3. Moses reviewed the history of Israel in his first speech in Deuteronomy. He reminded the
people how God treated them during the last forty years in the desert.
What did God do to the
people of Israel and the
nations they met?
4. God Himself told the Israelites “You shall not make for yourself a
carved image.” However, they immediately built a golden calf and
worshipped it.
Moses came to God to intercede on their behalf because of this
sin. He asked God to “bear” (which is the right translation of
“forgive” in Ex. 32:32) their sins.
That’s what God did on the cross. Jesus
bore “the iniquity of us all.” (Is. 53:6)
Moses interceded for the people as an example of the true
Intercessor, Jesus (Heb. 7:25).
5. The Israelites refused to enter Canaan, so God punished them. They had to
roam the desert for 40 years, one year for each day the spies had been
examining the land (Nm. 14:34).
Exactly 40 years after
that, God had led
Israel back to Canaan.
God is all powerful, He
fulfills His promises
precisely.
6. That was not the only time that the events God had foretold were fulfilled precisely.
PROPHECY TIME PERIOD FULFILLMENT
Dn. 9:24-27 70 weeks (490 years) 457 BC – 34 AD
Dn. 8:14 2,300 days/years 457 BC – 1844 AD
Dn. 7:25; Rev. 12:6, 14; 13:5 1,260 days/years 538 AD – 1798 AD
This confirms both the existence of God and His
control over history.
We can fully trust Him.
457 BC 34 AD 538 AD 1798 AD 1844 AD
70 weeks 1,260 days
2,300 days
7. “May the Lord God of your fathers make you a
thousand times more numerous than you are, and
bless you as He has promised you!” (Deuteronomy 1:11)
They needed a good organization to properly administer those
blessings (Dt. 1:12-13).
The people of God were well organized in the desert. That
organization remained in Israel. God also wants an organized
people (Church) today.
Organization involves a unified body of people who fulfill
various roles according to their gifts. This way, God’s blessings
can be administered in the best way possible.
God had been blessing Israel during their
40-year pilgrimage (Neh. 9:21). Moses
longed for the people to be blessed in
Canaan, and to become even more
numerous.
8. “Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy,
just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” (Numbers 14:19)
When Israel refused to enter Canaan, God decided to destroy them
(Nm. 14:11-12). Moses interceded on their behalf again (Nm. 14:13-17).
The nations around Israel knew all about
how God had delivered them from Egypt. If
God destroyed them, His reputation would
be in question: “Because the Lord was not
able to bring this people to the land which
He swore to give them, therefore He killed
them in the wilderness.” (Nm. 14:16).
They could only become a light for other nations if they were
forgiven. God is to be glorified in His people. The glory and
goodness and love and power of God are to be revealed in His
church, through what He does through His people.
9. “In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the
Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” (Genesis 15:16 NIV)
War, death, destruction.
This is the other side of the
conquest of the Promised
Land. That destruction had
already begun with the
lands of Sihon and Og
(Dt. 2-3). Why did God
authorize that massacre?
God always offered peace before
allowing war (Dt. 2:26-29). Those
people chose their own destiny by
rejecting peace (Dt. 2:30).
Those nations had reached the point
of no return. Their wickedness had
become endemic (Gn. 15:16).
If we review the history of the nations and
people who respected and trusted God, we’ll
see that they were saved from destruction
(for example, Rahab and the Gibeonites).
10. “The history of the children of Israel is written for our
admonition and instruction upon whom the ends of the
world are come. Those who would stand firm in the faith in
these last days, and finally gain an entrance into the
heavenly Canaan, must listen to the words of warning
spoken by Jesus Christ to the Israelites. These lessons were
given to the church in the wilderness to be studied and
heeded by God’s people throughout their generations
forever. The experience of the people of God in the
wilderness will be the experience of His people in this age.
Truth is a safeguard in all time to those who will hold fast
the faith once delivered to the saints.”
E. G. W. (The Upward Look, August 6)
