Inspired by
Deuteronomy 1:34-40
“When the Lord heard your words, he was wrathful
and swore: ‘Not one of these—not one of this evil generation—shall see the good
land that I swore to give to your ancestors…And as for your little ones, who
you thought would become booty, your children, who today do not yet know right
from wrong, they shall enter there; to them I will give it, and they shall take
possession of it.’” Deuteronomy 1:34-35,
39
God commanded the Israelites to go up and take possession of
the land he had promised their ancestors so long ago. However, fear seized the Israelites, and they
refused to go, even accusing God of hating them for so callously rescuing them
from slavery in Egypt
only to deliver them into the hand of the Amorites. Their refusal and lack of faith in his
promises angered the Lord, and he declared that they themselves would never see
the land they’d left Egypt
for, the Promised Land of their hopes and dreams.
The Israelites appropriately took this as bad news, but it
was also good news. God keeps his word. God declared that they would not be the ones
to take the land, and they didn’t, even after they decided to fight and gave it
all they had. But God had promised their
ancestors that he would give their progeny a good land. This particular generation squandered their
chance at being the ones to actually settle the land, but their children would
be the ones to inherit it. And even
though this generation of Israelites had angered God and lost their chance to
settle the land, God still gave them the opportunity to prepare their children
for it. God sent them back into the
wilderness, but God also went right back into the wilderness with them. Even as they paid the price for their
disobedience for the rest of their lives, God never abandoned them. The promise had been made to those who came
before them, and it would be delivered to those who came after them, but they
themselves still had a part to play.
God has been working his plan of salvation in the world long
before we were born, and he will continue working his plan of salvation in the
world long after we’ve left it. We
weren’t the original recipients of the promises, and we may not see many of
them fulfilled during our lifetime.
However God promised us salvation in Christ and his Spirit to guide us,
and those promises are being fulfilled just as he said, every moment of every
day of our lives.
Let us pray. Faithful
God, your word is trustworthy. Help us
to trust in your promises, that we may be obedient to your will and experience
the blessings you would like to give to us.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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