Salt & Light Blog

Deuteronomy 8 Don’t Forget the Discipline from Your Loving Father, The Lord Your God.

3/2/2016

My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. Proverbs 3:11-12

Deuteronomy 8
We were given rules to live by. The Lord gave us the Ten Commandments reiterated in Deuteronomy 5:6-21. He then told us that one commandment predominated those. That it was the commandment which is expressed by the Ten. God told us foremost that He is the Lord Our God, One and that we are to love Him with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our might (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). The Ten are not like the rest of the Law which were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He did fulfill the Ten as well as the greatest, but they are still carried out, not to earn salvation, but because they are the manifestation of Love in us. They are the manifestation of The Spirit of Jesus Christ in us. When we fall short of the image and nature of Christ, He loves us enough to discipline us and bring us back into congruence with Him.
Moses urged Israel to remember the whole Commandment, that is the greatest as lived out by the Ten. Verses 1-2 read,
“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”
Moses exhorted Israel to remember their forty years in the desert, how the Lord had led them and humbled them, and how He had tested their faith. It was God through the wilderness experience who had made them able to handle the great battles that awaited them, who had them able to enter the rest and wealth of The Promised Land.
Do you know anyone who was born privileged or wealthy, who never lacked or wanted or suffered? Do you know anyone who has never been disciplined by a loving parent? These are often the people who feel entitled, have no ability to sympathize or behave as if rules don’t exist for them. There are some people who go through suffering, but never reflect on the good it brought, the change it enabled, or the disciplines they learned. What about you? What have you learned from the bad times in your life? What did the suffering bring to you? Who did the discipline make you? Verses 3-6 read,
“And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.”
Had the ex-slaves of Egypt not gone through the wilderness, they would not have become the free people of Israel, God’s treasured possession. They would have been afraid to fight the giants that inhabited Canaan; they would have been too weak to fight nation after nation to claim their land; they would not have had the faith to obey the Lord and defeat Jericho by walking around its walls.
If I had not been humbled and lost my home to fire, I would not have had the faith to stand up for the Gospel, depend completely on The Lord, or become God’s treasured possession instead of a spinster of the world. What about you? What have you learned from the bad times in your life? What did the suffering bring to you? Who did the discipline make you? His promises, His bounty, and His treasures await us. Verses 7-10 read,
“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.”
We remember the suffering but we are also told to enjoy the blessings, to appreciate that we do not lack anything in God. We are told to delight in the blessings and bless the Lord for them. But once again we warned to remember the discipline of the wilderness. Verses 11-20 read,
“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
We are told to remember the suffering, not the sins that caused the discipline but the wilderness and how the Lord carried us through it. We remember that so that we won’t let the abundance of blessings make us forget, make us prideful, or make us slip back into sin.
Was it Israel who provided the manna? No, it was The Lord. Is it you who brings home the bacon? Or is it the Lord who provided you the job which pays you? Everything belongs to God. It is all His. Psalm 24:1-2 says,
“The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
Don’t take credit for God’s great work and generosity. It was not me who found shelter after the fire, provided the food and clothes I needed, found me a new place to live, or replaced all my lost possessions not once but twice. It was The LORD, my God. If I pat myself on the back for a job well done, I glorify myself, I worship my strength, and I forget who God is and who I am in Him.
Believer, the Lord disciplines you because He loves you. Don’t let His discipline be wasted by forgetting the wilderness and forgetting to love as He loves. He loves you with every word, every deed, and every tear, His entire self. Love Him back the same way with all your heart, soul, and strength.

