Deut 1.2 - It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.
No, the Israelites were not just very slow walkers or prone to a bit of window shopping (heck, there was nothing much but desert to look at). They epitomised fallen humanity, very resistant to trusting God and slow to grow up into maturity. In the forty years in the desert God was making and moulding His people Israel. He was teaching and disciplining them, readying them for life in God's promised land.
As Deuteronomy opens the Israelites are camped East of the Jordan River, set to enter the promised land. Moses gives three final speeches to Israel reminding them what God has done for them, how He rescued them from slavery. In response to God's wondrous deeds in the past the Israelites ought to live a life of loving God and walking in His ways - for it is the way of true life and blessing. They are to remember the past, as they live in the present and look forward to the future. In past, present and future the only constant is God, His Word and His provision.
As I look at the Israelites, I am both encouraged and scared. I am so like them. So prone to grumbling, so prone to idolatry, so prone to fear and doubt, so prone to look back with rose-coloured glasses. And if I was living on bread and water, I would probably have been pining for Egypt as well - give me some meat God!
Imagine if you got a big bunch of Western Christians and shoved them in a desert to live for forty years under God's provision - I dare say it would not be a pretty sight. But then maybe we are in a desert here in Australia - a spiritual wasteland where it is hard to rely on God, simply because it often seems like we don't need to rely on Him for our next meal. What does it mean for the LORD to be our life in every aspect of it here today? (Deut 30.20)
I am encouraged that God didn't give up on the Israelites, and I am encouraged that God won't give up on His people. And yet the warnings of Deuteronomy are striking for us today as well - we choose to disobey God at our own peril and he will allow us to choose to live in slavery to sin again if that's what we truly want. We can choose life or death.
I am so prone to making 11 day journey's last 40 years, simply because I haven't learnt what it is to rely on Him for every step I take. I am grateful that He sent One who became the true Israel. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, obeyed God in spite of severe opposition and persecution, and was the first man to keep the law of Moses perfectly (John 7.19-23). He trusted the Father for every step he took, even though this led him to Jerusalem and death on that cross! And yet trusting the Father led him to this victory and ultimately to be the conquering King Jesus who reigns and rules today.
Steve Spratt (7pm congregation)
Tomorrows Readings: John 8, Deuteronomy 2.
P.S. Deut 30.15-20 - A good summary of Deuteronomy.
The response according to Hebrews 3:12-13 is to 'see to it that none of us has a sinful and unbelieving heart. But encourage each other daily! ' we have a responsibility to each other to protect and care for each other. How are we looking after each other's hearts?
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