Sermon Central
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You Have Circled This Mountain Long Enough!
Contributed by Kenneth Trent on Nov 18, 2002 (message contributor)
Summary: Coming to Mt. Seir, Israel covetously circled the mountain, desiring to intimidate the inhabitants causing them to flee...hence God’s admonition.
“YOU HAVE CIRCLED THIS MOUNTAIN LONG ENOUGH”
“Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and circled Mount Seir for many days. And the Lord spoke to me, saying, ‘You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north.” Deuteronomy 2:1-3.
God had given Mt. Seir to Esau and his descendants. Israel had grown tired of wandering in the wilderness for forty years and was anxious for a permanent home. Coming to Mt. Seir, Israel covetously circled the mountain, desiring to intimidate the inhabitants causing them to flee. Thus God’s command: “Now turn north.”
I. When God’s people are not walking according to His will, they are “only walking around in circles.” “You have circled this mountain long enough!” We must learn that motion, in and of itself, does not always mean progress.
II. We “go around in circles” when we ignore God’s will for our lives and attempt to do things in our own way. God had greater things ahead for Israel than Mt. Seir. Sometimes God’s people content themselves with lesser things because they tire of the journey. “…one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
III. Turn northward toward Canaan! There would be battles to be fought, hardships to be endured, disappointment and discouragement to be experienced…but ultimately, victories to be won.
We are not to look covetously upon what is not ours but rather move ahead to what God has for us.
IV. Let your sojourn be with integrity. “You shall buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and purchase water from them that you may drink.” The child of God is not to “freeload” on others in his spiritual sojourn but with dignity pay his own way…BECAUSE
V. “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.” Deuteronomy 2:7