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Deuteronomy 5 Reflection on What is Learned in The Wilderness Comes Before Taking the Promise

2/28/2016

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And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh Ezekiel 36:26

Deuteronomy 4:45 – Deuteronomy 5
Israel stood on the precipice of the Promised Land after forty years of wandering in the wilderness, they were finally about to take the promise they had waited so long receive. Moses had followed the Lord and Israel had followed Moses. But now he would not enter the Promised Land with them; he would die and they would go on without him. He would have to trust that they had learned what God had taught them and that Joshua could receive his mantle. He reminded them of what they had realized and gathered in their time learning from God. Deuteronomy 4:45-49 reads,
These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt, 46 beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt. 47 And they took possession of his land and the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan; 48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon), 49 together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
When we are on the threshold from the wilderness to the promise, we often have to wait, a period of rest and quiet. It is a time to reflect on what our suffering has taught, how we have changed, and who we have become through it. It is not easy to have patience. We want the promise now. The promise is not going anywhere. It will be no less the gift one week or eleven days from now as it is now. In fact it will be more of a blessing when it comes to us prepared and at the right time.
My friend Jim often uses the example of a young child asking her father for a Ferrari. The father promises to give it to her, but he waits until she is old enough to drive it. I can extend the metaphor by saying that he waits to give her that car until she drives well, has driven and cared for a jalopy, then moved on to being a safe driver and maintain a newer car, and then when she is able to handle the responsibility of the power of the Ferrari he gives her that car promised a decade earlier.
We have to learn the basics first, how to drive. Then we move on to the responsibility of the inexpensive used but safe car. That’s the car that we can’t speed in because the engine is too small or the transmission can’t handle high speeds. We learn what happens when we break the rules and get a ticket for not stopping at the stop sign. Then we move on to a better car and we show that we can drive that one without speeding, even though we now could. And then and only then does our father give us the sports car. But before he does, he sits down with us and reminds us about the rules and laws that came with the promise.
So Moses, The Lord’s friend spoke to Israel and reminded them the laws and statues that they were given in the Wilderness. Chapter 5 Verses 1-5 read,
And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5 while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:
Israel, these people standing in front of Moses, not their fathers but they themselves had received the Law and they themselves had agreed to keep it. The next generations would each agree based on that agreement. There would come a point in their lives when they had to agree with The Lord and choose to keep the Law themselves. They were circumcised, not as an agreement to keep the Moses Law, but as a sign of Abraham’s promise that they were part of His chosen treasured possession. Each man’s circumcision was his father’s agreement to raise him as God’s own. Keeping the Law is a covenant that each man makes with God himself.
Your parents can teach you. Your Sunday school teacher can present the facts. Your friends can testify. But only you can choose Christ for yourself. Only you can accept the contract for Jesus to be payment for your sins and make Jesus your Lord in order to enter the Promised Land of eternal life with Jesus. God may have prearranged your marriage to Christ, but He does not force you to say ‘I do.’
In verses 6-21 The Lord reminded Israel of the basics, the core of the law, the Ten Commandments.
“‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7 “‘You shall have no other gods before me.
8 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11 “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
17 “‘You shall not murder.
18 “‘And you shall not commit adultery.
19 “‘And you shall not steal.
20 “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.’
Unlike the Levitical laws of sacrifices, feasts, and offerings which taught what sin was and that payment for sin required death, these are the laws that exemplify loving God and loving people. These laws did not dissolve when Christ died on the cross. They remain because love remains. Fulfilling the law of love means we obey the Ten Commandments, not in order to be saved, but because we are saved. Verses 22-29 read,
“These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders.24 And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’
28 “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!”
Moses reminded Israel how great God is. He reminded them even His voice was too much for them to bear, that they had been in His presence and lived, and how they had felt because of it. It was too much for Israel. And God who loves them so much wished they would always remember the fear they had for Him that day so that they would not sin and suffer, so that he would not have to destroy Israel and scatter the remnant.
When I drive, I endeavor not to speed. I wish I could say I don’t speed because I respect the law that much. That should be the reason but the real reason is, I am afraid to get a speeding ticket. That is why the consequences are in place, to keep us from breaking the law.
Remembering who The LORD is can help us remember He is Justice, He is the Lion of Judah, He is the Wrath of the Lamb and He is the Lord Almighty. It is the first step to knowing God instead of knowing about God. Knowing about God without knowing Him can lead to removing Him from the equation and rather than walk in the Spirit, we walk in ritual. We go to church because it is time to go to church. We serve the poor because we are on the committee. We do what we do because we are supposed to do it. God is Yahweh, I Am. He is The LORD your God. He is Creator. He is The Lord God of Hosts!
The Lord had compassion on Israel, they could not bear His presence. Moses could, because Moses had God’s Spirit on Him, Moses was God’s friend. Believers have that closeness with God today. His Spirit indwells us. He calls us friend. We move from keeping the law out of fear of death to keeping the law out of love and expression of who God is. Verses 30-33 read,
“Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ 32 You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.
We have to remember what we learned in the wilderness to live long in the promise He give us. Suffering removes your heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh, which The Spirit then writes His law on. Ezekiel 36:24-28 says,
I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

