Deuteronomy 9:23

23 The most recent was when God sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, ordering you: "Go. Possess the land that I'm giving you." And what did you do? You rebelled. Rebelled against the clear orders of God, your God. Refused to trust him. Wouldn't obey him.

Deuteronomy 9:23 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 9:23

Likewise when the Lord sent you from Kadeshbarnea
From whence the spies were sent to search the land, though previous to it they had the following order to go up and possess it; see ( Numbers 32:8 ) ( Deuteronomy 1:19-21 )

saying, go up and possess the land which I have given you;
this they were bid to do, before they desired the spies might be sent to search it first; and after they had returned and made their report, they were encouraged to go up and take possession of it:

then ye rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God; refusing
to go up into it: and ye believed him not;
that he would cast out and destroy the inhabitants of it, and put them into the possession of it; which they distrusted by reason of the gigantic stature of some that dwelt in it, and their fortified cities:

nor hearkened to his voice;
whether commanding or encouraging.

Deuteronomy 9:23 In-Context

21 But that sin-thing that you made, that calf-god, I took and burned in the fire, pounded and ground it until it was crushed into a fine powder, then threw it into the stream that comes down the mountain.
22 And then there was Camp Taberah (Blaze), Massah (Testing-Place), and Camp Kibroth Hattaavah (Graves-of-the-Craving) - more occasions when you made God furious with you.
23 The most recent was when God sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, ordering you: "Go. Possess the land that I'm giving you." And what did you do? You rebelled. Rebelled against the clear orders of God, your God. Refused to trust him. Wouldn't obey him.
24 You've been rebels against God from the first day I knew you.
25 When I was on my face, prostrate before God those forty days and nights after God said he would destroy you,
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.