Although the old generation saw the glory of God and the signs which He did in Egypt and in the wilderness, they murmured again and again (Num. 11:1, 4-6), tempted God and did not listen to His voice (Num. 14:22), and even despised Him in that they did not believe in His promise of the land of Canaan to them (Num. 13:25-33; 14:1-10). Hence, God swore by His existence that their carcasses would fall in the wilderness and that all the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, except Caleb and Joshua, would not come into the good land of Canaan which He swore to their fathers (Num. 14:28-30). Eventually, the old generation of the children of Israel suffered God’s punishment and were strewn along in the wilderness.
The new generation of the children of Israel were considered by the old generation to be a prey and to be too weak to enter Canaan (Num. 14:31; Deut. 1:39). When the men sent by Moses to spy out the land of Canaan came back, they gave an evil report to the children of Israel so that the people lifted up their voice and cried, and they wept all night. All the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses, saying, “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey?” (Num. 14:2-3). Therefore, Jehovah swore in His wrath that they would not enter the land of Canaan, but their little ones, whom they considered to be a prey and to be too weak to enter Canaan, He would bring in and with them He would make a covenant.
Because the children of Israel had sinned, their children had to wander forty years in the wilderness and bear their whoredoms, such as worshipping idols (Exo. 32:1-6) and having an evil heart of unbelief (Num. 14:1-3), until their carcasses were consumed in the wilderness (Num. 14:33). According to the number of the days in which they spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, the new generation of the children of Israel had to bear their iniquities, even forty years (Num. 14:33-34). Forty years signifies a period of trial and testing (Deut. 8:2). After this period would be over, blessings would come. Therefore, God would grant them again His visitation, blessing them and making the covenant with them.
When God forsook the old generation of the children of Israel, He promised to bring their children into the good land of Canaan. After the new generation were tried and tested for forty years in the wilderness, and before God made the covenant with them, He told them plainly through Moses that He would bring them through the Jordan to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than themselves, cities great and fenced up to heaven (Deut. 9:1, 3). Therefore, the ones with whom God made the covenant were those whom God would bring into the good land of Canaan.
In the covenant which God made with those who were going to inherit the good land, first they were told to keep all the commandments, statutes, and judgments in the covenant that God made with their fathers at Mount Sinai, and to turn to Jehovah their God with all their heart and with all their soul, to love Him, and to cleave to Him (Deut. 30:9-10, 16, 20). In that covenant God gave the law to His people and sought after His lovers. God’s intention in giving the law to His chosen people was that they become those who love Him. Ezekiel 16:8 says, “Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine.” According to the context of the chapter, this verse refers to the exodus and the time thereafter. Out of a deep love for the people, God entered into a covenant with them. This covenant was enacted at Mount Sinai through the giving of the law (Exo. 20:1-2).
Jeremiah 31:32 says, “...the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them.” In this verse God speaks of Himself as a Husband taking them by the hand. This indicates that when God gave the law, He used it as an engagement paper to betroth Israel unto Himself. Therefore, God’s law was given in a courting way. By giving His people the law in such a way, God made known to them what kind of God He is and revealed to them His desire in seeking a people to love Him. Hence, God told them that He would show mercy unto thousands of them who would love Him and keep His commandments (Exo. 20:6). This love is not the love between parents and children nor the love between friends; it is the intimate love between husband and wife. This kind of love is necessary for keeping the law of God. God’s intention was for the children of Israel to keep His law by loving Him and His word and by becoming one with Him. When God entered into a covenant again with the new generation of the children of Israel, He did not forget this betrothal. He charged them that after they would enter into the good land, they were to keep all the commandments, statutes, and judgments in the covenant which He made with their fathers at Mount Sinai, and to turn to Jehovah their God with all their heart and with all their soul, to love Him and to cleave to Him (Deut. 30:9-10, 16, 20).