Moses goes on: prior to God’s supplying the law on Sinai, Moses’s father-in-law, Jethro, advised Moses to decentralize the legal process so that he would have assistance from appointed leaders and judges. Otherwise, the burden of this people would be too heavy for him to carry alone (1:9, 12; cf. Exod. 18:13–26). This advice he followed with God’s approval.

Now, having left Horeb, as Israel was poised to enter the Amorite territory from the south they proposed that spies first be sent out to reconnoiter the land, which proposal Moses and the Lord approved (Num. 13:1–3). The promise of God was clear: twice over Moses declared on the authority of God that he had given them the hill country and the land (1:20–21). Therefore it was incumbent upon Israel to go up and to possess what had been …