Then all of you came to me and said, "Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to." – Deuteronomy 1:22

 Today's Scripture Reading (February 17, 2025): Deuteronomy 1

There is a military tradition to train soldiers to react to orders, obeying what they are told as quickly as possible. In recent generations, this has changed a little as soldiers have been tried for following illegal orders. Being ordered to commit a crime cannot be used as an excuse. Much of this changed during the Second World War when superiors ordered soldiers to commit war crimes. As a result, we have tried to make soldiers culpable for their crimes, even if they were under orders to do the illegal act. But there is also a problem with this change. In times of conflict, superiors may not have the time to explain the reason for the order. Success is often related to the speed at which a soldier carries out the order he has received. If doubt is introduced to the system and the soldier has to decide the legality of the order, then the chances of military success begin to decline.  

As Moses begins to relate all of the things that Israel has gone through, he begins with God bringing them to the edge of the Promised Land. Here, we start to see the planting of the seeds of failure. Like a soldier trying to figure out the legality of an order, it was the seeds of doubt that doomed Israel. Sometimes, we know the story so well that we miss some of the essential elements. One of the earliest problems is found in this verse. God has already repeatedly told Israel that the land he is giving them is good. 

        So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of            that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the                Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (Exodus 3:8).

        When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and                    Jebusites—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—           you are to observe this ceremony in this month (Exodus 13:5).

        But I said to you, "You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing         with milk and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations (Leviticus         20:24). 

God had already repeatedly told Israel that the land was good, and he had set it apart for them. There was no reason to send spies into the land to scout the route and find out if it was good unless they doubted their commander, God. It was that seed of doubt that would plague Israel throughout their wilderness wanderings, the time of the Judges, and even into the time of the Kings. It was that doubt in God that would necessitate their exile in Babylon. And it starts here, with the innocent act of sending spies into the Promised Land.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 2