Devarim: apology

The parsha gives reasons, causes.
Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years because of the spies and their reaction to them. The people failed the faith test. And when they wanted to repent the next day, it was too late! This is the story, but the strictness of the sentence is hard to understand. Is that what Gd is like?
Maybe the spy thing was just the straw, piled atop the golden calf and the constant rebellions, that made keeping the promise of the land impossible. Maybe it was just too much for the people to say that they did not want togo into the land.

The wandering is portrayed as a series of mountains that are circled. Some of the mountains are lands promised to other peoples: the descendents of Esau and Lot. these are untouchable lands, promised to others. But invaders, Sichon and Og, are fair game and they are enticed into wars that leave Israel victorious (with Gd on their side).

Nations had conquered other nations before, Israels’s conquests was not a new policy. This is the way of the world. The apology is welcomed, but the concept is distasteful.