The Lord had given instruction to His people. He had appeared unto them. He had been patient with them. And now at last, the trumpets are sounding. Moses says, “Rise up, O Lord, and go before us.” Now, the children of Israel are on their way, and the first thing they do is complain about something evidently so insignificant that Scripture doesn’t even bother to record the reason. Oh, it must have seemed important to the Israelites at the time, but from God’s perspective, it wasn’t.

After hearing their complaints, it’s as if the Lord gave His people something to complain about through the fire that broke out in their midst. The lesson is a good one for me because through it I understand that complaining causes confusion. If I’m complaining about something in one part of my life, a fire is sure to flare up in another part.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul tells us that if we bite and devour one another, we ourselves will be consumed (5:15). And here at the outset of the Israelites’ journey, God reminds us that we’ll get burned if we’re a people given to complaining.

Many speculate that it was actually the overindulgence of the people that brought about this plague. And they could be right . . .

They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul. - Psalm 106:13–15

The Lord sent the children of Israel that which they desired, but it killed them. That’s important for me to understand. I think I know what I want, but only God sees what is truly best for me. And He promises to withhold no good thing from them who walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11). Therefore, we can be the most peaceful people on the planet because, while everyone else is trying to figure out how to get ahead and how to make it happen, we get to say, “Father, You know my situation. You know what’s best for me. I trust You.”

I’m so glad we don’t have to figure out what’s best and make our demands accordingly, but rather we can simply say, “Lord, Your will be done today,” fully confident that He will do what’s best.

After Miriam questioned Moses’ authority, the Lord struck her with leprosy, and the children of Israel were unable to journey until she was healed. In one way or another, envy always holds others back. The entire congregation was stuck for seven days, waiting for Miriam to be healed of her leprous, envious condition.

The book of Romans says we are to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (12:15). Moses modeled this as he rejoiced for Eldad and Medad and wept for Miriam.

Do we rejoice with those who rejoice? Moses did. Envy weeps over those who rejoice and rejoices over those who weep. Moses did just the opposite. Do we?

Watch out, Moses. Don’t send in the spies. Just step out in faith and follow the command of the Lord who promised to give you the land of destiny.

I believe Moses made a mistake the moment he sent in the spies.

“Wait,” you say. “Wasn’t it the Lord who told Moses to send men in to search out the land?”

In the book of Deuteronomy, we see what really happened that day . . .

And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe: and they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out. - Deuteronomy 1:22–24

The people said, “Send spies to scope out the land to which we’re headed.”

“Sounds good to me,” Moses said of the plan which originated in the hearts of the people.

So finally, God said, “If that’s what you want to do, then that’s the plan.”

The same thing can happen to you and me. If we set our own agenda, if we demand our own way, God very likely will say, “Okay. If that’s your plan, go ahead.”

That’s why it’s the wise man or woman who increasingly prays, “Not my will but Your will be done. Here’s how I see the situation, Lord, but I lay it before You. Please adjust, modify, or correct it as You desire.”

Ten spies had an evil report. Two believed God. People can’t name one of the ten spies, but all of us know the names of Joshua and Caleb. Here’s a key to being forgotten in history, by your family, or in the work of the Kingdom: Murmur, be cynical, be a doubter, be skeptical, be a critic. Sit back and say, “This isn’t right and that will never happen.” On the other hand, the men, women, and congregations who leave an imprint on history are those who say, “We believe God will do great things.”

Ten of the spies saw the foes.

Joshua and Caleb saw the fruit.

Ten of the spies saw the giants.

Joshua and Caleb saw God.

Ten of the spies saw the walls and their faith crumbled.

Joshua and Caleb had faith and knew the walls would crumble.

It’s all a matter of perspective. We will have faith in that which we fear. The ten spies had faith in the giants because they feared them. But Joshua and Caleb feared God, and therefore, had faith in Him.

I saw a nature movie years ago in which, seeing a mountain lion headed his way, a little bear cub stood on its back legs, raised its little paws, and let forth a high-pitched growl. The mountain lion immediately stopped in his tracks, turned around, and ran away, leaving the little bear cub thinking, This is great! Look what I did! And then the camera panned back to show that standing behind the little bear was his mama - a huge grizzly!

We have a great big God standing with us who makes any giant seem like a grasshopper in comparison. The spies lifted up their eyes to the giants. Joshua and Caleb lifted them higher and saw the Father.

“Would to God that we die in the wilderness,” the children of Israel repeatedly said (see Numbers 14:2).

And, because life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21), God said, “Okay. As you have spoken, so shall it be.”

Faith and words go hand in hand, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). That is why to be saved, we must believe in our hearts as well as confess with our mouths (Romans 10:9–10).

The longer I live, the more I realize that what I say has a huge impact on the unseen world around me. I’m beginning to understand more and more that if I speak critically and cynically even only to my wife, the impact is sure to boomerang back on me. Conversely, if I speak words of faith, I open the door for the Lord to work miraculously.

When God said, “Go,” His people refused. Yet now they’re saying, “We’ve learned our lesson. We’re going to do it now.” But God had already spoken. He had already told them they would wander forty years in the wilderness until the entire generation died.

There can be a presumption that looks like faith but in reality is folly. What’s the difference between faith and presumption? Simply this: God’s Word. Are you launching out because you’re trying to prove your spiritual prowess, or because of some fantastic fantasy, or do you have God’s Word on the matter? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Therefore, it is the promise of God found in the Word of God upon which we are to stand.

Even after God said that the entire generation was to die, even though He knew they wouldn’t be obedient to Him, He reiterates His intention to bring His people into the Land. He doesn’t say, “If you come into the land . . .” He says, “When you come into the land . . .” And to the nineteen-year-olds, sixteen-year-olds, and eight-year-olds hearing this, it would be just as God declared, for although His people could delay His blessings, they could not destroy His purpose.

So too, I can delay God’s blessings in my life for forty minutes or forty hours, forty days, forty weeks, or even forty years. But I cannot delay His purpose . . .

Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven, and which are on earth; even in him. - Ephesians 1:9–10

God’s ultimate plan is that in the fullness of time, everything and everyone will be brought into unity in Christ, intimacy with Christ, and conformity to Christ. That is where life is going. Therefore, because God created everything to be brought together in Christ, focused on Christ, united by Christ, the degree to which I do that today will be the degree to which I will move in the same direction as all of creation. Conversely, the degree to which I do anything other than that is the degree to which I’ll go against the flow of that which God has predetermined for all of creation.

It’s so wonderful to relax in an inner tube in the center of the river. As you cruise along in the sun, it’s refreshing and wonderful with some thrills along the way. If, on the other hand, you’re trying to go upstream against the flow, it’s miserable. You get tired and go nowhere.

Gang, go with the flow of what God determined all of history to do. Be one with Christ; focus on Christ; live for Christ.

Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day. - Exodus 35:2–3

For gathering sticks to kindle a fire, the man in our text was put to death. Working on the Sabbath killed him physically just as it will kill us spiritually. You see, although I realize that Jesus died for my sins, that He paid the price, that He secured my salvation, I can mistakenly think that I need to stoke things up a bit, that I can get things hotter by my own efforts. So I begin to gather sticks by promising to pray four minutes every day and to read my Bible at least once a month. And if I do that, I can think I’m pretty hot. But, like any fire, the fire I’ve kindled demands more. So I find myself thinking that I better read a chapter a week and pray an hour a day, which then becomes a chapter and two hours of prayer every day and pretty soon fifteen chapters and six hours of prayer a day, until finally, I say, “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t follow through with these obligations and commitments. I’m so burned out, I’m going to forget the whole thing.”

That’s what legalism does. That’s what this man in our text was doing. He should have been resting, enjoying the Sabbath - but instead he was gathering wood to stoke the fire. And he died in the process because legalism always kills (2 Corinthians 3:6). That’s why the Christian life is all about grace. It’s not about the sticks I gather or the fire I ignite. It’s all about what Jesus did, not with sticks, but on two beams of wood that formed the Cross of Calvary.

“It is finished,” He said.

And so it is. The person who finally gets it is the one who is truly blessed. This person says, “I’m going to learn to receive grace graciously. I’m going to rest. Instead of trying to impress God, I’m going to enjoy Him.” Our Enemy would have us believe that our Father is a stern God who overreacts in rage to a man innocently picking up sticks, when in fact, He is a Father who wants us to rest in Him because He is a God of immeasurable grace.

Any Israelite over the age of twenty would not enter the Promised Land because, although there is forgiveness of sin, there are also repercussions; although God forgives and forgets, the scars remain. This is the message of Numbers 15, the first of ten chapters that will chronicle God’s dealings with a group of people who had not only failed miserably, but who would continue to do so over the next fifty years.

And yet at the end of this chapter, God says this: “Here’s what will make the wilderness wandering which you’ve brought upon yourselves bearable: around your garments make a border of blue.” In Scripture, blue is the color of Heaven. Therefore, God was essentially saying, “Never forget that you’re on your way to Heaven.”

“Let not your heart be troubled,” Jesus would echo centuries later, “Believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions” (see John 14:1–2). My heart can be troubled. So can yours. But because Jesus will never ask us to do that which He doesn’t empower us to do, I don’t have to let my heart be troubled. What’s the key? Heaven - to think about Heaven, to be focused on Heaven, to be constantly aware that Heaven is close at hand. The children of Israel were to have borders of blue on their hems so that when they looked down at their feet as they trudged through the wilderness, they would see a dusty border of blue, reminding them of their higher calling, their grand destination.

The same is true today. From the time I get dressed each morning until the time I undress each night, I am to see the border of blue. That is, I’m to remember that I’m headed for Heaven, where all those things I wish I could redo, where all the opportunities I’ve missed and the mistakes I’ve made will be set right.

If you remove the border of blue from your garments, if you remove Heaven from the equation, you’ll be depressed in the wilderness, for the key to being happy and joyful on earth is to live for Heaven.

Like Miriam before them, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram questioned Moses’ position of authority. That they, along with two hundred fifty leaders, came to the Tabernacle with censers in hand indicates that they thought they had a case, they thought they would be vindicated, and they thought God would justify their rebellion.

As I look back over my life, I am amazed by the times I thought I was right only to find out how wrong I was. “We all see through a glass darkly,” Paul said (see 1 Corinthians 13:12). And perhaps he understood this better than anyone. “I know this is the right thing to do,” he no doubt said as he dragged Christians from their homes, believing they were ruining Judaism and polluting the people of God. What a shock it must have been when, on his way to Damascus one day to imprison more believers, he was knocked to the ground. In that moment, this intellectual giant, this spiritually passionate man, must have realized that he had been absolutely, completely, and one hundred percent wrong (Acts 9).

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram thought they were right, but what they failed to factor into the equation was God’s sovereignty. God is on the throne. God is in control. Therefore, it’s not up to us to pull people down or prop people up. Sometimes I mistakenly think, “I need to straighten this guy out or pull that group down because if it’s gonna happen, it’s up to me.”

God, however, says, “Promotion does not come from the east, the west, or the south. I am the Lord who raises up one and puts down the other” (see Psalm 75:6–7).

It’s a great day when a person finally realizes that because God is on the throne and is in control, he can simply say, “Lord, You’re the One who will raise up one and put down another, be it the boss of my company or the leaders of our country. Therefore, I’m going to be submitted to You as I submit to those in authority over me.”

We can’t learn to be humble without being humiliated, to be forgiving without being wronged, to be sweet without bitter experiences. Therefore God uses people and situations in our lives to allow us to experience these things personally rather than just to propound them philosophically.

Not only did Aaron’s rod blossom, but it yielded fruit. So too, no one before Jesus and no one since Him has borne the fruit of the Spirit like He did. He perfectly personified a love characterized by joy, peace, and longsuffering; gentleness, goodness, and faith; and meekness and temperance (Galatians 5:22).

Second, we can recognize those to whom we are to be linked, those to whom we are to listen, those to whom we are to submit by the presence of the fruit of the Spirit in their lives.

Mom and Dad, if you’re wishing you had more impact on your teenage daughter or junior high grandson, the key is not to beat them with the rod, but to let them see your passion for God, to let them see the fruit of the Spirit in your life. Kids and adults alike can sense if a person is walking with the Lord and is full of the Spirit because such a life manifests itself in love.

When you have decisions to make about people who claim to have authority, remember Numbers 17 and look for the budding, the blossoming, and the fruit.

God’s Word is very dangerous. Why? Because Hebrews 4:12 says it is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. No wonder, then, that we feel cut up. The Word divides the soul and the spirit - my intellect and emotions from my true self that will live forever. It divides my joints and marrow, an act that, if done physically, would immobilize and kill me. It divides the thoughts and intents of my heart, as it gets to the center of any given matter.

No wonder when I hear or read the Word, I can feel pierced and poked, sliced and diced. That’s what the Word does, not only to those who hear it, but to those who speak it . . .

Mistakenly thinking Jeremiah was coming down on them, the people captured him and threw him into a pit. “That’s it,” Jeremiah said. “I quit. I’m tired of the pit. Enough is enough. I will speak no more in the name of the Lord” . . . until the Word was like fire in his bones and he couldn’t keep quiet (see Jeremiah 20:9).

We’ve all felt that way. When you share the Word, you can be convicted by the very things you share. Because the Word is a two-edged sword, it cuts both ways. Yes, it comforts, inspires, and delights. But because it’s a two-edged sword, it also pierces and penetrates, prods and provokes.

“Shall we be consumed in dying?” the children of Israel asked.

The answer is “Yes.”

Jesus said, “If any man come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, die daily, and follow Me” (see Luke 9:23).

“I die daily,” said Paul (1 Corinthians 15:31).

The flesh must die before the Spirit can live. And because my flesh seems to reawaken every day, like Paul, I must die daily.

How?

The only way I know to deal with the flesh is with the sword of the Spirit. That’s why I need to allow the Word to kill my flesh day after day. And as it does, like the resurrected Jesus, I find I am able to walk through walls and locked doors (John 20:26).

“My son won’t talk to me,” a father sighs.

“My daughter has shut me out,” a mother cries.

“My wife has locked the door,” says a weary husband.

“He’s built a wall,” says the devastated wife.

I suggest that when I allow my flesh to be sliced and diced by the piercing and poking of the Word every day, although it’s painful in some ways, humbling and difficult in others, the end result is that I have entry into places I would never have had otherwise. High walls, locked doors, and pulled shades begin to open as my critical, cynical, and harsh nature softens, giving me access into places that were previously closed.

