Thinking of what could have been

The Sforno at the start of our sedra (1:2) reveals what HaShem’s original plan was – what would have happened had we not succumbed to the sin of the spies. We’d have been counted, put into our special travelling formation (wing-backs and sweeper!), and we’d have then gone straight into Eretz Yisrael. Moreover, the nations of the Land of Israel would have fled from us, leaving us with an easy conquest. However, the sin of the spies saw the plan have a major facelift. We now had to travel for forty years in the desert before going into the promised Land, and (during this time) the spiritual state of the seven nations of the Land plummeted – necessitating a harsher treatment of them on our part.

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