Numbers 26:65
For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
The verse records the completion of the sentence pronounced nearly forty years before, that the adult generation would surely die in the wilderness outside Canaan. That exclusion was brought by disobedience against God's commandments, by rebellion, and by continual murmuring. The wandering continued for forty years until the rest of that generation died and were buried in the wilderness without reaching the promised land.
The judgments for the sin at Shittim destroyed the last survivors of that condemned company. The divinely directed count on the plains of Jordan proved the fulfillment, showing that of those counted by Moses and Aaron in the wilderness of Sinai none were still alive. Not a man was left except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, for among the adults who left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea only they lived to enter Canaan.
Their fate warns leaders that God will likewise vindicate His word if they depart from His commandments. Their fate warns later generations to learn from Israel's failure and avoid disobedience.