Journeying
Through the Wilderness
Deut.
8:2 “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God
led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to
prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest
keep his commandments, or no.”
As
we take this Journey it is a time to humble us. Following the steps
of Israel in this journey, we can learn much. The wilderness was a
time of chastisement for Israel for their unbelief :3, 5. Sometimes
God chastens us too Heb. 12:6-8.
This
journey is also a time to prove us. It will show what is in us.
Rom. 7:18 tells us that in us there is no good thing. God fed Israel
and preserved their clothes :3,4. Can we expect Him to provide our
necessities? Matt. 6:33. Sin against such a God shows us the
wickedness of our own hearts, Jer. 17:9.
This
journey is also a time for us to keep our eyes on our destination.
See :7-9 "For
the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of
water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and
pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; A land wherein thou
shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in
it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest
dig brass."
The
difference is like the constant battle with evil the Christian faces
as in Rom. 7 vs the goal of living in the joy of the Spirit as in
Rom. 8. Journeying with Israel through that wilderness will also
teach us obedience. See verse 6 "Therefore
thou shalt keep the com- mandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in
his way's, and to fear him." Israel's
destination was not heaven but Canaan. Canaan is not even a picture
of Heaven; it is a picture of the Christian's victorious life. Have
you crossed the Jordan of reckoning yourself dead indeed to sin, and
thus have you entered into the victorious life in Christ? The beauty
of this life can also remind us of our destination, Heaven.
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