Could Israel have gone into the promised land at Kadesh Barnea?
Yes. The offer to enter the promised land at Kadesh Barnea was valid, not a game. God told Israel to go in and take the land, promising to drive out the Canaanites, and the land was ready. They could have entered, but they did not, as God knew beforehand.
Les explains that God made a valid offer to the nation of Israel; He was not playing games with them, and those were valid offers. They could have gone into the promised land, the milk and honey at Kadesh Barnea. God told them to go in and take the land, saying He would drive the Canaanites out with hornets, and it was all laying there ready, already in production; all they had to do was take it over. He would drive them out slowly so the weeds would not take over before Israel arrived. Israel did not do it, but it was still a valid offer—absolutely, they could have. Yet God knew they would not. So the whole divine purpose of the 40-year wilderness was in the divine plan, but it was not that God failed to give them a valid offer.
And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.