With God in the Wilderness!

After the fall, I believe, the greatest disaster for the people of God happened in the Wilderness of Paran. The people of Israel camped at the Wilderness of Sinai, where they received the Ten Commandments and other instructions for life and worship. Now God was preparing them to finally enter the land that was promised long ago to Abraham. After they celebrated the second Passover in the Wilderness of Sinai, they moved and camped in the Wilderness of Paran. Just when they were ready to enter Canaan, the people told Moses that they should send men to the land to check it out (Deut 1:22). The Lord agreed to their suggestion and told Moses to send men to spy on Canaan (Num 13:2). This must have been a test allowed by the Lord, and the people failed miserably! Thus, the eleven-day journey became a forty-year wandering for the Israelites.

The Lord had been leading them till that point in their journey since they had not walked that way before. The Bible says in Ex 13:21, "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire … ." By this time, they had experienced God personally every day. Each one of those acts in itself is a display of God's power and character! After all that, they failed to trust Him and obey Him! They grumbled and accused God. They even decided to choose a leader and return to Egypt (Num. 14:1-4). The years in the Wilderness were the consequences of their sin. The Apostle Paul tells us that the book of Numbers was written for us today. I Cor 10:6-11 says, "Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. … . Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, … ; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted...; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they have been written for our admonition, ..."

My friend, our actions have consequences. Many times, they involve our families as well. May the Lord help us to trust and obey Him alone!

Trust and obey, for there's no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. John H. Sammis

Categories: Weekly DevotionalsAuthor: Hephzibah StephenDate: 5th November 2019 Share: newsletterDisplay date: 6th November 2019

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