I’m convinced it’s our own flesh that keeps us out of places we long to enter. There’s no Resurrection without death. There’s no Easter Sunday without Good Friday. There’s no way to enter in without first being broken down. It's a process that must happen daily and continually. And the way it happens is through the Word of God very simply, very powerfully, and very definitely.

Concerning the offerings given to the Lord, He said to those who were serving Him, “This has been offered to Me, but now I’m giving it to you.” That is, when a heave offering was made, God didn’t receive it physically, but rather gave it to the priests. And when a sin offering or trespass offering was made, although a portion of it went up in smoke to the Lord, the majority of meat remained and was given to the priests.

In offering meat to the Lord on behalf of the people, the priests themselves would be fed. That’s always the way it is. If you feel like you’re not being fed, teach Sunday school, start a Bible study at work, disciple someone, have family devotions. The priests would be fed to the degree they fed others. And the principle is still true.

Look at what the children of Israel said when they were here at Kadesh thirty-eight years earlier . . .

And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? - Numbers 14:2–3

This sobers me because I realize it is possible for a man or congregation to murmur or complain in the same way we murmured or complained a generation earlier. When we’re younger, we think we’ll outgrow certain tendencies. “When I’m seventy, I’m going to be a patriarch,” we tell ourselves. “My family will highly esteem me. People will want to listen to me. Sure, I’m busy now at age thirty-five or forty. But when I’m seventy, I’ll have made a mark spiritually.”

Time itself does not make one mature. The only way we will be wise at age seventy is to make wise decisions at age forty. You’re making that choice by studying the Word right now, for God has determined that people grow in wisdom by taking heed to His Word chapter by chapter, verse by verse. How I pray that if the Lord tarries, I will not be as foolish at age seventy as I am now. “Lord,” I pray, “deepen me.” How does that happen? By spending time in and obeying the Word.

Without question, Moses was one of the greatest men in history. He had an awesome responsibility. He led three million people out of slavery on a journey toward the land of their destiny. He also had a glorious opportunity, for he heard from the Lord directly (Numbers 12:8). Moses was a uniquely blessed and godly man, but he was still a man. And here we see the humanity of Moses in what would be his greatest sin.

If you were to ask Moses’ contemporaries what his great sin was, some would point to his murder of the Egyptian in Exodus 2. Others might point to his failure to tend his own children in Exodus 4. Others might point to his marriage to the Ethiopian woman in Numbers 12. But none of those things disqualified Moses in the way this sin does.

The people were thirsty. They were murmuring. They wanted water to drink. In response, God told Moses to take the rod that had blossomed and budded three chapters earlier and to speak to the rock. Moses took the rod but then looked at the people and called them rebels. In the Greek Septuagint, the word translated “rebels” is moros, from which we get the word “moron.” “You morons, must we fetch you water?” Moses cried as he struck the rock twice (see verse 11).

And although God provided water, He said, “Because of this, Moses, you will not be allowed into the Promised Land.”

Moses had been leading this congregation for decades. He had put up with the murmuring, the complaining, the sin of three million people. How, then, can it be that God would disqualify him when he’s so close to the finish line? What was the sin Moses committed that marred his record? The sin was obviously related to anger. We know this not only from the context, but from the Psalms . . .

They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. - Psalm 106:32–33

As I read the Bible, I understand that the point of a man’s greatest strength is more often than not the point of his greatest failure. Known for his meekness, which the Greeks defined as “strength under control,” Moses failed when he lost control and lost his temper. Peter was a man known for his courage, as one who walked on water in the midst of a storm and who chopped off Malchus’ ear. But where did he fail? He failed when he became a coward before a servant girl (Matthew 26:69). Job was a man who was abundantly patient, and yet he was rebuked by the Lord for a lack of patience (Job 40). David was a man after God’s heart, a lover of God, and yet he fell because he lusted after a woman (2 Samuel 11). Unlike the others around him, Noah was a righteous man, yet he failed when he got drunk in his tent (Genesis 9:21).

The same is true of us. Where we think we are strongest will be the point of our greatest vulnerability. If you think your marriage is so strong that you will never be in danger, be careful. If you think you have so much integrity that you would never cheat on your taxes, wait a minute. If you think you’re so honest that you would never tell a lie, beware. Where I’m weak, I’m aware of my vulnerability. I know I’ve got to pray about it. I know I’ve got to keep my guard up. But when I think I’m together, I fail to pray and I don’t watch as carefully as I ought to. I rely on my own strength, not realizing that my own strength is limited.

Moses misrepresented the nature and character of the Father. In blowing his top, Moses signaled to the people that God must be angry with them. But He wasn’t. Psalm 103 says our Father has compassion on us, remembering our frames, knowing that we are dust. Our God is a God of incredible mercy, a Father of intense compassion. And because Moses misrepresented Him, he would not be able to lead the congregation into the Land of Promise.

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. - 1 Corinthians 10:1–4

When the children of Israel began their journey, God told Moses to smite the rock. And out of the rock came water (Exodus 17:6). The Rock is Christ. Christ was smitten once, never to be smitten again. Yes, our sin demanded the Rock be smitten. But He died once for all - for all sin, for all time, for all men. The price has been paid, and now Moses was to speak to the rock. The rock was only to be smitten once because Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient. But Moses ruined the picture by striking the rock again.

It’s not our job to beat people up or straighten them out. Yes, we are to share the truth with them in love, but anger or bitterness will disqualify us from true leadership, for the wrath of man never works the righteousness of God (James 1:20). Moses no doubt thought, “This is it. It’s been almost forty years and these people never stop complaining. Certainly, God, You must have had it up to here with Your people.” God’s mercy, however, is inexhaustible. It extends all the way to the heavens (Psalm 36:5).

“Your mercies are new every morning,” the prophet proclaimed (see Lamentations 3:22–23). Like Moses, we can think God surely must be exhausted, upset, or angry with us and the rest of the sinners surrounding us. But He’s not. His mercy is new every morning, and where sin abounds, grace abounds much more (Romans 5:20).

Why would it be here - only weeks away from their entering the Promised Land - that God would have poisonous serpents bite His people? Because if they’re not taught in the wilderness, they will be distraught in the Land of Promise. So too, God is willing to go to great extremes to get us to understand that if we’re not happy today, we’ll not be happy tomorrow regardless of what comes our way or where we might be. Happiness is an inside job.

God allows His children to feel a lot of pain and even to die in order that they might see and understand that He is with them, that He is enough for them, that He will take care of them. If they don’t learn to quit their complaining here, they’ll not experience His presence even in the Land of Promise.

How about you? Has it been a week of complaining? Have you heard yourself say, “This is hard right now, but as soon as I get the job or as soon as I retire, as soon as she marries me or as soon as my wife leaves me, as soon as we have kids or as soon as the kids move out, I’ll be happy”?

If you’re not happy today, you’ll not be happy tomorrow unless you get to the root issue. We get so deceived about this. We think we’re going to be happy “just as soon as,” but “just as soon as” never comes.

What does this mean? Jesus explained it perfectly . . .

“Master, I know no man can do the works You do except God be with Him,” Nicodemus said to Jesus.

“Truly, I say unto you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God,” Jesus answered, as if to say, “Let’s not talk about miracles, Nicodemus. I want to get to the root: you must be born again.”

“Born again?” Nicodemus asked. “Can a man enter into his mother’s womb a second time?”

“That which is born of flesh is flesh, but that which is born of Spirit is spirit,” Jesus said. And then He reached back to this story in Numbers 21 when He said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3).

Jesus likens Himself to the serpent - the very creature that caused Eve to question God’s goodness in the garden of Eden. Why? Because He who knew no sin would be made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Here in Numbers 21, there were no doubt those who said, “You’re telling me all I have to do to be healed is look at a pole and see a brass snake? What good will that do? I need some anti-venom.” Or, “If I can get the right prescription, I can get over this infection.” And, because of their stubbornness, they would die unnecessarily.

So too, there are people today who will not look to the One who hung on the pole of the Cross. “All I need is some Prozac,” they say, “or a beer, or a hot fudge sundae. All I need is something to fill up the hole in my soul.”

God said the only thing we must do is to realize we’ve been bitten and look to the serpent - the Son of Man - on the Cross. The one who does so will be made whole. It’s just that simple.

The children of Israel sang and water gushed forth. That’s always the way it is. When we come to dry times and difficult days in our pilgrimage, we can either choose to murmur or to make music.

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. - Isaiah 54:1

“Are you barren?” the Lord asks you and me. “I don’t want you to grumble about your situation. I want you to sing.” An overriding principle seen throughout the Word is that when people are in barren conditions or dry times, power and blessing are released when they choose not to murmur but to praise the Lord. The children of Israel did this, water gushed forth, and they moved on.

Why was God’s anger kindled? Hadn’t He told Balaam to go? When, like Balaam, we beg and insist on our own way, God might say, “Okay.” But it’s not necessarily His plan or His will.

If you’re a parent, you will sometimes let your kids go the way they insist on going, even though you know there will be needless pain and heartache down the road. Sometimes God will do the same with His children. That’s why the “name-it-and-claim-it” movement is so frightening to me. I don’t want to name and claim anything God knows isn’t best for me. I want to pray like Jesus: “Father, . . . not My will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).

Although the size of the tribe would determine the size of the property given them, the location of the property would be determined by lot, by “drawing straws.”

I find the combination of verses 53 to 54, and 55 to 56 fascinating because in the former we see Jesus’ parable of the pounds (Luke 19:12–27), in which servants were rewarded according to what they did with an equal number of pounds given to each of them, while in the latter, we see Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30), in which the servants were rewarded according to what they did with the differing amounts given sovereignly to them. Thus, man’s free will and God’s sovereignty both enter into the equation.

Because their father had died, leaving no male inheritor, the daughters of Zelophehad came to Moses, saying, “It’s unfair that we receive no inheritance simply because we have no brother to claim it.” In saying that the daughters of Zelophehad were right, is the Lord implying that He neglected to address the question of a lack of a male inheritor, that He simply forgot to put it in the law? Obviously not. I believe the Lord purposely leaves some things unsaid in the Word in order that we might go to Him for further instruction.

When I was younger, I basically thought the Trinity consisted of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Bible. I didn’t understand that the real key to vibrant Christianity, to a radical faith, lies in the new covenant, where the Lord says, “I will write My will upon the table of your heart” (see Jeremiah 31:33).

Why was it that the whole known world was impacted, turned upside down by a group of believers who didn’t have a single page of the New Testament? It was because even though they didn’t have the Gospel of Luke or the Epistle to the Romans, they knew how to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. And as a result, miracles happened and blessings flowed.

We will be the most radical group of believers in the world to the degree that we say, “Lord, lead me today. Write Your will upon my heart; confirm it by Your Word. And what You tell me, I will do.”

“Your time is about up,” God says to His friend, Moses. “It is time for you to be gathered to your people, to be taken to Heaven. But first I want you to climb Mount Nebo, where I will show you the Promised Land.”

In this, we see both the grace and the discipline of God. God’s grace allowed Moses to view the Promised Land. But because he had sinned in misrepresenting God to the people as he struck the rock at Meribah (Numbers 20:11), he would not be able to enter it.

The older I get, the more I realize that although God is indeed gracious and full of mercy, a Father who is inexpressibly patient and kind, there are definite, absolute repercussions of sin. This is why the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). We ought to walk in the fear of God - not afraid of Him, but afraid of the repercussions of our sin.

Called a minister, or servant, of Moses (Joshua 1:1), Joshua played second fiddle to Moses. For forty years, he simply served as number two, faithful in whatever he was to do. “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful,” Paul declared (1 Corinthians 4:2). Many want to be men of faith. But rarer, and perhaps more important, is to be a faithful man. Joshua was just that. And in due season, after forty years of faithfulness, God tapped him on the shoulder.

God does that with us, too. It might take forty years, but if we faithfully plug away at what God has called us to do - big or small, noticed or unnoticed - He will tap us on the shoulder one day and say, “You’ve served faithfully. Now is the time for greater ministry.”

It’s interesting that the Lord calls the savor of the sacrifices sweet, because if you have ever smelled a burning bull or cow - the hide, the hair, the entire animal, as would be the case in the burnt offering - the odor is anything but sweet. Yet, whenever the flesh is placed upon the altar, it’s always sweet to the Father. The flesh speaks of our inclination toward self. Thus, there is nothing sweeter to God than when I lay my flesh on the altar and let it burn.

Why?

Because it sets me free. God knows that sin is only pleasurable for a season (Hebrews 11:25). Consequently, whenever He smells the burning of the flesh, it’s sweet to Him because He knows the one making such an offering is set free. “To be carnally, or fleshly, minded is death,” Paul writes. “But to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (see Romans 8:6). Do you want to really live, to have abundant peace? Then put your flesh on the altar and be set free.

From the sacrifice of a single lamb in the morning and in the evening, seen in Numbers 28:4, the sacrifice grew to over a ton of flour, one thousand gallons of wine and oil, thirteen thousand oxen, and sixty thousand sheep given annually (Numbers 29:13–39).

“That’s an awful lot of giving,” you say, “a huge sacrifice.”

Wait a minute. Suppose my nine-year-old son Benjamin said to me, “Daddy, can I have ten dollars to get you a Father’s Day gift?”

“Sure,” I say, and give him a crisp ten dollar bill.

Father’s Day morning, sure enough, I get a homemade card from Benny and inside the card is the crisp ten dollar bill.

“Thanks Ben!” I would say excitedly - even though I gave him the money to give to me.

That the Israelites gave thousands of livestock, a ton of flour, and thousands of gallons of wine and oil meant that God had blessed them with these things in the first place. As I did with Benny, God provided His people with everything they would give back to Him.

So too, God gave us all that we have, all that we are. If we lay down our lives for God, it’s only because He gave them to us in the first place.

As God is getting His people organized and developing them for their destiny, the sacrificial system is recorded. That is, a lamb was to be sacrificed every morning, every evening, every day. Weekly, an additional lamb was to be sacrificed. Monthly, a greater sacrifice was to be made at the beginning of each month. Annually, there were feasts with accompanying sacrifices that God’s people were to celebrate.

In this, I understand that there is a rhythm to spiritual life. Many people have a hard time with this because they view spiritual life as being random. But as we look at God’s calendar, it’s impossible to deny its rhythm. Therefore, wise is the man, woman, or family who understands God’s heart is for us to begin and end our days focused on the Lamb - unlocking the blessings for the day in the morning, closing up the blessings securely in the evening.

In addition, one day a week should be set aside to make twice the expenditure - to be focused on God singularly, offering to Him the day in praise, worship, and fellowship.

