STUDY THEME: PUTTING PASSION IN OUR RELAITONSHIP WITH GOD. 6-03-07.
“ADMIT YOUR STRUGGLE WITH SIN.” DEUT. 1: 6-8, 26-33, 42-46.
DEUTERONOMY 1: 6-8, 26-28, 29-33, 42-46.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO DEUTERONOMY 1.
PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 1: 6-8.
Many people do not struggle with sin because they have explained away its existence, at least in their own lives. They have a philosophy of morality that leaves definitions of right and wrong up to each person. If they believe in sin at all, it is reserved for criminals and especially evil people.
Even many who claim to be Christians have attitudes and actions that show little concern about what the Bible clearly says is sinful. These believers do not realize that careless attitudes and unconfessed sins stunt their spiritual growth and chill their relationship with God. God wants His children to confess their sins and resist those attitudes that keep them from moving forward in their spiritual journey.
The verses 1-5 give the time and place for what follows. Moses was speaking to the people of Israel on the plain of Moab, just east of the land of Canaan. He began by referring to the Lord our God. This was the personal name of Israel’s God.
The first part of Deuteronomy is a review of Israel’s history. Moses began with their departure from Horeb. This was where the Lord had made a covenant with Israel, at Mount Sinai. The Bible uses the term ‘Sinai’ for both the mountain and the entire wilderness area.
Sometimes Sinai is called “the mount”, sometimes ‘the mountain of God’, and sometimes ‘the mount of the LORD.’
The term Horeb is often used to refer to Sinai in such a way as to make the names synonymous. Since Horeb means “waste” or ‘wilderness area,’ it seems to think of Horeb as the general term for the area and Sinai is the specific peak where God manifested Himself to Moses.
The Israelites had been in that area since the Lord gave them the law and made a covenant with them. They had been there about a year when the Lord told them they had stayed long enough.
God did not deliver them from Egypt in order for them to camp in that area. They were supposed to be on the way to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In vs. 6-8 Moses reminded the people of the Lord’s command to leave Horeb and go to the Promised Land. He referred to the Israelites’ discouragement at Kadesh that led to their grumbling and rebellion against the Lord. Moses reminded them that at Kadesh he had urged the Israelites to combat their fears and lack of trust by remembering the Lord’s powerful actions in Egypt and His constant presence throughout their wilderness experience.
Moses recounted that the faithless Israelites had compounded their sin by blatantly disregarding the Lord’s command not to strike their enemies in the land at that time.
The Scriptures say nothing about any reluctance, at first, of the people to leave Horeb, which could have become their comfort zone. Enthused by God’s revelation, they most likely began their journey excited with the prospect of going to what they regarded as the Promised Land and their future home.
God promised the Israelites a large area, extending from the great Mediterranean Sea to the far away Euphrates River: Enough space for them to settle and raise their growing families. One can envision the people giving a “send-off party” for their 12 person committee as they left on their scouting trip.
Vs. 7 is a detailed description of that land. If you have access to a map of the land in Moses’ day, you can see it was a large land that God promised. The ‘hill country of the Amorites’ refers to the interior of Canaan and the Transjordan, an area inhabited by the Amorites since at least 1800 B.C.
This hill country where the Amorites lived presented formidable problems for the Israelites on
the first leg of their journey. The history of these vigorous and resourceful people dates back to the Hammurabi and probably earlier.
They directed the administration of the larger area for approximately 400 years. Their descent to Canaan came some time between 2100-1800 B.C. In this general section of land all the people were unusually big and strong. Perhaps the scouts began early to doubt Israel’s ability to take the land.
The Scriptures speak of the Arabah in several senses. In this context, Moses probably meant the entire Jordan Valley 70 miles from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, also called the Sea of Arabah.
The part near the river was fertile, but the elevated section was dry with hot climate and sparse rainfall. Below the Dead Sea, the rift continued about 110 miles south to the Gulf of Elah. This was a copper mining territory, guarded by military forces. Control of the Arabah and the port on its southern end meant control of valuable trade routes both by land and sea to southern Arabia and eastern Africa.
