When our perception and subsequent reasoning is against the will of God, trust in God and follow His will and not our understanding (Proverb 3:5). If we fail to, be ready to listen and obey again. This is the lesson from Deu 1.Deuteronomy was Jesus' favorite book. He quoted from it most often. His answers to Satan's temptations all come from this book (6:13, 16, 8:3). So, it is important that we study this book well.
The promise and command of God are given 1:6-8, especially verse 8
Deu 1:8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’
God said, "Go and possess it."
Moses gave them additional assurances in 9-22. They had grown in numbers, were better organized, reiterated God's command and told them not to fear.
They decided to spy out the land first. There is nothing wrong with that. Go and see for yourself is a good thing. The facts were there, the land and the produce were what God said. Productive land and giant fruits also have giant people there. The problem was with the interpretation of the evidence.
Focus on God first and the Problem will be smaller
When we only look at the circumstances without God, we will conclude as they did, i.e. we could not do it. However, if we look at the circumstance from the promised of God, when we focus our eyes more on God, the problems would be smaller, as Caleb and Joshua did.
Their reasoning without God made them disobedient to God and even accused of God hating them despite their miraculous experience exodus from Egypt! It is so easy to be overwhelmed by our circumstances that we forgot about the past experience with God.
God's Will is for Specific Time & Event
When rebuked, the people decided to obey God's initial order to go. But the right time has passed and God then told them not to go because He would not be with them.
God gave them a 2nd Chance to obey Him. But, they Disobeyed Again!
Shockingly, they disobeyed again after God told them not to go. They want to justify themselves and take things into their own hands again. Of course, the consequence was obvious, they were badly defeated.
The Lessons:
1. Be sensitive to hear and know the Will of God.
2. Be quick to follow His will. When our reasonings disagree with God, check it out with God and follow God's rather than our own.
3. Know that God's will is time, place and people specific.
4. Be ready to admit our error and listen and obey God's new instruction.
5. When in doubts, check back with God.
Lim Liat (c) 6 Feb 2017
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