In addition, at the beginning of the month, we have opportunity to get away and say, “What’s on Your heart for me for the coming month, Lord?” as we carve out time for refreshment and review, for vision and correction.

In addition, the children of Israel observed seven feasts that drew their hearts and minds back to God’s goodness to them, to His faithful provision for them. When the people of Israel followed this pattern, they did well. When they deviated from it, they stumbled. God is not wasting pages in His Word to go over arcane, meaningless sacrifices. No, He’s teaching us and reminding us that this is the way our lives will count.

Is there a pattern, a rhythm to your spiritual life? Or are you one who is haphazard and inconsistent? As much as we may not like to hear it, God designed us to be disciplined. Therefore, if you want to be prosperous and productive in claiming the promises of the Spirit-filled life, listen to what God told His people on the eve of their entrance into the Promised Land. Follow the pattern, the rhythm of spiritual life as seen here in the book which tells us how to make our lives count, the book of Numbers.

To prepare the children of Israel for the battles that faced them in the Promised Land, in the chapter before us, God deals with the subject of accountability and integrity. After all, if you’re headed into battle, it’s imperative that the guy next to you means what he says when he declares, “Go one hundred yards ahead and I’ll cover you.” You’ve got to be sure that he’s not going to change his mind, that he’ll come through.

God is serious about vows, promises, and commitments. And that makes me happy because God doesn’t hold us to a higher standard than that to which He holds Himself. Therefore, the fact that God tells us we are to keep our word means He keeps His. The Bible is packed with promises - at the very least, three thousand in number. God makes promise after promise to you and me. And what He says, He will do. He told us, for example, that if we believe on Him, we’ll not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). That’s a promise He makes and a promise He will keep.

In Numbers 30 we see God holding men to their word, but making exceptions for women. Is this chauvinistic discrimination? No. It’s a wonderful illustration. You see, on one hand, God wants me to be a man of integrity. On the other hand, as the Bride of Christ, we are all women. And we have a husband who ever lives to make intercession for us, who steps up, steps in, who’s at the right hand of the Father as an Advocate for us (1 John 2:1).

Tempted in all points like us (Hebrews 4:15), Jesus understands our pressures, our frailties, our infirmities, and our desires to keep promises, but He also understands our inability to do so. So He steps in, intercedes, and intervenes on our behalf. It’s a wonderful picture and illustration.

This is exactly what happened in Luke 22 . . .

Only hours before He was to be crucified, Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him.

“Not me,” Peter argued. “Lord, even if everyone else denies You, I won’t. I’ll die alongside of You, if it comes to that. You can count on me” (see verse 33).

Knowing Peter’s heart, and also knowing he couldn’t do what he promised, Jesus said, “Satan has desired to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not. And when you make it through, strengthen the brothers” (see verses 31–32).

From there, Peter would eventually find himself in Jerusalem, preaching at the service in which three thousand were saved (Acts 2:41). Because Jesus prayed for the man who made a vow he couldn’t keep, thousands were saved.

You have a friend in Jesus Christ. You have a Bridegroom who knows all about your fickleness. You have One who steps up and steps in on your behalf, who ever lives to make intercession for you (Hebrews 7:25). No matter what vows you have made at any given time, Jesus will see you through. He promised to, and He keeps every promise perfectly. If, however, you turn your back on Him, walk away from Him, and are no longer covered by Him, you’re on your own.

Numbers 30 has much to say about integrity, but also about our security as the Bride of Christ.

Moses had already been told he was about to die (Numbers 27:12–13). Here, however, the Lord gives him another assignment - to do battle with the Midianites, the people who followed the counsel of Balaam and caused the Israelites to fall.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12). Therefore, God is a good Father who doesn’t want us to be under the illusion that somehow, someday everything will be hunky dory. It doesn’t work that way. There are battles until the day we go to Heaven. “Moses,” God said, “you’re going to Heaven, but before you do, there’s a battle to fight.”

So too, we battle against our flesh, against the world’s system, and against our Enemy every day until the day we die. This is a key to spiritual maturity, for once we understand this, we’ll not be disappointed or depressed by hope deferred.

The spoils the Israelites had taken from the Midiantes - the gold, silver, brass, and iron - were to be purified by fire and water. So too, in the war we wage daily, everything we have, everything we are must be purified by the trials of fire and by the truth of the water of the Word.

I will not know what is gold, silver, and precious stones versus what is wood, hay, and stubble in my life until I go through trials, for they alone reveal to me where my heart is.

“Abraham, take your son, your only son whom you love, and offer him as a sacrifice to Me,” God said. Abraham obeyed, took Isaac to Mount Moriah, put him on the altar, and was ready to plunge the knife in his hand into the chest of his son (Genesis 22:1–10).

“Lay not thine hand upon the lad,” God then said, “neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me” (Genesis 22:12).

The result of this incredible trial: Abraham knew that God knew that he loved God more than he loved his son.

How are we purified? By the water of the Word (Psalm 119:9). And we’ll see the results by how we react in the trials we face.

The men of war brought 420 pounds of gold to the Tabernacle as a memorial to the Lord. We talk a lot about making memories with our kids and our families. But these men made a memory for God. “You’ve been so good to us,” they said. “Let this be a memory for You.”

I read this and I say, “Make me that kind of man, Lord - a man who makes memories for You. I’m so calloused and cold. Circumcise my heart. Let me see what You’ve done for me and my family.”

I miss my daughter Jessie. Oh, I’m so glad she’s in Heaven. And I’m glad for the memories we have. But I miss her a lot. If you have a daughter you’re able to tuck in tonight, who’s still with you, you need to be thankful. Maybe you’ve had a bad day, or you are going through hard times; but if you can tuck your daughter in, it’s time for you to make a memory for the Lord, a memorial unto Him. It’s time for you to bring Him the jewels and gold of thanksgiving and praise for His abundant goodness to you.

Because God will never take us one step further in our spiritual lives than we want to go, Moses agreed to Reuben’s and Gad’s proposal, but warned them that if they didn’t live up to their agreement, their sin would find them out.

This is a pivotal, foundational principle. Notice Moses didn’t say it was God who would track them down, do them in, find them out. No, should Reuben and Gad fail to keep their end of the bargain, it was their sin that would find them out. And the same is true with us.

Due to the finished work of the Cross, God not only forgives our sin, but buries it in the sea of His forgetfulness (Micah 7:19; Hebrews 10:17). Yet I must understand that, as Galatians 6:7 declares, whatever I sow, I will reap. It isn’t God who says, “Aha! I’m going to expose that sin to embarrass you.” That’s not the nature of our Father. No, it is the sin itself that will come to fruition. I am firmly persuaded and deeply convinced that there is no exception to this. Every time I sin, that sin will sooner or later track me down, find me out, and humiliate me. But it’s not God doing this. Rather, it’s the work of the Enemy to not only seduce us into sin, but to expose and humiliate us through it.

Joined by the half-tribe of Manasseh, the tribes of Reuben and Gad did indeed remain on the east side of the Jordan. Oh, they went into the Promised Land occasionally, but they didn’t live there. And, as we see in Joshua 22, when they built an altar on their side of the Jordan, the other tribes said, “What are you doing building an altar? There is only to be one altar - at the Tabernacle.”

“Wait a minute,” said the men of Gad. “We’re not building an altar to offer sacrifices, but so that in the coming days you won’t disavow us. It’s not a working altar, but simply a monument so that future generations will know we’re linked with you.” Yet, although they made peace that day, the problems had begun, leading to suspicion and division in the nation between those who wanted to stay and those who wanted to go on.

Although they established cities, as evidenced by the remainder of the chapter, it would eventually be these who didn’t go in, who didn’t go on, who were picked off first by the Syrians and the Assyrians. And it would be they who would become corrupted, for when Jesus came on the scene, the prized property of Reuben and Gad, the land of the Gadarenes, was filled with pigs, demons, and pagan Greek culture.

Why?

Because we either move further and deeper into the presence of the Lord, or we move in the other direction and become more and more interested in the things of the world. Right now, you are either deeper than you were five years ago, or you are more shallow. But you are not the same. Either my knowledge of the Lord is deeper, my walk stronger, my faith larger, or it is less. It’s a great misconception to think we can put our spiritual lives on cruise control, to think that, because we know the plan of salvation and basic biblical principles, we can coast from here on out. We can’t.

Reuben and Gad made a monumental mistake choosing a place of comfort rather than one of commitment by opting for affluence rather than obedience. “This land is good for our cattle and for our families,” they said. And yet, by the time Jesus walked their land, there was not a cow in sight. If you want your cattle to do well, take them into the Promised Land, otherwise they’ll turn into pigs. And if you want your kids to do well, take them with you, otherwise they’ll be the ones who prefer that Jesus depart from their coasts (Mark 5:17).

Is your praise more fervent, your prayer more intense, your commitment to the Kingdom greater, your time in the Word longer, your knowledge of God larger, your love for the Lord deeper than it was two years ago? Press in. Go on. Don’t stop.

Every stop along the way, every place we’ve pitched our tent, every time we’ve pulled up stakes to move on, God remembers. I wish that could be said of me. My kids will say, “Dad, remember when we did that?” But I don’t. I forget the places we stopped and some of the things we’ve done. Not our Father. He remembers it all. In Hebrews 6:10, we read that God is not unrighteous to forget our works and our labor of love. God never forgets anything we’ve done. Whenever we’ve done what He’s led us to do, He records it, remembers it, and eventually rewards it (Matthew 10:42). He never forgets - not a single work.

God has led you from stop to stop, from place to place that you have long since forgotten about, like the time your co-worker was bogged down with a bunch to do and you chose to stay an extra twenty minutes to help him; the time you helped in the nursery when it wasn’t even your turn; the time you stood by the one in your seventh grade class whom everyone else was picking on. “I remember when you chose to do what I led you to do, when you pitched your tent where I told you to pitch it,” God says. “It’s in My scrapbook. It might be boring to others, forgotten by you, but it’s important to Me.”

In Numbers 33:3 and 4, we see the children of Israel leaving Egypt. In verses 5 through 8, they go to and through the Red Sea. In verses 9 through 15, they go from Marah to Mount Sinai, where they received the Law and instructions for building the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system. In verses 16 through 36, they go from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea. And in verses 37 through 49, they go from Kadesh-barnea to the Jordan River, into the Land of Promise.

In this account, there is something huge missing, a glaring omission, namely, the thirty-eight years the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness due to their unbelief. In other words, the Father records exactingly and carefully every single spot where they pitched their tents in obedience to His leading. But when they were in sin, there’s no mention, no record, no memory as far as He is concerned.

How I like that! He remembers where we’ve been, but He forgets about our sin. He edits it out of the video, throws away the slide, erases it from His journal. That’s the kind of God we serve.

Why doesn’t He remember our sins? Because He sent His Son to die on the Cross in our place and shed His blood in order that they could be cleansed. What a price the Father paid to eradicate that memory, to clean up my story.

The Israelites never came close to taking all of the territory God had given them. God had so much for them. He had given so much to them. He had such grand plans for them. Yet they never took advantage of them. And as I read this, I can’t help but wonder, Lord, how much more do You have in mind for me, for my family, for the church? As I do, I realize I can get very comfortable on this side of the Jordan and miss out on what God wants to do through me and in me. I also realize that if I don’t deal decisively with the carnal tendencies of my heart, like the children of Israel, I’ll possess only a fraction of what the Lord has for me.

Serving as ministers in the Tabernacle, the tribe of Levi was not given any portion of the Promised Land. Instead, the Levites were to be scattered throughout the entire country. The rest of the tribes were told to give certain cities to the Levites as places in which they could dwell. These cities would number forty-eight.

If the Levites were only in one tribal region, people who weren’t close to them wouldn’t get the proper ministry. So they were scattered throughout the entire country. And that’s what the Lord does with us. The Lord has snuck His servants into the most amazing places. He sneaks Christian teachers into high schools to be effective, secret agents, Levites, reflections of Jesus Christ. He sneaks Christian salesmen, secretaries, and accountants into the workplace to be examples of what it means to be a believer. He sneaks Christian doctors into hospital rooms as ministers of the Gospel.

This is such a key. Each of us who is serious about Jesus is in ministry. We are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). And He’s stationed you in that workplace, that neighborhood, and that family to be a servant of His. It’s a great day indeed when a believer looks at his work as his ministry and says, “I’m surrounded by people professional pastors would never have an opportunity to reach. I’m here on campus, at the store, and in the neighborhood not just to work for a paycheck or to raise my family, but to be a minister. So I’m going to keep my eyes open and my antennae up in order to determine the part I am to play in this place for God’s glory.”

In Bible days, there was no such thing as a police force. There was no constable, no sheriff, no deputy, and no patrolman. It was up to the family to keep law and order. Therefore, the way it worked was as follows: If my brother Jimmy was crossing the street and you accidentally hit and killed him, as his brother, it would be up to me to avenge his death - to track you down and kill you. No matter how long it might take, culture required that I kill you.

The idea of the avenger was neither created nor condoned by God. God here is simply controlling the reality of the day, similar to when He gave rules and regulations concerning practices such as divorce and slavery. Why didn’t He simply do away with these practices altogether? Because He’s treating His people as a family.

When Ben and Mary were little, I didn’t have the same requirements or the same expectations for them that I do now that they’re seventeen and eighteen. And they’ll have still greater obligations when they’re twenty and twenty-one. As our kids grow older, we expect more out of them. But we don’t burden them immediately. We let them grow. That’s what our Father does with His family. Here in the very early stages of their nationhood, and because these customs were already deeply imbedded in their culture, God placed boundaries around customs like that of the avenger, dealing with them more fully as they grew.

If someone accidentally killed another, he was to flee to one of six cities of refuge, where he would be safe from those who wanted to avenge the death until a trial could be held. If, however, he left the city of refuge before the high priest died, he was fair game. The avenger would not be found guilty of his death. Once the high priest died, however, he could return home.

The person who was guilty - as we all are - was kept safe in the city by the life of the high priest. But he was declared not guilty by the death of the high priest. The picture should be obvious. We are kept safe by the life of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ. He is the One who intercedes for us, the One who gives instruction to us, and the One who lives through us. But while we are kept safe by His life, we are saved by His death, for our sins have been washed away by His blood.

For New Testament confirmation of this Old Testament illustration, consider Acts 27 . . .

The storm was raging. The boat was bobbing up and down. The soldiers were panicked and the sailors were frightened. “We’re going down!” they cried.

But as they fought for their lives on the furious sea, Paul said, “Be of good cheer. There shall be no loss of life.”

