wilderness and would enter the promised land. Only Joshua and Caleb span both generations. They are the only Jews born in Egypt who were allowed to enter the promised land. The rest all refused to trust and obey God in the wilderness and when He commanded them to go ahead and conquer the land (chapter 14). This is a painful book. In it Israel learns the hard lesson of the unavoidable consequences of unbelief and disobedience. It is a purgatorial education and purification, necessary for a people