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Deuteronomy 3 Let the Lord Show You His Greatness and His Mighty Hand

2/26/2016

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O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? Deuteronomy 3:24

Deuteronomy 3
When Moses retold the adventure of Israel wandering in the desert to them before they were finally going to take possession of The Promise Land, He didn’t retell them their faithlessness, whining and sin. He reminded them of the battles they fought and of how God had defeated their enemies for them and given them land that belonged to giants. He began the summation of the forty years by showing them what He had done for Esau and Lot. Then He had the ragtag group of ex-slaves battle King Sihon of Kedemoth and take his land. In today’s continuation of the recapitulation of the forty years, The Lord, speaking through Moses reminded Israel about another battle. When we consider our suffering, we don’t rehash sin and guilt, we remember God’s greatness, the battles, and the victory. Verses 1-10 read,
“Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.2 But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ 3 So theLord our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. 4 And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. 6 And we devoted them to destruction, as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every city, men, women, and children. 7 But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. 8 So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir), 10 all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.”
King Og was not just your average king. He was fearsome. His kingdom was large and people trembled before him. He was literally a giant among men. Verse 11 describes him.
(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)
The Rephaim were giants. They were the people who lived in Canaan and made Israel afraid to take possession of the Land. They were the people who lived in Ar, the land given to Lot’s descendants by the Lord. By the time Israel took Bashan, Og was the only giant left. His bed was made of iron, 4 ½ yards long and 2 yards wide. That implies that Og was about 12 feet tall. Goliath was 6’9” (1 Samuel 17:4). In the Israelites time in the wilderness, The Lord had led them first to show them He could defeat giants for them, then handed kings to them and then finally handed the last giant left to them. He taught them in a manner which first gave them head knowledge, then gave them a reason to believe, then took that knowledge and put in their hearts as faith.
They were not yet to The Promised Land, they were on the outskirts of it and God let them take the Bashan. Verses 12-17 reads,
“When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities. 13 The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of Rephaim. 14 Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villagesafter his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) 15 To Machir I gave Gilead, 16 and to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, the border of the Ammonites; 17 the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.”
They were not done with their trek yet, the land God gave them was only a small portion of what they would possess. He let them leave their women, children, and livestock there while the fighting men were to continue on. Verses 18-22 reads,
“And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. 19 Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, 20 until the Lord gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the Lord your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’ 21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. 22 You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’”
These ex-slaves were now wealthy men of valor with so much livestock that it was prudent to leave for safe keeping with their families. The Lord had made them rich while they wandered in the wilderness. He had taught them to fight, have faith, and be strong and courageous. He had brought them from up from indigent slaves to wealthy noblemen. That is what time in the wilderness does, if we allow it. The Lord shows us His strength, He shows us we do not have to fear the enemy because He fights for us. He matures us so that we are no longer slaves to the enemy but princes in the Kingdom of God.
He has given us eternal life and we enjoy it now, but there is more fighting for us, the Lord’s courageous warriors to do. We continue on until the final battle is fought and all of us have rest together. Ephesians 6:10-13 reads,
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
The Lord does not expect or want us to fight without Him. He was with Israel as they fought Sihon and Og and He is with us as we fight rulers, authorities and cosmic powers. He is the armor He asks us to put on. He is the Truth. He is our Righteousness. He is the Gospel of Peace and our Peace. He is our Shield and our Faith. He is our Salvation. He is the Sword of the Spirit and the Word of God. We can stand firm because we do not stand alone; The Lord is with us and He fights for us.
Moses had led the people out of Egypt. He had led the people through forty years in the wilderness. But The Lord had told him he would not enter it. Moses had an extraordinarily intimate relationship with God and He was not afraid to ask Him for more. So Moses asked God for more, he wanted to see The Promised Land. Verses 23-29 read,
“And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, 24 ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? 25 Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28 But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ 29 So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.
The Lord would not change His mind and let Moses enter The Promised Land. He wanted us to understand the onus of responsibility the leaders hold for their charges. But He did let Moses see it. He showed Him the land and then said, ‘That’s enough! Let’s get on with business.’
Moses had seen God. Moses had been there as God himself wrote the Law onto stones, and did countless miracles. The Lord had done so many great works that they had become commonplace to Israel, yet Moses said, “you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand.” God has done great miracles in your life too. He resurrected you with Jesus and made you new. He has healed, provided, freed you from bondage, and more. His miracles can be so plentiful that we should just expect them, have a need and just know the Lord will meet it. We should always be aware that what we have seen god do is the smallest fraction of His greatness. When the people were dying of thirst, Moses just hit a rock with a staff and gave them water because a miracle is not too much to expect. (Exodus 17:1-7).
The Lord showed Moses His greatness in a way that Israel could not begin to grasp. But Believer, you and I are His friends too and He loves to show us who He is! He loves to do great things for us. It pleases God when we depend on Him and let Him fight for us, provide for us, and give us gifts. You may be in the wilderness, but God is showing you His might so that you can have faith enough to understand that He will always fight for you, hand giants over to you, and give you the impossible.