As the storm continued, however, the sailors let down a lifeboat to escape the impending crash. “Except the sailors abide in the ship,” Paul said, “they can’t be saved.” So the ropes were cut, the lifeboats fell empty into the sea, and all on board the ship were saved.

So too, as long as we’re on board the good ship Salvation, we’ll be saved. As long as we’re in Jesus, our refuge, we’re okay. But if we choose to wander off, to bail out, to back away and live a life of drunkenness and fornication, of adultery and bitterness, the Bible says we’ll not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9; Galatians 5:21; Ephesians 5:5).

Am I teaching contrary to the doctrine of eternal security? No. I believe in eternal security. I know I’m eternally secure because I have no intention of going anywhere other than staying on board the ship of faith. I know I need the Lord. I know I can’t make it without Him. He is my City of Refuge, my Ship of Salvation. And I have no intention of leaving.

“Make your calling and election sure,” Peter writes (2 Peter 1:10). How? It’s so simple, as easily accessible as a city of refuge. You don’t have to climb a mountain or swim an ocean. You simply confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that He died for your sin and rose from the dead (Romans 10:9).

When I lead people in the sinners’ prayer, I pray right along with them. Is it because I doubt my own salvation? No, I know I’m saved, but why not take every opportunity to say, “Lord, I love You and I understand my great need for You. And rather than be doctrinally arrogant, I want to make sure You’re in my heart and that You hear from me again. Lord, I confess You as Lord and am so thankful that You died for me, that You live in Heaven, interceding for me.”

I say this time and time again, not because I’m insecure and worried about losing my salvation, but simply because in Jesus, my refuge, I have reason for great celebration.

We come to the fifth and final book of Moses, the final book of the Pentateuch, the final book of the Torah, and the final address to the people he had led for forty years. It’s a lengthy address, but oh, so impacting, for in it Moses reviews and reminds the people of their history - how their fathers failed miserably, but how God saw them through faithfully.

The parenthetical statement in verse 2 must have been particularly painful for Moses to pen. After all, how long would it take a man to walk from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, the border of the Promised Land? Eleven days. How long did it take the children of Israel? Forty years.

Forty being the number of biblical generations, an entire generation was lost simply for their lack of faith. When God brought them to Kadesh-barnea, they were supposed to go from there and take the territory, and move into the Promised Land. But they lacked faith and were fearful of the giants about which they’d heard.

Quoting from this very story, Paul says, “Learn the lesson” (see 1 Corinthians 10:11). When God puts something on your heart, do it immediately lest you wander around needlessly and waste your days in a desert experience.

The children of Israel didn’t do what God had told them to do when He commanded them to take the Land. Then they did what God had told them not to do when they attacked the Amorites. Why? Because they followed their own counsel rather than God’s.

What has God told you to do? What has He put on your heart? I can make a strong case against doing what God has told me to do. I can murmur and blame others. But each time I do, I end up wandering and missing the promised land of whatever area the Lord wants me to possess. Life is either a fantastic adventure or it is an endless detour. And the only difference between the two is faith.

That the Israelites were to buy meat and water signals a shift in God’s provision for them. In their wilderness wanderings, God had fed them manna from the sky and water from the rock. However, now that they’re ready to enter the Promised Land, the manna would begin falling sporadically. And after they had celebrated their first Passover in the Promised Land, the manna would stop completely (Joshua 5:12).

The point is simple. God expects us to grow up, to move on. Concerning that which was once given to us, God will say, “You need to participate in the process, not because I’m being mean to you or holding back from you, but because I want to see maturity in you.” As we do with our own kids, God expected His children to participate in their own care.

Like the Anakims, the Emims and Horims were giants - fearful and terrible. Yet here Moses says that the Horims were beaten back by the descendants of Esau. In other words, because the Edomites wiped out the very giants of whom God’s people were afraid (Numbers 13:31–33), the Edomites possessed the land that should have been the Israelites’.

Sometimes we as believers can be real wimpy. “I’m going through this trial, this persecution, this difficulty,” we whine, failing to realize that the unbeliever has just as many trials, just as many problems, and just as many difficulties (Matthew 5:45). If you think being a Christian is hard, try being an unbeliever. They have the same problems you and I have, but they don’t have the opportunity to approach the throne of grace boldly, to pour out their hearts to the Father, to open the Word for inspiration and instruction. The world has the same kinds of problems we do, but without access to the Problem-Solver.

Sihon’s refusal to give safe passage to Israel set the stage for a battle he was unknowingly destined to lose. Maybe today you have a broken heart because of someone else’s obstinate heart. Most of us know what it’s like to be rejected by someone we care about. Yet happy is the man or woman who remembers God’s sovereignty. We can be happy if we don’t lose sight of the fact that God is in control. When someone has a hard heart toward me, I must remember that God is the One who causes all things to work out for His perfect, divine plan. Walking in the realization that every event is part of God’s plan produces a radical life. He desires that I possess more of my possession, to be a bigger person, to gain new territory, and to experience greater victory.

After leading the congregation through the wilderness for forty years, Moses desperately desired to see the Land of Promise. But he couldn’t go in because of the sin he committed at Meribah when he implied that God was upset with His people (Numbers 20:10). Consequently, because he misrepresented the nature and character, the goodness and grace of the Father, Moses was unable to accompany the congregation into the Promised Land.

Maybe today in your journey through life, you’re a bit discouraged and confused by what you cannot do. You’re not sure where to go from here. It seems like the plans you once had have been altered, that doors have been shut. Maybe things haven’t worked out for you in the way you thought they should or in the way you hoped they would. Moses can relate to you. And he has good news: the solution to your confusion, the prescription for your pain is found at the top of Mount Pisgah.

Although Moses could not accompany the children of Israel into the Promised Land, the Lord told Moses to climb Mount Pisgah, or Mount Nebo, where he would be given a supernatural view of the entire land.

“Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). The Hebrew word translated “perish” is para`, which simply means “naked.” Without vision, people feel naked, unsure, exposed, and undone. Without vision, people want to hole up and hide away. Without vision, people perish.

From this point on, Pisgah in Scripture is known as the Mount of Vision. And it was at this point that Moses knew what he was to do. He was to encourage Joshua, for as a representative of the Law, Moses could not be the one to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land; but as a picture of Jesus, Joshua could and would.

How about you? Is it clear to you what you’re to do? Is it clear what those who follow after you are to be? If not, I encourage you to get to a quiet place, away from distractions and interruptions, and say, “Lord, I need vision. I’m perishing. I’m confused. I’m in the dark.”

Get away, brothers and sisters, and seek the Lord. Find your Nebo, your Pisgah, and go there regularly.

Forty days after shedding His blood for you and me on Mount Calvary, Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives before ascending to Heaven triumphantly. And since whatever goes up must come down, guess who is coming back to the Mount of Olives? The Bible says that when He does, He will walk through the Kidron Valley, through the Eastern Gate, and into Jerusalem as the Prince of Peace to rule over all the kingdoms of the world for one thousand years. In other words, by opting to go to Mount Moriah, by doing what was best for the greatest number, Jesus is not only rewarded in Heaven and exalted eternally, but He gets the very thing Satan was offering previously (Matthew 4:8–9). It’s a win-win situation. It all works out perfectly.

When we choose to take up the cross and say, “It’s not about what’s easiest for me. It’s about what’s best for the most people I can possibly reach and help,” we’ll get whatever Satan may have tried to seduce us with because Jesus said that if we seek first the Kingdom, everything we need would be thrown in (Matthew 6:33).

One day, I spent some time with a bunch of pastors going through the book of Ezra and dealing with some pastoral issues. When I was done, I had a couple of meetings and then did a radio show. On my way home, I felt really fatigued and weary of soul. Yet the Lord, I believe, gave me a very simple vision, a simple stirring, a simple directive to go and see our brother, Jeff, who, at thirty-five years of age, was dying of brain cancer. But after getting lost twice trying to find his house and having been up since before four in the morning, and knowing my kids weren’t home that night and that Tammy had a nice dinner planned, I thought, I’m tired. I’ll go home and pick it up tomorrow. Yet, even as I made my way home, I knew that it wasn’t right. I knew it wasn’t the way of the Cross for me at that moment in time. So I made a U-turn, and by God’s grace, I found the house.

Jeff’s three sons were there with a few pastors, worshiping the Lord, praying, and sharing. I talked to him and read the Scriptures because I believe that even though the mind may not be working, the spirit still perceives and receives prayer, praise, and the Word. So we were sharing together, talking to him about Heaven, even though he was unable to comprehend mentally. Then, after an hour or so, something happened I’ll never forget. As I sat by his bed, suddenly Jeff looked at me. His eyes were crystal clear, his focus laser sharp. He grabbed my hand and held it for forty-five seconds as our eyes met. And I found myself weeping as he gripped my hand with the strongest grip I’ve felt in a long time. Then he let go and returned to his previous state.

He went to Heaven the next day.

“I’m going to go and do this,” I had said. “It’s the way of the Cross.” What I didn’t know was Mount Calvary turned into the Mount of Olives. I was caught up into Heavenly places. That’s the way it always is. I was the one who was blessed. Jeff ministered to me in that forty-five-second window of opportunity. I can’t explain it, but I went home with tears in my eyes because I was so deeply touched. And to think I might have missed it because I almost opted for what was more comfortable for me. I almost missed the supernatural blessing God had flow through Jeff into my heart at that moment.

Discouraged today? You need a fresh vision. How do you get that? Go to the mountain. I need to go to the mountain constantly and say, “Father, give me Your vision because it will ultimately mean resurrection and ecstasy not only for others, but also for me.”

The Israelites were to obey God’s Word not only that they might live, but that they might be a light in order that other nations might see the way life was meant to be lived (Isaiah 49:6).

I’m so glad we have God’s Word. It’s so right. We’re so blessed.

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. - Ephesians 2:2–5

In times past, we didn’t have a clue. We didn’t have a promise. We didn’t have hope. It’s good for us to reflect on this from time to time. Paul says, “Remember where you once were and rejoice in where you are now.”

We have God. We have Christ. We have the promises of the Word. We have the hope of Heaven. I’m so thankful, so grateful, so glad I’m saved. We’re so blessed - every one of us.

Take heed to yourself because it’s not just about you, but about your kids and grandkids as well. Here is your job: to be familiar with the Word, to be constantly learning more about the Word so that you can teach your children and grandchildren.

“Your mother and brothers are calling You,” the disciples said to Jesus. “My mother and brothers are those who hear and do the Word,” Jesus answered (see Matthew 12:47–50).

Jesus’ disciples were His family, but those in your family are your disciples. This is so important to understand. “What’s my ministry?” people often ask. And my answer to them is, “Do you have kids or grandkids? Pray for them, share the things you’re learning about the Lord with them day by day. And in so doing, you will be in ministry.”

If you raise godly kids or are involved in seeing godly grandkids raised up, yours is a fruitful, successful, rewarding, fulfilling, thrilling, eternally impacting ministry indeed. There can be no greater blessing.

The phrase, “which I command thee this day,” implies that God must be rediscovered each day. Every day we get to rediscover the nature and beauty of our Father. Every day there ought to be a rediscovery of the grace and glory and grandeur of our God.

“Take heed to My Word,” God says. “Rediscover Me each day. Listen to what I have to say once more. Go over the Scriptures, pray them in, think them through, act them out, and it will go well for you and for your family.”

A story is told in the Mishnah (a collection of Jewish teachings and writings) of a certain Persian king named Arteban who sent to Judah, the prince in Jerusalem, the largest known diamond in existence. Upon receiving this gift, Judah sent back to Arteban a copy of the book of Deuteronomy with the accompanying note: What you sent me requires guards to protect it. What I have sent you will guard and protect you.

I’m so thankful for God’s Word because I know, as you do, that it works. When we take heed and do what we’re told to, it goes well with us and with our families, too.

Can love be commanded? If you think of love only as a noun, the answer is no. But love in the Bible is not a noun. It’s a verb, something you do rather than something you feel. Divorce is rampant today because we have lost our understanding of what love is.

A story is told of an anthropologist who asked the Hopi Indians he was studying, “Why do you have so many songs about rain?”

“We live in the desert,” they answered. “We sing about rain because it is so rare.”

I wonder if that’s why most of our popular songs are about love. Love is a fantasy in the way it’s being hyped today.

Jesus taught us that wherever our treasure is, there will our heart be also (Matthew 6:21). In other words, first choose to love and then the feeling will follow. So God here commands love. He doesn’t say, “I hope you feel love for Me.” He says, “I’m commanding you to show love to Me.”

When you get up in the morning, when you go to bed at night, when you’re walking, when you’re relaxing, talk to your kids about loving God. My brother, Dave, modeled this wonderfully. Every time he would go anywhere - to the post office, to 7-11, to the hardware store - he would take one of his boys, knowing he could spend time with him.

If you haven’t been teaching your kids, consider the Chinese proverb which says, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is today.” We should have done things twenty years ago. All of us know that. But the second best time to do what’s required is now. And if your kids have grown up and moved out of the house, there are always grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or neighbor kids with whom you can share the Lord.

“When you take possession of houses you didn’t build, vineyards and olive trees you didn’t plant, and wells you didn’t dig, beware,” Moses warned, “lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of bondage.”

There is peril in prosperity. When things are going well, when things come our way which bless and amaze us, there is an insidious danger, for it is in those days that we can forget the Lord and think that it’s our energy, our effort, our creativity, ingenuity, or hard work that gets us where we are.

In Deuteronomy 8, God reminds the people that it was He who gave them everything they had. And it is He who does the same for us; for truly, the foundational essence of our Father is that He is a giver . . .

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits. - Psalm 68:19

I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. - Psalm 81:10

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” - Matthew 7:7

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son . . .” - John 3:16

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? - Romans 8:32

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us . . . - Ephesians 3:20

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. - James 1:17

“You’re in for a treat,” Moses said. “God is going to give you cities and houses you didn’t build; olive trees, vineyards, and wells you neither had to plant nor dig.” And daily He does the same for us.

“When you go into the Land,” Moses instructs the people, “God will deliver formidable foes into your hand. And you shall smite them.”

The same is true for us.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation will ever come our way without the Lord providing a way for victory at that time. But we need to participate. In other words, the Lord will deliver us, but we have a role to play as well. At the moment of temptation, when the battle is raging, when the Enemy is looming, the Lord will give me victory if I choose to participate. There will always be a way of escape, a way of victory.

