Title: Lessons from the Wilderness Road 1
Contents
Date : 2010. 2. 21 ? Category : Sunday day sermons ? Text: Deuteronomy 8:1-10
As you are well aware, there are two types of tests. One of them, the test - is for God to refine the faith of His people, or to check the people's obedience to God - a test. And as another test, there is temptation. This temptation is very different from the test mentioned earlier. One is that through these two kinds of temptations, God tests them to see if they obey Him, but He never tempts people into sin.
The overall flow of today's text is as follows. First, in verses 1-4, the 40-year journey in the wilderness was a period of training in Wuhan to humble the proud people, and after making them experience hunger, feeding them with special food such as manna was a training trial to teach that only Jehovah God is the Savior of life. It's a scene. Also, it is emphasized again that the fact that the clothes do not wear out or the feet do not swell during this period of refinement is empirical evidence that God provides everything necessary for daily life when we completely obey God's Word. Next, in verses 5-10, he exhorts us to enjoy more abundant blessings in Canaan by obeying the word, and moreover, it promises a bountiful harvest of agricultural products to the people who have never farmed until now. I'm telling you to sing praises. In the end, in today's text, Moses is also strongly appealing to the people to fear Jehovah God and obey his commandments by looking back on God's love for the people of Israel over the past 40 years.
Dear saints, If you look around the present age and look for differences between the time in which the people of Israel lived and the present age, what differences can you find?
I want to say it out loud. I would like to resolutely proclaim here that the present age and the age shown in today's text are so identical that no difference can be found. Through today's text, I will show you the way that God can enter the people of Israel in 7-10 days... Why? for what reason? Did you make me walk through the 40-year long wilderness journey? Why did you make me walk on this path in the wilderness where it was so difficult to walk on such an easy road, and at times I was exhausted! Through today's text, we want to know the true truth of God that we can get on the road in the wilderness. All the beloved people of God who attended this event just came. I hope that you will listen to God's voice through precious time, not just a vain step back. I earnestly pray for God's grace to be with me and all of you who are listening.
1. He was trained to know whether he was obedient (verse 1-2 of the text).
Moses does not say that the 40 years of the Israelites' lives in the wilderness were simply a period of curses and punishments. Rather, Moses says that this period was a period of trial and instruction in which God tested the people of Israel (Numbers 14:28-35).
Numbers 14:28 “So tell them. Yahweh said: I heard you say As long as I live, I will do to you as I have been told.”
29 “You will die in this wilderness. All of you who are 20 years old or older and who were included in the census at the time of the census will all die. You have complained to me, the LORD,”
30 “I will not let not one of you enter and live in the land I promised you. Only Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun will enter.”
31 “Your children whom you said will be taken away, I will bring them into the land. They will possess the land you forsaken.”
32 “And ye shall die in this wilderness,”
33 “Your children will wander in this wilderness for forty years. They will bear your transgressions, and you will suffer until you die in the wilderness and are buried.”
34 “You will suffer for your sins forty years. Those forty years were the number of days in the forty days that you spyed out on the land. You will see what I hate about you.”
35 “I am the LORD. I will make it clear to this wicked people all these things I have said. They came together and betrayed me. Therefore they will all die in this wilderness.”
In Genesis 22:1-19, we see a scene where God tested Abraham to find out whether he had faith or not. We see Abraham obeying without any hesitation in the face of God's command to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac, whom he had at the age of 100. This is what God said to Abraham who was obedient.
Genesis 22:17 “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore, and your descendants will subdue the cities of the enemy.”
18 “Because you have obeyed me, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.”
On the other hand, God clearly shows how terrible disobedience is through the work of King Saul (1 Samuel 16:22-23).
1 Samuel 16:22 “Saul sent messengers to Jesse to tell him. Let David stay here and serve me. I like David!”
23 “David used to play his harp whenever an evil spirit from God entered Saul and tormented him. Then the bad spirit went out of Saul, and each time he felt good.”
As you know, Saul said from God [what Amalek did to Israel, what he resisted on the road when he came out of Egypt]
1 Samuel 15:2 “Thus saith the LORD of hosts. I remember that the Amalekites tried to block the way when the Israelites came out of Egypt.”