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Deuteronomy 2 God Promises and Delivers the Impossible

2/25/2016

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When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:25-26

Deuteronomy 2
Moses continued his speech to Israel before they made the final leg of their 40 year trek in the wilderness. He reminded them of what God had done and what they had done in that time. He now spoke to them about what happened after they refused to take possession of The Promised Land and God had turned them back to begin wandering. Verses 1-8 read,
“Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward 4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.6 You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years theLord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ 8 So we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber.
“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab.”
Esau was Jacob’s older twin brother, not chosen by The Lord to be the Father of His people. But The Lord had given his descendants a land of their own. God sent Israel through that land, peaceably and let them buy food and water. They were warned that He had put fear of them into their hearts and they should be careful. They were also told, this land was not for them, it had been given to Esau. Moses also reminded the people that though The Lord did not give them the land He had given to Esau, He had been with them and provided perfectly for them. They lacked nothing. They had no reason to envy the people or want what God had not given them.
Israel had refused the land promised to them and though God still was giving it to them, they had some learning to do in the wilderness. The first lesson let them see that Gracious God gave Esau a place even though he had sold his birthright and done nothing to deserve God’s mercy. He showed them that He can give to whomever He chooses. He taught them that He would provide for them and they had no need to take what was not theirs. He taught them that they would not expect the provision He promised to be given unfairly but that in the provision the buyer and seller, the giver and receiver would be blessed. But the journey and the lesson continued. Verses 9-23 read,
“‘Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.’ So we went over the brook Zered. 14 And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.
16 “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 19 And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.’ 20 (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— 21 a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, 22 as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. 23 As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.)
Now Israel had to travel through land given to Lot’s descendants. Lot was Abraham’s nephew and also not chosen to be God’s people. He had chosen to follow The Lord when given the opportunity and God had graciously blessed him. The Emin who had possessed the land before Lot were Rephaim, literal giants. They were giants like the Anakim who lived in Canaan and scared Israel enough to make them afraid to take the Promised Land. Now The Lord showed them, He had overcome giants for Lot, He could overcome them for Israel. At this point, Moses also pointed out to the people, that when Esau took the land given to them, they had to defeat the Horites, who were a fierce people as well. Israel was given the same instructions for passing through Ar as they had been when passing through Seir; do not contend with the people, the land is theirs. God gave Israel a glimpse of what they could have had and of His great power. He did it with kindness and gently as He led them and provided for them.
He showed Israel how He blessed whomever He chose and that no nation was beyond His Sovereignty. He blessed Lot, Abraham’s nephew and spiritual son but not the descendent promised to him. He blessed Esau, Israel’s brother who had sold his blessing. The Lord wanted to bless His own people but they were too afraid to believe God could do it. But God was teaching them, and their next lesson would prove to them that God could do what He promised and they could be strong because He is strong. Verses 24-25 read,
“‘Rise up, set out on your journey and go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’”
So far, Israel had been told not to fight and not to take the land, but now they were told they would fight, they would win and they would take the land because The Lord willed it. Because of what God did with and for Israel, nations would be very afraid of the wandering band of ex-slaves. Verses 26-32 continue the narrative.
““So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon the king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, 27 ‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. 28 You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot, 29 as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.’ 30 But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.31 And the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’”
Even before the first fight was fought, God promised the Land was already being given to Israel. He said, ‘start moving in now, it is yours.’ Sovereign God hardened Sihon’s heart and the adamant king refused to let God’s people walk through his land or buy food and water from the people of Kedemoth. Verses 33-37 read,
“Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. 33 And the Lord our God gave him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and all his people. 34 And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction every city, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. 35 Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. 36 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The Lord our God gave all into our hands. 37 Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the Lord our God had forbidden us.”
Whatever God said they would have, He gave to Israel. They would not and could not take what He gave to Esau or Lot, but everything in the wilderness of Kedemoth was theirs. Israel was not made of warriors, it was made up of men and women who had built pyramids, farmed, and slaved away under the tyranny of Pharaoh. They didn’t have the skills to win battles. They had The Lord; they had His promises and His Might. That is all they needed at Kedemoth and The Lord taught them it was all they needed at Canaan. Kedemoth was not The Promised Land, it bordered Canaan. God gave it to Israel not for their permanent habitation yet but for their rest, growth, and understanding in order to show them He is The LORD (Deuteronomy 3:18-22).
Has The Lord promised you something? Yes, He has! If nothing else, Believer, He has promised you eternal life in union with Him. He has promised provision and gifts and blessings. I know he has promised you more. I know there are things He has given you beyond those wonderful promises. I know because He loves to give good gifts to His children (Matthew 7:11). Child of God, He adores you! Is what He promised impossible? For you yes it might be, but for God, nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26).
Are you afraid to believe that His promise will come true because it is too hard? Let God teach you to have more faith and take possession of what He promised. God does not expect you to do the impossible without Him. He asks you to put your faith in Him and obey. He asks you to take the steps he tells you to take and let Him do the impossible. What glory and praise would there be to Him if the giant man defeats the smaller man? But what glory and praise does He receive when the child shepherd without even a sword defeats the giant warrior (1 Samuel 17:50)? Be encouraged, your weakness, your inability is what makes the promise that much greater! 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 reads,
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong”
I confess, God promised me something years ago. I wanted it very much but as time passed, I saw it was improbable and my hope faded. I tried to stamp out my desire for it but I couldn’t quench that fire. More time passed and it is now impossible. I believed until this morning that I was mistaken; I believed God did not promise me a daughter. I am an unmarried virgin going through menopause with no prospects of a husband. It is impossible for me to have a daughter. But this morning God reminded me of His promise, He reminded me of the step of faith He asked me to take yesterday (which I did), and He told me, “It is impossible for you but nothing is impossible for Me.”

