Did God command Israel to send twelve spies into the Promised Land?
No. Moses records that God told Israel to go up and possess the land; He did not command them to send twelve spies. The spies were the Israelites’ own idea, arising from weak faith and fear. God condescended to their request, but their report later caused Israel to fear and refuse to go in.
Les teaches from Deuteronomy 1 that Deuteronomy is a synopsis, a repeat of what had happened earlier. Moses goes back to when Israel had come from Horeb, or Mount Sinai, and was ready to go into the Promised Land. At Kadesh Barnea, Moses says the Lord had set the land before them and told them to go up and possess it. Les then asks whether God told them to send in twelve spies, and answers, “No.” The idea came from the Israelites, who backed off because they were weak in faith and forgot the power their God had manifested. They said they could not go in until they knew what they were up against, and God condescended. Les adds that those Jews must have wished those twelve had never gone in, because their report made Israel weak, afraid, and say 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.
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