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. - Romans 6:6

Because the word translated “crucified” literally means “rendered inactive,” we can say, “I’m not going to get beaten up by the enemy of temptation, depression, or seduction. Not only has the Lord promised that there is a way of escape, but the sins of anger, hostility, and lust can’t dominate me anymore. When Christ Jesus died on the Cross, anything contrary to Christ was crucified and paralyzed. Therefore, all the old nature can do is yell at me, scream at me, and try to intimidate me. But it cannot touch me unless I choose to listen.”

Some people say, “I just can’t seem to get over this. I can’t deal with that. Where’s the Lord?” The answer is that the Lord has done His part. Now He’s waiting for you to do yours and smite the Enemy.

I love this Scripture. Moses says, I want you to know the Lord didn’t select you to be His, to be holy, or to be different because you were mightier than others. No, He chose you simply because He loved you. God loves you and me not because we are mighty or together or have something awesome to offer. Quite the opposite, He loves us just because He loves us. Period. His love is not based upon how well I’m doing or how much you’re doing, how poorly I’m faring or how much you’re erring. God’s love for us is honestly, truly, and absolutely unconditional. And once we grasp this, we can go through our day expecting the Lord to bless us, to shower grace upon us - not because of who we are or what we’ve done but simply and solely based upon who He is.

In verse 7, Moses told the people the Lord loved them unconditionally. Here, he tells them the Lord would love and bless them if they obeyed His words. Is this contradictory? No.

I love my kids whether they’re good or bad. I love them simply because they’re my kids. But if they say, “We’re not going to be here for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, for Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Easter,” although I’ll still love them, they’ll not enjoy the blessings that would have come their way had they remained close to me.

That’s what Jude meant when he said, “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (verse 21). He didn’t mean we are to try to earn or merit God’s love. He meant we are to just “keep ourselves under the spout where God’s blessings come out.”

Here in Deuteronomy, God says, “You’ll experience all kinds of blessings if you hearken to the judgments, if you take heed to the Word, if you let Me love you.”

Having lived in Egypt for four hundred years, the children of Israel were all too familiar with the diseases of Egypt. Egypt being a type of the world, we too see the sickness of the world in which we live.

Keep in mind that everything in the Old Testament is a physical picture of a New Testament spiritual truth . . .

The children of Israel were delivered from the bondage of Egypt and brought to the Promised Land.

We’ve been delivered from the world system and ushered into the Spirit-filled life.

Their citizenship was in the Promised Land.

Ours is in Heaven.

They fought with swords and spears.

The weapons of our warfare are spiritual.

They were to smite their enemies.

We are to reckon dead the Enemy of our soul.

If you don’t understand this, the Old Testament will be troubling and impractical to you. There are those who say if we walk with the Lord, we’ll have no diseases, that we’ll never be sick. Yet, Paul had a thorn in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). He left Trophimus sick (2 Timothy 4:20). He told Timothy to take wine for his stomach problems (1 Timothy 5:23). The diseases the Old Testament talks about which were physical for them are spiritual for us. The Lord wants to make us a peculiar, special people, different from the Egyptians that surround us. And He says that will happen if we do what He tells us to do.

What do you fear? At any given moment, I am living in fear and so are you - either in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom and success (Proverbs 9:10), or in the fear of man, which is a snare (Proverbs 29:25).

“What are your goals for the coming school year?” I asked my two youngest kids.

About to start seventh grade, Ben looked at me and said, “I have two goals, Dad. The first is to remember where my locker is; the second is to be able to open it.”

Ben was kidding - sort of. But remember seventh grade? Lockers and combinations and PE? Remember all those fears? Well, guess what? You made it! You’re here. You got through those junior high years. So too, the exhortation of Moses to the congregation at the Jordan was, “Remember how much God has done for you already. He’s not going to let you down now.”

God loves you, gang. He proved it to us on the Cross. So do what He’s called you to do and don’t fear. Don’t listen to the whisper of the Enemy. Instead, say, “Lord, You’ve loved me so passionately, I’m going to do what You direct me to, let the chips fall where they may.”

Jesus put it this way: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Fear not and watch and see how God will bless you.

Had God driven the enemy out of the land quickly, wild beasts would eat the crops that would otherwise have nourished God’s people. So He drove the enemies out a little at a time until the children of Israel were ready to take on more territory.

So too, God is working in you and on me. “But it’s going so slowly,” you say. “I thought I would be a lot further along by now.” I know. I thought I would be too.

But God would say to you and me, “Be patient and trust Me. I’m not going to drive out your enemies immediately. But little by little, I’ll give you more territory, more possibilities, more responsibilities. You wait. You watch. You’ll see.”

“Do what you know is right in God’s sight,” Moses instructed the children of Israel. “Remember how the Lord took you through the wilderness for forty years to humble you, to prove you, to test you, that you might know where you’re truly at, what’s really taking place within your hearts.”

It’s easy to say, “I’m going to keep the commandments of the Lord. I’m going to do what He tells me.” The proof, however, is in the wilderness. It’s when the days are dry and difficult and when the heat is rising that we get to see if we are truly those who obey what the Lord tells us to do.

Maybe you are in a wilderness season, in the desert of difficulty. If so, this is an important opportunity for you to realize and to see what’s going on deep within your heart. Just as we don’t know what’s in a sponge until it’s squeezed, I can’t know what’s taking place deep within me until I’m squeezed. Oh, I can quote the verses, sing the songs, and say the phrases, but the fact is, I won’t know what’s truly going on until and unless I’m squeezed by days of difficulty and times of trouble.

The Israelites welcomed God’s provision of manna because they were in a place of hunger. That’s always the way it is. We get hungry in the wilderness, in the day of difficulty. And it is then that we long for God’s provision for us. Jesus put it this way: “Blessed are you when you hunger and thirst for righteousness, for then you’ll be filled” (see Matthew 5:6). Too often, we don’t crave the Bread of the Word or the Bread of Life because we’re not hungry. There’s a progression seen here: My reaction in the wilderness makes me hungry for righteousness. So I go to church once again, have devotions once more, exchange Newsweek for the Word, turn off talk radio, and listen to teaching tapes. But this doesn’t happen until I’m hungry. And I don’t know I’m hungry until I’m in the wilderness. It’s all part of the program.

Jesus quoted this verse in His own wilderness experience. He was tested for forty days as Satan came and said, “If You’re the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. Take care of Yourself. Find a way to satisfy Your own needs.”

“No,” Jesus said, and quoted Deuteronomy 8:3.

In fact, all three times He dealt with Satan in Matthew 4, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy. That is why I suggest Deuteronomy was where He was having devotions at that time. As a result, He was empowered to withstand the temptation and to obey His Father - the same opportunity each of us has who eats freely of the Bread of Life, who partakes consistently of the manna of the Word.

Was there ever a time when you were serving the Lord more diligently and more consistently than you are today? If your answer is yes, I plead with you to take this passage to heart, for if you do not, you’ll perish. Oh, maybe not physically, but your marriage will diminish, your family will diminish, and your joy will diminish. Your life will get smaller and smaller. On the other hand, when you say, “God’s been good to me. Therefore, I’m going to learn His ways, give Him praise, and serve Him with all of my heart and soul, mind and strength,” you’ll find yourself truly blessed in every way.

Why did God bring you and me into the Promised Land of His Kingdom? Because He saw we would want to be righteous? No. Like the children of Israel, we were stiff-necked and rebellious from the beginning (Deuteronomy 9:7). He did so because of the wickedness of our Enemy.

We have an Enemy who, from before time began, has questioned the goodness and kindness, mercy and grace of God. “Can’t you eat of that tree, Eve?” Satan hissed. “God knows that in the day you eat of it, you’ll become godly.” In other words, “God is not as good as He purports to be. He’s holding something back from you, Eve. He knows that if you eat of that tree, it would be wonderful for you. And He doesn’t want you to have good things” (see Genesis 3:1–5).

Satan challenged the goodness of the Father not only in the garden, but also in Heaven. “Of course Job serves You,” he said to God. “You’ve blessed him. But if those blessings weren’t there, he would turn his back on You” (see Job 1:9–11).

Psalm 73:1 says, “God is good.”

Satan says, “No, He’s not.”

So God says, “I will prove My goodness and grace by bringing stiff-necked people like these into My Kingdom, by showering rebellious people like Jon Courson with blessing.”

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. - Ephesians 1:3–6

Paul says we were elected and redeemed not because God saw we were a good, sincere people who wanted to be spiritual, but in order that angels and demons alike would marvel, saying, “Look how gracious God is!”

Whether you’re prospering materially or moving into the Promised Land of the Kingdom and enjoying blessings spiritually, don’t think it’s because of your righteousness. The greatest danger to the children of Israel would not be the persecution or the battles in the Promised Land. The greatest danger would occur when things were going well because it would be then that they would forget the Lord.

How do you know when you’ve forgotten the Lord? It’s quite simple: you no longer have time for Him. After all, there are ski boats to use, vacations to take, money to spend. In times of persecution people don’t forget God. They gather together. They pray with passion. Their roots sink deep into the soil of the Scriptures. But in times of prosperity, people have toys to play with, places to go, hobbies to pursue. And, although they don’t admit it, they forget about God.

Statistics confirm that people forget the Lord in time of prosperity not only by withdrawing from fellowship, but by failing to give sacrificially. Ironically, people give much more generously in times of difficulty than in times of prosperity. In times of prosperity, they say, “I can’t tithe because I bought the second house, the newer car, and I’m overextended,” failing to remember that it was God who gave them the ability to do what they do, to bless them with every single thing they have.

If we truly believe that God has blessed us, we’ll say, “This is not my wealth. It’s God’s. Therefore, in giving my tithe I recognize that what came my way this week is not because of my cleverness or ability, but because of Him.”

While Moses was on the mountain alone with God for forty days, the people were sinning down below. “I’m going to destroy these people and make of you a new nation,” God said to him (see verse 14). Would Moses accept the offer? Wait a minute. This sounds strangely familiar to another test after a forty-day fast . . .

“Bow down to me,” Satan said to Jesus, “and the entire world will be Yours” (see Matthew 4:8–9). The similarities are neither coincidental nor accidental. Rather, they show us that what God uses to test us, Satan uses to tempt us. God tests us to work good in us, to show Himself strong through us. Satan, on the other hand, tempts us in order to destroy us.

Whenever you’re tempted, realize that God uses what Satan means as a temptation for a test. Conversely, whenever you’re going through a test from God, Satan will jump on it and make it a temptation.

James makes it clear that God does not tempt any man to do evil (1:13). Like a car manufacturer who puts his car through rigorous tests in order to showcase its capabilities, when God tests you, He’s not saying, “I hope you don’t fall apart.” No, He says, “I know what I’ve built into you. And I will not allow you to be tested above what you’re able” (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). The test He sends our way is not Him saying, “I wonder what’s going to happen.” It’s Him saying, “Look what I’ve done.”

This makes murmuring or complaining or whining a sin. “Pipe down,” God would say to us. “It’s only a test. I know what I’ve built into you. I know the work I’ve done deep within you.” God knew Moses would pass this test. He wasn’t tempting him to sin. Rather, He was testing him, knowing he would come through with flying colors.

If you’re tempted by Satan, God intends it as a test to see you through. If you’re tested by the Father, Satan will jump on it to tempt you. That’s why the Greek word for “test” and “tempt” is the same word. Moses would pass the test. Jesus would beat back the temptation. So when that temptation comes strolling up to you tomorrow, know it’s a test from God - and that He won’t test you above that which you are able.

When they came to the boundary of the Promised Land, the Lord said, “Take it.” The people, however, refused. Why? There were giants in the land.

“Why should we go in there? Our children might die,” the fathers might have said.

“I know it’s a land that flows with milk and honey,” the wives might have said, “but the wilderness isn’t such a bad place. We’re together as a family. We home-school our kids. God is in our midst. The Tabernacle is close by. The shekinah glory is seen. Manna comes down every day. This is a fine place to be.”

“But it’s not the Promised Land,” God would say. “There aren’t grapes the size of basketballs. There’s no milk and honey. There’s no destiny.”

“Yes,” the people would say, “but there’s also no risk.”

“Trust and obey,” we sing. But what we often declare is, “I like it here. Why should I take my kids out of school and make that move? Why should I jeopardize the convenience? I really kind of like the wilderness.” Yet, all the while, there’s territory to take, work to do, and blessings ahead.

I have observed that when people don’t step out and step up and move into the Promised Land - whatever that may be for them - they end up slowly dying in the wilderness. Oh, it’s imperceptible at first, but after wandering around for years, they realize they’re going in circles. At a certain point, a man says, “Stop this carousel. There’s a call upon my life. I know what the Lord wants me to do.”

I’m afraid we can be vulnerable to saying, “I’m blessed here. I like this.” But in our hearts, we know that God has said, “Step up. Step out. Go where you’re needed. There are jobs to do, battles to fight, and people to touch.”

I don’t know what that means for you personally, but I’ll tell you this: we cannot stay the same in our spiritual walk day after month after year. I am either getting more radical for Jesus - taking steps of faith, launching out in service, plunging ahead - or I’m falling back and wandering in circles. Sure, my family might be safe. But something is missing in my soul.

Go in. Possess the land God has told you to take. Yes, you’ll take some blows. Certainly there will be challenges and difficulties, but it’s only in the Promised Land where the fruit will blow your mind, where the blessings will cause your soul to expand, and where life will no longer be routine.

The tribe of Levi was to be the one to minister to the Lord. Why? The story is told in Exodus 32. When Moses came down the mountain the first time, seeing the children of Israel worshiping the golden calf, he said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Who will deal with this situation?” Only one tribe stepped up: the tribe of Levi. From that point on, Levi would be the tribe of ministry because they took the sword in the fear of the Lord. The other tribes said, “We don’t want to get involved.” And that can all too often be our tendency as well. Yet, if we’re not willing to wield the sword of Scripture in love and say, “This cannot go on. This needs to be thought through and cut away,” we cannot be servants of the Lord.

Paul said, “If we seek to please men, we cannot be the servants of God” (see Galatians 1:10). We need to be those who are merciful and loving enough to say to the people we care about who are involved in sin, “I care about you and am committed to you. Therefore, I’m not going to hold back the truth from you.” This is not anger or hostility, judgment or condemnation. It’s love and compassion, kindness and mercy. Only Levi was willing to unsheathe the sword and deal with the cancer that would corrupt the whole congregation. Thus, only Levi would qualify for ministry.

The mention of “latter rain” also appears in Jeremiah 5, Hosea 6, Joel 2, and James 5 - where it speaks of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. “There’s coming a time,” the Lord says, “when I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams” (see Joel 2:28).

