasshoppers, noted the cities were walled, and concluded they could not defeat the Canaanites, so they refused to go in.
Les teaches from Hebrews chapter 3 that Paul rehearses Israel's activity when they rejected the land of promise, Canaan, at Kadesh Barnea. God had promised earlier that He would send hornets ahead of them to drive out the Canaanites, so by the time they were ready to settle, everybody would be moving out ahead of them. But Israel rejected it. They said, "No, we can't take the land. We're like grasshoppers. The cities are walled. We can't defeat the Canaanites. No way." Their refusal was rooted in unbelief rather than in God's inability to give them the land.