Deuteronomy 1:25
And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us. And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us.
The spies took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down from Canaan, and brought back word that it is a good land which the Lord God is giving to Israel. The verse belongs to Moses’ rehearsal of Israel’s experiences before entering Canaan, a history he was instructed to repeat with both its failures and its victories. That rehearsal explains why the adult army that came out of Egypt was refused entrance into the promised land.
Although their report confirmed the goodness of the land, the people were discouraged, failed to trust the Lord and to wholly follow Him, and refused to go in. The unbelief and murmurings of the spies helped turn the people to rebellion at the very border of the promised land against God’s command. By that disobedience they forfeited the promise, bringing the judgment that that generation would die in the wilderness. Caleb and Joshua, who wholly followed the Lord, were excepted and would enter, which proves that the Lord’s promises are conditional upon obedience in doing His judgments and keeping His ordinances and statutes.
The whole first chapter is to be read as the word of the Lord. It was written for admonition upon those on whom the ends of the world are come. It therefore calls those connected with God’s institutions to learn the word of the Lord and to appreciate and obey His voice rather than pleading for their own mind and judgment to be supreme.