3 “Go now, then, and attack the Amalekites. All that the Amalekites have are sacrificed to me and destroy let no one live Kill and destroy not only males and females, young children and infants, but also oxen and sheep and camels and donkeys.”
But Saul doesn't do that.
1 Samuel 15:9 “But Saul and his army did not kill Agag, but spared him. And he spared not only the best sheep, the fattened cattle and sheep, but also all the other good animals. Saul and his army did not like to kill the animals. They only killed weak or useless animals.”
And Saul receives a rebuke from Samuel, the man of God, for his disobedience. However, King Saul is in a hurry to make excuses to Samuel for his sin.
1 Samuel 15:15 “Saul answered. The soldiers took it from the Amalekites. You have left the best sheep and cattle for sacrifice to the LORD your God. But we killed all the other animals.”
Samuel's answer to this clearly shows that God delights in obedience above all else.
1 Samuel 15:22 “But Samuel said. What could be more pleasing to Jehovah? Burnt offerings and other sacrifices? Or is it purebred? Obedience to God is better than sacrifice. It is better to hear the word of God than to offer the fat of rams.”
23 “Disobedience is as bad as the deceit of a fortune teller, and prideful stubbornness is as bad as serving idols. You have not listened to the Lord's command. Therefore, now the LORD will reject you, so that you will not become king.”
In this situation, Saul's excuses continue, but the content is so absurd.
1 Samuel 15:24 “Then Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned. I have not obeyed the Lord's command. I didn't follow what you said. I was afraid of the people, so I did what the people told me to do.”
25 “Please forgive my sins. Come with me and let me worship the Lord!”
26 “But Samuel said to Saul, I will not go with you. You have not listened to the Lord's command. So now the LORD has made you not to be king over Israel!”
Dear brothers and sisters, therefore, we must understand how important obedience is in the covenant relationship between God and man.
Exodus 15:26 “The LORD has spoken. Submit yourselves to the LORD your God. You do what I see is right. You must keep all my laws and ordinances. If you do that, I will not send you sickness like I did to the Egyptians. I am Jehovah. I am the LORD who heals you.”
1 Kings 9:4 “If you keep my law and all that I have commanded you, like David your father, upright and faithful.”
5 “I will make it possible for your household to rule over Israel forever. I made a promise to David that from David's house there would come an endless number of kings to rule over Israel.”
Isaiah 1:19 “If you are willing to obey me, you will eat the good crops of the earth.”
20 “But if you turn your back on me and do not follow me, you will perish by the sword of your enemies. These are the words of the Lord Himself.”
Luke 17:5 “The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith!”
6 “The Lord has spoken. If you have faith as big as a mustard seed, tell this mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you.”
Dear members of the White Stone Church!
What pleases God is marked by obedience and trust in responding to His Word. Therefore, obedience and faith are inseparable. In the Bible, true obedience is emphasized in relation to the obedience of Jesus Christ. That is why true believers see faith in participating in the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ. God's covenant was fulfilled through perfect obedience through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:19; Phil 2:8; Hebrews 5:7).
Romans 5:19 “Just as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
Philippians 2:8 “While you were on this earth, you humbled yourself and obeyed God. Jesus obeyed the word of God until he gave up his life and died on the cross.”
Hebrews 5:7 “When Jesus was a man, he prayed and asked God for help. He cried out with a loud voice and prayed with tears to the One who could save him from death. And he received God’s answer by entrusting everything to God and obeying him.”
That is, man's sins were atoned for by the act of obedience of Jesus Christ. Therefore, rather than obeying people, people should obey God in the ultimate matter (Acts 5:29).
Acts 5:29 “Then Peter and the other apostles answered, It is only natural that we should submit to God and not to men.”
The only right we have is to surrender our will to God and to submit fully to His will. We must remember that God is sovereign and that we are His creatures. Such a God has the right to command me and you to obey.
If you want to obey God's word in our lives and undergo trials through testing, then put everything down and discern what God wants through you right now and live a life of obedience, in the name of Jesus Christ. I wish you my best wishes.