Greetings in Christ,
The stories of the Israelites moving across the desert and into the promised land becomes more of a repetition of complaining and grumbling as God clears the path for them to follow and move forward. There was a point in time they feared the giants who inhabited the land and the Israelites felt they could not conquer the giants. As a result, God told them the ones who left Egypt would not enter the promised land. The next generation of sons, daughters, and grandchildren have picked up where their ancestors left off and, they are grumbling and complaining as they enter the promised land.
They are grumbling and feeling like God has brought them this far to let them die, and this angers God to the point He sends fiery serpents which bite the people, and they are dying. The Israelites see their failure to trust God and ask Moses to intercede for them and ask God for forgiveness. Moses does exactly this and God instructs him to make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard for those to see. It is when they look at the fiery serpent they will live. Again, God steps in to show them He still has the authority over life or death.
The Israelites move through the land and are respecting those who live there by asking to let them pass through peacefully, but they receive opposition from the inhabitants. God instructs them to not fear the inhabitants for He has delivered them into their hands. As they move through the land, they wipe out all the inhabitants which oppose them removing them from the land forever. God is reassuring the Israelites nothing, or nobody will stand in the way of what He has promised, and the bottom line was God wanted them to trust Him.
This is not to say they did not have a part in what was taking place, but rather they had to believe God was working in what they were doing. The Israelite’s participation in the move into the promised land meant they had to do some of the hard work to occupy the land. It was up to them to move forward and to remove anything which could present itself as an obstacle which may stand between them and God. This is why it was important for them to remove the inhabitants from the land permanently, but this became a stumbling block for them.
They began to think they were the ones responsible for eradicating the distractions from their lives, and they began to become prideful in their actions. They believed since they were part of God’s plan and they did most of the work they should get all the credit for the accomplishments, but they forgot God had already proven He still had the authority over life and death, and all He wanted was for them to trust Him.
It is easy to self-propagate in our thoughts of what we can do. It is easy to say look at what I have done! We are supposed to be part of the plan for God to work in our lives because God has chosen to work through us. We are supposed to do some hard work, but we need to remember Who is working through us to achieve what is being done.
The Israelites became caught up in their own self-glory of what took place, and they began to feel they accomplished more than they had done. They forgot it was God who promised them the land they would occupy, and they forgot the miracles which God did before their very eyes. They were in the mindset of self-accomplishment. Where was God in the picture? It was when they were caught up in their own self-glory, they made the mistake of forgetting God was working with them, and God brought them back to reality.
God does not require much from us as we walk with in comparison to what He will do for us. The basic requirements are we trust Him and praise Him for what He does for us. Yes, we still have a part in what takes place, but we should never forget He works through us to get the job done. It is when we say look what I have done we get off track and we fall short because we self-propagate ourselves beyond what we have done. All God asks for us to do is to humble ourselves before Him, trust Him, and praise Him for what He does for us and through us.
“Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous will enter through it. I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, and You have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; we have blessed you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and He has given us light; bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I give thanks to You; You are my God, I extol You.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Psalm 118:19-29
Lord may we always trust You and give You the praise for what You do. Amen
Blessings,