It’s not hard to understand why God was frequently angry with the Israelites. He called them His people, but were they ever really His? What kind of hearts did their frequent rebellions reveal? As we have seen earlier, they never gave up worshiping idols, and the only worship of God is exclusive worship. What do you learn about God in His willingness not only to continue in relationship with such people, but also to go before them into the Promised Land as a consuming fire, subduing the peoples living there so that they might defeat them quickly? We have seen His swift and deadly judgment in some circumstances, and the entire adult generation refused entry into the Promised Land in consequence of their refusal to obey, and we’ll see plenty more of His judgment and consequences; but He wants to reveal His patience in this account. Hopefully this inspires in us greater love for Him, rather than a desire to relax our carefulness in maintaining our relationships with Him. Can He reveal His patience without our putting that patience to the test?
Remember that God’s requirements and desires for His Old Testament people should instruct us about His desires for us. So take note of what He gives them in a nutshell. I find it helpful to make a list. He requires them to:
- Revere Him
- Walk in all His ways
- Love Him
- Serve Him with all their hearts and souls (not just with lip service or as a checklist.) What does it mean to serve Him with your heart and soul? What does it look like? How do you do it?
- Keep His commandments and statutes.
From what we saw in yesterday’s reading, the obedience would be in service to knowing and remembering God. He didn’t want their obedience for the sake of obedience, but for the sake of relationship with Him. All of these requirements speak to His desire for relationship with them. What do these requirements reveal to you about what God wants from you?
I take note when Scripture praises God, because I understand that praise is one way we have been given to know God, and I rather stink at it. So when Moses, the man of God who spoke to God face to face, who saw God’s glory in response to his request (and thus would know a lot about what God is like), offers praise to God, I pay attention and learn. He praises God for
- What He owns. What are the implications of that for you?
- His superiority. Over other gods (including the gods we worship today – what would they be?), over other powers.
- His character and characteristics. Which of these inspires your admiration and appreciation the most?
- What He has done and what He does. What has God done for you that you can praise Him for? That should be treasured up, by the way, so that Satan doesn’t snatch it from your memory.
By the way, is God instructing His people to swear? Remember that He tells them not to take His name in vain, so the whole counsel of Scripture teaches that we aren’t to curse using His name, as our culture perceives swearing. Rather, He is instructing here that His name is their highest authority, the ultimate source of truth.
Moses warned them to be prepared to keep God’s commands so that they would be strong. What, if anything, does that advise for our maintaining the strength we need? We don’t need to seek to keep commands to be legalistic, but we do need to be strong for battle and in our faith.
The warning Moses gave them here was both for taking possession of the land and maintaining possession of the land. Both taking possession of and living in the land of God’s promise required strength found in keeping His commands, holding fast to Him in intimate relationship, and depending on Him to drive out the enemy before them as they moved forward. The keeping needed to happen both in times of crisis and in daily routine. What does that say to you about your living in God’s promises? That’s one of the reasons we’re in God’s word daily!
Moses points out that the Promised Land was different from Egypt. In that day it was different than it is today, as well. Egypt, unlike most of our experience, was a green strip of land along the banks of the Nile only because they worked hard to control the river’s annual flooding for their benefit, and to irrigate the desert land. The Promised Land was different and would be a new experience for them, being watered by rain. Cultivation would be a lot easier for them there! Remember how often the Israelites longed to return to Egypt and all it offered? What God had for them in the Promised Land was so much better! What a wonderful object lesson for us about living in the place of God’s promises! We may not know what He has in store for us, but we can bet that it is good, and certainly better than living without His promises. Moses described the Promised Land as a place of abundance provided by God, and life there one where their needs and even their desires would be fulfilled. How is that like our living in God’s promises today?
Thriving in the Promised Land, and continuing to live there, were contingent on their continuing to keep His commands so as to enjoy relationship with Him. How can they continue to do that rather than be led astray by the deceit of their hearts, or turn away? What Moses tells them is good advice for us today:
- Impress His truth on our hearts – study His word!
- Apply His commands, statutes, judgments to our everyday lives; live by them so that they guide every part of our lives.
- Teach them to our children.
- Talk of them. We talk about what is important to us; they should be important enough to us to talk of them as part of normal conversation.
- Make sure that they reign in our homes.
One final note: the choice of receiving God’s blessing or judgment was theirs. It wasn’t dependent on God’s capriciousness, nor on His choice, but on theirs. God is also predictable in giving us New Testament people what He has promised us, depending on our choices.