The neighboring peoples in the Arabah and elsewhere no doubt refers to settlements in the Jordan valley and in the eastern deserts that joined the hill country. The mountains’ describes hill country outside that of Samaria and Judah, most likely that of the Galilee area and the upper Negev: the ‘western foothills’ are the lowlands between the Mediterranean coastal plain and the hills of Judah: the Negev was the vast desert south of Judah; and the seacoast obviously the Mediterranean littoral that has always formed Israel’s western border. The ‘land of the Canaanites’ speaks of the valleys and plains, especially those of Jezreel to the north, that remained in Canaanite control well into the time of the Israelite judges.
The full extent of the land promised to the patriarchs extended from Lebanon to the Euphrates River. This makes the territory virtually include God’s original promise to Abraham. Many modern Israelis today still probably look wistfully at this land and remember God’s covenant with the ancient patriarch.
The closest to this ideal achieved in O.T. times was under the reigns of David and Solomon when Israel reached its widest dominion.
God promised to give unto them this land. They were to go in and possess the land. “Yahweh the great King owns all the earth, and it is His to bestow upon His peoples as He wishes. His people, therefore, were not about to take the land of other people but to receive the land as a gift from its divine owner.
God promised this land to the patriarchs. The years of slavery in Egypt has made the fulfillment of this promise seem unlikely, but God delivered the descendants of the patriarch from Egypt, made a covenant with them, and was now ready to lead them to the promised land. Some of them may have been content to stop where they were, but the Lord told them they needed to join Him on the way to the Promised Land.
The life of faith is like a journey. We are on our way but not yet there. God is leading us to continue the journey. Some get weary and stop along the way, satisfied with their spiritual condition. Peoples of true faith have a passion to go with God as He leads.
John Bunyan depicted this journey in his great allegory, “The Pilgrim’s Progress.”
He told of a man who set out from the city of destruction on his way to the celestial city. Along the way he met many people, some struggling as he was to reach his destination and others making their way hard. Many hymns, such as “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks,” describe the Christian walk in terms from the biblical account of Israel’s journey from Egypt to Canaan.
“With enthusiasm and high expectations, George faced his first job as bookkeeper-accountant for a small laundry. On the third week, he discovered the owner was not reporting all the income. He was dealing in cash, doing some jobs without entering them into his records.
George knew this was wrong, and if he ignored it or went along, he would be guilty, both morally and legally. When George discussed these transactions with his employer, he was fired on the spot. Depressed, he spent several weeks in agony. Is God punishing me for what I did? Should I have left everything alone? Why do I feel dissatisfied about my relationship with Him?
After several months of soul searching, an even better position opened with a large national firm. His salary far exceeded the first one. He received cost of living raises regularly and also merit raises many of those years. George learned God’s Word is true. He honors those who honor Him.
PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 1: 26-28.
A major difficulty often confronting us in getting the message of Deuteronomy is the book’s construction. It consists of a group of messages delivered by Moses to the nation about to enter Canaan, the Promised Land. This occurred after they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Connecting the addresses are historical notes resulting in a kind of “flashback.” One must constantly observe that the direct speeches of Moses are in the “first person,” “while the historic allusions are in the “third person.”
Moses appointed leaders in each tribe; one of their tasks was judging. The decision was made to send 12 spies to go through Canaan and report what they found. All the spies agreed about two things, but they had totally different recommendations. All of them agreed it was a good land and it was well fortified, and inhabited by giants. Based on these findings, 10 advised that Israel not seek to take the land.
The minority report of 2 spies ---Joshua and Caleb----was that the Lord would give Israel victory in spite of the discouragement of the majority report. The historic record of what happened is in Numbers 13—14.