We are already seeing the beginning of a wonderful last day’s outpouring, where people are being filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. But it’s only the beginning. The Lord wants to save souls and bring in a huge harvest in these last days. And He’s going to empower us to an even greater degree.

The latter rain is not something we pump up emotionally, but that which the Lord pours out upon those who simply love Him and give themselves in service to Him. “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth,” Jesus said (Acts 1:8).

Power is given for the purpose of service. Therefore, on us who say, “Lord, I love You. That’s why I’m here. And I want to serve You. Use me,” the Lord will pour out His Spirit in order that we might be His witnesses.

Although the Lord pours out His Spirit to those who give themselves to serve Him, the outpouring will cease if we turn aside and serve the gods of our hobbies, our desires, or our flesh. Once I start serving these gods, the heavens are shut up and my soul gets dry.

Elijah - the one who called down fire from Heaven - stormed into wicked King Ahab’s court and said, “Be it known unto you, it shall not rain these years but according to my word.” And indeed it didn’t rain for over three years (see 1 Kings 17:1). James tells us that although Elijah was a man just like you and me, he knew how to pray (James 5:17). Therefore, he evidently knew this text, for Jesus said if His words abide in us, then our prayers will be answered (John 15:7).

That’s why we attend Bible studies year after year after year. That’s why I read the Word. I want to know what this book has to say that I might pray effectively. Elijah models this. The Word of the Lord was evidently in his heart, enabling him to pray effectively. The more Bible study you take in, the more Scripture you know, the more effectively you can pray. And the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails, or accomplishes, much (James 5:16).

In Joshua 8, we see half of the tribes of the children of Israel on Mount Gerizim, the other half on Mount Ebal with Joshua, and the priests and Levites in the valley between. Joshua will say a certain commandment to which was attached a blessing, and all the tribes on Mount Gerizim will say, “Amen!” Then he will give a command with a curse - something which they’re not to do - and those on Mount Ebal will also say, “Amen!” In so doing, the nation of Israel will acknowledge that if they obey God, they will be blessed. If not, they will be cursed. It was on Mount Ebal that sacrifice was to be made. I love this because where there are curses, an altar is available to make provision. I’m so glad about that because I’ve been on both sides of the valley. I’ve experienced the blessings of Gerizim. But I’ve also wandered over to Ebal. Thus, I am so grateful for the altar, the provision for my sin and stupidity.

Joshua is, of course, a picture of Jesus. Where is Jesus right now? He is between two mountains. He’s already been on the mountain of cursing, where He who knew no sin was made sin for us as He hung on the Cross of Calvary (2 Corinthians 5:21). But He’s coming back to another mountain - the Mount of Olives, which will split in two when He returns as the Prince of Peace (Zechariah 14:4).

“I’ve heard you talk about being blessed if we obey the commandments,” you might say. “I’ve done my best, tried my hardest. But I’m not being blessed like I thought I would be. You talk about taking territory, but it hasn’t happened for me.”

Wait. You’re in the valley. Wait until Jesus gets back. Oh, we’re blessed right now without question, but the Mount of Olives tells me the best is yet to come. When you read these blessings and promises, realize that, although they apply to you, to your marriage, to your family, and to your ministry, the best is yet to come. And I’m so looking forward to that. Obey the Lord. Keep His commandments. Bind His Word before your eyes. Keep it close at hand. Teach your children. And God will bless you, yes in this life; but especially, most importantly, most fully in the age of the Kingdom, throughout eternity, in Heaven.

“Tear down their altars. Cut down their groves. Destroy their high places,” God declares. “Instead, go to the place I tell and there you shall worship Me. There you shall bring your tithes and offerings to Me. There you shall make your vows to Me. There you shall seek Me.”

Where was “there”?

Jerusalem.

“Why do we have to tithe? Why must we go to church on Sunday? I’m going to do what I want to do,” some people say. But theirs is a wilderness mentality. They might be sincere, but God says once we have crossed into the Promised Land - which speaks of the Spirit-filled life, the deeper life, the productive life, the fruitful life - it’s not up to us what to do.

“Our fathers say we are to worship on Mount Gerizim, yet you Jews say we are to worship in Jerusalem,” the woman at the well said to Jesus.

“In reality,” Jesus answered, “the Father is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth” (see John 4:23).

Why do we get together and worship the Lord with uplifted hands, on our knees, at His Table? Because we’re worshiping the Lord in spirit. Why do we go through the Bible month after month, year after year, decade after decade? Because we’re worshiping Him in truth.

“It’s not that simple,” the cultist says to the believer. “You can’t come boldly before the throne of grace. You’ve got to prove your sincerity.”

In Moses’ day, the Canaanites proved they were sincere seekers of their gods by literally burning their sons and daughters. Five-foot-high iron idols dedicated to Molech were constructed with a hole in them in which a fire would burn, causing the idol to become incandescent. Sincere worshipers would place their firstborn child on the red-hot arms of these idols in the valley of Tophet, also known as the valley of Gehenna, which is another name for hell.

Every cult and false religion is based upon man working his way up the ladder of sincerity, good works, and obedience to a system. Christianity alone is not based upon man working up to God, but God reaching down to man. “For by grace are ye saved,” Paul declares. And what is grace? It is unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor. It is a gift of God, not of works (Ephesians 2:8–9).

What must a man do to be saved? Simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30–31). Period. “It is finished,” Jesus said (John 19:30). My standing with God is not about what I do to prove my sincerity, but about what He’s already done to prove His love and mercy. And all that’s left is for me to respond to His free gift of salvation.

In this section, Moses reiterates the dietary laws for the people of Israel - which meats were considered to be clean, which were unclean. These kosher laws served the people of Israel well not only in Moses’ generation, but for centuries to come . . .

In the Middle Ages, when plagues and disease devastated the continent of Europe, the Jewish people were singularly protected from many of them. Mistakenly thinking their protection came from magic or witchcraft, the Jews were persecuted. As time has passed, however, we now know that the reason the Jewish people in Europe were protected was because of their adherence to the sanitary and dietary regulations found throughout the book of Deuteronomy.

The wisdom of God’s Word becomes all the more clear in light of the contemporary writings of other cultures. For example, an Egyptian scroll, written at approximately the same time Moses wrote Deuteronomy, is said to have propagated the following: To prevent gray hair, take blood from a black cat, mix it with the fat of a rattlesnake and eat it twice daily. Or to reverse baldness, take fat from a cat, a horse, a crocodile, a hippo, a snake, and an ibex and mix it together and eat it. If you have a severe case of baldness, add to it a tooth of a donkey that has been cooked in honey.

When we read these things, we chuckle because of the absurdity. But when we study the Scriptures, written at the same time as this papyrus, we see them proving to be medically correct and healthy. They are not dated, not absurd - and should the Lord tarry, I have a sneaking suspicion that as we learn more, we’ll discover to a greater degree how God’s dietary regulations are the best possible plan for the human condition.

When Jesus came on the scene, He said, “The issue is not what you eat physically, but what goes on in your heart” (see Mark 7:15). With this in mind, we can understand that these laws are not only to be followed by the Jewish people of Moses’ day, but that they’re applicable for you and me spiritually - that we might be careful what we take in, what we put into our soul.

When the children of Israel brought their tithe, it was to be with rejoicing. “For God loveth a cheerful giver,” Paul would write to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 9:7). The Greek word translated “cheerful” is hilaros - from which we get the word “hilarious.” God loves a person who gives hilariously, cheerfully, or gladly. Therefore, I think it’s a mistake to feel obligated to give. It’s a privilege to be able to say, “Lord, I’m honoring You in the way You’ve asked me.”

If it’s not a privilege for you, don’t do it. You’ll find, however, that things don’t work for you in your budgeting and your own financial situation. Over and over I’ve watched people miss out on blessings all because of a failure to understand that they couldn’t possibly out-give God.

Every third year, a second tithe was taken to take care of people who were poor - the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger. And that money was to be used for their well-being and welfare. If you add together the tithes of Deuteronomy 14, Deuteronomy 16, and Numbers 18, they come to an average of 23 percent annually. While it may be that even in our godless society we are contributing a portion of this through taxes, this we do know for certain: God’s ways are right. His heart is for us. Therefore, when He asks us to give to Him, it’s not only for His glory, but also for our good.

Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. - Psalm 40:6–8

The ear of Jesus Christ was opened, pierced not with an awl but by the wood of the Cross of Calvary. Jesus is the perfect bondslave who came not to be served, but to serve (Mark 10:45), who came not to do His own will, but His Father’s (Matthew 26:39). For the joy set before Him, He endured the Cross, despising the shame (Hebrews 12:2). He knew there would be suffering and bleeding, but He also knew that on the other side, there would be joy which would far outweigh and supersede even the pain.

And such can be the same for you and me . . .

Doulos, the Greek word for servant, refers to an under rower. Think of a ship sailing across the Mediterranean Sea. While the passengers on the deck enjoy the view, below them are men expending great energy, toiling at the oars. That’s what it means to be a servant. You slave away hour after hour, day after day in order to get the people above you to their destination. The true servant says, “I want to get you to where you’re supposed to be - out of the slough of despondency, out of the place where you’re discouraged, confused, or damned eternally. I want to do whatever I can to get you to your destination.”

“That sounds awful,” you say, “rowing day after day under the deck just to get someone else to his or her destination.”

But here’s what you must remember: If the people on deck are headed to Maui, guess where you will end up? It’s true. If I’m helping someone else to have a better day, I arrive at the same port. If I’m helping someone overcome discouragement, I myself end up overcoming my own discouragement. If I’m helping someone else with their marriage, my own marriage grows stronger, richer, and deeper. If I’m helping someone else who is confused about the nature of the Father, as I row for them, my own understanding of the Father becomes so much clearer.

This should not be surprising. After all, Jesus said, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38).

Next time you have a week where you feel physically, emotionally, spiritually, or mentally fatigued, here’s the key: Serve others. Talk to others. Pray with others. Maybe people will notice your labor of love on their behalf. But it may be that your work will take place under the deck where, out of sight, unnoticed by others, as a bondslave, you row faithfully to get them to their destination.

The first act the king was to perform upon taking the throne was not to go to an inaugural ball, throw a party for his donors, or watch a parade in his honor. God declared the first thing a king was to do was to make a copy of the Law. Why? Because in writing down every line and every word, the Law would be embedded in the king’s mind.

I have found that if I have pencil and paper in hand when I have devotions or go to a Bible study, I never come away empty-handed. And even if I never refer to those notes again, taking notes forces me to be engaged in the process of listening.

Not only are we to write the Word down, but we’re to pack it around. I have several pocket Bibles I carry not because I’m trying to be a holy Joe or some kind of Pharisee, but because I’ve found I can redeem a bunch of time - whether waiting for a stoplight, waiting for an appointment, or standing in line at the grocery store. You will be amazed at how much Scripture you can absorb in a single year simply by keeping the Word close at hand.

In addition to writing it down and packing it around, the king was not only to read the Word consistently, but to take it seriously. When I read the Bible, I fear the Lord. Why? Not because I’m condemned, but because I’m convicted. I realize the Word is right and I’m not, that it is good and I’m not, that it is true and I’m not. In other words, when I read the Word, I realize that I need Jesus every single day.

When do I find fault with others? When do I come down on others? When is my heart lifted up above others? When I’m not in the Word. When I’m in the Word, however, I realize how far I have yet to go. In reading the Word, the king would be reminded of his own need for mercy and forgiveness and would thereby be merciful and forgiving toward those he ruled.

If, like Israel’s kings were instructed to do, I read the Word consistently and take it seriously, not only will I walk in the ways of the Lord, but also my children will follow. What a simple premise. What a glorious promise.

To the children of Israel, Moses didn’t say, “If you see the enemy . . .” He said, “When you see the enemy . . .” In other words, battles were inevitable.

So too, if you are facing a battle today, you are neither unique nor alone. Every one of us will have encounters when we feel outgunned and outmaneuvered, when we feel under-prepared and overwhelmed. At such times, we are not to be afraid. Why? Because these challenges provide invaluable opportunities for us to see how God will come through for us.

There is no way to know how great God is until you are in a situation you can’t handle, until you don’t know what to do, until it is seemingly impossible to solve the problem. We will only know how great and loving our God is when we are in over our heads, completely at a loss. I’ve been there. So have you. Maybe you’re there right now. The priest is to say, “Don’t be afraid. The Lord is with you. He brought you out of Egypt, out of the world, out of hell. He’s not going to let you go now.”

Three groups of men were exempt from battle: those who hadn’t finished building their houses, those who hadn’t yet eaten of their vineyards, and those who were engaged, but not yet married. In this, we see God’s desire that people delight in His blessings before they devote themselves to battle.

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. - 2 Corinthians 8:9

Jesus left the blessings of Heaven in order to bless us. And, while there is definitely a time for battle, there is also a time to delight in the blessings that are ours through the grace of the One who became poor that we might be rich.

A fourth group deferred from battle was comprised of those who were afraid. When people lack faith, they often begin to speak negatively to justify their own fears. Cynicism and criticism are often a cowardly covering for fear. And they’re contagious. That’s why those who were afraid were to go home.

If you want to be used by the Lord, ask yourself if your household is stable, if the work of your hands is thriving, if your marriage is healthy, if your heart is full of faith. If a man doesn’t have a home for his family, he ought to tend to that first. If a man doesn’t have a job and wants to be supported by others, he should get a job and succeed at that. If a man has a lousy marriage, he shouldn’t be taking on further ministry. If a man is full of fear, he shouldn’t try to hide behind ministry or missions. This passage is an important checklist for anyone who wants to be used by the Lord, to be engaged in His work.

When the Israelites went to battle, their axes were not to fly indiscriminately. That is, they were not to cut down any fruit-bearing tree. This is a good word for us because in our battle against principalities and powers, against the Devil, our adversary, if we’re not careful, we can cut down trees that bear fruit - other believers, denominations, or churches who might have an entirely different flavor than ours, but from which we can be nourished. Wise is the believer who says, “Lord, help me to see what I can glean from that group, what I can learn from those people.”

So much of what I’ve learned has been from trees that, in my own fleshly tendency, I would have chopped down. Wouldn’t it be something if all the energy we expended analyzing ministries and criticizing Christians was harnessed against the real Enemy? Yes, there’s a war to wage, a battle to fight. And some trees are apostate indeed. But others have fruit that we can glean, through which we can grow, from which we can gain strength for the battle against the Enemy of our souls.

All the men of the city were to stone the rebellious son. Why? I suggest three reasons . . .

