However, the men that went up with him said, We are not able to fight the people; they are stronger than us! (Bamidbar 13:31) They were speaking regarding Heaven. (Rashi)
One of this things for which the spies were heavily criticized was their apparent lack of belief in G-d’s ability to overcome the nations of Canaan. The Midrash says that when they said, “they are stronger than us,” they were in fact referring not just to themselves, but to G-d Himself.
But this type of interpretation always prompts the question, how could that be? These were not children who never saw the hand of G-d at work before. These were great people of Biblical proportions who witnessed the destruction of Egypt–the mightiest nation on earth at the time–the splitting of the sea, bread from Heaven, and miraculous water. So, how could they doubt G-d’s ability to rout the seven nations of Canaan?
What we have to answer is that they didn’t doubt this. Each and every Jew in the camp knew that G-d is the Creator and Maintainer of creation, and that the moment that He decides that He has had enough of someone, or even entire nations, they are history–ancient history! Ultimately, no one can stand up to G-d, and they were clear about this.
However, as the Generation of the Desert witnessed in the battle against Amalek, G-d plays different roles in our lives. As the Nefesh HaChaim makes clear, the general role G-d plays is to take a back seat to our free-will decisions. He allows us to strengthen Him by making moral free-will decisions, or to weaken Him back turning our back on Torah and mitzvos. Ultimately, we don’t affect G-d at all, but, for the sake of free-will and reward in the World-to-Come, He puts up a convincing front that this is indeed the case.
The Generation of the Desert knew that life in Eretz Yisroel would not be like life in the desert. In the desert, it was a very idyllic environment in preparation for life on the land. You didn’t have to physically earn a living in the desert–you just had to learn Torah and do the mitzvos. However, life in Eretz Yisroel, they surmised correctly, would be more natural, filled with miracles, yes, but mixed together with nature as well. Overall Jewish success would depend heavily on merit, and G-d’s strength, so-to-speak, would be intimately tied to the spiritual status of the nation, beginning with the battles against the existing nations of Canaan.
The nations of Canaan were mighty people. The Jewish people, however, had yet to acquire national spiritual perfection. For this reason, they worried about to what extent G-d would fight on their behalf – how strong He would be for them. If G-d’s involvement in their battles was going to be based upon spiritual merit, then how much could they actually expect from G-d in the end? This is what was really behind their statement and concern.
However, as we have discussed before, trust in G-d brings results from Heaven even if one doesn’t merit them. Trust in G-d is a whole separate mitzvah, one which can bring Divine assistance even before a person attains righteousness, as it says: One who trusts in G-d will be surrounded by kindness (Tehillim 32:10). R. Elazar said in the name of R. Abba: Even an evil person who trusts in G-d will be surrounded by kindness. (Midrash Tehillim, Mizmor 32:3)
The Generation of the Desert were not evil people, as Rashi and the Ba’al HaTurim point out. Perhaps they had much work to do, but had they only understood the mechanics of trust in G-d, and thrown their lot in with G-d; no matter where they were holding spiritually, they would have moved forward into the Final Redemption without any hesitation. That itself is part of the test of moving up and into Eretz Yisroel. Apparently, it is a timeless message.
