Like checking the price tag after you’ve already won the lottery.

Well, according to Bamidbar Rabbah 16, part of the larger collection of Midrashic literature called Bamidbar Rabbah (a running commentary on the Book of Numbers), it wasn't God's idea at all. God had already sung the praises of the Land of Israel. Deuteronomy 8:7 tells us, “For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land.” And Deuteronomy 11:10-11 describes it as a land that "drinks water from the rain." Even back in Egypt, in Exodus 3:8, God declared, "I have descended to deliver them… and to bring them up from that land to a good and expansive land, to a land flowing with milk and honey."

So why the reconnaissance mission?

Bamidbar Rabbah suggests it was the Israelites themselves who requested it. When they arrived at the borders, God said, "See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up and conquer" (Deuteronomy 1:21). But instead of trusting, the people approached Moses, as described in Deuteronomy 1:22, saying "Let us send men before us, and they will spy the land for us."

Ezra, in Nehemiah 9:16-17, laments this very thing: "They did not heed your commandments. They refused to heed and did not remember Your wonders." Even with the Ark of the Covenant leading the way, scouting a resting place for them (Numbers 10:33), they still doubted. Psalm 78:22 says it plainly: "Because they did not believe in God." And further, "They refused to follow His Torah" (Psalm 78:10). It was a crisis of faith, a failure to trust in God's promise.

Rabbi Yehoshua offers a powerful analogy. Imagine a king who arranges a marriage for his son to a beautiful, well-born, and wealthy woman. The king assures his son of her qualities, but the son, lacking trust, insists on seeing her for himself. The king is understandably hurt. If he refuses, the son might assume she's undesirable. So, the king relents, allowing him to see her, but vows that the son will never have her. Instead, she will be given to his grandson.

This, according to the Midrash, is what happened with God and the Israelites. God declared the land was good, but the people didn't believe. So, God allowed them to send spies, but swore that that generation would not enter the Promised Land. As Numbers 14:23 states, "They will not see the land regarding which I took an oath to their fathers, and all those who scorned Me will not see it," but it would be given to their children.

It's a sobering thought, isn't it? How often do we, despite promises and assurances, choose doubt over faith? How often do we demand proof, even when it’s already been offered? And what are the consequences of that lack of trust? The story of the spies serves as a powerful reminder: sometimes, the greatest obstacle to our blessings is our own lack of belief.