Numbers 1:54

54. So did they Up to this time unquestioning obedience characterized the nation. Well may the compassionate Jehovah say, “When Israel was a child, I loved him.” “I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.” Happy would Israel have been if such a record had continued! It is a principle of Divine government to bestow rewards only after proof of fidelity. The Hebrews will not be deprived of a period of trial in which to demonstrate their unshaken allegiance to the God who has led them out of the house of bondage.