The significance was that Israel was to enter a land God had already prepared, simply by trusting His promise.
God had set the land before Israel and commanded them to go up and possess it. He promised to drive out the inhabitants. Israel's entrance was meant to be an act of faith — the same kind of faith they used at the Red Sea — not an occasion for human investigation. Because they refused to believe God meant what He said, they lost the easy possession they could have had at Kadesh-Barnea.
Deuteronomy 1:21 — God directly commands Israel to go up and possess the land He had set before them, making the entrance an act of obedient faith.
Exodus 3:8 — God identifies the promised land as a land flowing with milk and honey, the place of the Canaanites, showing it was a prepared inheritance.
Scripture records that God set the land before Israel and commanded them to go up and possess it: "Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged" (Deuteronomy 1:21). God had sworn this land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and had given it to them as their inheritance. The land itself was described as "a land flowing with milk and honey" — a place of abundance and provision, not a place that Israel had to build or earn. It was the place of the Canaanites, whose iniquity was full, so the LORD was bringing Israel into the land in judgment and fulfillment of promise.
Les Feldick emphasizes that God never intended the twelve spies to go into Canaan. God had set the land before Israel and told them to go up and possess it by faith, just as they crossed the Red Sea by faith. God promised to drive out the inhabitants; Israel's only job was to trust Him and walk in. At Kadesh-Barnea, they could have gone right in and had the whole land without losing a single young son and without lifting a sword. Their unbelief — not believing that God meant what He said — turned that prepared entrance into judgment and a wilderness wandering. By the time they did cross Jordan, they no longer had the easy go they could have had at Kadesh. God had brought Israel out of Egypt, made them a nation at Sinai, given them the tabernacle, and substantiated everything, so the entrance into the promised land was the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Les Feldick points out that Israel crossed the Red Sea by faith, even though they knew the water was walled up somewhere. They came to the promised land in the same kind of situation: God had told them He would drive out the inhabitants, and He had set the land before them. Their task was to go up and possess it by faith, not to investigate whether God could fulfill His word.
According to Les, at Kadesh Israel could have gone right in and had the whole thing without losing a single young son and without having to lift a sword. It would have been an easy possession. Because of unbelief, that easy entrance was lost and later entrance required real fighting.
Israel did not believe that God meant what He said. Their fear of the inhabitants and their murmuring showed that they were not trusting God. As a result, God had to judge them, and their unbelief cost them the immediate, effortless possession of the land that He had prepared.
God had brought Israel out of Egypt, made them a nation at Mount Sinai, given them the tabernacle, and substantiated everything so they were ready to go into the promised land. He had also promised to drive out the inhabitants. The land itself was flowing with milk and honey — a place fully prepared for them to receive.
Entering by Faith, Not by Spies
Les explains that God never intended the twelve spies; Israel was to go straight in by faith, trusting God to drive out the inhabitants as He had promised.
Fulfillment of the Abrahamic Promise
Les connects Israel's entrance into Canaan to God's covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Nation Prepared by God
Les shows that God had miraculously formed Israel as a nation, given them the tabernacle, and prepared everything so they were ready to enter.
Loss at Kadesh-Barnea
Les teaches that at Kadesh Israel could have possessed the whole land without a single casualty or a raised sword, but unbelief made their later entrance much harder.
Water Baptism vs. Spirit Baptism: What Places You in the Body of Christ?
All right, now then, after that bitter experience made sweet, Moses again leads them by virtue, of course, the cloud and the pillar of fire, which is the very presence of Jehovah who is leading them on, and He brings them now to an oasis, and again, here's one of those questions that I just can't answer, and I guess every class has asked it, well, what's involved here in the 12 wells of water and …
Land of Milk and Honey and Judgment on Canaan
Les describes the promised land as flowing with milk and honey, and explains that Israel's entrance was also God's judgment on the Canaanites because their iniquity was full.
Why Israel Rejected Their Messiah — Acts 7 & Joseph Explained
Stay in the land of promise, and I'll bless you. But now in a future generation it's time for the nation of Israel to explode in population." And God had told Abraham that that would be down in Egypt. And so now God comes back to Jacob and He says, "...Fear not to go down into Egypt." And here's the part I always want folks to understand.
Joseph as a Type of Christ: The Hidden Prophecy in Genesis 37-46
Now if you ever wonder, where did the nation of Israel come from? There's your answer. It was when the twelve sons and all their wives and their children end up in Egypt because Joseph has the food. But also again, another thought we'd like to bring in, that when these brethren rejected all this, for all practical purposes, Israel now ends up in a place out of God's control or in a place of death …
Deuteronomy 1:21: Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
This verse shows that God commanded Israel to possess the land He had already set before them, and to do so without fear.
Deuteronomy 1:8: Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
This verse identifies the promised land as the inheritance God swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants.
Exodus 3:8: And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
This verse describes the promised land as an abundant, prepared inheritance and identifies the nations Israel would displace.
Genesis 15:16: But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
This verse explains why Israel did not enter the land earlier: the Canaanites' iniquity was not yet full, making the entrance both a gift and a judgment.
No. According to Les Feldick, God intended for the nation of Israel to go right on in by faith, knowing that He would take care of the inhabitants because He said He would.
They could have gone right in and had the whole thing without losing a single young son and without having to lift a sword. They would have possessed the land easily by faith.
Because of unbelief. They did not believe that God meant what He said, and that unbelief turned a prepared place of rest into a place of judgment and wilderness wandering.
Yes. God had set the land before them, promised to drive out the inhabitants, and had given them everything they needed to go in and possess it.
Watch the Teaching: Why Israel Rejected the Promised Land — Kadesh-Barnea Explained