SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 2
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
“At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” [Mark 1:12-13] Both Israel and Jesus were ‘baptized’ by God, declared in love to be His much-loved children [Mark 1:9-11, 1 Corinthians 10:1-4]. Then they are driven through the wilderness to be tested. Jesus stays true, but the Israelites fail. But the theme of the above text, and of Deuteronomy 2, is how the Lord attends to His people as they go through the wilderness. ”And angels attended him.”
Moses reminds Israel how the Lord watched over their journey through the vast desert, being with them so that they lacked nothing [Deuteronomy 2:7]. He purifies and strengthens them through the wilderness experience (the whole generation of the rebellious die before the next generation can enter the land). He also protects them, providing a path through the lands of Esau’s and Lot’s ancestors. And when Sihon opposes them, the Lord gives them victory. The lesson in this is that believing in the Lord does not take away our experience of wilderness, but it gives us everything we need to pass through with Him to the other side.
That the Lord hardened Sihon’s heart should not be seen as the Lord making him something he wasn’t. The opposite is true. The Lord softened the hearts of Esau’s and Lot’s ancestors, but left Sihon’s heart stubborn and hard. He did this to impress on the people of Canaan that resistance was futile, that their gods could not save them from Him [Deuteronomy 2:25]. This may seem harsh, but remember that these people were not passive, innocent, peace-loving people. These were rebellious, cruel, immoral, violent nations. These were lawless times. The Lord is policing the nations, not pestering them. He is using Israel to establish justice and order.
Like Israel, the church is to be a presence of love, truth, justice, peace. We are not to provoke others, we are to pay what is due the people of the land. We must act with honour and integrity. And when challenged or provoked, we are to trust the Lord for His protection and provision. We do not fight like Israel did, but with spiritual weapons, tearing down spiritual walls and strongholds [2 Corinthians 10:4]. We can be confident that as we follow Jesus through the wilderness of this world, He will accomplish His purpose through us. We will be tested by God, and tempted by Satan. But if we open our eyes, we will see His angels attending us as well!
PRAYER:
Lord, open my eyes that I may see Your presence and power with me, working through me as I pass through this wilderness.
This is true.
I had an opportunity to talk to a woman this past weekend who had lost her 19 year son to cancer (18 years ago). Her son was engaged to a girl and that girl has kept in touch with this woman ever since. She is like a daughter to this woman and the woman could see the Lord’s provision in this through her grief over her son. We shared together that indeed God always gives provision through every situation … you need only to have eyes and an open heart to see it.
God will not abandon you.
In this world we will have trials, but we are never left alone to face them.
I am reminded here that the Lord has watched over His children during their travels in the wilderness. He was with them and they lacked nothing. So too in my travels upon this earth, the Lord my God has been and is and will be with me and I too lack nothing. He supplies my daily bread . . . thank You Lord.
God is present from one generation to the next. During the wilderness journey, a new generation arose and God was their God and they did as He told them by leading them in the Way by their righteous leaders. In their travels to their home, they had passed this way before and generations had come and gone and even nations disappeared from the land through which they traveled. The Lord is gracious to those He is gracious as He told His people not to provoke certain nations. And yet, when they exercised the ban, fear and terror came upon the nations. God was working for His people among His people His purposes to fulfill and the people listened.
Help me to hear you speaking Lord as I travel each day with Your leading. May I be an instrument of Your choosing.
I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk, till traveling days are done.