One Year Bible Readings And Commentary for Wednesday, March 23rd!
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As we close the book of Numbers in the Old Testament, David Guzik gives us a great synopsis about what we have seen in the last 36 chapters.
From their encampment at Mount Sinai, God gave Israel the opportunity to grow from being a slave people to be a Promised Land people. He taught them how to be ordered, organized, cleansed, separated, blessed, how to give, to be reminded of God’s deliverance, given God’s presence, and received the tools to advance to the Promised Land.
ii. Then, as the nation actually set out from Mount Sinai to the Promised Land, they found themselves struggling with the flesh – they murmured, complained, and rebelled; most of all, they failed to enter into what God had set before them by faith – and a generation of unbelief was condemned to perish in the wilderness.
iii. God led the nation for some 38 years in the wilderness, with much motion but no progress – enduring more rebellion and murmuring, but essentially waiting until the generation of unbelief had died and a generation willing to trust God for big things had come to maturity.
iv. So they set out towards the Promised Land again and faced the same challenges of the flesh – but dealt with them better this time, until they made their way to the threshold of the Promised Land.
v. By spiritual analogy, many Christians die in the wilderness because they will not trust God and will not enter into what He has set before them. Many Christians also see the evidence of that lack of faith display itself in a weakness towards the things of the flesh. Sadly, many Christians live more in the wilderness than on the threshold of the Promised Land.
vi. Finally, consider what it would take to move the Children of Israel from across from Jericho to the Promised Land. Staying on the shores of the Jordan River is better than being in the middle of the wilderness; but it isn’t the Promised Land yet. They came this far by faith and will need faith to take them the rest of the way.
The word Deuternomy means "Second Law". The first being the one he gave through Moses at Mount Sinai, and this time as they entered the Promised Land. Many of the children present now would not have been present then, so it was time to reiterate God's commands and promises.
Specifically it was this promise which was given by the Lord to Abraham,
See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”
Moses recounted the time when the burdens of the people which came to him as the leader were too great. He appointed men from each tribe to help him lead and make decisions on the conflicts that arose from within. Only the hard cases would come to him for his discernment. I.e. Sort of like our Supreme Court
Moses sent men to scout out the land God had promised in Canaan, and though the land was fruitful and desirous for them to settle, they put their focus on the supposed giants in the land rather than the size of their God. Only Joshua and Caleb stood up and provided the leadership and faith in the Lord to go and conquer the land.
The Lord was angry with their rebellion and vowed that only Joshua and Caleb would make it into the Promised Land. The rest missed out on the experience of a lifetime, as they lacked faith in a God who had already showed them great and mighty things.
Where do you need to look toward God and trust in Him for your life? Where has he provided for you in the past? What will you miss out on in you make the same mistake as the Israelites' did!
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