March 29, 2010
The Israelites are finally getting ready to enter the Promised Land. Moses gathers them together and recounts what has happened over the last 40 years.
He starts out by reminding them of God's promises. God PROMISED this land to them. God who will not, does not, and CANNOT lie—promised them the land. Psalm 140:12-13 - God has promised us His protection. (Her Name Was Jane) Then Moses reminds them of God's assurances. Deuteronomy 1:21 - "...so don't be afraid and don't worry." Moses reminds them of their stubbornness. Deuteronomy 1:26 - "You refused to go." He reminds them that they saw. They saw what God did in Egypt. They saw what He did in the desert. But, they still did not trust or obey. Then when they understood there would be consequences they still tried to do things in their own power. Moses told them, "You must turn around," but they refused and kept going, only to fail, because they would not "listen ... and were proud."
So they wandered. They wandered for 40 years, until all the people who refused to obey were gone.
Moses recounts to them the battles they faced and how God blessed them, protected them, was with them, and had given them everything they needed. Deuteronomy 2:7 - "You have seen for yourself all that the LORD your God has done ... don't be afraid of them, because the LORD your God will fight for you." (Deuteronomy 3:21-22)
After all Moses had seen (the burning bush; the plagues in Egypt; The Passover; the Red Sea; the water from the rock; the pillar of cloud by day; the pillar of fire by night; the battles won etc.), Moses says this:
Moses ends this chapter with saying, "Be brave and strong." We choose to trust Him. We will continue to stand and wait for HIS hand to lead, guide, and free us from this "storm." We choose to believe.
Addendum: 9/5/18 ~ As I was reading in Deuteronomy this morning something Moses said in Deuteronomy 1:23 caught my eye. "I thought...so I chose..."
Moses had just finished telling the Israelites they had come to the land the LORD was going to give them. He said,
The way the Israelites and Moses responded is the way we (as followers of Christ) often respond as well. We know what we are supposed to do, but we hesitate and we think we have a better way and we chose our own path. We think we should make the what, how, when, why decisions ourselves and we choose what we think is best. And oftentimes, what we thought was a good idea, brings trouble instead.
Oh, what trouble and heartache we could avoid if we would only learn to surrender, trust, and follow HIS ways!
Next Entry: Deuteronomy 4:1–43
The Israelites are finally getting ready to enter the Promised Land. Moses gathers them together and recounts what has happened over the last 40 years.
He starts out by reminding them of God's promises. God PROMISED this land to them. God who will not, does not, and CANNOT lie—promised them the land. Psalm 140:12-13 - God has promised us His protection. (Her Name Was Jane) Then Moses reminds them of God's assurances. Deuteronomy 1:21 - "...so don't be afraid and don't worry." Moses reminds them of their stubbornness. Deuteronomy 1:26 - "You refused to go." He reminds them that they saw. They saw what God did in Egypt. They saw what He did in the desert. But, they still did not trust or obey. Then when they understood there would be consequences they still tried to do things in their own power. Moses told them, "You must turn around," but they refused and kept going, only to fail, because they would not "listen ... and were proud."
So they wandered. They wandered for 40 years, until all the people who refused to obey were gone.
Moses recounts to them the battles they faced and how God blessed them, protected them, was with them, and had given them everything they needed. Deuteronomy 2:7 - "You have seen for yourself all that the LORD your God has done ... don't be afraid of them, because the LORD your God will fight for you." (Deuteronomy 3:21-22)
After all Moses had seen (the burning bush; the plagues in Egypt; The Passover; the Red Sea; the water from the rock; the pillar of cloud by day; the pillar of fire by night; the battles won etc.), Moses says this:
"LORD God, you have begun to show me, your servant, how great you are. You have great strength, and no other god in heaven or on earth can do the powerful things you do. There is no other god like you." Deuteronomy 3:24After all he had seen, Moses realized that he had only begun to understand how great God is. That is how we feel. The more we have seen God's hand working in our lives and our difficult situation, the more we have understood that we have only begun to see who God is and what He can do. When you start to "get it," and begin to understand like Psalms 8 says, "What is man that you are mindful of him..." and that God is God—you feel ashamed of all the times you tried to take matters into your own hands. As a result, you willingly repent and submit your total life into the Potter's hand.
Moses ends this chapter with saying, "Be brave and strong." We choose to trust Him. We will continue to stand and wait for HIS hand to lead, guide, and free us from this "storm." We choose to believe.
Addendum: 9/5/18 ~ As I was reading in Deuteronomy this morning something Moses said in Deuteronomy 1:23 caught my eye. "I thought...so I chose..."
Moses had just finished telling the Israelites they had come to the land the LORD was going to give them. He said,
"Look, here it is! Go up and take it. The LORD, the God of your ancestors, told you to do this, so don't be afraid and don't worry."But instead of listening to what God said, the people decided they should spy out the land to see which way to go and what they would find. Why? Why go and spy out the land? God had already told them He was going to give it to them. So why did they have to check it out for themselves? And why did Moses respond the way he did when he said the idea sounded good to him? The answer is obvious. Even after all the Israelites and Moses had witnessed up until this time, they still did not want to surrender all and rely only on the LORD's direction. Otherwise they would not have approached Moses with their idea, and Moses would not have decided to act on what he thought instead of seeking to find out what the LORD thought. "I thought that was a good idea, so I chose twelve of your men, one for each tribe." The NIV says, "The idea seemed good to me; so I selected twelve of you, one man from each tribe." I thought ... so I chose ... the idea seemed good ... and the trouble began.
The way the Israelites and Moses responded is the way we (as followers of Christ) often respond as well. We know what we are supposed to do, but we hesitate and we think we have a better way and we chose our own path. We think we should make the what, how, when, why decisions ourselves and we choose what we think is best. And oftentimes, what we thought was a good idea, brings trouble instead.
Oh, what trouble and heartache we could avoid if we would only learn to surrender, trust, and follow HIS ways!
Next Entry: Deuteronomy 4:1–43
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