Obedience and Promised Blessings

13
Feb

Deuteronomy 1:30—”The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes”

Have we ever doubted God; not in the ability section but in merely questioning God? This scripture talks about – what we ought to do when in doubt.

Moses asked the Israelites: to occupy the mountains of the Amorites after their defeat, and the plains around them, because God set this place according to His covenant with them. Because of fear and doubt, the people asked if spies could be sent ahead but refused to go and complained in their tents even though they were close to the promised land. Moses reminded them that it was God who carried them in the wilderness. They did not believe the same Lord, who went ahead to search out a place to pitch their tents; He showed them the way to go as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.
What can we learn from this?
– Israelites had a perverse conduct and outrageous rebellion against the authority of God.
– Israelites planned to send scouts ahead, eventhough God had prepared a place for them as their Leader and Protector.
– Israelites’ unbelief excluded them from the privilege to enter the Promised Land.
-Israelites resistance to God’s commandments was the reason for them to remain in the desert for forty years.
-Israelites were discontent with the guidance of God in their encampment in the desert although Moses reminded them of their previous rebellion, that was followed by the condemnation of the rebellious generation to die out in the wilderness.

Shall fight for you according to all that he did in Egypt — This indicates we need a firm reliance on the protection and help of God; the Israelites did not accept that the same power, which redeemed them out of Egypt, was able to bring them into the Promised Land.
The LORD your God which goes before you — This indicates we must renounce our own force, to constantly follow our calling, and depend on the Lord. This is true boldness and agreeable to God.
Before your eyes—This indicates that we must prefer our experience of God to the reports of the spies about a situation not yet manifested before your eyes. God has wrought such wonders, which we have seen in our life, that we can stand testimony and definitely believe.

Is there any cause to distrust or doubt God? An unbelieving heart is at the bottom of all this. All disobedience to God’s laws and distrust of His power and goodness flow from disbelief of His Word; true obedience springs from faith. When we feel doubt or distrust arise, we can:
– Give thanks to God for the mercies we have received.
– Confess and seek forgiveness of all the sins we remember and thus renew our acceptance of God’s salvation.
– Surrender ourselves to His service.
Where you were weak, dispirited, unexperienced, in a great measure unarmed, able to do nothing against your numerous, potent, united enemies, stand still and see the Salvation of God. Our own plans seldom avail to good purpose; while courage to exercise our faith and to do our duty, enables us to follow the Lord fully, to disregard all that opposes, to triumph over all opposition, and to take firm hold upon our Promised Blessings!