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Deuteronomy 1 Do Not Be Afraid to Receive the Promises of God

2/24/2016

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but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am here!" John 6:20 (NLT)

Deuteronomy 1
Today as we continue in the pursuit to know God more deeply we will begin reading Deuteronomy. God desires for us to know Him and love Him (Hosea 6:6). He is clearly depicted throughout The Scriptures as The LORD, Father God, Jesus Christ the Son, and The Holy Spirit. Allowing Him to reveal Himself to us in books where He is not so plain such as Deuteronomy allows us to know Him in an intimate way that reading only the New Testament does not. He is in the entire Word and leaving portions of it out of our study leaves portions of The Lord out of our knowledge and so endangers us to worship a god based on part of the truth, a god of our own making, a god who is not The LORD.
Authored by Moses and comprised primarily of three discourses spoken to Israel, Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Pentateuch. The name means the second law. It is the second revelation of the Law to Moses and to Israel. The Hebrew name for the book is Elle haddabharim, which mean "These are the words." That is how the book begins. Let’s dig in to the first chapter. Verses 1-5 read,
“These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them, 4 after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’”
Israel had been wandering in the desert for forty years because of their lack of faith to take The Promised Land. The Lord had grown their faith in those years. All the generation of the faithless (over twenty years old at the start) had died except for Caleb and Joshua (Numbers 14:30). Even Moses would not get to enter The Promised Land because he had lacked faith. The Lord had taught the second generation that He is their God and they were His people. They had to learn that truth because they could only depend on The Lord. Isn’t that what our suffering teaches us, to know God and depend on Him?
They were eleven days journey from reaching the Promised Land, the same distance as Egypt to Kadesh-barnea (what would become Israel). They eleven days away from the promise that most of them had lived their entire lives walking towards. There was still a lot ahead of them. They would have to take the land from the people already there, so The Lord had to prepare them. He began by reminding them of what they had gone through the last forty years and having Moses explain the law to them. Verses 9-18 read,
“At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. 10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! 12 How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? 13 Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. 17 You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.”
How wise was Moses to know that the responsibility of an entire nation was so great? He didn’t know at that time that it would be forty long years, he thought it would eleven days or so. He was a humble man who knew enough the great honor of leading Israel was also a difficult one he could not do alone. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12,
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Israel was only too happy to accept the commendation of appointing judges among them. They heard this command and received it gladly. Some promises seem easy to receive, especially the ones with titles and privileges. But they didn’t receive every command from God with such willingness. They were prideful and stubborn like we are. Remember as we read that Israel represents us. What they did and lived is supposed to teach us so that we might skip the mistakes they made. But pride, obstinacy, and rebellion are deep-seated traits of the flesh that too many of us have refused to give to The Holy Spirit. Verses 19-21 read,
“Then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’”
Israel was right there just outside The Promise Land. God said, “Go take it, it is yours, don’t be afraid.” But this command to take what they had been promised horrified them. They were terrified to receive what The LORD had promised. Verses 22-28 describe Israel’s response to The LORD’s command to receive their promise.
“Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ 23 The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24 And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’
26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’
Instead of taking the land as God commanded, they checked it out first. They looked at the Land through their eyes and abilities, not The Lord’s. Instead of being encouraged by the fruit the land offered, they were discouraged by the report of the people. Where was their faith in God? They had just crossed through the Red Sea and remained perfectly dry while the army of Egypt had drowned behind them (Exodus 14:26-31). Where is our faith when God tells us to take what He has promised? Where is our faith when He tells us to do the impossible? For too many of us, we forget we can depend on The Lord, we forget His promise means He will do it, and we think somehow we have to do it by our heart, soul, strength and mind. Deuteronomy 31:6 reads,
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
The Lord God Almighty is with you and He will never leave you nor forsake you, don’t be afraid. Go ahead, accept His promise, take the steps you are afraid to take because He said, “Be courageous.” Courage is not having being fearless, it is acting in faith regardless of your fear. That courage comes from depending solely on God, not looking toward your own strength, your bank account, or other circumstances to save you. The author of Hebrews understood that it is fear that leads us to idolize money and other earthly solutions rather than Our All-Sufficient Lord. Hebrews 13:5-6 says,
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”
Israel downright refused to take The Promised Land. So He had to teach them, strengthen them and enable them to receive it. Moses reminded Israel of what went on the day they stood where they would stand after another eleven days journey looking at the Promise of God about to be manifested. Verses 29-41 read,
“Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God, 33 who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.
34 “And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore,35 ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!’37 Even with me the Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.39 And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’”
The Lord would still fulfill His promise, but only when Israel was ready. The faith of Joshua would ensure The Lord’s promise for their children. Israel was turned around and led back the direction they came, not back into slavery, they were already delivered, but to walk following The Spirit and learning that God is All-Sufficient and Almighty. Verses 41-46 tell us what happened next,
“Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the Lord and presumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah.45 And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.”
Israel said, “You’re right! We don’t wanna go back to the wilderness! That eleven days journey was tough! Okay we have faith! We’ll fight like you said.” But God said, “No don’t fight.” He had not told them to fight, He had said He would fight for them. He knew they were not ready to walk in the faith they would need to walk in order to take possession of The Promised Land. He had to take them through the wilderness first.
It might be frightening to take what God has promised you. It was frightening to take the eternal life, the promise of Jesus Christ and live as a child of Our Father in Heaven in the power of The Holy Spirit against the prince of the world. But Jesus overcame him for you. He fought for you then and He fights for you now. If you can’t receive His promises just yet, rejoice He will strengthen you and prepare you to receive them.
Did He promise you healing, blessings, and provision? They are yours. Did He promise you would do greater works than He has done? You will. Did He promise you offspring physically and spiritually, favor, and prosperity of provision and ministry? He will give it. Receive it, do not fear or be dismayed, take the steps He has told you to take or let Him lead you through the wilderness until you have the faith to receive it. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” (Hebrews 12:6).