Motivation. With communities being small in Bible times, the men of the city would know the son in question. They would know his family. Therefore, it would be so difficult to stone him, and they would go home resolved to do whatever it took to make sure their own sons didn’t follow the same path of rebellion.

Evaluation. Participating in the stoning would cause the men in the community to ask themselves if there was something they could have done to turn him from his rebellious ways.

Proclamation. The stoning proclaimed to the community that rebellion was neither a “stage” nor an inevitable part of growing up. It was simply not to be tolerated.

If you’ve either been, or raised, a rebellious child, I call your attention to another rebellious son - the Prodigal Son of Luke 15. When this rebellious son returned, his father ran out to meet him not with rocks in his hand, but with a robe for his son. Why? Did God change His mind somewhere between Deuteronomy and Luke about the severity of rebellion?

No. The punishment for rebellion is always death (Romans 6:23). But because a third Son - not the rebellious son, not the Prodigal Son, but the perfect Son - became sin and took my place on the Cross, I am forgiven completely.

For centuries, this was a controversial passage in the life and history of Israel. In fact, when Jesus came on the scene, there was a red-hot debate taking place in the culture concerning the definition of “uncleanness.” One opinion was voiced by a famous scholar named Hillel. Liberal in his perspective, Hillel said a woman was to be considered unclean - and, therefore, a candidate for divorce - if she caused uncleanness in her home. For example, if she over-salted her husband’s eggs, thereby causing him to be angry, the resulting “unclean” atmosphere of the home would be her fault. Hillel went on to say that if a man saw a woman who was “cleaner” than his wife, his wife would become “unclean” by comparison. The other opinion was voiced by a scholar named Shammai, who insisted that uncleanness applied exclusively to immorality.

When asked His opinion on the matter, Jesus answered, “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”

“Why, then, did Moses give permission to divorce?” the Pharisees asked Him.

“Because of the hardness of your hearts,” Jesus explained (see Matthew 19:3–9). As evidenced by Jesus’ answer, the answer to the question of divorce doesn’t lie in loopholes.

“I want a divorce because I’m being abused,” says a wife.

“How are you being abused?” I ask.

“Verbally,” she answers.

“I want a divorce because my wife is hindering my spiritual growth,” a husband says.

“No,” Jesus says. “Go back to the garden of Eden and see that God’s plan is that one woman and one man stay together until death separates them.”

Does this mean the divorced person has committed the unpardonable sin? Not at all. It means they’ve committed a sin - just like we all have. But because God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16), it must be an absolute last resort, not a first option. And there must be the admission that it is only the hardness of one’s own heart that makes it even a possibility.

It has been said that the primary task of teaching is not so much to reveal as it is to remind. And evidently Moses would agree, for as we have seen, the entire book of Deuteronomy is a reminder to the children of Israel of what God had done for them, of what He had taught them, and of what He expected of them.

The passage before us is no exception, beginning as it does with the word, “Remember” (verse 17), and ending with the words, “Thou shalt not forget” (verse 19).

What were the children of Israel not to forget? They were not to forget how during their wilderness wanderings the Amalekites attacked them not man-to-man, not face-to-face, but from the back. The Israelites were to remember how the Amalekites would wait in hiding until they passed by, how they would attack those who were weary and feeble.

We, too, have an Enemy who attacks us constantly. “Be sober,” Peter said. “Be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). It is said that in the jungle, the lion wakes up each day knowing that he simply must outrun the slowest prey. And the same is true spiritually, for like the lion, Satan attacks the weariest or feeblest among us. And, like Amalek, he finds them at the back of the pack.

This is a word we need to remember, a word of which we need to be reminded constantly because we can say, “I’ve been walking with the Lord for a number of years. I’ve been involved in a lot of battles. I need to kick back a bit, to cruise awhile,” not realizing that those who think they deserve a break are the very ones most vulnerable to an attack . . .

He was a great man, a godly man. Year after year he had led his troops into battle. He was their commander, their king. But at the age of fifty, he said, “I’ve fought long enough. I’m going to kick back awhile.” So he sent another to lead the troops while he stayed behind. On the roof of his palace one night, enjoying the view of the golden city of Jerusalem, his eye came across a woman taking a bath. Intrigued by her, he had an affair with her and tried to cover it up by murdering her husband. He should have been fully engaged. He should have been front and center in the battle. Instead, he thought he deserved a break. And as a result, life was never the same for David, for his family, or for his Kingdom.

The same thing can happen to you and me. “I’ve been walking with the Lord for forty years,” we say. “Who says I have to have devotions and go to Bible study? Why not let someone else teach Sunday school? Why not let someone else work in the nursery? Why not let someone else go to the prayer meeting? I’m tired.”

We are currently seeing a rash of middle-aged men in our own community falling into immorality. The number of people who have been sucked into sin at this point in life is astonishing to me. And the common thread among them seems to be a misconception that they were justified in pulling away from fellowship, in drifting away from worship because they thought they had paid their dues, because they thought that spending time with the Lord or with His people no longer needed to be a priority.

Precious people, be oh, so careful that you don’t grow weary somewhere in middle life, saying, “I’ve fought the fight. Now it’s time to cruise.” Amalek attacks the back of the pack. He’ll be waiting for you.

At only thirty years of age, he wasn’t weary. But he was feeble. He hadn’t always been that way. “Smite the Shepherd and the sheep will scatter,” the Lord had said.

“Not me,” he had boldly answered. “My name is Peter. I’m solid as a rock. You can count on me” (see Matthew 26:31–35).

But hours later, when Jesus was led away to the trial that would ultimately lead to His crucifixion, Peter did what he said he would never do: he ran. And then, feeling feeble, he followed Jesus afar off. He still followed Jesus, but no longer at His side. Now there was a distance between them (Matthew 26:58).

The enemies of Jesus lit fires that night to take the chill away. And Peter was chilled indeed - not only outwardly, but inwardly - to his very soul. He knew he was not where he was supposed to be, where he said he would be, where he used to be. Instead, he stood by the fires of the enemy.

“We know you,” one of those who stood by said to him. “You’re one of His followers.”

“No, I’m not,” Peter answered.

“Weren’t you with Jesus?” asked a young girl.

“No,” Peter insisted.

“I’m sure you’re a Galilean,” said another.

And at this point Peter swore, the original text indicating that he took an oath as if to say, “My soul be damned if I know that Man” (see Matthew 26:74).

Be careful when you feel feeble that you don’t say, “I’m not what I should be or not what I used to be so I’m going to follow Jesus afar off.” When you follow Jesus from afar, there’s a chill in your soul that will drive you to the fires of the Enemy in search of warmth. You’ll visit web sites you know you ought not to look at. You’ll turn to movies or to alcohol, to drugs or to fantasies, hoping they’ll warm your soul. You’ll fall prey to the attack of the Enemy when you allow former sins or tendencies to needlessly drive you to the back of the pack.

What are you supposed to do when you’re weary or feeble?

Don’t go to the back. Go to the front. Become more engaged than ever, more involved than you ever were before in your spiritual work and devotional life, more committed to service and ministry, to worship and Bible study.

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. - Isaiah 40:31

Why should we remain front and center in the things of the Lord even when we’re tired, even if we’re feeble? Because in so doing, our strength is not diminished. It’s renewed, replenished, and restored.

We’re involved in a battle, to be sure. But there’s coming a day when even the memory of Amalek will be blotted out - when Satan is cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). And Isaiah tells us we’re going to “narrowly look” on Satan (14:16–17). That is, with furrowed brow, we’ll scratch our heads and say, “Is this the one who held people captive, who shook kingdoms, who brought destruction? We were tricked by him?” And then we’ll see how greatly the lion, seeking whom he may devour, pales in comparison to the Lion of the tribe of Judah (1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 5:5).

Until then, remain fully engaged in your devotional life, in your personal walk, in your service for the King. In so doing, not only will you please Him greatly, not only will your strength be renewed daily, but the arrows of Amalek will never reach you way up there at the front.

Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal are each about two thousand feet high. Between them is a valley that served as a natural amphitheater. With six tribes on each mountain and the priests and leaders in between, the stage was set for an illustrated sermon the children of Israel would not soon forget.

As the Law was read, the tribes on Mount Ebal would say “Amen” to the curses, while those on Mount Gerizim would affirm the blessings. And lest you think you would rather be on Mount Gerizim affirming the blessings, don’t forget that the altar - the place where blood is shed, where forgiveness is made - was on Mount Ebal.

You might be aware of failings and shortcomings in your life, of times you’ve dropped the ball and cursed yourself or others because of stupidity and sin. But where sin abounds, grace abounds more (Romans 5:20). Therefore, the greater awareness I have of my sin, the more thankful I am for the grace of God. It is not surprising that the one who is forgiven much loves much (Luke 7:47), making Mount Ebal - the place where blood is shed - the place where there is, ultimately, peace and joy.

When I see the blessings in Deuteronomy 28, I can’t help but say, “That’s exactly what I want. I want to see my family blessed. I want my location to be satisfying to me. I want to see my cupboards full. I want to experience stability and spiritual intimacy. I want to see the work of my hands blessed, to have a daily routine that’s fulfilling, to know my future is secure.” But this is hardly surprising, for who of us doesn’t want these blessings?

So when I hear Moses saying, “If you hearken diligently to the Lord, if you obey all of His commandments, these blessings will be yours,” I say, “Wonderful!” - until I try, but inevitably and consistently fail.

You see, the key to success and blessing lies in obeying all of the commandments. It can’t be 90 percent or even 99 percent. To get the victory that brings the blessings, one must do it all (James 2:10) because the Ten Commandments are interwoven in such a way that to break one is ultimately to break all ten. Think of it this way . . .

You’re out at sea, two miles from shore, when you notice that, although nine of the floorboards in your boat are shipshape, one is rotting away in the salt water. Therefore, even though only one in ten is faulty, even though nine are in perfect order, you’re sunk.

So too, Moses said if you want these blessings, you’ve got to obey all the commandments. And therein lies the problem. I want to. I try. But I can’t.

There is One, however, who did indeed keep all the commandments. In fact, so perfectly did He keep them that even His enemies could find no fault in Him (Luke 23:4). And because Jesus kept all the commandments, because He fulfilled every expectation and requirement of the Law, He gets all of the blessings. In other words, every Old Testament blessing, every glorious promise made to those who would walk in God’s ways, who would obey God’s Word, who would seek God’s heart is His because He did all of those things (2 Corinthians 1:19–20).

And here’s the amazing news: When you became a Christian, not only did Christ come in you, but you were placed in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17). Therefore, all the promises are yours as well.

“Why don’t I see blessings in my life?” you ask.

Maybe God has blessed you more than you realize. Maybe you haven’t taken the time to think through the way He’s blessed you in the city and in the country, blessed the fruit of your body, blessed you in the storehouse, blessed you in your basket, blessed you with victory over the Enemy who threatened to crush and destroy you. Maybe He’s blessed you more than you think. And maybe part of the issue is to stop and review what He’s done for you and to rejoice in that.

But more importantly, maybe you don’t see God’s blessings in your life because you’re working too hard to even notice them . . .

After wasting his father’s money in the far country, the Prodigal Son returned, not to punishment, but to a party. “Unfair!” said his older brother to their father. “I’ve been with you every day, working faithfully. But you never threw a party on my behalf.”

“Son,” the father answered. “All that I have is yours” (see Luke 15:31), as if to say, “Any time you wanted, you could have had anything and everything you desired. But you were too busy being self-righteous, working in the field trying to impress me, trying to earn something from me to come out of the field and into the party.”

So too, many of us have said, “I’m going to pray more. I’m going to work harder. I’m going to worship with greater intensity. I’m going to give more money. I’m going to teach Sunday school or work in the nursery so that I will be blessed,” only to find that it never works.

We’re blessed, gang, no matter what we do or don’t do simply because we’re His. But now God wants to use us. Isn’t it amazing that God would want to use us?

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20

The more we allow Christ to work in and through us, the more He taps us on the shoulder, saying, “I’ve already blessed you. Now I want to use you. Go out there and serve for My glory.”

As we come to chapter 30, nearing the end of Moses’ farewell sermon to the children of Israel, I can almost hear Moses pause, sigh, and look the congregation in the eye as he begins to share with them from his soul.

He’s been going on and on, repeating the commandments of the Lord. And now he says God’s commandment is not secret, mystical, abstract, or hard to reach. It’s not in the heavens, but is very near to them. How near? As close as it can be. It’s embedded in their hearts and on the tips of their tongues.

After twenty-nine chapters of preaching, Moses pauses and essentially says, “You know what to do. And you know that it’s true.” People do know. They might not want to admit it, but deep within, they know that the best way to live is to love God and keep His commandments. After all, who does even the unsaved person want to move into the vacant house next to him or her - a person who loves God and honors the Ten Commandments, or one who hates God and believes that murder, adultery, stealing, lying, and killing are acceptable?

Or think of it this way . . .

You run out of gas in the middle of a big city just before midnight. You leave your car by the side of a poorly lit street and begin walking to the nearest gas station. After a block or two, sensing you’re not alone, you look over your shoulder and see four big guys following you. Would it make a difference if you knew they were coming out of an evening Bible study and prayer meeting rather than out of a bar?

In our hearts, we know the right way to live is to love God and obey the commands He’s given us. “So choose life,” Moses says. “Don’t violate what you know is true, what you know you ought to do, what you know is best for you.”

Jesus said all of the commandments are summed up in a single word: love. “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” He said. “And . . . love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37, 39). We’re to love God passionately and love our neighbor compassionately. It’s just that simple.

“I know what to do,” you might be saying, “I know God’s ways are true, that they’re best for me and you. But here’s the problem: I don’t come through. There are times when I don’t do what I know is the right thing to do. And there are times when I do things I ought not to do. I understand what is right and good and true. But I fail in so many ways, on so many days.”

Wait. There’s hope because this very passage pops up again in the New Testament. Paul reaches back to Deuteronomy 30 and look what he says concerning these very things . . .

But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into Heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) . . . - Romans 10:6–7

Inspired by the Spirit, Paul says, “There’s another way. Not the word of the law, but the word of faith . . .”

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. - Romans 10:8–10

There’s no need to try to attain a spiritual high or dig into the depths of your soul, for salvation is in none of those places. Where is it? It’s on the tip of your tongue, if you’ll simply confess that you want Jesus to be your Lord.

