As the book of Deuteronomy opens,
we see Israel on the border of the land of Canaan, in a place where eleven days
journey, some forty years before, could have brought them. We marvel at
Israel’s slowness. We like them, are kept back by unbelief many times and
because of that we lose the blessing on time. But God is a faithful teacher. He
never lets us pass on to another grade until we are ready.
God never fails us when we put
our trust in him, but he will not do many mighty works because of our unbelief.
“And he did not do many miracles there
because of their lack of faith” – Mathew
13:58.
We can see, in Deuteronomy God is
putting before the children of Israel the conditions of their entering and
holding the land. We can see all these conditions summed up in one great word –
Obedience. The children of Israel entered the Promised Land under the
Conditions of Law. In the first four books if Pentateuch, God is choosing
Israel. Now he is letting Israel choose him. There will be certain times in our
life, when we are in pit and God will take us from that and put us in high, and
gives us a chance to choose between world and him, or between lust /power/greed
and him.
Besides Moses, only Joshua and
Caleb were left from the generation that had come out of Egypt. The younger
generation would have suffered in wilderness, but Moses recites them the law
before entering the land. Moses knew his work is done as God chose another
leader to lead his people to the land. We should always know that we have our
role to play in life. Once our role is over, someone else will take our role.
Our role may me small or big. Instead of comparing our roles with others,
better to understand ours and work hard and run our race fast to be part of the
Kingdom.
Since it was Moses farewell
address to Israel, he recalls the history of Israel and their wanderings. He
reminds them to be faithful and urges them to be grateful and obedient. He
spoke to the people in the most earnest and eloquent way and appealed them to
serve and obey God. You can study leadership from this man. He spent forty
years of his life in delivering the people from bondage of Egypt, in guiding
them through the many dangers that confronted them. He trained them, gave them
forms of government, laws, and religious institutions and molded them into a
nation. Each and every one God called is leaders and you should examine your
leadership qualities with respect with that of Moses.
For the people of Israel, it was
like an adult graduating and going to enter upon their life’s work. They
studied what God wants to tell them throughout this journey. Now they need to
implement that faith and possess the land. This is the reason why a believer
should study the word of God. You cannot claim that you know the word of God
fully. But each and every time you read it and study it, you will become more
mature in life and you see the world different than a worldly person sees. You
will get separated from the lust and power of the world and you will work hard
for the glory of God in serving others and use your talents and develop it for
Gods glory.
