This book opens with Moses’ nutshell version of the nation’s history. He picked up the account at the point they had been formed into a nation, at Mt. Sinai (which is another name for what Moses here calls Horeb). God led them “through all that great and terrifying wilderness,” to an important place in their history, Kadesh-barnea.
We all have “great and terrifying wilderness” experiences in our lives, and we all face points of challenge like Kadesh-barnea, where we are confronted with a choice whether to trust God and go forward with Him, or turn away. Hopefully we are like Moses in Psalm 90:14, praying every morning that God will “satisfy us … with (His) unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Hopefully we follow Jesus’ example and pray, “… Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil….” This is the only way we can be prepared to handle our Kadesh-barneas better than God’s Old Testament people did.
So good God led His beloved people (He calls them so in Deuteronomy 7:8) through a “great and terrible wilderness.” The next stage of their journey didn’t improve their circumstances, for He brought them face to face with the prospect of war with giants. Do you ever have those seasons in your life, where you go from hard to harder? Can you trust God in those times to fight for you, to lead you to victory? Do you need to use the lesson of this passage to renew your commitment to trust God, asking Him to go before you and fight for you?
God has demonstrated His trustworthiness in His dealings with His Old Testament people. Later when they were ready for their second approach to the Promised Land, God warned them that taking possession would require them to contend with the enemy in battle. What looked like setback after setback, with one king hardening his heart and refusing to let the Israelites through his territory, to another king confronting them in battle array, God used to give His people victory. They captured every city; not one was too high for them as a result of God’s going before them and fighting for them.
This is His desire for all of His people, to be transformed from slaves into victorious soldiers and possessors.