The people reacted in three negative ways. First, the people rebelled against the commandment of the Lord by refusing to go up as He had commanded them to do. Rebellion and disobedience are serious sins. They are acts of defiance against the commandment of the Lord by refusing to go up; as He had commanded them to do. Rebellion and disobedience are serious sins. They are acts of defiance against God.
Second, they murmured or grumbled against the Lord and His leaders. As we read the O.T., it seems that the Israelites were constantly complaining.
Grumbling can lead to terrible distortions and denials of faith. The Israelites had completely missed the love of God that motivated His actions toward them. They were so confused that they claimed God hated them.
Totally distorting the purpose of their deliverance from Egypt, they said that the Lord had brought them into a vulnerable condition, so that the Amorites would destroy them.
Seeking to shift the blame, they accused the 10 spies: Our brethren have discouraged our hearts. They did this by describing tall men defending well-fortified cities with walls that reached up to heaven.
The Hebrew meaning for discouraged is literally “to cause the heart to melt.” This is similar to referring to discouragement as “losing heart.” The people were discouraged by the report of the 10 spies. Fear, doubt, and pessimism are highly contagious. They spread like a plague.
All of us are in positions in which we can either encourage or discourage people, Joshua and Caleb tried to encourage the people, but they were drowned by the discouragers. Each of the spies was a leader in his tribe: thus 10 tribal leaders had a lot of influence. Unfortunately they used it in the wrong way on this occasion.
There is an old story about the Devil selling some of his tools. They were a deadly looking collection of tools---Hatred, Envy, Lust, Jealousy, Deceit, Pride, and so on. Laid apart from the rest was a well-worn harmless-looking tool with a high price tag. Someone asked Satan what it was, and he told them it was Discouragement. He was asked why it was priced so high. He replied, “Because it is more useful to me than any of the others. I can pry open and get inside people’s hearts with that. Once I get inside, I can lead people to most anything I want.”
The Devil’s price for this tool was too high, and it has never been sold. Discouragement is still his most effective tool. Discouragers lead people to murmur and rebel against God.
PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 1: 29-33.
Moses recalled how, at Kadesh, He had urged God’s people to combat their fears by remembering God’s powerful presence in Egypt. He added for them to remember also God’s protective care during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
These gracious actions should have reassured the people God would be with them, but they failed to trust God’s ability and willingness to fulfill His promises. Fear, discouragement, and doubt are closely related. The Israelites were terrified by the spies’ description of the tall warriors of the Promised Land. They seemed to be too powerful for the Israelites. The people had not seen these giants, but they imagined how fearful they must be. The 10 spies compared themselves to grasshoppers in the eyes of the people of Canaan. This was the vision the Israelites had of the peoples whose land they had been promised by God. “As they saw the land, its conquest was full of difficulty---as Moses saw it, it was the Promised Land that the Lord was about to give them as He had promised. The “facts” were the same for both, but Moses, the man of vision and faith, could minimize the difficulties because of his strong conviction in the Lord’s promise: the people, with little vision, could not lift their sight above the formidableness of their opponents.”
Pessimism spreads quickly, usually much faster than optimism. When someone proposes a new project, the negative thinkers almost always speak up immediately. This situation arose as the scouts presented their report. Soon the murmuring group took over and controlled the agenda. Only two of the 12 voiced a positive word. Thank God for the Calebs and Joshuas!
Though Moses assured the people God would lead them to victory, they refused to listen and believe.
They even attacked God, accusing Him of bringing them in their journey to a place where their enemies would destroy them.
Moses, Joshua, and Caleb shared the same vision. Their vision grew out of God’s past actions on behalf of Israel. Vs. 30 describes part of their vision. It was based on what they saw the Lord do in Egypt. What were the odds that any power could deliver a bunch of slaves from the grasp of the most powerful nation on earth?
That was the seeming hopelessness of the Israelite slaves in Egypt. When Moses first asked Pharaoh to let the people go, the haughty ruler asked the name of the God who ordered him to do that. But by the time of the last plague, Pharaoh told Moses to get these people out of Egypt. That same God was ready to go before Israel and deliver the giants into their hands.
