The Journey – Land of Blessing
Deut. 1:6-7 "The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ’You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates.
For eleven months Israel had camped and lived at the foot of Mount Sinai (Horeb). During their time of encampment God had spoken and cut a covenant with the people. Eleven months of dwelling had allowed the people to grown accustomed to their surrounding and life was good. But in doing so they had accepted a degree of spirituality that was far from where God wanted them to be yet it seemed a glorious experience.
Deut 1:5 On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law
Deuteronomy 5:24 "And you said: ’Surely the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives.
As we see from these verses the people had an awesome encounter with God but God wanted them to move
Deut. 1:19 "So we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the LORD our God had commanded us. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea
Deut. 1:2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.
It’s interesting that the people journeyed but stopped again at Kadess Barnea meaning a place in the Desert – failing again to go where God wanted them to go because of the report of the 10 spies -
Numbers 13:26-29 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him, and said: "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan."
Numbers 13:31-33 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
Over the Jordan – Gods destination - were the giants in Canaan that the Israelites feared - So Jordan can be seen as a barrier of fears
It’s time to leave what we have known in the past good or bad and follow Jesus in the present. The past can plague us into thinking we cannot move on, and lull us into being comfortable with the ease of the situation.
Whether it is a satisfaction with our life in God or a fear of giants we must move on with God this will take us to cross our River Jordan’s in order to inherit all that God has for us:
Canaan was the Land of REST (Hebrews 3)
So let us:
• Break Camp with The Past
Moses led the people to make preparations to depart. The idea is to pull up the tent stakes and start on a journey. Lingering in your past, however good or bad, is not worth risking God moving on without you –
• Start A New Journey
1:7 Turn and take your journey - those words speak of excitement and fulfillment at the hand of God. Today, is the start of a fresh encounter with God leading you on an incredible journey - Do not fail to heed to the voice of God today! Do not let your past haunt you into losing the present. God’s blessings would go with them. No matter your past God wants to bless you today.
• Seize the Day
Hebrews 3:7-13 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ’They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ’They shall not enter My rest.’ " Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Joshua 1:1-7 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them--the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
The problem of going where you have never been before is exactly that – no maps – no plans – no models – it’s will give us:
Days of Challenge
The Promised Land was and would be filled with challenges of the untested, unknown and untamed.
• Untested … new leadership … hearing God’s voice
• Unknown … land of the unknown … fear … future holds … dependency on God to lead
• Untamed … land of challenges … hard land … crossing … conquest … opposition (is each day not met with opposition?)
Each day would be a “faith” challenge. Faith not sight [2 Cor 5:7] would need to become the mode of operation. 40 years of wilderness wandering sight had left the previous generation “short-sighted” and “high & dry” to wander in the wilderness.
Faith moves us in the direction we need to go … with God - To have faith means we have to have confidence:
Days of Confidence
We need to know God is with us … all the way - when challenges fall upon us, the first thing we question (doubt) is the … whereabouts of God.
There would be no “pillar of smoke or fire” (sight) to lead like in the days of Moses. These days were about believing confidently to know God would not leave.
We need to know God is with us:
• Powerful presence … no man against … Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
• Personal presence … as with Moses, I will be with you - the God who knows me, is with me, created me, and cares for me
• Permanent presence … no leaving you alone
Hebrews 13:5 "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Matthew 28:20 And surely I am with you always, to the very end."
Days of Commitment
Would Joshua listen to the majority … would he listen to popular opinion … to his own reasoning … or to the Word of God? We need to be committed to the word God has spoken to us….
God keeps His word – Hid word is:
• Complete … do according to all … not a pick and choose - live by every word of God
• Consistent … do not turn from it … right, left - decisions ofour own
Who are you going to trust in? God? Then trust His Word … even when you don’t “see” how it can, could, or should turn out. The heart of biblical faith lies in trusting God.
Trust moves us in the direction we need to go … with God.
Conclusion:
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
