¹⁸ And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?

Continuing on the subject of Israel’s disobedience being an example to avoid, we find great truths about God and His ways in our passage today. God swears! Well, not in the way people think of today, for it was an oath, a statement of certainty that He would act in a certain way. Of course, God doesn’t need to take any oath since His word is always true. However, at times His people needed extra emphasis. Hebrews 6:18 makes it clear that “it is impossible for God to lie” and that He is unchangeable.

So when God takes an oath, it is for our attention, and not to hold Himself accountable to some greater power. He is true to Himself. He always acts according to His word, and His Word is always fulfilled in His actions.

In the case of Israel, because of their rebellion in refusing to go into the promised land of Palestine, God emphatically tells them that, “they would not enter His rest.” Specifically here is the oath: “Then the Lord … was angry and took an oath, saying, ‘Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers…” (Deut 1:34–35)

Clearly, the rest does not refer to redemption, because they had already been redeemed from Egyptian slavery and set free. But they had not yet entered into the fullness of what that meant and found themselves coming up short because of their unfaithfulness to Yahweh their God. It was at Kadesh Barnea that they rebelled. That was their “Waterloo” as it were, where they were defeated in their spiritual march forward, and their failure was their own undoing.

However, notice that God’s oath applied to those who disobeyed. While the nation as a whole comes under this judgment, the Lord makes exceptions for those who were faithful. In the next verse of Deuteronomy 1 (vs. 36), the passage goes on, “… except Caleb … he shall see it, and to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed the Lord fully. ” Of course, Joshua was also excepted, but everyone else from age 21 and up were banned from entering the promised land.

Warning about Israel’s rebellion in the wilderness is a common theme throughout both the Old and New Testaments. The admonishment is constant to believers. Is there a Kadesh Barnea in your life, a time and place where you said, “No” to God, and your spiritual journey has been a wilderness ever since? Go back, repent, and resume your march forward at God’s command!