The Israelites’ vision of the future should also have been shaped by what the Lord had done during their time in the wilderness between Egypt and Sinai.
Exodus 16-17 tells of this time. God gave them water when they were thirsty and manna and quail when they were hungry. When the vicious Amalekites attacked them, God gave Joshua and his untrained army victory. He gave them the law at Mount Sinai and entered into a covenant relationship with them.
Vs. 33 records another evidence of God’s power against the enemy and His love for Israel---the fire by night and a cloud by day. These had provided protection and guidance. They signified the presence of God with Israel.
When the Egyptian army followed the Israelites, the Lord’s presence moved from in front of the people to behind them---between them and their enemies. The cloud obscured the view of the pursuing Egyptians and the fire lighted the way for the Israelites.
As Israel journeyed on, the cloud and fire led he way. In spite of all these deliverances and displays of God’s power and love, the people still did not believe or trust the Lord their God. They were not unbelievers who refused to believe in the existence of God, but they did not trust Him to do what He promised.
This was the fruit of their belief that God hated them and that He had brought them out of Egypt to allow the Amorites to destroy them. They refused to enter the Promised Land because of their lack of trust.
Trusting God includes trusting His love as well as His power. Many people today distrust God in the same way. They look only at what they can see and they magnify the power of their enemies and diminish the goodness of God. Those who move forward in the pilgrimage of life must trust the power and the love of God.
What is the result of refusing to accept God’s will in our lives? Discouragement. Anyone, even a mature believer, can experience bouts of discouragement. We need to realize discouragement, left to fester, can lead us to such sins as misrepresenting God’s character, losing purpose in living, or exaggerating obstacles that hinder our obedience to God.
An even grater danger looms on he horizon: cynicism. Often a good definition for cynicism is “idealism gone sour.” At one time, we felt God had great plans for our life. Now, we are not even sure God exists. What a struggle with sin such a person faces and attempts to fight! The first step toward winning the struggle with sin is to admit we are facing it. We are then ready to seek God’s help in winning the victory.
Refusing to trust God in one small matter is not only unwise but also sinful. It sets the stage for a continual lifestyle of refusing to follow Him as Lord of your life in everything. Have patience with God. Hasn’t He had patience with you in times past when you fell short of doing His will? Be assured of every door in your life. He keeps the key. When He knows the proper time has come, He will open the door!
PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 1: 42-46.
Verses 34-41 parallel the historical account in Number14:21-38. The Lord pronounced judgment on the rebellious people. The men who brought the pessimistic report were killed by a plague. The rest of the adult generation, except for Caleb and Joshua, were condemned never to see the Promised Land. When this judgment was announced the rebellious people grieved, and announced they would not obey the Lord but would go and take the land given them by God. Moses warned them against such presumptuous sinning.
Vs. 42 contains his words to them not to go up because the Lord would not enable them to claim the land. They would be smitten before their enemies. God warned them that their enemies would slay them. But continuing their history of disobedience they went presumptuously and defiantly up into the hill, ready for battle.
The historic account is in Numbers 14: 41-45. The presumptuous rebels were defeated and fled as someone running from bees. They returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not hearken to their voice. So they began the long years in the wilderness by staying in Kadesh many days.
When the Lord called them to enter Canaan, He promised to be with them and give them victory. They rejected that call. Later, after they heard their punishment, they outwardly obeyed the earlier commands. But it was too late. The time to obey the Lord is when He calls. Refusal is dangerous. The Lord is our strength, and we are helpless before our enemies when we fail to follow Him when He calls us to follow.
NEXT SUNDAY FROM DEUTERONOMY 4 WE ARE CHALLENGED TO PRACTICE
OBEDIENCE DILIGENTLY. A.V. DAUGHERTY <altav@swbell.net>