What did Moses tell the Israelites at Kadesh Barnea about the Promised Land?
At Kadesh Barnea, Moses told the Israelites they had reached the mountain of the Amorites, the land the Lord their God was giving them. He declared that God had set the land before them and commanded them, "Go up and possess it." He did not tell them to send spies.
Les explains that Deuteronomy is a synopsis, a repeat, and Moses is going back to the time when Israel had come from Mount Sinai and was ready to enter the Promised Land. At Kadesh Barnea, Moses reminded them they had reached the mountain of the Amorites, the land the Lord their God was giving them. He said God had set the land before them, so they should go up and possess it. Les notes Moses did not tell them to send the twelve spies; that was Israel’s own idea. They backed off, weak in faith and forgetting God’s manifested power, saying they could not go in until they knew what they were up against. God condescended, but their report later made Israel weak, afraid, and saying they could not do it.
And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us.