GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
DEUTERONOMY 1 Summary
1:35, 38 Not one man of this evil generation will see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, except Caleb… and your assistant, Joshua son of Nun.
Deuteronomy’s first chapter begins with the command from God to leave Mount Sinai (usually called Mount Horeb in this book). The people traveled from there to a large oasis once called En Mishpat (Genesis 14:7) but usually called Kadesh or Kadesh Barnea. It was a large enough space that all of Israel’s two million or more people could comfortably camp there. Moses kept his usual organization of the people in place there, with men who had authority over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens (what we might call colonels, captains, lieutenants, and sergeants) (Deuteronomy 1:9-18).
From there, spies were sent northward from Kadesh. It was there that “you came to me” (Moses is recollecting the very day) “and said, ‘Let us send men ahead to spy out the land and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to’” (Deuteronomy 1:22). They did this, and the spies came back with two reports. Ten of the spies described the giants who lived in the land (the Anakites), but Caleb and Joshua talked about the good things that were there (Deuteronomy 1:25, 26-28). Because the people listened to the negative reports and rebelled against Moses, the people were chastised with forty years of wandering, waiting just at the edge of the promised land. That whole generation, every adult apart from Joshua and Caleb (the two spies who gave the encouraging report) would die before the nation could enter into the promised land.
In this chapter, Moses describes the constant blessings of God, who carried Israel “the way a father carries his son, all that way that you went until you reached this place” (Deuteronomy 1:31). But the people were constantly unfaithful, disobedient, ungrateful, and rebellious (Deuteronomy 1:19-40). After the people heard that they were condemned never to enter the land, they rebelled again and tried to go in by force, without God’s blessing. But the Amorites defeated them and pushed them out again (verse 44). After this they remained at their camp in Kadesh “for many days” (verse 46), which turned out to be most of the forty years of the punishment.
An important point in this chapter is the description of the giants who terrified the people so much. In general, the people of Canaan seemed to be taller than the average Israelite, or at least that was the impression that they made: “The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky” (Deuteronomy 1:28). In these words, you can hear the people talking themselves out of wanting even to try entering into the promised land. The tall people! They are strong! They have large cities (Israel had only tents), and the walls go “up to the sky!” You can imagine their impression of the walled cities on hills, with Israel armed with just stones and slings.
More than this, there were actual giants. They are called Anakites here (verse 28), but there were also other groups, the Emites (Deuteronomy 2:10-11), and all were related to the giant Rephaites (Deuteronomy 2:11). “Emites” means “terrors.” We know from later accounts that some of these huge people reached nine feet or more, such as David’s opponent Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4) and his brother Lahmi (1 Chronicles 20:4). And David’s nephew Jonathan killed another of these towering opponents (1 Chronicles 20:6-7).
In general, everything in Canaan seemed big. The mountains were big. The city walls were high. The average Canaanites were tall, and there were giants to boot. Moses was chiding the Israelites. They had too often forgotten that their enemies seemed big, but God is not only bigger; he is Almighty. They might be afraid of the Anakites and the other tall peoples who filled up the borders of the land like basketball players occupying the benches on the edge of the court, but God wanted them to trust him. The truth was that the Canaanites had already heard about Israel, and they were quaking in their boots. Rahab told two later spies, “A great fear has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you” (Joshua 2:9).
No one and nothing in the land of Canaan could stand up against the Lord God. There is nothing different about his protection and his promises to us. “Let all who take refuge in the Lord be glad. Let them ever sing for joy. May he spread his protection over us” (Psalm 5:11). For if our Savior Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death for us, and if he spreads his wings over us to save our souls, we can trust him to watch over our lives as well. He protects us, and he also offers his forgiveness again and again. “For this reason Christ has the promises of the Gospel offered not only in general but also through the sacraments, which he has attached as a seal of the promise and by which he confirms it to every believer individually” (Formula of Concord). He invites us to fear, love, and trust in him above all things.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Listen or watch Bible classes online. https://splnewulm.org/invisible-church/. Archives at St Paul’s Lutheran Church https://splnewulm.org/daily-devotions/ and Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2026
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Deuteronomy 1 Summary, like a basketball team