Your Promised Land
I absolutely LOVE Old Testament history. And for today's lesson, you really need to know what happens from Genesis 12 to Deuteronomy, so, here it is:
In Genesis 12, God finds a man named Abraham and makes him a promise: Leave your home and go to a Promised Land. I will be with you, I will bless you, and I will protect you (Genesis 12:1-3, my paraphrase.) So Abraham went. And though he lived in that promised land for years, it did not belong to him; the promise would carry on through the descendants of Abraham until it was completely fulfilled hundreds of years later. (That's how many of God's Old Testaments promises worked.) So Abraham had a son named Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, and Jacob had his name changed to Israel when he actually decided to believe God. Israel had 12 sons, one of whom (Joseph) was an amazing leader and dream-interpreter. His brothers hated how "great" he was, so they sold him into slavery and he ended up in Egypt. But because he was in Egypt and could translate the Pharaoh's dreams, he knew a famine was coming and the Egyptians were ready for it. The Israelites, still living in the Promised Land, weren't able to withstand the famine. They had to go to Egypt for food. Lo and behold, there was Joseph, who gave them food and invited them--all of his relatives--to come live in Egypt with him. They did. After all that generation died, a new Pharaoh saw this very populous family and realized they could be danger if they turned on the Egyptians. So he made the Israelites His slaves, and for 400 years they lived in slavery.
But the promise of the Promised Land was still there, waiting for God's promise to be fulfilled. So 500 years after the original promise to Abraham, God raised up a man named Moses, who led the Israelites out of slavery and herded them toward the Promised Land. Unfortunately, when they got to the edge, the descendants of Abraham froze: the inhabitants were powerful, and the Israelites, who had known nothing but slavery for 400 years, didn't know how to fight. Didn't know how to conquer the land. Didn't know how they would ever receive God's promise. But that's because they just didn't believe God was with them, even though they had watched Him send the plagues and part the Red Sea. So God made the Israelites wait, wandering in the desert, until that unbelieving generation was dead, before He would conquer the Promised Land for them.
Moses, still leading the Israelites, knew he wouldn't actually go into the Promised Land with them (see Numbers 20). So he took a while to remind them of everything God said and did before he died: it's called the book of Deuteronomy, the "second telling" of many of the stories before it.
And in Deuteronomy 32:45-47 we read this:
After Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them, "Take to heart all these words I am giving as a warning to you today so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law. For they are not meaningless words to you but they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."
These were Moses' last words to the people of Israel. And they basically said this: You're on the edge of the Promised Land. I'm not going with you. But GOD'S WORD is the key to success there.
It's the same thing with your life. God has an amazing Promised Land waiting for you, too; and it has many names: Adulthood. Freedom. The rest of your life.
And like the Israelites, you're looking over this Promised Land with a little bit of trepidation. It's big. It's scary. You've never been there before. The people there seem huge. There are many, many, many battles ahead of you.
And you're heading there alone. Without your parents. (Well, they won't be as close as they have been.) Without your hometown as your home. Without that close circle of friends you've had forever. Without what's always been familiar. Without me :(
Which is why my words to you are the same thing Moses said to His people: Learn to know God in His Word. It's your key to the Promised Land.
It's not surprising that God's first Words to Joshua as the new leader said precisely the same thing: "This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do," (Joshua 1:8).
God's Word--learned and applied--is the only way step into your Promised Land. Don't go there without it.
In Genesis 12, God finds a man named Abraham and makes him a promise: Leave your home and go to a Promised Land. I will be with you, I will bless you, and I will protect you (Genesis 12:1-3, my paraphrase.) So Abraham went. And though he lived in that promised land for years, it did not belong to him; the promise would carry on through the descendants of Abraham until it was completely fulfilled hundreds of years later. (That's how many of God's Old Testaments promises worked.) So Abraham had a son named Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, and Jacob had his name changed to Israel when he actually decided to believe God. Israel had 12 sons, one of whom (Joseph) was an amazing leader and dream-interpreter. His brothers hated how "great" he was, so they sold him into slavery and he ended up in Egypt. But because he was in Egypt and could translate the Pharaoh's dreams, he knew a famine was coming and the Egyptians were ready for it. The Israelites, still living in the Promised Land, weren't able to withstand the famine. They had to go to Egypt for food. Lo and behold, there was Joseph, who gave them food and invited them--all of his relatives--to come live in Egypt with him. They did. After all that generation died, a new Pharaoh saw this very populous family and realized they could be danger if they turned on the Egyptians. So he made the Israelites His slaves, and for 400 years they lived in slavery.
But the promise of the Promised Land was still there, waiting for God's promise to be fulfilled. So 500 years after the original promise to Abraham, God raised up a man named Moses, who led the Israelites out of slavery and herded them toward the Promised Land. Unfortunately, when they got to the edge, the descendants of Abraham froze: the inhabitants were powerful, and the Israelites, who had known nothing but slavery for 400 years, didn't know how to fight. Didn't know how to conquer the land. Didn't know how they would ever receive God's promise. But that's because they just didn't believe God was with them, even though they had watched Him send the plagues and part the Red Sea. So God made the Israelites wait, wandering in the desert, until that unbelieving generation was dead, before He would conquer the Promised Land for them.
Moses, still leading the Israelites, knew he wouldn't actually go into the Promised Land with them (see Numbers 20). So he took a while to remind them of everything God said and did before he died: it's called the book of Deuteronomy, the "second telling" of many of the stories before it.
And in Deuteronomy 32:45-47 we read this:
After Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them, "Take to heart all these words I am giving as a warning to you today so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law. For they are not meaningless words to you but they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."
These were Moses' last words to the people of Israel. And they basically said this: You're on the edge of the Promised Land. I'm not going with you. But GOD'S WORD is the key to success there.
It's the same thing with your life. God has an amazing Promised Land waiting for you, too; and it has many names: Adulthood. Freedom. The rest of your life.
And like the Israelites, you're looking over this Promised Land with a little bit of trepidation. It's big. It's scary. You've never been there before. The people there seem huge. There are many, many, many battles ahead of you.
And you're heading there alone. Without your parents. (Well, they won't be as close as they have been.) Without your hometown as your home. Without that close circle of friends you've had forever. Without what's always been familiar. Without me :(
Which is why my words to you are the same thing Moses said to His people: Learn to know God in His Word. It's your key to the Promised Land.
It's not surprising that God's first Words to Joshua as the new leader said precisely the same thing: "This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do," (Joshua 1:8).
God's Word--learned and applied--is the only way step into your Promised Land. Don't go there without it.
Comments
Post a Comment