Fear is to the Devil what faith is to the Lord. That is, Satan responds to, takes advantage of, and delights in fear the same way our Lord responds to, works through, and delights in faith. When I don’t know how the bills will get paid or if the relationship will be restored, the Devil will try to get me to become full of anxiety and fear. God, however, “hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

The disciples were on the Sea of Galilee, toiling at the oars. The wind was howling, the waves were rolling, and the disciples, many of whom were seasoned fishermen, were afraid of the ferocity of the storm. Suddenly they saw Someone walking on the waves, headed in their direction. “It’s a ghost!” they shouted, perhaps alluding to the legend that said when a boat was about to go down, a ghost would come to deliver the message that the lives of the men on board were over.

But then they heard the words, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid” (Matthew 14:27).

Faith is like a muscle. It doesn’t grow unless it’s exercised. And we need to exercise faith in a most practical way. In the midst of the storm, when it seems as though our boat is sinking, we need to choose to be of good cheer. I have discovered over and over that when I make the decision to be strong, to be of good cheer, to not give into tears and fears, that the Lord is truly near.

Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We take faith in as we hear the promises of God’s Word and the preaching of the Scriptures. Faith is worked in by the hearing of the Word - but it’s worked out by the speaking of the Word. That’s why Romans 10 also says we must confess with our mouths (verses 9–10). Faith comes in through the ear, but is worked out through the mouth.

A lot of times we take in a Scripture, but then have a tendency to complain or murmur - and wonder why faith isn’t impacting our situation. Jesus said, “Say to the mountain, be removed . . .” (see Matthew 21:21). This is such a key, but is forgotten so easily. Faith that works is not only a matter of having devotions in the morning or going to Bible study in the evening, but it’s a matter of speaking out that which we have taken in.

If I hear the Word in a Bible study and go my way, saying, “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know how things are going to work,” my faith is short-circuited by my words of fear and frustration. Proverbs 18:21 tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue. How often we kill our faith either by the words we say or fail to say.

For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. - Hebrews 13:5–6

“He hath said . . . that we may boldly say . . .” Next time you are fearful about the future, boldly speak out what He has already said, and watch your faith grow.

Eagles can be found on every continent of the world except Antarctica. And the eagle is not only the symbol of America, but was, in czarist days, the symbol of Russia. In Bible times, it was the symbol of the Roman Empire.

The African eagle, with which the children of Israel would have been familiar, makes its home in the Middle East and has a wingspan of up to ten feet.

Once a year, the female eagle lays an egg in a nest high over a bluff or ravine, inaccessible to predators. For the six weeks following its hatching, the eaglet has it made in the shade. He can see lots of things from his vantage point. He’s fed hourly by his mother. And he grows fat and plump.

By week five, he has grown quite large. And then something begins to happen. Unbeknownst to him, his mother designed the nest in such a way that sticks point inward. So as he gets fatter, the sticks begin to poke him. And no doubt Ernie Eaglet wonders why his parents didn’t make a more comfortable nest - never realizing that its design was all part of the plan to get him to do something he never would have done otherwise: to fly.

The same thing can happen to you and me. We’re comfy. We’re cozy. We’re chubby. But all of a sudden, something begins to happen that agitates us, that pokes at us. “My boss shouldn’t treat me this way,” we squawk. “My friend shouldn’t ignore me that way,” we screech.

Wait a minute. It’s all part of a divine design, a grand plan. Therefore, wise is the man or woman who doesn’t blame the sticks, but realizes they’re part of the Father’s plan.

At about this time, Mom returns to the nest one day and, with her five-foot wings, stirs it and bumps it. And Ernie is thrown out, causing him to fall hundreds of feet toward the ravine below. Feathers fly. Ernie squawks. The ground gets closer, the rocks bigger - when Mama swoops underneath Ernie and carries him on her back to the nest once again.

"Whew!" Ernie thinks, "That was close! I hope Mom learned a lesson about being clumsy." But a few days later, Mama stirs the nest once again, sending Ernie screeching and tumbling once more. And once again, she swoops underneath him at seemingly the last minute, returning him to the nest at last.

The same process is repeated over and over again. But somewhere after the sixth or seventh time, Ernie catches air. No longer sore at his mother, he soars with her. And he can’t believe it. He didn’t have any idea that he could fly - until he was dumped out of the nest.

“What are You doing, God?” we cry. “If I’m Your inheritance, if You keep me as the apple of Your eye, then why am I headed for the rocks?” But right before we crash - maybe only a moment or so before we’re crushed - He swoops in, bears us on His back, and returns us to the nest. Then, days later, He stirs the nest and begins the process all over again.

You see, God loves you and me too much to allow us to settle into the comfort of mediocrity. So He makes our nest uncomfortable as He gets us ready to do something new. He’s not going to let us settle for a perch on a cliff when He knows we could soar in the Heavenlies.

In Israel, bees make their honeycombs, and olive trees take root in crevasses, or fissures, in the rocks. Therefore, what would seem to be an unproductive place actually produces sweetness and sustenance.

“I’m on the rocks,” we cry. “This is it. I’m through.”

And yet God would say, “There’s honey and oil in those rocks, for in them you will discover sweetness you never knew about, empowering and anointing you never would have experienced.”

If you’re between a rock and a hard place, take hope, dear saint, for it is there you will find honey and oil, sweetness and sustenance for your journey.

We like to think of God as One who heals. And He does. But, as seen in verse 39, He also wounds. When I read about God and study His Word, I realize that He is much bigger than my ability to package Him neatly. He is, after all, God.

“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.

“I’m dying of thirst,” said Jill.

“Then drink,” said the Lion.

“May I - could I - would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

“Will you promise not to - do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.

“I make no promise,” said the Lion.

“Do you eat girls?” she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion.

“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.

In his classic series, The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis drove home a very real point. That is, God doesn’t make deals with me or you. He’s God. And He can wound, heal, kill, and resurrect whenever He wants. Our God is indeed an awesome God, a fearful and terrible God. He loves us. He proved it by sending His Son to die for us. But never forget this passage in Deuteronomy 32. The people who forget this do so to their own destruction.

Deuteronomy 32 ended with a reiteration of God’s refusal to allow Moses to enter the Promised Land with the children of Israel. Chapter 33 begins with Moses blessing the people. And this, among other things, is what qualifies Moses to be called a “man of God,” a phrase seen here in Scripture for the first time. When God denied Moses’ requests to accompany the people into the Promised Land, Moses could have said, “If after forty years, this is the thanks I get; if after I’ve given my life for these people and led them through the wilderness to the best of my ability, I’m disqualified because of one mistake, I’m outta here.” But he didn’t. Rather than running away and licking his wounds, Moses blessed the people.

Greatness is found in what a man does within the boundaries placed around him. Many people say, “If I can’t do this, if I can’t be that, I won’t do anything.” Not Moses. He shows us that the way to greatness, to being a man of God, is not to pull back, but to be a blessing.

“Lord,” Moses said, “cause Judah to prosper. May his tribe increase. Help him when he encounters the enemy.” As the people of Israel marched through the wilderness and, again, as they will march into the Land of Promise, which tribe leads the way? Judah. Judah means “Praise.” We enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise (Psalm 100:4). Praise is always the key.

Christian scholar and author Francis Schaeffer reportedly once said that if he had one hour to present the Gospel to someone, he would use the first fifty-five minutes to tell him what God is like, and he would use the last five minutes to communicate how he could know Him. The same holds true for the believer. If you want to be victorious and fruitful in your walk with the Lord, praise is absolutely foundational and essential. As we praise the Lord, our focus shifts from what we need to do to what He has already done; from our insufficiency to His all-sufficiency; from our weakness to His all-encompassing strength.

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know which way to go,” we are prone to say. Even in these New Testament times, the Urim and the Thummim give us real understanding about finding God’s will and getting His direction, for in whose care were the Urim and the Thummim? They were in the charge of the high priest (Numbers 27:21).

“I am the way,” said Jesus, our great High Priest. He didn’t say, “I’ll tell you the way,” or “I’ll point you to the way.” He said, “I am the way” (John 14:6).

One of my tasks as a pastor and teacher is to remind people of this constantly. People come seeking an answer, asking for direction. But what they need to do is simply cling to Jesus every hour, every minute. And then, because He is the way, they’ll end up in the right place.

At six months old, my granddaughter Bailey doesn’t say, “Mommy, how do I get to the mall?” She just stays close to Amanda, and believe me, she’ll get there! So too, like Bailey, we can say to the Lord, “I’m not going to be anxious about what I should do tomorrow. I’m just going to abide in You, cling to You today, close to Your heart, right by Your side. And I know I’ll end up exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

Having finished the pronunciation of blessing upon the congregation of Israel, this great man of God reminds them again who their God is. If the sun, moon, and stars are the work of God’s fingers (Psalm 8:3), what must be the power of His everlasting arms?

When I was three years old, I remember my dad pulling up into our driveway after his day at work at the bank. I would scramble to the top of the wood box on the side of our house each day, and after parking the car, he would walk to the wood box and with outstretched arms say, “Okay, Jon. Jump.” And although I was scared, I’d jump. He always caught me. Every time.

Moses is hoping the children of Israel will come to understand the same thing - that their Father has strong arms and that He will never let them fall.

Stuck in prison, John the Baptist sent messengers to ask Jesus if He was indeed the Messiah. If not, he would look for another. Jesus’ answer to the messengers was for them to tell John how He had healed the blind, made the lame to walk, and cleansed the leper, raised the dead. Then Jesus added, “And blessed is he who is not offended in Me” (see Matthew 11:2–6). When John received this message, I wonder if he beat himself for his lack of faith. He had been so bold up to that point; I wonder if he felt his ministry was, after all, a failure.

Certainly Moses would be able to understand. Having been faithful for forty years, his obedience had faltered at a moment of frustration. Yet, because God had shown him the Promised Land, Moses knew the end of his story. John didn’t. You see, right after his messengers left, Jesus called John the greatest man ever born (Matthew 11:11).

So too, if you feel like a failure, like you’ve let the Lord down once too often, like He will never again be able to use you, remember that He sees you as perfect, robed in the righteousness of His Son (Isaiah 61:10). That makes us who are “least in the Kingdom” greater even than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11). Messengers may not tell you this, your prison walls may not confirm it, failure at Meribah may say otherwise - but you, dear saint, are God’s prize and His inheritance. And, as seen in the lives of Moses and John the Baptist, those God uses to the greatest degree are often the very ones who question their own effectiveness.

Press on, precious brother; be strong, dear sister. The Promised Land of the Spirit-filled life is yours for the taking. And the Promised Land of Heaven is just around the bend.

The word genesis means “beginning.” Therefore, Genesis is a fitting title for the book before us, for its pages record the beginning of everything - the beginning of creation, man, sin, family, culture, and industry. It deals with the beginning of everything one could possibly imagine - except it does not deal with the beginning of God.

Why?

First, because God has no beginning.

Second, the Bible being, in a sense, the autobiography of God, He needs no introduction. Think about it. If you were to write your life story, you would not spend chapters trying to prove that you exist because the very fact that you were writing the book would verify your existence.

The more I study the Bible, the more I realize it was composed supernaturally. Comprised of sixty-six different books written by forty different authors over a span of sixteen hundred years in three different languages, yet, there isn’t one contradiction. Instead, there is a unified theme that begins here in Genesis, the book of beginning, and extends through the book of Revelation. That theme is the story of God’s gracious, glorious work of redemption.

A number of years ago, due to a previous commitment, I wasn’t able to see one of my son Benjamin’s Little League games.

“How did it go, Ben?” I asked eagerly upon my return.

“Well,” he answered, “before I got up to bat the first time, I went to the end of the dugout, got on my knees, and prayed.”

“Atta boy!” I said. “You probably parked it over the fence, huh?”

“No, I struck out,” he said, as a huge grin spread across his face. “But I got to pitch the next inning!”

How often we pray, “Lord, change my husband,” or “Lord, help my boss see my talent,” or “Lord, let me hit a homer” - only to strike out. But there’s a next inning, folks - a big inning, a new, big inning - a new beginning. That’s always the way it is. For, although our God has no beginning, He gives us new, big innings, and new beginnings every time we call on Him.

Throughout Scripture, water is a symbol of the Word. How does the Spirit of God move?

Upon the face of the water - upon the Word.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. But when Lucifer launched his rebellion and was cast out of Heaven, the earth became dark. Then the Spirit moved on the face of the water, and God said “Let there be light.”That’s your story. You were created in God’s image, but sin wiped you out and your world was dark. The Spirit of God moved in through the Word. You attended a Bible study, listened to a radio program, watched Billy Graham on TV, or heard from a friend - and the Spirit of God moved. You saw the light, and you were born again. Then God separated the darkness in your life and good things began to happen - not only in creation physically, but in your life personally because of God’s sovereign grace and mercy.

If you feel tongue-tied when sharing your testimony, try using this short passage to tell others how God brought light to your life and how He can do the same for them.

Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12). He said we are also to be lights (Matthew 5:14). He is the greater light - the sun. We are the lesser light - the moon - reflecting His light to our dark world.

As I recently watched the moon appear smaller and smaller due to an eclipse, I was reminded that to whatever extent the world gets between the sun and the moon is the extent to which the light of the sun upon the moon is diminished. The same thing is true with you and me. Jesus is the sun; we’re the moon. And to whatever degree we allow the world to come between us, His light in our lives will fade proportionately.

If you were to chart your own life tonight, would you be a full moon, a three-quarter moon, a half moon, a quarter moon, or an eclipsed moon? It all depends on how much of the world you allow to creep in between you and the Son.

Before things went haywire after the fall, God assigned Adam and Eve the job of subduing the earth. From whom were they to subdue it? Satan.

You see, from the very beginning, it was as if God said, “This little rock called earth is the place where there is to be a cosmic showdown between Me and Satan. So I’m going to use you, mankind, to partner with Me as part of the process to drive out the Enemy.”

How? By being fruitful and multiplying.

How are you to subdue your earth, your world, or your family which seems to be in the grasp and grip of the Enemy? By being fruitful.

Because the fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22), and because love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8), you’ll be fruitful if you don’t criticize, gossip, or find fault with things, people, or situations. You’ll be fruitful if you speak words of love and peace, patience and gentleness, for such is the fruit of the Spirit.

James talks about the tongue being an instrument of fire (James 3:6). If you find fault with your neighbor, your job, your school, your church, or your family, you will hand your world over to the hellish flames of the Enemy. But if you speak words of affirmation and encouragement, of faith and joy, you will replace the fires of hell with the fruit of Heaven.

How do we multiply?

Acts 6:7 tells us the Word of God increased and the number of disciples multiplied when the Word was shared.

If you talk to your kids, your classmates, or your co-workers about the Word, you will see multiplication of life and love. And eventually the world in which you live will be subdued - won back from the Enemy.