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Psalm 77 Daddy, The Angel’s Bread isn’t Good Enough, I Want Pheasant Under Glass, and I want it Now!

8/7/2015

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"Daddy, The Angel’s Bread isn’t Good Enough, I Want Pheasant Under Glass, and I want it Now!" Are we more like Veruca Salt than we care to admit?

Psalm 78

Do you wonder how the Israelites could see all the wonderful and awesome things God did for them as they left Egypt and wandered through the desert toward the Promised Land and still be so obstinate?

In this long Psalm, Asaph looks at that issue. First he instructs Israel to tell their children all of the great things God has done. Verses 1-4 read,

“Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
    I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
    that our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
    but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.”

Why do we tell our children about The Lord? Why do we teach them about Jesus instead of letting them find out on their own? They need to know why we do what we do. They need to understand why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, Passover, Resurrection Sunday, and Christmas. They need to see how great the Lord is. It is our job as Christ’s ambassadors to tell the whole world (Matthew 28:19-20). Our children are in that world, they are our legacy. If we want them to experience the goodness of The Lord firsthand, we have to share our experiences and teach them who He is through His Word, both in the scriptures, life, and person. We want them to have an easier walk than we did. We want them to learn from our mistakes. We don’t want them to make the mistakes Israel made. The Lord established His testimony, His witness in us. We cannot keep that testimony to ourselves. Verses 5-8 say,

“He established a testimony in Jacob
    and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
    to teach to their children,
6 that the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7     so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
    but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their fathers,
    a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God.”

As we tell our children about Jesus, we remember His awesomeness ourselves. Time and time again The Lord did miracles for Israel, His children. And time and again they forgot, they sinned, they whined and complained. They walked on dry land through the Red Sea with the waters roaring beside them and not even a drop of it touched them. They got through and escaped the army of Egypt. They were led by God Himself as pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. But what did they do? They complained that they were going to die of thirst.

Verses 15-19 read,

“He split rocks in the wilderness
    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock
    and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

17 Yet they sinned still more against him,
    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tested God in their heart
    by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God, saying,
    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?”

Why would they think God had led them to freedom and taken care of them in such amazing ways and still not trust Him to take care of them completely? How could anyone be saved from the clutches of the enemy and not trust God to take care of them, make them complete and keep them until Jesus comes again? 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 says,

“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Your life is a testimony. Live that life to tell others about how faithful and loving and awesome God is. Don’t run around whining, stressing, and complaining. Who does that exalt? Who would bother following a god who can’t even meet your most basic needs who leaves you grumbling and grouchy?

Even though Israel moaned nearly incessantly, God stuck with them. He provided, He disciplined, and He kept providing. Verses 21-25 read,

“Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
    a fire was kindled against Jacob;
    his anger rose against Israel,
22 because they did not believe in God
    and did not trust his saving power.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above
    and opened the doors of heaven,
24 and he rained down on them manna to eat
    and gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Man ate of the bread of the angels;
    he sent them food in abundance.”

Believer, where are you as you read this? Are you in your home, a coffee shop, or your place of work? What are you wearing? Are you reading on a book, a computer, or a tablet? When as your last meal? When is your next? Are you breathing? Wow! God is great!!!! Be thankful. Live thankfully.

Somehow like Israel we forget the Manna, the bread of the angels, and we cry out and say, “Seriously, is this it? I want something better!” And when the slightest trouble comes we sob, “Are you just gonna let me lose my car? How will I pray the rent? Are you going to let me die of this cold?”

How can we be so unfaithful? How can we so easily forget all the great things God has done? He led an entire nation out of slavery and worked it so the Pharaoh actually begged them to leave, He divided the Red Sea, He led Israel, He visited Moses and gave him His law. And what did Israel do? They grumbled that it wasn’t good enough, they worried they would die, and like spoiled Veruca Salt, they actually said they wanted to go back to the slavery of Egypt. (Numbers 14:1-5).

Even so, The Lord didn’t abandon Israel and He will not abandon us. He disciplined them, He repeatedly showed them His power. Verses 29-35 read,

“And they ate and were well filled,
    for he gave them what they craved.
30 But before they had satisfied their craving,
    while the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them,
    and he killed the strongest of them
    and laid low the young men of Israel.

32 In spite of all this, they still sinned;
    despite his wonders, they did not believe.
33 So he made their days vanish like a breath,
    and their years in terror.
34 When he killed them, they sought him;
    they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
    the Most High God their redeemer.”

Sometimes we are so stubborn that it takes terrible discipline to turn our necks back to The Lord. Verse 35 says that Israel remember God as their rock. So we too will usually come around and remember Jesus is our rock and redeemer. But how fast Israel forgot and how fast we forget. The very next verses says,

“But they flattered him with their mouths;
    they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
    they were not faithful to his covenant.”

Did they think God was fooled? Do we think God hears our words and ignores our hearts? No, He is God! but the beautiful thing is that even in our infidelity, even in our shaky faith, and crooked walk, The Lord remains faithful, steadfast, and great. Verses 38-39 read,

“Yet he, being compassionate,
    atoned for their iniquity
    and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
    and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
    a wind that passes and comes not again.”

We do not have to be like Israel. We do not have to grumble and complain in the face of all He has done for us. But we do not have to let God’s discipline be ineffective. We have the Holy Spirit of God in us. We can allow Him to work in us and complete us and make us more like Jesus. God’s discipline doesn’t need to leave us in the same old place and condition.

God brought Israel to the Promised Land, He brought us to the Kingdom of God. If He saved us from the clutches of Satan, don’t we trust Him to keep us, mature us, and complete us? Don’t we know He will always provide for us and protect us?

Even through Israel’s rebellious pig-headed history, God chose to redeem the world through them. He didn’t choose Joseph’s decedents, He chose Judah’s. He didn’t choose a rich strong man, He chose David, a child and a shepherd. He gave us Jesus, True and Eternal Salvation. Verses 67-72 say,

“He rejected the tent of Joseph;
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
    Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
    like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70 He chose David his servant
    and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 from following the nursing ewes he brought him
    to shepherd Jacob his people,
    Israel his inheritance.
72 With upright heart he shepherded them
    and guided them with his skillful hand.”

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Deuteronomy 3 Let the Lord Show You His Greatness and His Mighty Hand

Deuteronomy 2 God Promises and Delivers the Impossible

Deuteronomy 1 Do Not Be Afraid to Receive the Promises of God

Psalm 77 Daddy, The Angel’s Bread isn’t Good Enough, I Want Pheasant Under Glass, and I want it Now!

Donna Campbell

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